Travel & Holidays

Q: Do you like travelling? A: Yes, though perhaps differently from how that question often gets answered. I like travelling when I have enough time in a place to feel some sense of the rhythm rather than just seeing the main sites. Short trips to unfamiliar cities are enjoyable but feel slightly unsatisfying if they're too brief. Q: Where did you go on your last holiday? A: Hoi An, which isn't very exotic given that I'm from Da Nang, but I hadn't been for about three years and went back for a long weekend. The streets at night are genuinely beautiful and it's one of those places that rewards revisiting because you notice different things each time. Also conveniently close. Q: Do you prefer travelling alone or with others? A: Alone for exploration, with others for everything else. When I travel alone I can follow my own pace — spend three hours in a museum if I want to, leave immediately if something isn't what I expected, eat at odd hours. With friends it's more social and more fun in a different way, but the practical compromises multiply quite quickly. Q: What kind of place would you most like to visit in the future? A: Japan, for a fairly long trip, not a short one. I've read about it and talked to people who've been and the consistent report is that it takes about a week before you stop feeling disoriented and start being able to actually observe things. A long weekend there would feel like being somewhere I hadn't actually arrived yet.