When I was a kid, I suffered from speech impediment. Since I was unable to communicate verbally, I turned to art and music. Before college, I used to spend hours on weekends in an art studio, sketching and painting or tirelessly improvising on piano. However I did not continue to pursue art in college. Those days of expressing myself through art started to fade.

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I resorted to art again a few years after I moved to New York. It was a year full of uncertainties. 

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It was the year when my dad caught meningitis - it felt so real that I was almost going to lose him. It was the year I just graduated - I didn't know if I could land on a job as a foreigner. It was the year when my boyfriend at the time had to move to another country for work - we eventually ended the relationship over a long distance call. Having gone through that year, I feared for uncertainties, I feared to get attached and I feared for financial insecurity. 

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Towards the end of that pivotal year, a friend suggested me to take a solo trip and see the world from a different perspective. I finally purchased the flight tickets to Amsterdam and Brugges. I embarked on the journey with a gift to document my first solo trip from the same friend that suggested me to travel solo. - a DSLR camera. I vividly remember looking at the camera screen, feeling mesmerized about how the camera captured the light that I couldn't see with my own eyes at a restaurant in Amsterdam. I recall the magical moment when the taxi drove into a cobble stone alley in an old medieval village in Brugges. I fell in love with the experience. Since then, this love for seeing the world and capturing moments has taken me to many interesting places around the world.  

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After my first solo trip, I have traveled to more than 80 countries. Through those trips, I got to explore my limits and potential. I still fear for uncertainties, financial stability and many other things. But through my travels, I have learned that my life can only be fuller if I stay compassionate and curious, if I reach out and make connection, and in some cases, let go. 

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Looking back at the flaws in life that led me to exactly where I am now, at the time of happening, they didn’t seem to be the most welcoming or celebrating occasions. The speech impediment, the job insecurity, the possibility of losing a family member and the breakup. But I guess it is how people grow? ​Even in the darkest times in life, there is a silver lining. It might not be obvious at the time, but eventually you will see it down the road.​​