If you've ever been to Vietnam, you know crossing the street is a terrifying and stressful task for visitors to the country. Now take that initial stress and add in the fact that Vietnam just ousted Qatar in football semi-finals. Celebrations flood the streets on motorbikes and trucks, and meanwhile, hapless pedestrians (mainly tourists who don't have bikes like myself) carefully wade through the crowd. 

Ho Chi Minh City - you're crazy. I have some video clips of this mess so if anyone is curious of how this is live, feel free to comment below. Cue the chaos. ​

Some blurry selfies that turned out terribly.

To put this into perspective - here is a "normal" day.

I mean... look at this view. I spent half a year taking this view and city for granted. Did you know that of all of Hong Kong land, around 75% is countryside? That is not obvious from the picturesque city skyline and images of the dense population that typically circulate online.

Then you take the subway and end up in places like this!

These are photos from the famous Dragon's Back hike to Shek O beach. I could detail the trail but there are many resources out there online on how to get to the trail head from Central. 5 years ago, Andrew and I first did this hike with a group of our new uni friends who we had only known for a few weeks at that point.

Flashbacks, anyone? 

This post is inspired by a friend who has just moved to New York City from California, after living in California for most of his life. Talking to him reminded me of my first thoughts when I moved from the temperate climate of California to a place with true seasons, 

Summer
Oh. My. Goodness. What is this disgusting humidity and why won't my sweat evaporate? No, please no, the subway is 4 minutes away and I need to wait in this sticky and odd smelling subway station as I wait. What is that smell? Is it trash? Is it body odor? Is it the subway rat's leftover pizza that is growing mold?

Fall
Ahhh, I dig this weather. Sunny and mild weather. Wow! The trees change color here and it's not because of a drought. What a beautiful sight! Can it be this season forever? This is what I'm used to. Time for apple cider donuts? What?!

Winter
Winter is coming, they said. Buy long underwear, they said. Why did you move here, they asked. I don't know, I replied.

​Snow is so beautiful...let's go outside! *cue the regrets*

20 minutes later... WTF. I cannot feel my face or my toes. My beautiful leather boots are destroyed! My ears hurt. My nose is running. Time to go inside... 

Spring
Okay, this is not bad. It's a little rainy and slushy on the streets but you know what, it's not bad. There are no more snowstorms ahead and think of all of the Central Park picnics and rooftop bars! Summer is coming...

 On on our first full day on Sao Miguel island, we were ambitious and tackled a couple of lengthy hikes sandwiched between visits to the hot springs in Furnas (See my post on the caldeiras of Sao Miguel). 

I was admittedly a bit nervous tackling double digit km hikes, since it had only been 8 months since I broke my ankle and had not done a hike with elevation since the surgery. Thankfully I had my pack mule/human GPS/boyfriend who was very aware of my limitations and basically carried all of my belongings.    (You the best!)

In terms of the trails, the paths on Sao Miguel island were extremely well documented with the clearest and simplest trail signage I've encountered. The weather and atmosphere was the epitome of moodiness, with the air getting mistier and colder as you approach the peaks, even though you have just left a sunshine filled road at the bottom of the trail.