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sunset mongolian nomad horses
Lydia C
  • April 9, 2021

JournalLooking back on my first international solo trip to Mongolia: Thoughts on my 17-year-old self & “voluntourism”

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My first international solo trip was to Mongolia in the summer of 2012 . It was the summer…
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Lydia C

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thoughtfulwanders

THOUGHTS ON TRAVEL CONTENT, MEDIA REPRESENTATION & THOUGHTS ON TRAVEL CONTENT, MEDIA REPRESENTATION & PAKISTAN I’ve been reflecting a lot on *how* to share about my 3 week trip to Pakistan last fall. Thoughtful Wanders is a platform focused on travel & (un)learning, and getting to share travel through a more critical and nuanced perspective is something I’ve thought about for a very long time. The reason for my delay in posting and sharing is because…I’ve been struggling to figure out how to accurately share on social media about a place I was lucky to visit but honestly don’t know very well. My ick with most travel content on social media is that it is mostly visitors going somewhere briefly and sharing about it from an “expert” perspective. Often making generalizing statements about a place, perhaps a diverse and big country. Travel content tends to simplify it down to 1 thing about a country, and for an audience who does not know the place well or at all, their imagination of the place will then be filled in by the media they saw, even if it was just from one perspective. Pakistan specifically has a media representation (especially depicted the West) that is entrenched with racism, Islamophobia, and the usual mess you see when brown people are portrayed by white people. It bothers me that bad media representation has made people assume Pakistan is unsafe and dangerous, that all women are oppressed, and that everyone is in poverty. No. That is not reality. But, it also bothers me that travel content creators tend to go to the other extreme and share “Can you believe that this beautiful mountain range is in Pakistan and not Switzerland?” “All people are so hospitable!” When depiction of a place goes the other extreme, even if the intentions are positive and want to challenge negative stereotypes, it is still 2 sides of the same coin. It doesn’t allow a country, a place, a people, to exist in the full spectrum of humanity. People are not either ALL so hospitable or ALL so dangerous. People are people. Cont. in comments
first time trying pulao was in pakistan! here are first time trying pulao was in pakistan! here are my learnings about the dish. getting to travel and experience new foods and cultures is fulfilling because i get exposed to a new part of the world i knew very little about. pulao, pilaf, plov…a staple for so many people in the world! the history of how food spreads is also just very interesting… #foodtravel #foodandculture #travel #travelandlearning #pakistantravel #pulao #foodhistory #ricedishes #raisins #travelandlearn
Day 1/20 of the 3 week women’s Pakistan tour fro Day 1/20 of the 3 week women’s Pakistan tour from October 2022. Here is Day 1 (ish)!! Saw a lot, did a lot. What I love about traveling to new places is just observing normalcy in another part of the world, and how it is both different and not that different no matter where you go, especially in a big city. People like to shop, people like to eat and try different cuisines, and people hang out at higher elevation places to watch sunsets. The Faisal mosque was a genuinely breathtaking place, and I feel very grateful to have gotten to visit inside and sit outside to enjoy the majestic view. Oh and by the way, the fried chicken was great 👌🏼 (better than what u get in Belgium which is where I was right before lol) Tour led by @themadhatters.pk x @lostwithpurpose #travel #womentravel #asianamericantravel #decolonizetravel #sociallyconscioustravel #sociallyconscious #pakistan #pakistantravel #travelandlearn
SEE CAPTION FOR MY ACTUAL EXPERIENCE FLYING ETIHAD SEE CAPTION FOR MY ACTUAL EXPERIENCE FLYING ETIHAD. Okay I’ve bullet pointed here things about the trip I wanted to point out via the video but gave up because I talk and think slow lol.
 - Economy class we got our own lil bag of sanitary napkins and mask, nice. And the bag can be re-used. Not bad for us economy peasants. - A screen to watch TV and another screen to multitask and play games on? Great, they know exactly how to take advantage of our short attention spans. - Maybe I just never paid attention before, but I thought it was cool that the direction and distance of Mecca was pointed out on the main screen. - You can order drinks via the screen…It didn’t work though. - The seat back had like one side popping out already that you can lean on - Abu Dhabi airport was essentially all Etihad Airway planes. It’s like Emirates & Dubai, but not. - On the Abu Dhabi > Islamabad flight, an old grandma had taken my (aisle) seat and her middle aged daughter was in the middle. It was just my luck because the grandma couldn’t walk (I mean she can, but also don’t make her get up)…and her entire family (like 12+ people) were spread out in different seats across the plane. Everyone encouraged me to jump over the grandma and her daughter, so I did. Spent the rest of the flight observing the whole family coming to check on her. Sweet. The daughter gave me her sandwich because she didn’t want it, so I was lucky to have an especially full stomach that flight. - The flight attendants and passengers had some bickering because passengers kept getting up for the bathroom even when flight attendants told them not to block the path. Entertaining very late night flight… Ok all in all, Etihad was super solid 👌🏼 would fly again.
Finally getting around to sharing videos, photos, Finally getting around to sharing videos, photos, and learnings from the 3 week women’s tour in Pakistan that I got to be a part of, ran by @lostwithpurpose @themadhatters.pk from October 2022. I’ll be doing an in depth dive of what we did, what we saw, and what I learned. Make sure to click follow to get updates and learn more! #travel #thoughtfulwanders #womentravel #pakistan #pakistantravel #sustainabletravel
A lil life update - I quit my job back in mid-Sept A lil life update - I quit my job back in mid-September and moved out of the U.S. to pursue my creative projects (Thoughtful Wanders) and travel. Both are things I have dreamed of and planned for a long time. I have a Substack newsletter where I'll be posting all my writing, and I just released the first update yesterday. It goes into detail explaining what Thoughtful Wanders is, and what I am trying to do. This is all the beginning of a (probably) long and uncertain journey. It's exciting, and also very scary! I would appreciate your support by checking the newsletter out and subscribing to follow along. Link in bio! thoughtfulwanders.substack.com
When I travel to new places around the world, I am When I travel to new places around the world, I am usually quite excited to visit the local Chinatown, because I know I can get a taste of home there. Even when it’s not exactly home or exactly familiar. There are Chinatowns all over the world in cities and towns of all shapes and sizes. So far, I’ve only had a chance to visit some of the ones in big cities in the US and a few in Europe, but would love to learn more about Chinatowns in other parts of the world and the stories behind them. Chinatowns featured in this video: 📍San Francisco, CA 📍Oakland, CA 📍Manhattan, NYC 📍Brooklyn, NYC 📍Antwerp, Belgium Do you feel the same way about Chinatown or other ethnic enclaves? Where else feels like home to you even though it was never actually your home? Is it a priority to visit on your travels too? #chinatown #nycchinatown #sfchinatown #chinatownfood #asianamerican #chinesediaspora #diaspora #taiwanese #chinesefood #chineseamerican #immigrant #immigranthistory #home #tasteofhome
NOOO reels can only upload 90 seconds and the orig NOOO reels can only upload 90 seconds and the original of this was 96 seconds so i sped up the whole thing so yea i sound like a 🤖🤖 anyways I’ll be moving out of San Francisco in a few weeks and with a good friend visiting, I had to go back to House of Prime Rib one more time! I find the food to be consistently good quality and def think it is worth the $$ here. It is technically “fancier” dining but they are always kind, friendly, and inclusive which I also like about the restaurant. Did not make a reservation this time since OpenTable did not show any times though you may have luck if you search on the day you want to go but do expect either super early or late times. Today we walked in at 430 to put our names down and got a table around 2 hours after. Lots to walk around in the neighborhood so waiting isn’t too bad. The fact that their performance and food quality is so standardized and good is impressive. Makes me feel like the whole experience is kinda “Disney-ified” but at the same time it is genuinely fun to experience the meal and to eat the food :) I think having had it twice within a span of 6 months is plenty. Won’t be back for a long time but will def be back!
i mean, i’m a fan of @karlthefog i mean, i’m a fan of @karlthefog
During a farm tour I couldn’t help but get distr During a farm tour I couldn’t help but get distracted by the pretty colorful flowers. It took me many months to get around editing these photos. It was really fun to edit in a way that teased out all the different colors of these flowers and to make the sky blue the way it was in real life.
The sky was on 🔥 today The sky was on 🔥 today
spring in san francisco 🌸🌸🌸 🌉 spring in san francisco 🌸🌸🌸 🌉
Feb 2022 - visiting the Asian Art Museum in San Fr Feb 2022 - visiting the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. The light immersion exhibit was called “teamLab: continuity” and was a temporary exhibition. Also got to see Chanel Miller’s mural of “I was, I am, I will be”. Overall, def highly recommend the Asian Art Museum to visit in SF for it’s permanent exhibitions showcasing historical art from all over Asia. The museum also hosts regular exhibitions and events regarding Asian and Asian American topics 🤓🌏
sharing some thoughts re: the effort it takes to m sharing some thoughts re: the effort it takes to make food and feed ourselves during the work week. i have been staying at an airbnb for the past month in NYC and there is the bare minimum provided so it has been a challenge to cook, let alone cook during the work day. in this video, i make stir fried udon noodles with bok choy and egg which i just kept feeding myself until i ran out of the ingredients. ideally i would have more seasoning at home but soy sauce and scavenged hoisin sauce is enough for now. just trying to make it through the work day 🥬😴💻 What is your go-to workday quick to make low effort lunch?
The iPhone 13 Pro is supposed to have a really goo The iPhone 13 Pro is supposed to have a really good camera but I quickly learned that because there are 3 lenses, the default settings made photos actually fuzzier and lower quality sometimes. Also by default, the nightshift mode would toggle on and I didn’t like how the photos looked. So I finally did some googling and changed some of the default settings to make my phone camera work for ME. I hope this means taking more photos I like and taking advantage of the (expensive) phone camera. Also writing this is holding myself accountable to make the effort to learn the tech behind photo-taking instead of being willfully ignorant about it because I find learning it all so overwhelming. Ok anyways here are 3 pics from recent days I liked - edited a bit. The second pic is of a storm and it was SO COOL IRL but dang I couldn’t capture it via phone properly 😭
First time in this part of Brooklyn. It was fun to First time in this part of Brooklyn. It was fun to look at the buildings in all directions and recognize where everything was without needing to look at a map. I’ve never been to NYC in the spring/summer before. So many people were out and people were laying on any and all green patches of grass 😎☀️Makes me think of San Francisco where people do that all year round while here it can only be done in some months of the year. I love the energy of that collective appreciation that shows itself in a place where good weather is not taken for granted 🌤
Amidst heavy happenings and dark times, nature hea Amidst heavy happenings and dark times, nature heals ✨ This was shot from El Capitan Meadows in Fall of 2021. I was experimenting with my camera and tried to get close up clips. Without a tripod, it meant most of the footage is shakey… so here is the teeniest short clip that is relatively stable. I had the best time taking photos and videos in this field 🌾
can’t believe spring is actually here! ☺️🌸🌿 spring weather may feel heavy, humid, and dense but when the rain passes, the air becomes light and breezy and you can just tell that all the plants and animals are excited for the showers ⛈
a really random photo dump from a weekend walking a really random photo dump from a weekend walking around Astoria & Flushing on a rainy saturday & sunny sunday ☀️🌧
Blue skies & blue waters in Kenting, Taiwan. Take Blue skies & blue waters in Kenting, Taiwan. Take a moment to enjoy the ocean’s sound. This was filmed back in October of 2020. We took a 3 day weekend family trip and drove from Taipei to Kenting (southern coastal town of Taiwan). The weather was mild and the ocean was as beautiful as ever 🌊
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