Happy 2021!

Am I aware that people don’t really care about pictures of the bar where I spent NYE? Yes. Did I post them anyway? Also yes.

10 minutes after midnight, the police came in, shut off the music, and basically told everyone to leave. So we went to the main square in Chiangmai and bought a bunch of fireworks and a lantern. Foolishly I only bought 1 of the firework wand things, so I only got a pic with half of my signature pose.

I’m glad 2020 is over just for the sake of it ending, but who knows what 2021 will have in store. I hope everyone stays healthy this year and achieves at least one of their New Year’s resolutions!

2020 Highlights

2020 was a fucked up year. There’s really no other way to say it. Despite the chaos and turmoil that it brought, here are some of my highlights:

• Left China after 7 years

• New countries visited: Turkey, Serbia, Albania, Kosovo, and North Macedonia

• Won a few grand by betting on Biden and the Democrats on a BTC betting website

• Started my 2nd novel - “A Viral State” (currently at around 64,000 words)

• Made a new logo for my website

• Got COVID-19 while in Istanbul

• Read 8 books. Not my best, but it was a crazy year

1. Fictions - Jorge Luis Borges

2. A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini

3. Childhood’s End - Arthur C. Clarke

4. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage - Haruki Murakami

5. Old Man’s War - John Scalzi

6. A Little Life - Hanya Yanigihara

7. The Wall - John Lanchester

8. Normal People - Sally Rooney

• Finally ended up in Chiangmai, Thailand after almost a year of trying to get there

• Started freelance writing & editing

• Celebrated my birthday in Albania, Christmas in quarantine in Bangkok, and New Year’s Eve in Chiangmai

• My short stories Transitory and Dimensional were accepted into literary magazines

• Had visitors from 67 countries visit my website in 2020

I wish everyone a great 2021 and hope that it will be, in some way, better than 2020. Thank you to everyone who visited my blog this year! I will continue to find interesting things to post about and make site improvements throughout the year. I’m always open to feedback, suggestions, questions, or criticisms, so feel free to reach out. Would love to hear from you!

- -

Degen

Thai Food & Pool

Spicy beef with rice & eggs // Local swimming pool & gym thats open for everyone in the neighborhood // Korean BBQ // Egg noodles in spicy curry sauce with chicken

Doi Suthep - Chiangmai, Thailand

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep is a Buddhist temple in Chiang Mai. 

The original founding of the temple remains a legend and there are a few varied versions. The temple is said to have been founded in 1383 when the first stupa was built. Over time, the temple has expanded, and been made to look more extravagant with many more holy shrines added. A road to the temple was first built in 1935.

Travel Grind

I like the grind of travel. I like waking up for a 3 am flight and having a cup of coffee before I take off, watching as the sun breaks over the horizon, knowing that my journey is about to begin while the rest of the world sleeps. Despite the hassle at times, I like the logistics of navigating an airport, going through security, finding my gate, and the smug feeling of not having to check my 36L Osprey bag.

I like brutal travel plans, ones that stop at four different airports with long layovers rather than a direct flight that would have taken a third of the time. I like knowing that the next 30+ hours are mine. My boss isn’t going to call, my friends are busy with their lives, and it’s perfectly acceptable for me to have a beer at 9 am while spending two hours on a crossword puzzle eating an overpriced pretzel.

I like hunting through the airport for the perfect seat and call me greedy, but an accessible electrical outlet as well. I like walking past the luxury brand stores that reek of perfume while wondering who actually buys luxury goods at airports. I like transiting through shitty airports with no chargers and a metal armrest on every seat so you can’t lay down just so I can appreciate good airports even more.

I like that although airports have some of the highest foot traffic in the world, they aren’t social places. As travelers, we are alone together. Everyone has their own itinerary. As we walk through the concourse together, we are in our own worlds, listening to music, calling our loved ones, or taking time to finally read that book we haven’t managed to pick up all year. We might smile at each other, have a brief conversation about a flight delay, or share a meal in a densely packed food court, but after a few hours, we’ll all be off, headed for a new destination or a familiar one.

I like trying to find the best currency kiosk and, as I walk away, trying to figure out exactly how much money I lost just for the convenience of having local currency ahead of time. I enjoy watching people go through security who have clearly never done it before. I like to silently judge people who have five suitcases piled in one of those rollers and wonder what exactly was so important they had to bring it. Even though I’ve been traveling for years, I still don’t understand the use of neck pillows. I’ve used a variety - foam, cotton, silicon balls, and still don’t get the appeal.

I revel in watching two non-native English speakers interact in English, as one of them will ultimately realize that their English is better and take command of the conversation. I like strolling through souvenir shops, attempting to spend the last of my local currency and pocketful of change on gifts that I forgot to buy while traveling.
I like wandering through an airport at 3 am and finding somewhere cozy to watch Netflix while I wait for my early morning flight. Airports are one of the only public places where you can sleep on the ground using your backpack as a pillow without having people silently judge you. I like getting lost in time zones and not quite knowing what time my internal clock is at, regardless of the fact that I know it will take me some time to adjust once I land.

It’s an odd thing to take pleasure in, but I enjoy the transition period between destinations - the point where I have left, but haven’t yet arrived. I’m in a travel limbo for whatever brief period of time and in that moment, nothing else matters. Even now in Thailand state quarantine, I’m in a transition period. I’m in my destination country, but not really. Sure, I have work and can exercise a bit, but my adventures in Thailand haven’t really started. Though not ideal to waste 2 weeks in a hotel, there is some pleasure in knowing that these 2 weeks are my time and that I have nothing else to do besides that which I wish. Though I do have a new appreciation for the movie “Oldboy”.

There’s something about the travel grind that I’m drawn to. Whether it’s a multi-stop flight, or a flight-train-bus-taxi combo just to get from point A to point B - I love it. It’s part of why I continue to travel. Sure, there’s a convenience to having a private jet and flying wherever you want at a moment’s notice, but whether or not I’ll ever reach that point, in the meantime, I’ll enjoy my time lost among the sea of fellow travelers.

Aventuras // New Logo

Admittedly, the logo I made on the left was not great and with nothing but time on my hands in quarantine, thought it was time for an upgrade. Initially, I started looking for graphic designers online but thought I should give it a go since I have a bit of experience working in Adobe Illustrator.

It was a tricky process. What I didn’t know how to do, I looked up online. It was a fun learning experience and I’m happy with how my logo turned out. The text has a unique crosshatch pattern and I removed the “www.degenh.com” when I use it on my site. Would love to hear your comments on what you think and suggestions for improving it!

*I keep looking at it and it seems a bit wide, but I made a perfect circle and overlayed it over the logo and it fits. I think it tricks the eye because some of the continents were intentionally moved outside of the circular line but I assure you, it’s not lopsided

Post-China Trip

Trip After China // 2020

Here’s the trip I took after leaving China:

Sanya, China > Flight 1 > Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia > Flight 2 > Doha, Qatar > Flight 3 > Istanbul, Turkey > Flight 4 > Belgrade, Serbia > Flight 5 > Tirana, Albania > Bus 1 > Pristina, Kosovo > Bus 2 > Skopje, North Macedonia > Flight 5 > Belgrade, Serbia > Flight 6 > Istanbul, Turkey > Flight 7 > Bangkok, Thailand

I left China on August 18, and flew to Bangkok on December 11, which is roughly 116 days of traveling. It was fun, frustrating, inspiring, and eye-opening, especially seeing how each country adapted to COVID-19 and the resulting restrictions.