after: the meaning of it all
months have gone by, and I think I left a chuck of my heart and my mind back at the trip. at first, it almost felt like a reverse culture shock to come back home to the small city of golden and try to adjust back to normal life again. the convenience stores shelves are not filled with onigiri or kimchi stews that are quick to grab, actually good for you, and delicious like in seoul; rather eating anything from the gas station aisles in the u.s might give you awful food poisoning. everything closes way earlier in golden compared to bangkok; after 8 pm it's a ghost town here. regardless, there are some things i was super excited for, like my deathly craving of chipotle (as mentioned in the last blog) and seeing my family of course. i still miss the new found independence and sense of adventure i experienced while traveling in asia, but by leaning into this project and sharing the stories of my travel, i have found small ways to relive those feelings and not forget them. which is wh