Kids, Nepal
Canon PowerShot G7-X 9mm F/1.8 1/15s ISO6400
Humayun Tomb, New Delhi, India
Canon EOS 700D 18mm F/9 1/40s ISO160
Osaka
Canon EOS 700D 45mm F/9 1/250s ISO100
Diaries Worth Keeping
Franca Marquardt
I
always knew that I wanted to travel the
world and see how other people live their
lives. I wanted to see the incredible nature,
taste authentic foreign food and go on as
many adventures as I could. My school life
was pretty uneventful, so I soon discovered
that I get bored very easily and that routine
was abhorrent to me. So after I graduated
from high school last summer, I decided to
take a year off before starting university to
finally do everything I ever wanted to do, with
nothing to hold me back. However, I had to
save up some money first and to that end, I
worked at a bakery for four months.
Even though the work got tough sometimes,
the feeling of accomplishment that I got
after earning my own money was worth it. I
intended to use my salary to make my dreams
come true. So this January, I finally packed
my bags and took off on a flight to New Delhi.
I spent five days in the capital city of India,
which was very overwhelming at first but it
prepared me really well for what was yet to
come. After a lot of research, I decided to
spend the first six weeks of my trip living at a
farm in Nepal. I wanted to see a life that was
completely different from the life I was living
at home, while learning more about the third
world countries and how we can help the
people there. With that view, I volunteered
for a project called “Her Farm” which is the
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only farm in the country that’s entirely owned
and operated by women. The farm is also
home to homeless children and mentally
challenged women. There I learnt a lot about
the hardships of being a woman in Nepal
and seeing these women fighting for a better
future was invigorating and empowering.
I made friends with some women there and
we spent a lot of time talking about how
different and yet familiar our lives are. I
discovered that despite everything, we face
similar problems that girls our age do- about
love, going to universities, meeting parents'
expectations and so on. I also really loved
working with the children and taking lots of
pictures with them. It was amazing to see how
everyone was interested in my camera and
how they gradually started taking pictures
themselves. They have a few cameras at the
farm and I hope they will continue with
clicking photographs. It is important for
Nepalese women to be in the media and to
share their stories. After quite a long stay
at the farm, it was time for me to explore
other places in Nepal. I traveled by bus to
Kathmandu, visited the Chitwan National
Park and then went to Pokhara. It, being my
first time as a solo traveller, I was naturally
apprehensive, but all that disappeared when
I met some amazing people at the places I
visited and stayed in. It was interesting to
know their stories and why they ventured
out of their homes to travel the world. I
especially remember this one, a retired man
from Switzerland who sold his house and is
now riding through Asia on his motorbike.
It was exhilarating to see the spirit of life in
these people, something a lot of people lack
back home.
The month of April brought me to the city of
Bangkok where I met my friend, Carly. We
spent a few days exploring Bangkok and then
took the overnight train to Koh Samui. My love
for big cities grew even more with Bangkok
and its incredible food, street markets, and its
vibrant nightlife. After roaming around the
bustling city, the islands were nothing short of
a traveller's dream come true as we spent our
last days in Thailand swimming and relaxing
on the hot sun-kissed beaches.
Following Robert Frost's advice on taking
the road less travelled, I had decided to visit
the places that weren't frequented by tourists.
This decision led me to book a tour through
Sumatra, the northern part of Indonesia. We
went from Medan to Padang, passing through
big cities, lush tropical rainforests and lonely
islands. It was thrilling to see the places that
nobody has ever hea