In a world faced with uncertainty at every turn, I am leaning into a life of wandering. The idea of sitting at home watching YouTube videos for hours and hours, alone and depressed, was enough to drive me mad. So, I’m doing myself a favor, turning to nature and culture for a creative exploration into the unknown.

I’ve long wanted to become more physically adventurous, especially since becoming more spiritually adventurous as I’ve grown older. Often stunlocked by shyness, using introversion as an excuse for not getting out into the world as frequently as I’d like.

Now, I’m moving forward by fulfilling my dream of being an explorer, a student of the world, an observer, and an adventurer ready for whatever challenges come.

Since my small taste of solo international travel, I realized just how transformative these experiences can be for personal growth when met with openness.

Having found that both convenience and access to experience are key to serendipitous storytelling, there was a moment when I was walking across a bridge last November in Bangkok that stopped me in my tracks. Suddenly, I was overcome by an intense gladness that I was actually doing something for myself. Things just made sense. I was learning again how to seek childlike wonder; I felt love in walking meditation. I hope to become more than just a journalist, creator, or writer. My goal is, as always, to learn as much as possible as often as possible. Most of all, I hope to connect with myself and the communities that make this world worth preserving.

That noticing of serendipity has led me to Vietnam, where I will be exploring for a while. So long as things go according to a loose plan, I’m starting in the center, moving north, and then traveling south. In my research, I found many who take north-to-south or south-to-north routes. But this middle-first route seemed the most interesting for several reasons: it meant I could stop by Hoi An to get custom clothes made for the journey, starting in a more chill area has helped me get bearings for how things work in this country, should align with slightly better conditions for dodging the worst heat of the year, and it’s an easy bus route to my next stop to cool off a bit in the coffee lovers city of Da Lat.

Over the past six months or so, I spent dozens of hours watching vlogs from the region to determine how to learn things that’ll give purpose to Kimiya and my writing here. Things like expanding my knowledge on regenerative agriculture, exploring a nation essentially without a singular religion but practicing some mashup of folk religion and Buddhism (over 80% of the population has no religious affiliation) are entirely fascinating, and getting a peek into how technological challenges are being met.

Anyone can read from Wikipedia in a travel vlog. That’s what most travelers on YouTube do.

I’ve found there are generally three types of travel YouTubers:

• Wikipedia readers fascinated by “dangerous” situations for the clicks or an obsession with a particular culture (Soviet Russia, China, and Middle Eastern nations, to name a few I’ve watched over the past few months)

• Affiliate link spammers/influencers with multiple channels who push products with video titles like “Best travel gadgets under $50” or “What I packed for my 6-month trip in Europe”. It's not a bad idea as long as the products are generally useful and of good quality.

• Walking and talking POV lifestyle content. Food, apartment hunting, nightlife, etc. I’m partial to the cute lifestyle edits from the girls as mindless background watching.

To be clear, I’m not pivoting into being a travel vlogger or anything. This is just what I consume when I need a break from the more heavy stuff the world is currently facing.

I’m also not advocating for reinventing the wheel. What drives someone to spend time on creative work is totally valid. I’m just happy to be inspired by such creations and figure out what feels natural and authentic enough for me to create and share.

My intention here is to continue sharing insights within Kimiya in various ways on this social, alchemical transition we’re smack in the middle of and to synthesize insights into interviews, articles, and experiences I can’t possibly earn by sitting at home.

The Art of Being Lost: A Life of Wandering

For the longest time, my relationship with direction and aimless wandering through careers, friends, or the internet has been my way of tapping into the collective. Still, I guess I never really connected the two until recently.

Last year, I began a regular meditation practice with the Waking Up app from Sam Harris. Through the talks and meditations it contains, I have explored my inner workings in ways I wasn’t sure were possible. I highly recommend the app, and if you want a 30-day trial, I’ll happily send you a link anytime. I’d mostly stuck to the 10-minute meditations to keep things simple. But since being in Vietnam, I’ve had more time away from screens and even more time looking inward. Finding my way through 30 minutes to an hour's worth of practice each day.

If I may have a moment of vulnerability here, I’d tell you I’ve experienced tears in some form every single day for the past week, not out of fear or sadness, not at all. I describe it as an expelling of emotion met with the ease of uncertainty. Taking each moment as it comes, appreciating it for what it may bring, these tears caught in my throat, where I often find my emotions stuck, have led me to a few discoveries.

First, I finally found the title of the book I’ve intended to write for a while now. The Art of Being Lost: A Life of Wandering is a compilation of personal explorations into the unknown. I haven’t the faintest clue where it’ll take me (obviously, this is just how I operate), but I do have a sense of how I want to distribute.

I’ve already started work on the first chapter and will publish it by the end of April. I’m extremely excited to share this journey with you. And hey, if you subscribe now for the year, you’re pre-paying for a physical copy when it’s all finished, so you have something neat to look forward to!

I think it will be fun to switch things up a bit here with Kimiya. Since I’ll be doing a good deal of bopping around, here’s how I see this going:

1x per month piece (free) on the topics I’ve been covering with Kimiya here on Substack

1x per month book chapter release to paid subscribers only

As always, Telegram channel subscribers (free) get daily-ish curated links, ideas, thoughts, etc., plus videos and photos from whatever I’m up to.

I may also release these chapters or pseudo-magazine pieces on partner platforms outside of Substack as well.

More updates soon! As I said at the top, I’ll post more frequent updates to the Kimiya Telegram channel, Instagram stories, Warpcast, and everywhere else.