The next stage: Traveling alone

You ask me why I dwell in the green mountain;

I smile and make no reply for my heart is free of care.

As the peach blossom which flows downstream and is gone into the unknown,

I have a world apart that is not among men.

-Li Po

Li Po, a Chinese poet from the 8th century, captures the beauty of solitude.

I stumbled across this poem while researching a paper on 18th century Chinese and English gardens.

One week from now I will be traveling alone in Thailand and Myanmar (Burma). Of the two-and-a-half weeks I will travel, at least five of those days will be spent in solitude.

Finally, I have time to read, to think, to write, to be. No obligations. No deadlines. Just being free of care.

I will venture into the unknown. I will still be "among men" (as Li Po wrote) on my trip. Yet I will be reflecting on life as a college graduate. Yep, I finish my undergraduate education as soon as I hand in three more papers.

Another stage of life is beginning.

(Read more of Li Po's poems here.)