Today is my birthday, so I’m sending a little birthday wish to myself right here. Wishing myself lots of health, endless joy, and the freedom I’ve been longing for.
This year also marks one of the milestones of my life: I’ve officially turned 30. That means I’ve lived through half of a lifetime — a journey that has been peaceful and gentle so far.
I hope that in the second half of my life, even though I know there will be storms ahead, I’ll still be able to get through them all — and remain calm and grounded, just like I have been until now.
Besides turning 30, this is also the year I officially step into a very challenging journey — a journey I only became aware of about two years ago, and spent a full year preparing for: the journey to find freedom. It could be financial freedom, freedom in life, or freedom in the soul…
I truly admire those of you who figured out the meaning of life early on. As for me, I only started to vaguely sense it at 28, became more certain at 29, and only now, at this weirdly in-between age of 30, am I actually starting to search for it — for myself.
If you’ve known me for a while, you probably already know that I started breaking away from the idea of a “stable life” pretty early on. Back in high school, I already loved the idea of going places. As a student, I enjoyed volunteering in remote areas, taking road trips across the country, and after graduation, I “went off the grid” for three whole years before returning to Saigon (home).
Even now, I still choose and work in jobs that allow me to travel, go on work trips, and move around — not being tied to a fixed office. And something I really love is living in a new, unfamiliar city for a short while — just long enough to soak in the culture, the people, the vibe — then moving on to the next.
I used to think I just loved traveling, adventure, exploring, and trying new things. But no — what I truly crave is freedom. If I go somewhere, even for travel or experience, but I’m stuck within a set structure, I don’t feel comfortable. It’s only when I feel free that I truly feel alive — that I feel like myself.
Some people might wonder, “You must’ve been really restricted at home to long for freedom that much, huh?” But actually, no — my home is very open. My family has always loved and supported me, never tried to stop or judge me for anything I’ve wanted to do. I just love to roam. In fact, ever since I was little, my mom once saw how I held chopsticks and joked, “This one’s definitely not going to stay close to home in the future.”
Ever since I graduated, it’s been a tough journey (that’s the price of freedom, I guess — haha), so I haven’t been to that many places yet. But one of my goals in the coming years is to travel all over Vietnam first — and then, little by little, fly out into the vast world.
Just like the birds — no one knows where they’ll fly next. The world is far too big and life is far too short for us to stay perched on the same branch forever. — Ngoc Hieu
P/S: My favorite song of all time is Riders In The Sky – Neil LeVang (1961)
Thank you for reading my sharing, hopefully it has brought more or less useful value to you.
- Sky -