fbpx
Skip to content Skip to footer
Menu
Story
Alienation
It’s strange. You arrive to a new land, there are people to greet you. At first you don’t understand; in fact, you don’t understand for quite a while. But speaking your mother tongue never did you any good anyway. Communication was always hard for you. They say things with their hidden contexts and words you…
February 24, 2020
Story
One of the Girls
It’s quiet outside, a little too quiet. There are meant to be 17 other people here but I haven’t seen any signs of life. Tired, culture-shocked, and utterly starving, I get my first ever meal in Canggu delivered to my villa’s door: a veggie burger with chips, an order akin to that of a seven-year-old…
February 16, 2020
Story
The Pessimist in the Pool
A screech of, “GET ME IN THAT FUCKEN POOL!” rattles the oven air. Through the haze of red wine fumes baking off my body and the pain of sticky thongs rubbing on sweating, fluid-filled feet, I see the heavenly azure expanse that is the pool and quicken my hobble towards it. My friend Ebony and…
February 16, 2020
Story UK
Sushi, Sex and the Boy Who Broke My Heart
“You’d be more attractive if you smoked and were less of a feminist,” he slurs, sloppily, arm slung like a dead weight over my shoulder as I walk him home after yet another drunken escapade. These words were not those of a nemesis nay, not even an acquaintance.  No, instead these words came from someone…
February 16, 2020
Story
What It’s Like to Travel With Chronic Fatigue
“Fuck it," I said as I clicked book. The decision was final. I was going on an adventure.  When travelling, especially as a young person, there’s an unspoken expectation that you have boundless energy, so being constantly drained doesn’t fit the bill. As a 17-year-old in my final year of school, I contracted glandular fever,…
February 10, 2020
Story
Looking For Reasons Why
“So you attracted your own attacker by manifestin’ him through your nightmares…” The round, well-meaning woman sits nodding to herself comfortably in her chair. White walls enclose on me, and whilst she makes every effort to soften the room with personal photos and her Chihuahua sitting quietly at her feet, neither the carefully chosen tone…
February 6, 2020
Bali Story
Cold Water and Sliding Doors
I’m halfway through my month-long escape in Bali and my weeks have begun forming a pattern. Monday morning, wake up early, yoga, green tea. Tuesday morning, wake up early, journal, green tea. By the time Wednesday rolls around, I’m dead out of wholesomeness and ready to party. This week is no different, as I prepare…
January 15, 2020
Japan Story
A Bit of Bad Fortune in Tokyo
During my stay in Japan, I observed a lot of fortune-telling in Tokyo. I write “observed” because I found it difficult to get my own fortune told given that my Japanese extends no further than, “bīru, kudasai” – one beer, please. I write “difficult” because it is a nice way of saying that I was…
January 6, 2020

Astray is a storytelling project centred on travel, community, identity and liberation.

We’re based out of Lenapehoking / New York City: the homeland of the Lenape. Specifically, we’re in Manhattan: a name that comes from Mannahatta, meaning “island of many hills”. As grateful guests in this city, we recognize the strength and resilience of the Lenape, and extend our reverence to all Indigenous peoples everywhere. This acknowledgement comes from our commitment to working against the ongoing legacies of settler colonialism.