Story Archives - Page 13 of 20

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…

ByEmma SorayaJanuary 15, 2020

Story

I Toured Amsterdam’s Red Light District With My Mum

“Holy crap!” Mum shouts as a bike skyrockets past her, narrowly missing her little feet. “The bikes really own the roads and the bloody pavements here, don’t they?” “Maybe you shouldn’t stand in the bike lane, Ma.” “Oh, whoops.” She hops onto the pavement next to me and grabs my arm. Eventually, we manage to…

ByClaudia BesantJanuary 6, 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…

BySophie BrowningJanuary 6, 2020

Japan Story

My Friendship With a Quiet Japanese Bookstore Owner

The first thing I noticed about Colombo Cornershop was its owner doling out takeaway coffees from the side window. His bowl haircut and baggy red jumper were visible behind the glass, his hands at work on the steaming DeLonghi machine. He moved slowly, economically, with the focus of a sniper. He smiled at customers like…

ByDominic HoneJanuary 3, 2020

Story

The Dark Side of Voluntourism

Before our bags were packed our egos were boosted. Our air was shrouded in arrogance. Friends, family and strangers fuelled our vanity: what we were doing was "inspirational" and "selfless". The trip began to sound groundbreaking, like we were superheroes, and I bought it. I bought it until I stepped off the bus. We arrive…

BySandi DavisDecember 28, 2019

Story

What It’s Like to Work at a Hospital in Peru

It’s 8am in Cusco, Peru. I’m starting my shift at the general health clinic in San Sebastian, a suburb that’s a 20-minute bus ride from the centre. Yesterday was a sweaty day in the city; today though, my breath hangs in front of my face and I shiver in my raincoat. Intermittent rain…

ByTia NationDecember 10, 2019

Story

The Taxi Driver of Podgorica

Touch down in Podgorica Airport. The chill of Eastern European air encourages the hairs on my arm to stand in formation. Small pools of sweat slowly form underneath my black polar-fleece turtleneck after lugging my suitcase across the European continent. We’ve flown from Zurich to Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, and the sleek Swiss charm…

ByScarlett KennedyNovember 28, 2019

Mexico Story

My Moment with a Mexican Moses

For the first time on this trip, the cocaine looks unappealing. “I think I’m over it. I’ll just drink.” My mood is low -- mind and heart somewhere else, with someone else -- and in this brief moment, not even the exotic evening charms of Isla Mujeres can hold me here. I let my mind…

ByClaire Leonard-DyerNovember 28, 2019

Cambodia Story

They Say You Never Forget How to Ride a Bike, But I Had to Learn Three Times

On training wheels, my older sister used to race me. If she won, she would get an orange-flavoured Chupa Chup. If I won, we would both get an orange-flavoured Chupa Chup. She always let me win. At four, or some there-about appropriate age, I was hot off training wheels. But I never got back on…

ByJulia AhearneNovember 28, 2019

Story

The Highlight of My Eurotrip Was The Night I Got Spiked

It was 9:30pm and happy hour had well and truly begun on Mlini – the loud and jovial boat I was allocated on my Sail Croatia tour. Like a stale rickety staircase shrieks at two in the morning, Mlini creaked and clacked. It bobbed atop the salty waters, like an old, well-loved rubber duck in…

ByEbony MiocicNovember 28, 2019

Story

Reluctantly Dancing on Space Cakes

"The game is called Presidents," one of the French girls is saying, gesturing excitedly the way people explaining card games do, her words coming to me through a haze of smoke. "And the aim of the game is..." But I can't catch what she's saying. Right now, I'm the dumbest, slowest version of myself, my…

ByDominic HoneNovember 19, 2019

Bali Story

I Lived Next to a Slaughterhouse for a Month

I put a drop of soap into my menstrual cup and use my hands to spread the soap around the silicon. There is something grotesque about washing a menstrual cup while listening to pig squeals echoing from the abattoir down the street of the Bali villa. Paradise met with slaughter. The scent of my blood…

ByAlexis KellyNovember 15, 2019