Clmnt

Because it’s a break away from the daily routine. Because it gives me a sense of freedom. When I travel, sometimes I like to observe people around me. People who I come across on the trip. Random passers-by who somehow happen to be at the same place at the same time as I am. I wonder what their story is like. Are they locals who walk through this place on a regular basis? Or are they travelers just like me? I wonder what brought us here together for our paths to cross. Most call it a coincident, but I like to think of it as fate. These people who could have the potential to make an impact on your life, however insignificantly it may be.

I often see the good in people, and then my numerous insecurities kick in. I wonder about what my life would be like if I was more attractive, if I was taller, if I was stronger, if I was more talented, if I was more charming, if I was funny, if I was more attentive, if I was more caring. Growing up in a traditional Chinese household, I picked up the competitiveness of comparison early on and it has somehow ingrained deep into my thought-process. Sometimes it could be a good attribute to have. It motivates me to better my skill-set and improve myself, but for things that I can’t change, things that are just part of me, these disadvantages turned into insecurities about myself, making me realize that I’m never good enough.

Traveling lets me get away from my life, in the most literal sense. It lets me imagine that I’m someone else whose life is different and full of possibilities, even just for a while. Tonight I came across this street-performing sibling duo, whose musical talents captured my attention immediately and had me stopped right on my track. A while ago I came across a tweet by an online friend about how he would give up all his talents in exchange to be good enough for his boyfriend. At first I thought to myself, why would you do that to yourself? But then perhaps, talent is overweighted. There are always someone who is more talented than you are out there, so I let my traveler mindset kicks in and let my imagination runs wild as the musician sibling duo plays out a wonderful score. Perhaps in another universe, I could be good enough for someone out there.