On the topic of eating out alone my friend commented… “it really doesn’t bother me, in fact I care less about how that seems or what people think than I give myself credit for. I had a story about that… that on some level it matters… but really it doesn’t matter much to me”.
This resonated with me. Last year in the wake of a major life adjustment I headed abroad… alone. Without any obvious intent other than it felt like the right thing to do at the time. It became more of a process than I imagined it would be. But among many things, it became more evident to me that I was ok on my own. I could get lost… and still find my way. I became aware of the balance between what I want and what is actually good for me (too much foie gras will do that to you). To believe that what is right for me will never go past me. I could be present in the seemingly unbearable stillness of uncertainty and trust myself to know that I am indeed “ok anyways”.
SO! With growing intrepidity and a little more collateral of my abilities, I bought a ticket to somewhere entirely unfamiliar to me. Life is about growth. Growth can occur in all contexts and certainly one does not need a plane ticket to obtain it. But for me… well… growth happens when I spread my wings and plunge into an eddy of exhilaration and fear.
I gave my albatross of a suitcase some reprieve and packed my back pack with little as I await the next chapter. As like before, my journey will be fueled with a love for food and culture but it is rarely limited to just that. I won’t attempt to predict what lies ahead and will instead see how it unfolds… Vietnam… Cambodia… Thailand