This June and July, I left the place where I currently live (Guam) for the place where my spouse grew up (Metro Manila, Philippines) and the place where I was born and raised (Taiwan) for about six weeks - 1 month in the Philippines and 2 weeks in Taiwan. I guess you can call this "traveling." When I travel (and actually, even when I'm not traveling), there's always a sketchbook and pens in my backpack. I hesitate to call what's in my sketchbook "travel sketches" because most of them aren't really sketches; they are just doodles. I mean, while typical "travel sketches" contain drawings OF the things seen during the trip, the pictures in my sketchbook do not. These drawings in my sketchbook could come from:
(1) me playing ("experimenting" sounds too serious) with a new pen
(2) me trying to create/design characters for a comics story I'm making
(3) yes, things I see during the trip
(4) something that reflects my moods or thoughts over something that happens during the trip
(5) a memory, or an idea that binds the present and the past, that is probably triggered by something that happens during the trip
(6) a memory, or an idea that binds the present and the past, that is probably triggered by something that happens during the trip but not IN the trip. For example, while I was in the Philippines, I called my family in Taiwan and heard news that affected me emotionally, and so the next thing I drew in my sketch book was about me reflecting on the news and my Taiwanese family and had nothing to do with the Philippines.
(5) and (6) are really nothing special and quite natural: We travels with our past. Let's say you'll fly to Mars tomorrow; while you are on Mars and see and experience all the Martian things, you will also definitely think about Earth and your family, friends, and lover(s), or even enemies sometimes, no?
Anyway, here they are:
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