So What's So Special About A City?

What makes a city special? If you cut to the chase, it's just buildings, and vehicles, and people concentrated into one tiny area. Between Bangkok, KL, Singapore, or hundreds of other places in the world, there's not much difference, is there? 

For me, it's the people and the memories of shared experience that we try to immortalize through pictures, or sometimes video. Scenery, architecture, art... even camwhoring or food pics. And when we are looking at the pictures afterwards, to me, it's not how nice we look, I am remembering that special moment in time, and the story that the picture tells. What the city is, is the backdrop for story. The stage where we, the actors play on. 

It's not Hong Kong, it's 3 people going shop to shop, buying one bowl of wanton noodles at every one, to share so we can figure out which is the nicest one on the block. 

It's not Yangon, it's crazy buses with living, breathing street directories, and that story about the butterfly tattoo.

It's not Penang, it's competing to see who gets the better flower picture, and an amazing scooter trip. 

It's not Bangkok, it's the most amazing stewed pork, crazy dancing, conversations, and incredible connections in the most unlikely place. 

The list goes on. 

So thank you, you who made the cities that I have been to special. Cities are special because you made them so, and I am grateful for all the stories. 

Freedom

I'm do not understand people who say that they need to get away, and take a trip. How does one escape from one's mind?

To explore, have new experiences, to meet people and have a jolly good time, sure. To change the environment so as to get an epiphany, absolutely. Go travel.

But if you can't escape your mind, it doesn't matter where you go. A new country, another city, it's all the same. The greatest escape is right there between your ears, as is the strongest of prisons.

That's why the prisoner in the tower watches the flight the birds.

When your soul is unfettered, nobody and nothing can tie you down, and the rest is just, fiddly bits.