Instagram as a visual diary
Seoul, South Korea: Buddha’s Birthday lanterns. Love it or hate it, call it photography or not, there’s something romantic about Instagram. Captured spur of the moment with a smartphone, these digitally-enhanced, square-formatted images are both visually appealing and a great tool for documentation. For about a year, I’ve been uploading photos on Instagram, and in some...
Spring festivals in Korea: the Jindo Sea Parting and Butterflies
Last weekend, I walked across a parted sea wearing thigh-high rubber boots, chewed on wiggling octopus tentacles, and saw a baby wild boar poop on a guy’s t-shirt–all within 24 hours. With Adventure Korea, a budget travel company catered to foreigners, I traveled to Jeollanam-do, Korea’s southwestern province, to attend two annual spring festivals. On...
Biking around Upo Wetland, strawberry picking, and experiencing my own funeral
Last Saturday, I embarked on a weekend trip to the southeast province of Gyeongsangnam-do to bike around a famous wetland, mingle with other travelers and teachers, pick fresh strawberries and visit a festival celebrating the Daegaya Kingdom. Once again, I traveled with Adventure Korea, a well-established tour company catered to foreigners and travelers in Korea....
Notes on backpacking through Thailand
I’ve been traveling on my own since I was 17. I lived with a host family in Italy the summer after my third year of high school, and before I started college, I saved money by waiting tables and scooping ice cream at my part-time job to study Spanish in Peru. However, I didn’t embark...
A peek inside a Buddhist sculpture studio
Over the past few years, I’ve attended an array of lantern parades and festivals throughout Asia, filled with skillfully-crafted floats and lanterns. I snapped the photo above at the Buddha’s birthday lantern parade in 2009, and ever since, I’ve been curious as to how these massive, fragile works of art are created. Surprisingly, I happened...
An ode to my old neighborhood in northeast Seoul
“Dolgoji station,” I tell him. “Dolgoji?” “Yes, Dol-go-ji,” I repeat, enunciating each syllable. We stop hiking and he stares at me in utter confusion. “Sorry, I don’t know where that is.” This is the response I receive from nine out of ten Koreans when I tell them where I live. Or rather, where I lived....
Secrets of Taroko
After a few days in Taichung, my Taiwanese friend Olivia and I traveled to Hualien, a naturally-preserved, remote beach town on Taiwan’s east coast. The sun was shining, the air was crisp, and we spent a few days biking, walking along the beach and drinking beers on the rocks, while listening to the waves crashing...
Stinky Tofu and Sweet and Sour Soup: dinner in a Taiwanese night market
“Sarah must be used to living in Korea; she’s taking pictures of her food,” Olivia’s dad commented as we were eating snacks in the night market in Taichung. Olivia, a Taiwanese friend that I met in college, translated for me, and I laughed, setting my camera down and admitting that he was 100% correct. Ever...
![A traditional Taiwanese market in Taichung [pics]](http://www.mappingwords.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/market1-290x290.jpg "A traditional Taiwanese market in Taichung [pics]")
A traditional Taiwanese market in Taichung [pics]
I stayed with my friend Olivia and her family for five days in Taichung. One day, Olivia, her mom, and I strolled through a traditional market, where her mom would buy some ingredients for dinner. I love visiting markets and grocery stores throughout the world, because I am constantly intrigued by varying atmospheres and types...
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