I left Toronto on May 5th, 2005 and experienced a year's worth of adventures, friendships and stunning views.
Several months prior, I had this strong desire to do something different. I knew I wanted to see more of the world, to draw new things, to meet people from different cultures, to see unusual landscapes and to experience different ways of living.
Then I started reading travel books, and emailing artists from Singapore to New Zealand, and figuring out a budget. The more I researched, the more feasible it seemed to become! I made a decision: to travel around the opposite side of the world for 1 year.
It became a mission, there was no stopping me. And it probably gave me strength to get through the harder parts. Saying goodbye to everyone for a whole year isn’t easy! I left a good job, sold almost everything I owned and relied on a Lonely Planet to help guide me where to eat, sleep and how to say hello in every language.
So I put everything I needed into a backpack and flew to Hong Kong. It wasn’t until I was on the flight, and the pilot announced, that I realized the day… “Welcome aboard, on the 5th day of the 5th month of 2005… 05.05.05!!! Andrea's Number says 5 means big change—and May 5th also happens to be her birthday :)
Throughout the year, I took about 20,000 photographs and filled 11 sketchbooks. I did keep a blog, although this was right before Facebook and social media, when most things were shared privately. So now I’d like to share those photos and sketches that many of you never saw. And I’m looking forward to reliving every day of those experiences and conversations and beautiful things from 10 years ago.
I hope you enjoy this 1 year journey!
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