blog — story strathman

2019 in Three Acts

Best year of my life?

I can sum up the year with the word effortless, despite the fact that it also managed to be one of my most challenging. It was definitely not easy. It was definitely a lot of fun.

It’s hard for me to separate things from each other. I rarely draw hard lines; colors blur, feelings mix, and everything affects everything else. Though this means I tend to live viscerally and feel intensely (which I’ve concluded after much reflection is an overall positive thing, though horrifically inconvenient at certain times), it also means that life can be extra messy. This has been a messy, free-flowing year. But mess isn’t always a bad thing.

New Zealand, Life Lessons, TravelStory StrathmanJanuary 1, 2020new zealand, year review, 2019Comment

An Update in Two Parts

The last time I posted something was in August. I haven’t been sitting here doing nothing for the last four months. I just needed a break.

I actually wrote a whole blog post about my first several weeks in Hanmer Springs, but as I was reading it back it just seemed too pessimistic. I tried to articulate that I was having a difficult time, but it was still too fresh in my mind and came out sounding sad and lonely.

Travel, New ZealandStory StrathmanDecember 9, 2019Comment

Human Things

When I left for my holiday in Japan, I felt like something was ending and something was starting at the exact same time. Ever since I got on that first plane leaving Christchurch, I felt a storm brewing in my brain. Japan was the final calm before it really got started (though I definitely felt the beginnings of stuff being brought up to the surface) and since returning to New Zealand last week, I’ve felt like my brain has been in a million different places.

Travel, New Zealand, Lost, Life LessonsStory StrathmanAugust 16, 2019travel, personal growth, lost, human, grandmaComment

Ocean Waves, Soy Sauce, and Other Salty Things

As I write this, I’m still in Japan. I think it’s a good thing that my return to solo travel happened in Tokyo, because Tokyo is a really easy place to get distracted in. When I’m sad I like to be distracted, just a little bit. Julien Solomita (youtuber and ½ of the Jenna + Julien Podcast) once said, “My serenity is chaos.” Even though I’m not an Aries, I relate to that. I’m comforted by being another face in a large crowd. I’m also not 100% against being just a bit gloomy – like, I don’t completely hate feeling the ache.

Life Lessons, New Zealand, TravelStory StrathmanAugust 12, 2019japan, travel, new zealand