Another Year Older

 Luang Prabang, Laos

For about an hour now, I’ve sat in this little cafe under the trees, just outside one of the many Wats in town, trying to upload a few photos I took yesterday while cycling around Luang Prabang. The upload failed numerous times, and in the end I was able to upload only the one photo you see above this text. Slow internet connections strike again.

And yet, it is very hard for me to grumble about such petty things. It is hard for me to grumble when, as today is my birthday, I can sit and think of all the amazing places I have been on birthdays in the past: Canada’s Winnipeg, Toronto, and Halifax; Amsterdam, Holland; Edinburgh, Scotland; Valletta, Malta; Japan’s Osaka and Tokyo; and now Luang Prabang, Laos. It is hard for me to grumble when the only sounds I hear are the bells of bicycles and the laughter of young monks walking by in their orange robes. It is hard for me to grumble when the sky is blue, the rest of the month promises to be filled with great adventures, and there are large and genuine smiles on all of the faces around me. It is hard for me to grumble in Laos, period.

The past year of my life was one of my best. Here’s hoping the next year of my life is just as action-packed and fulfilling.