Story Archives - Page 10 of 21

I Copied an Influencer and Went to a Cacao Ceremony. I Didn’t Love the Aftertaste.

“A Cacao what?” This question, accompanied by a quizzical tilt of the head, was the standard response I received when I told people I’d spent a casual evening attending a cacao ceremony in Sydney. Long before the threat of Covid-19 cast a dark cloud over the possibility of social activity, I embarked on a solo…

ByCharlotte MiddletonJanuary 18, 2021

Mexico Story

Taking Lessons from Day of the Dead, Mixe Style

Staring down the shot glass of yet another pre-10am mezcal, I push any thoughts of What about my life productivity? aside and focus on what’s happening in front of me in the dirt-floored kitchen nestled within the lush, wet mountains. My mates and I are in San Pedro y San Pablo Ayutla (or Ayutla, to her…

ByKirsty Le JugeJanuary 5, 2021

Story

The Overnight Train To The North Pole

If you were to find yourself in streets of Helsinki in the midst of a Finnish winter, don’t be surprised by a shower of snow falling gently from the sky without a moment’s notice. Following a successful thrift of (definitely) ugly Christmas sweaters and a tipsy game of Cards Against Humanity in a nearby pub,…

ByNatalie BlazevskiDecember 25, 2020

Japan Story

The Writer’s Routine

Six o’clock. Greeting her in the dim light, the mirror on the far wall can only fit a proportionate view of her features. It is small and inornate, but she can see a pair of eyes and ears, a nose and lips. She is a writer, but nobody the likes of Virginia Woolf stares back…

ByJada De LucaNovember 17, 2020

Story US

One More Jewel in the Corona: On Doing Exchange in the US in 2020

This year, I cast aside the dirt-encrusted vouchers for disappointment and bought the VIP Backstage Experience for the United States 2020. In late August, I boarded a desolate flight from Heathrow to Boston to pursue my Master’s degree. My first morning in the city had me tuning into the local news channels to scope the…

ByShifra PowerNovember 17, 2020

Story Thailand

How Backpacking Taught Me to Embrace the Unexpected

It was the night before the Thai new year festival of Songkran, and we were spending it in the luggage hold of a bus. We curled side by side, facing each other, hemmed in on every side by holdalls, suitcases, and backpacks. Even in the darkness, we could feel the sticky heat of the Thai…

ByCaitlin BrownNovember 17, 2020

Story

The Day I Fell in Love With a Flat Earther

“Tell me something I don’t know,” she said. We were drinking champagne from the bottle, wearing only bathrobes in the suite of a 19th-century estate turned hotel two hours south of London. As the alcohol and dopamine coursed through my system, I managed to dig up a fact I’d heard in a science podcast months earlier:…

ByOscar LongNovember 10, 2020

Story

Nonna’s Lens: Fighting and Finding Stillness in Isolation

In front of the hills of Arthur’s Seat, Margherita Nerini-Garcia stands before the Mornington Peninsular shore. Margherita, my nonna, pulls off her dress and throws herself into the water like a puppy without a lead. She lifts her feet, kicking the buckle of the current from underneath her. It is here, in the surge of…

ByJasmine AlavukNovember 2, 2020

Story

Overwhelmed and Underwater

Crystal clear waters. The wings of a giant manta gliding above me while I float, weightless, in the ocean. This was how scuba diving was sold to me. So how did I end up throwing up over the side of a boat with blood trickling out of my right nostril? That morning I was sitting…

BySachini PoogodaSeptember 17, 2020

Story

I Got High With My Parents in Kenya (and They Didn’t Know)

Cozmoz arrived with his usual perky walk, wearing flip flops that belonged to two different pairs and red plastic shades lifted over his head. He always had them, even at night. We arranged to meet in a small bar run by Italians in one of the side streets of Watamu's centre, because it was the…

ByGaia LampertiSeptember 14, 2020

Australia Story

“We Won Tumut”: A COVID-Inspired Roadtrip

Every good road trip starts with a morning after pill. The morning after pill is basically the same as time travel and is particularly good bought from a pharmacy in a one-street town just off the highway three hours inland from Sydney. The road started to wind as we ate pies and ascended into Kosciuszko…

ByLucy SmallAugust 24, 2020

Story

Lessons in Ignorance from an Aid Worker in Iraq

They are calling for my flight to begin boarding. The little screen spells out Erbil, Iraq, in all capitals. I no longer get nervous before flying to foreign countries; it’s a regular routine of mine now. But this time is different. My stomach is in knots. I scan the line of people. No one else…

ByLee McDermidAugust 19, 2020