Inspiring Instagrams We Love to Follow

Posted by charmie on November 26, 2013

If you’re feed is anything like mine, you can almost drown in a never ending feed of images. In our day and age of selfies and “what I ate today” image frenzy, there are those images that make you stop, look, and listen to their story. My favorite instagrams is my version of highly addicting TV shows (since I don’t have a TV) These wandering folks have taken my imagination to some far away places, somewhere I’ve been or where I’d like to go and I’m always curious to see where their perspective will lead me next.

@ourwildabandon: They were scheduled to be back in Canada by Novemeber 1st, but they’re not even halfway through with their US road trip. These girls and their camper named Bobby Jean makes you lust for camp vibes, big skies, desert trips, and the freedom of the open road.

@BrooklynHawaii: Hailing in Hawaii, Brooklyn is a talented photographer and one badass surfer chick, yes she exists. Be warned, her photos might have you green with envy for big waves, tan lines, and mahalo vibes.

@NatKelley: A psychedelic sister and a Peruvian beauty, her photos take you from burning man to Bali through a kaleidoscope lens of colors and cosmic waves.

@Circa_1983 From misty mornings to high altitudes, his shots capture Mama Earth’s majestic silhouettes and make us want to get lost deep into the wild.

Samsara – Birth, Death, and Re-Birth

Posted by aaron on November 23, 2013

“Neither a traditional documentary nor a travelogue, SAMSARA takes the form of a nonverbal, guided meditation on the cycle on birth, death and re-birth. Through powerful images, the film illuminates the links between humanity and the rest of nature, showing how our life cycle mirrors the rhythm of the planet.”

It’s hard to put into words how powerful this movie is. The entire thing is presented without dialogue, encouraging your own inner interpretations through an hour-and-a-half of breathtaking imagery combined with mesmerizing music. For me it was yet another reminder of just how little I know or understand about the world. I keep thinking about birth in the sense of location, and how it dictates the entirety of a person’s life. Their beliefs, religion, perception will depend entirely upon which hemisphere, continent, country, or tribe a person is born into. Of course they could change their location at any given time, but the origins will always be there. And for many people, what they’re handed at birth will be all they ever know. It’s a humbling thought to realize that ultimately we have no control.

New Crop Playlist 01

Posted by aaron on November 23, 2013

Track Listing

Bonobo – You Know (SuperVision Remix)
Flume – Insane featuring Moon Holiday
Coma – My Orbit (Dauwd Remix)
Lord RAJA – Panthera Bengal
SuperVision – Ancient Souls
Odesza – No.Sleep – Mix.01 Presented by Jiberish
Elephant – Skyscraper
Mat_Zo – DnB Mix of Love

Bangkok’s Chinatown

Posted by aaron on November 20, 2013

On our way back to Chiang Mai from Cambodia, we made a pit stop in Bangkok. I’ve read somewhere that you never appreciate Bangkok on your first visit, but if you come back around a second time, you’ll welcome it with open arms. I feel like that statement was pretty spot on for us. Maybe it’s because we found ourselves caught in the tourist trap area of Khaosan Road on our first visit, but second time around we explored deep through the veins of Bangkok’s Chinatown. We must have got lost in it’s alleyways for hours that day. A labyrinth of never ending markets where anything can be found. Vintage records, colorful wigs, antique arcade machines, and even ancient Chinese potions in mysterious bottles. As we got deeper and deeper into the trenches of street food, gold shops, and rows of silks and fabrics, we realized that to describe Bangkok, words fail. We could come everyday and walk down the same road just to come back to write a different story. It’s wild, it’s almost tangible, it’s Bangkok.

A Quarterlife Peptalk

Posted by charmie on November 15, 2013

A quick snapshot from my phone looking out the window of a bus swerving down the mountainside of Laos may not make for a great photo per se, but I couldn’t think of a better image that can translate my thoughts. A bit out of it from a long 10 hour bus ride through the mountainsides of northern Laos, I woke up to a beautiful sunrise. We were so high up that the mountains rose above the clouds and laid like snow. We passed by small villages and I couldn’t help but smile at the children waving as the bus drove by. What a radical change this Friday morning is compared to my Friday mornings prior to leaving. I used to wake up to a screeching alarm clock, sit in morning traffic with other anxiety ridden, overworked, road raged people and I was no different. As each day of higher sales quotas, and tighter deadlines drained every bit of me I kept asking myself, so this is it? This is what the “real world” that I prepared so diligently for throughout college is like? This illusion was sort of depressing. I found myself at a crossroad and I wanted to run the exact opposite direction. So I did.

You always hear people say “follow your bliss” ‘live like there’s no tomorrow” like a broken record of cliches. I settled for a one way flight and trusted the unknowingness of tomorrow. I admit, it gave me goosebumps, but in the best way possible. The journey of creating yourself didn’t go off like a lightbulb, but it was a mashup of moments such this sunrise on the bus where you feel a slow yet permanent change. It humbled my perspective, and shook my understanding. I finally understood the feeling of being rich with time, knocking out a to-do list that’s all yours, and getting up in the morning excited of what might come about today. Working with dream clients and collaborating with friends, and past colleagues to produce work that we’re passionate about and proud of is truly rewarding.

Someone once told me the difference between fear and danger is that danger is very real, and fear is something we have made up. Made up of a misuse of our imagination to create anxiety of what might happen. Live in the present and trust yourself enough to know that you’re on the right path and that you’ll know when you need to veer off. Trust that you are not in control and if you let the current of life take you, things will unfold as it should. Don’t just work hard, work passionately. If you’re decent at performing at a job you don’t like, imagine the meaningful work you can produce doing something you’re truly passionate about.

I had to write this to express my perpetual gratitude and hope that this energy manifests into whoever is reading this. If missed most of my ramblings, just remember this: Whatever it may be, follow your bliss.

Tribal Textiles

Posted by charmie on November 11, 2013

As I’m stocking up for the shop, I have been receiving pre-orders for traditional ethnic textiles hand stitched and hand-dyed by surrounding tribes as a source of sustaining their culture. I have fallen in love with these magical forms of art translated into vibrant fabrics. These textiles connect us with disappearing cultures in the developing world as fast as old-growth forests. Fabrics of the Indigenous people are silent storytellers of traditions, and art. I’m attached to each piece I send off boundaries away, and happy to know they are to be appreciated for their aesthetic significance. If you are interested in pre-ordering tribal textiles please email me at info@newcropshop.com.

Weekend with the Karen Hill Tribe, Thailand

Posted by charmie on November 5, 2013

The beautiful village of Baan Mae Jok

The women were happy to show me how to roll a pipe made out of banana leaves.

My lovely kids (well my students) but my oh my did they have me attached after the first day!

I would normally be intimidated at the thought of managing 35 students of all age ranges, but they were a dream!

A typical kitchen in the village. Here I showed them my spring roll rolling skills 😉

Water buffalo herded through the village twice a day, at the same time everyday.

They hand-weave and naturally dye all their traditional clothing.

The most adorable little boy always followed me and my camera around.

Tending rice fields means lots of rice, and a heavy load.

When we told her to make a chair with sticks, and this is what she came up with!

All their houses were built high enough to avoid flooding, and doubled up as an area to keep livestock.

Early in the morning with her pipe and machete.

To better spend my time here in Thailand, I joined an The Christopher Robert Project which is an organization that visits Thailand’s hill-tribe communities on the weekends and offer in-village tutoring classes for the kids. Many of the hill-tribes reside far distances from schools, therefore making it difficult for the children to attend school. This past weekend, I had the pleasure of working with the Karen Hilltribe in Baan Mae Jok Village. The children stole my heart on the first day. I was shocked at how enthusiastic they were about school. They eagerly arrived to class an hour before we were supposed to start, and were so well-mannered. The most special part about this weekend visit was spending all day with the children in their village and seeing how they lived. Each morning the adults would set off to tend/gather crops, men would head out with their handmade rifle to hunt, and the children spent the day swimming in river and playing in the sun. Everyone had an important role in the village, and even the kids learned early how to cook, hunt, and be an asset to the tribe. It’s always reviving to be surrounded by such simplicity. No excess, no waste. I also had the pleasure of doing day to day activities with the families such as going to church, helping with dinner, and kicking it over fresh grown tobacco rolled in banana leaves!

Road Trip Through New Mexico

Posted by charmie on November 3, 2013

We truly were enchanted with our stay in Santa Fe. Above is some shots on the road and in our hostel. We spent two nights in Santa Fe International hostel and it was a gem of a find. The outdoor courtyard was charming, our room was a sunny sanctuary, and the feeling of community was welcoming. We enjoyed the details that surrounded us in the city. Every bridge we passed displayed artwork, wooden doors carved with intricate designs, and eclectic shops that boasts influence from Native American arts to artisan pieces from all over the world. I met an inspiring local named Ian who runs Peaceful Wind Gallery. Every piece selectively collected during his travels through India, Nepal, Tibet and Southeast Asia. I was in awe with his finds. There were original scrolls from Tibet, intricate furniture, and beautiful Buddhist statues. We also chatted with his son who has embraced his dad’s gallery by branching into the up and coming art scene of Tibet. They both travel and meet with different artists to showcase their work. The most amazing part of our visit to this gallery is seeing how passionate they were about each piece and the story behind the artist. It was a great karmic encounter, and grateful for people like Ian who walk into your lives, even if just for a short visit to open your eyes with wonder.

Kaftans on a Cambodian Rooftop

Posted by charmie on October 31, 2013

Happy Halloween everyone! I admit, I do miss toasting pumpkin ales, roasting pumpkin seeds, and having an excuse to bust out in costume with friends. However I am very grateful to experience something as beautiful and eye opening as our couple weeks spent in Cambodia. They recently just started welcoming tourists into Cambodia the past decade or so after their suffering through the Khmer Rouge. Still today, the struggle remains in this poverty stricken country as they battle corruption in their government.

Understanding this, we were more aware of the darkness found in their past which showed through their music and artwork. If you ask the locals they will share their stories of death, starvation, and survival. When visiting galleries during our time in Battambang, we noticed the essence of darkness expressed in the majority of the artwork that I, as an outsider can never fully comprehend.

Walking through the alleyways of Battambang I was in awe to see the French architecture still remained here. I also noticed many women on their sewing machines on the bottom floor of their house which opened to the outside like garage doors. The vibrancy of fabrics I felt represented the Cambodian spirit. Through a dark past, the survivors, and those to follow express their hope through their smile, willingness to reach out, enthusiasm to work, and in their craftsmanship. I especially was drawn to these colorful kaftans with playful patterns which danced in the wind. We brought them to the rooftop of our hostel and let the sun and wind bring the kaftans to life.

These will soon be available in the shop.

Getting from Chiang Mai to Siem Reap

Posted by aaron on October 29, 2013

Our first 30 days in Thailand were about to expire so we planned to take a trip across the border into what many now refer to as the “Wild Wild West of Southeast Asia”, Cambodia. I can’t even begin to express how much I loved our time there (i’ll save for another post), but I do strongly encourage anyone who is in this part of the world to be sure and pay a visit to this beautiful kingdom.

Getting from Chiang Mai to Siem Reap is a fairly cheap and inexpensive trip. Although there aren’t currently any buses running directly to Cambodia from Chiang Mai, there is a new government-ran bus serving connecting Bangkok to Siem Reap. I found a lot of good information on various posts/forums sprinkled throughout the interwebs, but I wanted to compile a quick run-down of how we got from Chiang Mai > Bangkok > Siem Reap all in one post.

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Chiang Mai to Bangkok

In Chiang Mai we purchased an overnight VIP bus ticket to Bangkok from the Arcade Bus Station, located 3 or 4 kilometers east of the old city. There are several travel offices located around the old city, but don’t fall for their dirty tricks. Most charge double the rate you would get as opposed to going to the bus station in person and booking yourself. Chiang Mai is such a small town, getting to the bus station is well worth the extra time and effort. When you arrive to the station, you’ll immediately be blown away by all the Thai women yelling at you from their little ticket booth windows. Have no fear, they’re shouting because ticket prices are not a flat price and will vary slightly from agency to agency — so be sure to shop around to work the best deal. We ended up booking a super comfortable double-decker VIP for 550 baht each. And when I say “VIP” I mean VIP! Each seat had its own LCD monitor with a great selection of movies to choose from, they all reclined waaaay back and had an electronic massage function built in! Needless to say we both fell asleep very easily and woke up 9-10 hours later in Bangkok.

Get your ticket before leaving Mo Chit! You’ll arrive to the Mo Chit bus terminal in Bangkok, and this is also where you can purchase your ticket for a direct bus ticket from Bangkok to Siem Reap through Transport Co Ltd Bus at booth 22. As of September 10, 2013, the agent at the ticket counter confirmed that there is only one bus each day, and it leaves at 9:00 am. So plan on staying at least one night in Bangkok after reserving your ticket for the following day. The tickets can be purchased from booth 22 on the ground floor, for 750 baht ($25 USD) each.

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Bangkok to Siem Reap

We only stayed one night in Bangkok. I booked a dorm room at the WE Bangkok Hostel because it was the most affordable option that was located within walking distance of the BTS (Bangkok’s Skytrain) line. Staying near the BTS made it super easy to get to the Mo Chit station the next morning without having to fight rush hour traffic jams. From BTS Mo Chit station catch the 11 bus to take you to the terminal.

This direct Bangkok to Siem Reap line opened in February 2013, so a fairly new luxury. In the past, you would need to change to another bus service (Cambodian run company) at the border. With this direct route, however, you will be traveling on the same bus and with the same driver and staff the whole route. From Bangkok you’ll drive to the border where the bus stops for about 20 minutes for passengers to arrange their Cambodian visa. They also provide a small boxed lunch to snack on throughout this stop. From here, the bus will drive you a little further to the Thai immigration office. The bus will drop you off here and you’ll walk through Thai immigration to get your departure stamp. You’ll then walk to the Cambodian side to get your arrival stamp and the bus will be waiting for you on the Cambodian side. Welcome to Cambodia! It was another 2-3 hour ride from the border to Siem Reap. Enjoy the bumpy ride along the beautiful countryside. Can’t wait to make this trek again. 🙂