SED Artist

On travelling with a purposeful appetite

Here it is, after four months of travelling, the last week of the trip. It’s a funny feeling, making you reminisce on a trip which isn’t even over yet, and it feels like it all went by so quickly. There were times though, when it felt like it would never end, cramped bus rides and sleepless nights, where you wonder what you’re doing in a part of the world where you feel slightly purposeless and far from everyone. Reminiscing is always such a warm way to look back at a moment, it shines a light of slightly warmer tone on things that didn’t look very warm from up close. You begin to notice the patterns repeating over the months and countries, an overarching persecptive of gratefulness and heartwarming nostalgia, for present moments which already belong to the past.

Last week, Liv and I were graciously met by Rachel and Charlie on Koh lanta, joining us for our last 10 days. I highly recommend ending your travels in the company of close friends, it makes the last bit feel like a holiday, and you flow with the indulgence of time away, cheap food, and friends.

In an attempt to end my trip with a full circle and omniscient overview, i feel it’s only appropriate to end on what I started. Purpose and a large appetite.

In the beginning of our trip, which lasted too long to be a holiday, but not long enough to turn into a job or lifestyle, I felt I lacked a purpose. Liv agreed. It was a weird and difficult thing becoming used to just ‘travelling’. In essence, it seems like you are on holiday, you aren’t working, you aren’t pushing yourself at something, you’re just exploring, enjoying and hopefully learning. It’s a very privileged position to be in, and from the outside, so easy to judge as holiday. Liv and I felt strongly that we needed something to do with our time which felt purposeful, to make us feel driven, and like we are working towards bringing something back to our lives at home.

Purposelessness can very quickly make you feel indulgent, and can be far less enjoyable than expected. Thanks to the surprising disorientation you feel, you tend to seek those things that make you feel a little more grounded, a little more you, and for us, for me, this made the things that drive you that little more distinct. The time away sheds lights on priorities and ambitions. Taking work out of daily life, made me crave to work, and it’s become one of those things back home which you start to appreciate more now that you no longer have it. And what a privilege that is to have had the time away from it in order to realise how much you value it.

‘Purpose’ has interestingly strung itself into the ‘large appetite’ part. Liv and I spend our days thinking about our next meals, what do we want to eat, where do we want to go, and how we feel when we are there eating the thing we wanted. Thankfully for the last part of the trip, Charlie and Rachel are pretty much the same.

Over the last few months, so much of our time, so many of our discussions, so much of our joy, has been shared and created over our meals. Sometimes, I had to admit that I don’t know what we would have done with our days if we hadn’t had food. There are only so many temples you can visit, and only so many activities and hikes you can enjoy. You also forget that, in four months, there are going to be days that aren’t quite what you’d hoped, days where rain is incessant, and just don’t feel that great, in which case, once more, food is always the best distraction.

Over time, and after a bit of effort, you create a bit of a routine to your day. Even if you are still constantly on the move, you surely have figured out by then the way in which your mind and body adapts best to this sort of lifestyle. Our routine was constructed around food. Figuring out what you’re going to have for your next meal is as exciting as it is enlightening, and a learning experience in itself. Gradually, you learn things about yourself and the culture you’re in, solely based off what you’re eating, where you’re eating it from, who you’re eating it with, and who cooked it for you.

So really, the purpose of the trip became the food, and it became so naturally, thanks to multiple factors, one of them being my excellent choice in a travel companion. Funnily enough, we have both come away from this trip with an even bigger realisation of just how important food is in our lives and, in different ways, how we want to incorporate that into our careers.

Looking back at my time here, I remember the foods that I enjoyed the most, and that I am going to miss the most as I return home. In Thailand, it doesn’t get better than a Pork Thai Omelette, a Pad See Ew and a Thai Red Curry. Although I cannot ignore how delicious the Tom Yum, Pad Ka Praos’ and Morning Glorys’ were. As for a sweet treat, my favourite will always be the yummy thick purple tamarind coconut pancakes.

In Laos, I remember delighting in the salt crusted fish and the delicious spicy sausages.

In Vietnam, the Phos’ and the Banh Mi’s are just every day delights, along with delicious coconut coffees.

Cambodia did a great sandwich and an overall good mix of south East Asian cuisine in general.

What’s so amazing about all these places, are the food carts which seem to pop up everywhere and just when you need it. I’ll miss the mango smoothies, and all the fresh fruit, I’ll miss the kind cooks who delight in making your food as spicy as their own, and the ease of having such a flavourful and cheap food whenever I feel like it. I’ll miss the 7/11s’ too… they’re just as amazing.

I feel I cannot end this blog without posting the rest of the list I started in my first one. There are times where I admittedly dropped the bat with regards to food recommendations for travelling around south east Asia, but I have made an attempt to construct something solid which I fully back, using our great food criteria as backup.

LAOS

Saffron Cafe – Luang Prabang chicken salad

Ban Chack Restaurant -Luang Prabang, Old Town – Laos (pork kale)

OH LA LA – Vang Vieng, Laos – Fried Salt Crust Fish !!!!

CAMBODIA

3 street eatery – Huge sandwiches

Longset Beach, Koh Rong, White Pearl Restaurant – The curries

VIETNAM

Huangz restaurant – Hanoi, Vietnam – caramelized pork belly and quail egg, beef rolled in wild betas leaf, beef pho

Cafe Dinh – Egg coffee

Tit & Mit and NamPhuong Coffee shop- Cat Ba Island – Coconut Coffee

Yummy restaurant – Cat Ba Island – EVERYTHING !!! But clams with butter and lemon, oysters with peanuts and onions, chicken in coconut sauce, fish lemongrass

Sheer Ganesha – Da Lat – Ganesha House Special !!!

KO TAO

Long Thai – Red Curry and Tom Yum

P’Noot – Pad See Ew

Blue Water – Grilled Fish Salad on roasted veg and fish tacos

The FIN – roasted duck soup with Big Noodles

995 Duck – anything with duck and an egg

The French Market – Chocolate and Almond Croissant

KOH LANTA

Restaurant besides 7-11 – Panang Curry

Next week, I’ll be home, but that doesn’t mean the end of my blog. Although content will be different, my focus will remain the same, with varying interests in general lifestyle, culture, the arts, people, food, and my general opinion on topics of interest.

Thank you for reading 🙂