Oct 4, 2007
A new Junkie
Lying on the top deck of a Disney yacht, a friend told me after a long silence, “You know, I’d spend the rest of my life traveling on a boat like this.” At that moment, I’d had the exact same thought.
I’d never been one of those people preternaturally attracted to water. Before these last couple of weeks, I would’ve preferred to live in the mountains than on the coast. Then, I went on a series of “junk trips”—a term used in Hong Kong to describe an outing on any type of boat. The first junk trip was also filled with interesting, intelligent people who were a joy to talk with—as well as having five Princeton graduates. We went wakeboarding, which I’d never done before and is an absolute blast. Periodically, we would leap into the bay from the top deck. Mostly though, we just lied out on the roof, shooting the breeze.
On the return into Hong Kong harbour, while everybody else was mesmerized by a rare sunset, I watched my apartment window come into view, and I felt lucky to be where I am. I turned to watch the sunset, which put the Hong Kong skyline into silhouette against an orange sky. A friend turned to me, handed me a beer, and asked, “Ain’t this the life?”
I thought to myself, “Sometimes, it’s hard to believe that this really is my life.” I sipped my beer, watched Hong Kong get slowly larger ahead of me, and chided myself for not bringing my nice camera. Then, I went on two other junk trips the next week.
This really is the life.