A few weeks ago, decided to explore other writing platforms after another disappointing month of crappy stats on Medium. My search landed me on Vocal. I wrote about my fling away from Medium here:

It turns out, getting followers and reads on any platform is hard work that takes time and patience. And guess what? My reads aren’t great on Vocal, either. Had it not been for my discovery of the platform’s writing challenges feature, my tryst with Vocal might have been short lived. …

Travel writer Jack Road recently shared his top 10 reasons for loving to travel, and challenged other Medium writers to share their own reasons.

As an editor for World Traveler’s Blog, I have gotten the honor (and pleasure) of reading some of Jack’s best travel pieces. I encourage you to check them out if you somehow have not yet found him on Medium.

Jack’s list made me consider my own reasons for loving to travel. I grabbed my pen and quickly jotted my reasons down in my notebook, almost effortlessly.

Below is my list, not in order, of why traveling…

When I worked as a corporate communications writer, our team would often say to each other after we finished on deadline: "It's better than good; it's done." There is something to be said for completing a draft, flaws and all. I like your idea of applying imperfection to writing, as the goal to be perfect will keep many drafts in the unfinished folder. Perfectionism is often a crutch people lean on because they are afraid to stand in the light and shine imperfectly.

notebook on my desk

your pages mirror my mind

filled with messy thoughts

doodles, ideas, ramblings

closed, you seem harmless

opened, you reveal secrets

dreams, truths

it’s best to keep that trapper shut

This is my attempt to answer a poetry challenge by Lucy Dan 蛋小姐 (she/her/她). After I read her poem “cold brewed coffee,” and the challenge she put out, I instantly thought about the notebook on my desk that sits to the right of my computer waiting for me to rant, scribble, make notes, jot down ideas. There’s always a pin resting on top of it, ready for…

Thank you for acknowledging World Traveler's Blog. The editorial team truly enjoyed our work, but we all agreed that it's time to adapt to the changes Medium is moving toward. As an editor I was able to read so many amazing pieces and learn about exotic, quaint, exciting, interesting, beautiful cities and countries that I now want to see first hand.

I plan to continue writing with Medium and building a community. Writers are my people and this is a place where great writers gather. I'm not going anywhere.

Thank you, again, for this piece, and thank you to the writers and readers who joined us on our journey.

If you have ever spent an afternoon staring at the blank page, you know how frustrating it is to not know how to get started on your next draft.

It’s a vicious circle: Your mind draws a blank … the anxiety kicks in … your fingers hover over the keyboard … you worry you will never write again … you panic … then the never-ending loop of self-doubt, despair, frustration begins … until you finally give up, shut your laptop, and go binge on Netflix and Cheetos.

I have figured out a way out of that loop and it has…

Like soldiers on guard

The stoic bamboo stands up straight along the trail in Damyang’s Junokwon Bamboo Forest in South Korea. The forest is a 30-minute drive from Gwangju, where we stayed for the weekend.

As soon as you enter the park and embark on the trails, a cool quiet descends and you suddenly feel you are miles away from the noise and urgency of the world outside. As I passed the trees I imagined a brigade of tall, green soldiers guarding their post.