a bird over the water . san onofre, ca . polaroid sx-70

A year ago today, I began my trip home.

a dust devil . near fresno, ca . canon 5D mk2

pyramid lake . on the grapevine, ca . canon 5D mk2

the skyline . los angeles, ca . canon 5D mk2

when the I-5 sign changes to say san diego . santa ana, ca . canon 5D mk2

birds & men . san onofre, ca . canon 5D mk2

flying in the breeze . san onofre, ca . canon 5D mk2

the sun . san onofre, ca . polaroid 420 land camera

welcome home . san diego, ca . canon 5D mk2

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A year ago this morning in Sacramento, I got into my car, turned on the GPS and it asked me: “Where to?” I pressed one button.

“Home.”

I was on the last stretch of what was a wonderful trip, and I was happy to be getting home, but sad the whole experience was over. I began driving and noticed that the GPS was taking me to CA-99 instead of I-5 which is what I usually take when I drove home. Well the heck with it, I thought, why not take 99 then? This was a trip for firsts and this was definitely be a first for something I was so familiar with doing.

And let me tell you, it was just as boring at I-5!

LOL, okay maybe not AS boring, there were certainly more cities that I passed through, and I saw lots of ‘dust devils’ that were basically little tiny tornadoes, but it was pretty uneventful aside from that.

The only stop I made besides getting gas, was at San Onofre, to say a little farewell to driving on the coast – at least on this trip. The birds there were pretty fun, I would watch them just hang in one spot because it was so windy. They would just stay there, with their wings outstretched, enjoying the feeling of not going anywhere at all for the moment.

As I drove through San Diego, I had made it in time for sunset – yet again. :) And then I was home.

. . . . . . . . . .

People had asked me, why did you take this trip? What were you going for? The title says it all, I was going for clarity.

Clarity within myself, clarity as an artist. I think for myself, it was so easy to fall into the same routine, the same things, the same mindset. Especially if I never got out of my comfort zone/California box. Our experiences are what enrich us as people, and I wasn’t really experiencing anything new. I wasn’t sure if the things that I was doing were things that were easy to do, or things that I really wanted to do. Forcing myself out of my comfort zone, out of my regular box, allowed me to really evaluate situations that I came across and form my own opinions. And my own viewpoints, I think. I became surer of myself as a person, and I think that in large part, it was not only the experiences I gained and the places I saw, but the people that I came in contact with too. I adapted habits from people I stayed with, and created routines that I found fit *me.* I had wonderful conversations and felt like I was able to think differently. And not only that, but it allowed me to be more open to many things.

I was able to approach life and situations with openness, and because of that, people seemed to react to me more openly too. It allowed for genuine interactions and for that I was truly grateful. I find it hard to keep that openness alive at home – you’re so occupied with daily life and work and tasks that you don’t look at everything so openly and with curiosity – you’re really just wanting to get things done, or make your way around. But ever since coming back, I’ve been making a genuine effort to try and look at my surroundings with the same openness, and curiosity, or – with “fresh eyes” as a friend said. ;) It allows me to look at things with a fresh perspective, or at least, allows me to be more open to people around me and the possible experiences that might happen because of that openness.

You think that paragraph could’ve had the word open one more time? lol

On top of that, I’ve learned to honor myself and the passions that I have, and what drives me. Because of this, I have had a few projects surface, one of which I shall be sharing soon. :) These passions don’t just come from anywhere, it is what drives us to a goal, and has the potential to be something great if we let it. Will it be scary to pursue? Most likely. Will it be hard? Most definitely. Will it be amazing & worth it when it happens? Oh, yes.

:)

“The journey is the reward.” - Chinese Proverb

So, to close this chapter, I just wanted to say thank you to those who have supported me on this journey & thank you to everyone who was with me on this journey. <3 I am grateful for you all. I am who I am thanks to all of you.

*

Previous road trip posts:
the beginning. | day one. | day two. | day three. | day four. | portland . the home. | portland . the city. | patrick’s point . film.|seattle . part one. | seattle . part two. | the man in the alley. | the road to ashland. | ashland . part one. | ashland . part two. | the journey home . part one. |

the journey home . canon 5d mk II . oregon/california border

the hills steeped in rain . canon 5d mk II . oregon/california border

the clouds . canon 5d mk II . oregon/california border

oregon thanks you . canon 5d mk II . oregon/california border

the road back . canon 5d mk II . near the northern california border

mt shasta . canon 5d mk II . mt shasta, ca

a tree . canon 5d mk II . somewhere near redding, ca

the sacramento river & county line . canon 5d mk II . sacramento, ca

the delta king/old sacramento . canon 5d mk II . sacramento, ca

the sunsets i grew up with . canon 5d mk II . sacramento, ca

. . . . . . . . . . . .

A year ago today, I left for my solo road trip up and down the west coast – something that would change my life & in many ways, make me who I am today. In the past year I feel like I got a little older, a little wiser, a little more sure of who I am and a little happier. Well, maybe a lot happier. Things like this really do bring some clarity into your life. :)

This particular blog post is about my journey home though, and the new perspectives I’ve gained since taking that trip. You know, since it’s taken a whole year for me to even begin to finish blogging my road trip! ;)

I left Ashland that afternoon, ready to head back home, but I had to stop at another home before making the whole way down – the home I grew up in. It was actually a bit of a struggle to even go on this trip – imagine telling Asian parents that their only daughter wants to go on road trip all by herself for two weeks and drive over 2000 miles? Yea, I don’t think many Asian parents would be too keen on that, even if said daughter no longer live at her parent’s home.

On the journey down, my favorite spot had to be the Oregon/California border. It was on & off raining throughout the drive, which I thought was amazing because it transformed the landscape to this constant changing vista. At the border, I could see the hills beyond and I could see the rain falling in between the curves of the landscape. It was almost like steam coming off the hills. I also love Oregon’s goodbye sign too, and I had a moment to say goodbye for now to possibly my favorite state.

About 5 or 6 hours later, I reached Sacramento, where I decided to stop off at Old Sacramento to catch the gorgeous sunset that I was so used to seeing growing up. Sacramento still holds the place for the most vibrant sunsets that I have ever seen on a consistent basis. But I haven’t traveled too much, so I’m sure there are other places out there that have even more vibrant sunsets on a regular basis.

Upon going to my parent’s house, I was warmly greeted by my family, where my mother told me that she was so proud of what I had done. What? When I first told her, she harshly resisted the idea of me going, but here she was telling me that she was proud! In many ways, that in itself was worth the trip and the struggle it took for me to tell them, knowing that they would be very unhappy about it.

A lot of times I do think that many of the struggles we go through produce the greatest result – if I had never told my parents, they would never have had a reason to be proud of what I did. And believe me, I considered not telling them, just to spare the stress of the many arguments/conversations that we will have about it. But I wanted them to be a part of it, a part of my journey, and I’m extremely glad that I did. :)

Next up, my journey home to San Diego, my thoughts, and the clarity I gained.

*

Previous road trip posts:
the beginning. | day one. | day two. | day three. | day four. | portland . the home. | portland . the city. | patrick’s point . film. |seattle . part one. | seattle . part two. | the man in the alley. | the road to ashland. | ashland . part one. | ashland . part two. |