Art & Illustration by Genevieve Santos: January 2010

Elephant Nature Park

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Ok, first replace Sheila with me and... THAT'S ME! hahaha
I'm minutes from being picked up for the Elephant Nature Park where I'll be a volunteer for a week. I never thought I'd be so excited about shoveling poo. Jo suggested stealing some to make stationary, but I don't know... Last night, I wandered through the Sunday Night Market in Chiang Mai with Carl/Karl (sp?) and snagged a journal just for the week. I'm so thrilled! I was writing in the journal this morning and thought of a couple things:

I'm halfway through my travels now. It feels like I was in Malaysia months ago and that I was there for months at a time. I feel like I've been in this city for more than 2 days. It's amazing how traveling has the capability of making life and time feel longer while usually time moves more quickly as you get older because of relevance and experience. Traveling does making you feel reborn: everything is new and time passes as if you're experiencing minutes and days for the first time.

Adventures in Sukhothai

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Hot damn it's been hella days since I've felt so inspired by ancient ruins & architecture. So beautiful there and really, motorbike is the way to explore. I spent so much time sketching in the hot hot heat and drawing portraits of kids in really big chairs and wrinkly old people... I wish I could post them RIGHT NOW! It feels so goooood to draw :)

Thoughts on Traveling...

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Here's an email I wrote to some friends while in KL. I realize I coooould post the email updates here. We'll see if I actually remember too :)

Before I left NYC, I went to a group meditation and when Angel read my energy, she said that I was going to meet like minded people. I completely understand what that means now and I only understand it now from these two days in Kuala Lumpur. I feel like people are divided into two groups when it comes to traveling: those who live to travel and those who travel to live. Those who travel to live use it as a way of escaping their reality. Those who live to travel are born with a wide-eyed curiousity, open and excited about how the world is. Traveling isn't an escape--it's what their life is. And I feel that way, and have felt that way ever since I said no to living comfortably in LA and yes to living a mystery life of a nomad. The emails I send, the adventures I have... they don't feel any more special to me than sitting down and having fish & rice with my aunt for dinner at home. Being on my own and traveling through SE asia is just as much an adventure as walking down Broadway in nyc. I don't mean these thoughts to sound snobby or anything... I think I'm just figuring out the type of person I am.

You'd be surprised by how many people I've met who have no fuckin' clue what they want to do with their lives but KNOW they have to travel right now, and for the next 6 months. And we all have an ending destination accompanied by a big fat question mark regarding what to do after that. I'm soooo comforted by this. Before I left I was freaking out and thinking, what the f am I doing with my life? Spending my money and then what? I don't know! Haha. I've met people who are traveling longer than me, have been to more places than me and I'm finding a space where I'm not rare, but part of a community.

Today has been like yesterday... a whirlwind of experiences and meeting people, and I love it. I love that I know so many things that I didnt know before just because I was in a specific place at a specific time.

Tin Can Pillow #1

Monday, January 11, 2010

Tada! I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.
Sweet, now I've earned my trip around SE Asia.
Time to put down the needle & thread for the sketchbook & pen.
Hello Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia & Malaysia! :)
I'll try to post when I can but no promises. If not, see you in a month!