Dear Janine, It has been exactly 6 months since you left this earthly realm. And what a journey you have sent me on. I am writing you from a little Nepali village on a green hilltop. The pine trees stretch up majestically and the birds and the insects are singing away. A cool breeze tenderly…
Naked and wounded, here I lay sprawled across your bosom. Raw am I, stripped of layer after layer. Mere core remains. My vulnerable soul I offer up to you, Pachamama. It is all I have left. Naked and wounded, here I lay sprawled across your bosom. Death destruction pain heartbreak loss depression poverty murder Theft…
It is the dark of night, and the time has come. I pick up the red candle, berry-flavoured, full of life and sweetness like you. Upon lighting the candle, we sit down in the universal triangle around it. I take a deep breath, relax my body and mind, and sink into a meditative state. In…
Did you know that 47.5 square kilometres of Nairobi are public space? That almost one-twelfth of the city is ours, as the public, to do what we want with? To play, to create, to relax, to imagine, to paint, to dance, to make music, to perform, to protest, to sing, to come together, to share,…
Hold me close ancient guardians Woman breathe Woman relax Woman love Ancient females lift me up Rise, woman Fierce woman Gentle woman The angry masculine energies of violence Are growing, overpowering The world is under siege Our souls are infested. Sweet tender Mother Earth Whom we have wrecked and wreaked havoc upon Dear forgiving mother…
Nairobi, Kenya. Six days to the national elections. There is a cloud of fear and dread casting a dark shadow over the whole country. Murky and sticky shadows swirl into every household keeping people awake with worry at night trying to plan the next move. The future is uncertain. You wake up with a spinning head, heavy…
Geometric patterns flash in neon colours Circling and changing Coming together to form A river The room is melting The people are melting I am melting My face They burp and fart and vomit Organic sounds in the lush jungle We float down the river As the shaman jollily sings The icaro song swirls around…
“You can call me lady-boy, he-she, she-male, whatever, I don’t care. I am proud of who I am.” I spent a weekend in Bangkok couchsurfing with one of the most beautiful transgender models in the world. Fiona Solis is a proud Filipino who now lives in Thailand, working as a model, real estate agent, make-up…
Listen to these beats from Bomba Estéreo as you read about the lush and lively country where I began my dream backpacking trip… Endless emerald green rolling hills and majestic mountains of the Andes were my hypnotising reward for the hours upon days spent bussing around southwest Colombia. Then the salsa – there’s a reason Colombians have a…
I can now die with no regrets. In December 2013, amidst studies in California, I crossed the border to Mexico on foot and tried out this ‘backpacking’ thing for a month. Remind me to tell you some crazy stories from that trip another day. After that month, a dream formed, of a long backpacking trip…