Hallo, hallo! I can’t be more excited to have returned to DC, after my travels to Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. I return with a deeper understanding of Thai massage, greater self-reliance, and a solid stash of Tiger Balm. As astonishing as traveling was, it is simply marvelous to be back home, to my beloved Keep, my life partner, and my practice at Freed Bodyworks.

And I’ll be staying in my sweet home for the foreseeable future.

When asked about the last two months abroad, I struggle to organize my thoughts. In the last two months, I discovered within myself a thousand conflicting feelings: excitement, fear, delight, threadbareness, painful loneliness, resilience, vulnerability. I see my own foolishness, stupidity, privilege, and luck. As I type up my notes from the trip, I find a staggering cluster of mundane, non-visual musings and terrifically exciting instances. I recover mangled receipts to tape to my journal; I find kip and baht in stray pockets of my clothes. 

I saw and experienced truly incredible things while traveling in Asia, and I’d be delighted to share them.

However, I’ve heard (and can empathize) that hearing travel stories can be as wholly frustrating; worse than an endless shaggy dog story, or a sleepy, lengthy description of a non-sensical, vivid, intimate dream. It is highly likely at I am not Bill Bryson, and in that line of thinking (and for anyone who asked my itinerary for their own planning purposes), I present my map of my trip highlights. 

Said attached map is incomplete, avoiding least charming hostels and less enjoyable places. If you’d like to know more, I will be sharing my notes as I disentangle them.

“Interactive” itinerary map link!

In person, I am happy to describe slow boat rides, Thai massage training, street food, fantastic animals, dream-perfect beaches, amazing temples, homesickness, dreadful tourist traps, and my inability to cope with tropical heat and enlightening sunburns.

My photos are here (complete with a shocking number of #selfies, so captured to ensure to my parents that I was and am still alive): https://www.instagram.com/keeparies/

But for now, know that I’m back and will be delighted to see you.

with care,
Aries