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Story
A Piranha in Laos
I will never forget the screams of those floating Germans. There I was, belly up on a scorching tube, drifting down the guts of the Mekong River, when a tiny fish decided to take the toe of a Deutschland-hailing backpacker. And by take, I mean bite the fuck off. As I attempted, in vain, to…
March 18, 2021
Story
Smoking Saved My Life
“Fuck this stupid ass machine.” My feet sloppily kicked a rusty old Marlboro cigarette dispenser as I muttered under beer-drenched breath. By then, I had been consumed by joyous Latin salsa for hours — a far cry from the longing acoustic Fado that soundtracked Lisbon by day. Between pumping live brass, liquid flowing hips and…
February 23, 2021
Australia Story
The Grand Escape
"Farkkk. Well, there go our winter holiday plans.” As Gladys announced the NSW-Victorian border closure, I felt my heart sink. It wasn’t unexpected, just another shitty trick in the shocking magic show that has been 2020. I closed my eyes. The spark of hope that had been a planned roadtrip during an otherwise dreary year…
January 23, 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,…
December 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…
November 17, 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.