My travel map so far

Route timeline

Asia route ledger

Places that changed the map in my head.

• Visited
• Planning
• Next

I do not travel all the time. I travel when I can. But some places hit hard enough to keep making noise years later, and this map is mostly a record of that noise.

China 2018 made the world feel bigger: Xi’an at night, the Terracotta Warriors, the Great Wall making me question my decision-making, Shanghai lights, and the shock of scale. Korea 2019 made it feel layered with markets, forests, history, food, and one conversation that changed the War Memorial afterward. Japan 2020 was beautiful and intense, with Nara as a calm breath and Hakone as a frightening story that became useful later. Vietnam 2025 turned forty into food, coffee, history, chaos, and a lot of life.

Thailand 2026 is the next real mission: arrive lighter, stronger, more awake, and ready for the sea. Taiwan 2027 keeps showing up as a personal search for food, history, street energy, safe wandering, and maybe a new version of the feeling China left behind.

The travel map is not meant to become a perfect guide. It is a way to keep the personal texture: smell, food, noise, sadness, lights, museums, transit, quiet bars, coffee, and the strange little memories that make a place vivid later.

Evidence from the chaos

• China 2018: Xi’an Muslim Quarter at night, probably tanghulu, Terracotta Warriors bigger than expected, a hard Great Wall stretch, Shanghai feeling cinematic and social.
• Korea 2019: Gwangjang Market comfort food after a red-eye, Donghwasa forest near Daegu, a Korean War conversation, War Memorial of Korea.
• Japan 2020: getting lost for hours in Hakone, Nara feeling calm and kind, Hiroshima landing as real lives instead of abstract history.
• Vietnam 2025: Ho Chi Minh City chaos, xíu mại after a birthday hangover, bánh mì, cà phê trứng, War Remnants Museum.
• Thailand 2026: Bangkok lights, Kanchanaburi history, Chiang Mai rhythm, Krabi rest, arriving in November with more energy.
• Taiwan 2027: night markets, museums, military history, Kinmen, safe exploration, and a search for a different China-like spark.