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Confidence: Navigating body-shaming & implicit bias

I’ve been reflecting on a lot in the last few weeks. I realised I’ve come a long, long way from my younger days. Confidence is hard to come by at times especially when you’ve received constant negative feed back from a young age. I have a lot of doubts in myself at times, but there are also many more times I can feel confident and assured of myself.

A few weeks ago, the slack crew established some new lines at a quiet spot in a forest next to a beautiful waterfall. I’m so happy I was able to be there with them, and celebrate that success. In that weekend, I was also able to achieve a lot outside of highlining and slacklining. I feel like I’ve become more confident with my body image, as well as trusting myself and my skills.

Looking back at some photos my friend Hayden took of me during the weekend, I realised I have come to be much more comfortable with my own body. It was pretty hot and humid day. After the hour long walk-in, my cotton top was drenched in sweat so I took it off. It was an eventful day- I won’t forget getting chased by an angry wombat anytime soon. At some point, I wandered down to the waterfall and ended up jumping onto a line right next to it. As usual I find the heights quite mentally challenging, but I took my time, got used to the falls, calmed my breathing and eventually I did manage to walk the line. It was incredible, fighting through the fear with each step, noticing how the line moves and trying to adjust my body accordingly. The last thing I was thinking about when Hayden took out his camera was whether or not I looked fat.

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Sam’s Story: A Young Man From Afghanistan

Never would I have thought that I would travel remotely close to Afghanistan. After all, constant news in the media about the Taliban would be sure to steer away any curious wanderers. But there I was, looking across the river to Afghanistan, less than 50 metres away from a country known for being torn by war. Yet at that very spot, I saw nothing but a quiet river streaming through the rocky hills as camels grazed on the water’s edge. It was a glimpse of the peace that the country had, until the Soviets and the British Empire razed it down in their pursuit for dominance. However at that moment, in this particular valley, after years of being caught in the crossfire, there was no trace of instability.

The river separating Afghanistan from Tajikistan in the Wakhan Valley

I could ramble on for hours how enchanting Afghanistan seemed, how tempted I was to swim across the river and explore, but I want to share with you the story of a curious and courageous young man from Afghanistan, Sam*. In the face of death as the Taliban hunts for them, they remain strong and resilient. They however need a helping hand to get them through a tough journey and perhaps you dear reader can assist?

I did not meet Sam there that day in that captivating valley, but we met on this same backpacking journey that took me East to West along the ancient silk road.

Who is Sam? How did you meet him?

I met Sam in a quiet town I travelled through with two other friends. Sadly we didn’t have the time to get to know the the place well, our lack of knowledge for the local language perhaps being the biggest factor. Nonetheless, I had fun playing the bizarre monkey with my wild hand gestures each time we traded with locals.

Dressed in scruffily like we just crawled out of a dumpster, I can only hope we didn’t smell like it as we hopped onto a bus of locals dressed eloquently in traditional wear. I noticed at the back of the bus there were three boys chuckling away in a beautiful language. That was Sam and his friends and I now know that language to be Pashto.

We alighted the bus confused with absolutely no idea which direction to even walk towards. Luckily for us, Sam and his friends had gotten off the same stop. We called out to them, hoping they would show us the way and were pleasantly surprised to meet the first person who could speak English in this town.

The best part about backpacking, is all the lovely strangers you meet, new friends you find in unexpected places. He told me he was from Afghanistan and that he had received a scholarship to study overseas. He was in fact an engineering student in a nearby university. I was overjoyed to find out that like me, he spoke 5 languages.

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A Beautiful World

2021 is coming to a close, we don’t know what the future will look like yet but we can shape it based on our reflections of the past. As the world was consumed by the pandemic in the last two years, it’s given me much time to pause and reflect. 

I’ve just turned 27, and I can feel I’ve matured a lot. I used to have an insane amount of positivity towards everything in life, but I can feel I have mellowed out now. I can see why as people age, they become grumpier and grumpier. There is a lot of injustices, and unfortunate realities that would make anybody rage. 

Of course, as much as all that is terrible that exist, there is also a beacon of light, even if fragile, we mustn’t forget there is good in the world too. We can’t focus too much on the bad, but neither can we focus too much on the good. Focusing on the good will make us happy, but we will also become deliberately ignorant of all our problems- problems that won’t go away unless we take the steps to fix it. 

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Pi Mai: the Laos New Year water fights are bucket list worthy

Have you ever seen a city filled with streets of adults and children alike, holding onto water pistols as they hose each other down in a friendly fight? Well, there’s no better place to see this than Luang Prabang, Laos. Mid April in Laos is the hottest times of the year; however, it is also the month when the country comes alive as Pi Mai, the Lao New Year, comes around.

You may have heard of this festival under different names, such as Songkran as it is widely celebrated in South East Asia and some nearby regions. Personally having celebrated it in Luang Prabang, I think this is the perfect place for a balance between party, getting a glimpse into century-long traditions and getting to meet some locals. But, no matter where you decide to celebrate, you should definitely add this festival to your travel bucket list.

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Guide to mastering any language by making learning fun

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Learning a new language is not an easy task for sure. You might see guides out there that will have you fluent in any language in 3 months or 6 months. Those are ambitious goals that a majority of people won’t be able to achieve. Instead of focusing on how to become fluent in an X amount of months, it is better to focus on making the learning part fun and incorporating it into your everyday life. This way you’ll find yourself studying regularly and overtime you will master the language for sure.

It’s a dream to become fluent in the language you want to learn. But language unlike maths has many irregularities that comes naturally to native speakers but is frustratingly confusing for anyone trying to learn it as a second language. There are sometimes no proper explanations for these nuances and you just have to accept it for the way it is. These nuances is what stops many second language learners from becoming completely fluent. Even expats who have lived in a foreign country for 10 years, despite studying hard, some still struggle to speak like a native speaker.

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Best route from Karakol to Almaty: the Kegen Border Crossing

To get from Karakol to Almaty, the shortest and most economical route would be to get there via the Kegen border crossing. However, crossing this border can be quite tricky as there is limited public transport and online information about this particular border crossing.

The safest option would be to first go to Bishkek and then go through the Kordai border crossing to Almaty. However, if you’re flexible with your plans and ready for an adventure, crossing into Kazakhstan via Kegen is a quiet, scenic route that gives you ample opportunities to socialise with the locals.

On the way towards Almaty, you could even make a detour to some of the natural wonders around this region such as Charyn Canyon, Kolsai & Kaindy Lakes, Altyn Emel National Park and Turgen Gorge.

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Kaindy Lake
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Thailand’s alternate Elephant experience: hilarious sustainable souvenirs made from poop

Looking for sustainable souvenirs in Thailand? Or do you want something more unique and cheaper than the elephant sanctuary experiences? At the Elephant Poo Poo Paper Park, you can get an alternate experience with the elephants. This recycled paper facility has a beautiful shop full of beautiful environmentally friendly gifts as well as tours to show you how poop becomes paper. You can even get hands on and make your own little crafts. It’s a unique and fun experience for you that’s good for our planet and Thailand’s local economy. It’s a win-win situation for you and everyone else! But how exactly does poop become recycled paper?

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    Recycled paper drying outside
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Cheap travel in Krabi & Aonang great for the backpacker budget

Southern Thailand has some of the most beautiful islands made of limestone cliffs floating along crystal blue waters. Most tourists who come down here often aim to set off to the other islands and use Krabi or Aonang as a one or two night stop over. At first glance, there might not seem to be much to do around the towns itself and most tourists go on tours that take them far out of the town.

The tours are definitely worth doing, on my first day in the area, I did the 4 islands boat tour which set me back 1000 baht (equivalent of 50AUD or 30USD). While not expensive compared to Australian prices, I realised for my backpacker budget, finding very cheap travel activities would be important for a year of travel.

I stayed a total of 7 nights around Krabi town and nearby Aonang beach and I can say there is a lot to offer without the need to splurge on expensive tours.

Pai Plong Beach

Pai Plong Beach panorama
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Tiger Cave Temple Stair Challenge

Tiger Cave Temple also known as Wat Tham Seua in Thai, is a buddhist temple on the top of a mountain with panoramic views of the paddy fields and mountain around the area. There is a large statue of buddha at the top and tiger paw prints lining the temple. At the bottom of the mountain there is a 1260 step stair case that takes you 278 metres above ground where the temple is. This is definitely a nice challenge with rewarding views for all who visit Krabi.

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Beautiful mountains seen from the temple

1260 steps is really not as impossible as it may sound. 100 steps is only about 2 flights of stairs so it is possible to get up the stairs in 20 minutes if you continuously go up it without a break. But for a majority of visitors, I would say it will take between 30-50 minutes to get to the top including breaks and taking photos.

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