“Oh right, that happened”

While I was in Japan and Korea last year I’d end each day by writing out the day’s events in a notebook that I had brought with me. The writings within that notebook, along with my photo archives and the memories in my brain, are the basis for the travelogue posts that I’ve been publishing over the preceding weeks and months that chronicle my journey overseas. As I’ve been rereading my notebook and preparing those travelogue posts I’ve had a number of times where I’ve come across something in my notebook that I had forgotten about. A good recent example comes from my post on Jeju Island. On my first full day on the island I visited Cheonjiyeon Falls and before rereading my notebook I could recall most of what happened there, but I had completely forgotten about the moment at Cheonjiyeon Falls when a group of Korean/Chinese girls inexplicably asked me to take a photo with them. I read the sentence in my notebook about that moment and in my head I said “Oh right, that happened” as the memory came bursting forth into my mind. Had I not written it down that little story might have been lost to time. My trip to Asia was only last year and I still remember the vast majority of it but I’m thankful that I brought along that notebook and took the time to write detailed descriptions of what happened each day. There were days on my trip where it was really inconvenient to be staying up late to write everything down, but whatever trouble I went through back then is being rewarded today in the preservation of the memories of an important life event.