• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Lily Wunders

See the world. Ask Questions. Tell Stories.

Header Right

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • THE BLOG
    • LONGFORM
    • TRAVEL GUIDES AND TIPS
    • FOOD
    • PHOTOGRAPHY
  • ARCHIVE
  • MAP
  • CONTACT
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • THE BLOG
    • LONGFORM
    • TRAVEL GUIDES AND TIPS
    • FOOD
    • PHOTOGRAPHY
  • ARCHIVE
  • MAP
  • CONTACT

Header Right

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

The COVID Chronicles: I Used to Think I Hated Yoga. Until I Didn’t.

September 15, 2020 //  by Lily Wu//  6 Comments

a woman doing yoga

I’m not always open to trying new things. I’m only competitive when I know I can win.

I think it has to do with being a naturally smart or talented kid, or growing up believing you were naturally a smart and talented kid, because everyone around you told you that you were. (Except your parents, of course).

That is, until you got to university and got your first 40% on an exam (yep, been there), realized that everything everyone ever told you about your intelligence was a lie, and that no number of perfect fifth grade math tests would make your university GPA higher.

These are cuter kids than I was. I grew up on Junie B. Jones and the Boxcar Children and the Babysitters Club and Ella Enchanted and Roald Dahl and Harry Potter.

Telling kids that they’re naturally smart or talented or intelligent makes them believe that they can cruise on by without the hard work to back it up. And then when they grow up, like yours truly, they spend a lot more time on the therapist’s couch unpacking what begins to look less like mental blocks and a lot like laziness.

So now, unfortunately, I have a peculiar and irrational complex with trying new things. Unless I know I’m going to be good at something, I’m terrified to try it.

Oh, you mean it’s unreasonable for me to hit a bulls-eye during my first time trying archery, or to ride a wave perfectly the first time I ever attempt surfing? Tell that to my sulky inner-child who needs a hug and lots of kind words – she seems to come up a lot in therapy.

***

A good friend of mine asked to go to a yoga studio with her a couple months ago.

It’’ll be fun, she said. You’ll learn a lot, she said.

She then sent me a link to sign up for a class at a local yoga studio. I opened the page. It was cleanly designed and had short videos of various wiggling women with exposed navels in tight tops. I, suddenly self-conscious of my new quarantine pudge, pulled out my wallet and found my credit card. I silently huffed and puffed through a series of webpages asking me for my money. And then I was in.

A yoga woman yoga-ing much better than I can ever hope to do.

A few hours later, disaster struck. My friend felt sick on the day of the class. Great, I thought. I mean, NOT great that she’s ill. But great that I can get out of this yoga class and avoid humiliating myself in front of super-bendy, Lululemon-clad men and women. So I called the studio, asking to cancel my class reservation and for a refund. I tried to hide the chipper bounce in my voice.

“Sorry, you can’t,” the lady at the end of the telephone said. Super sweetly, may I add.

I pleaded. I begged. I literally just booked it an hour ago, I told her.

At some point, she seemed fed up. “You’ll feel better afterward!” she said cheerily through her grimace (and just as sweetly). Click.

Reader, I went. It was that, or have my money disappear forever.

I arrived early, with a somber face and a sour attitude, taking note of the wide floor-to-ceiling door that doubled as an enormous glass wall. It let in streams of golden late afternoon sunshine, dappling the black yoga mats on the floor with long lazy streaks. It was really quite pretty, and a far cry from the yoga classes I took as a half-credit elective during my senior year in college, where we lay packed in neat rows of 10 by 3, and the room stank of stale sweat and rubber.

Kita Yoga studio in Hong Kong
The outside of the yoga studio.

The instructor had a kind smile and a gentle affect, which almost put me at ease, until I remembered that I wasn’t happy about having to be there, and that I was supposed to be mad at the chirpy manager who’d refused to give me my money back. I sank back into my righteous foul mood and slunk to a mat in the back of the room, happily sullen.

The class began gently, with a soundtrack drifting through the room which reminded me of floating through the Milky Way. A few drops of essential oils were plopped on my upward-facing palms.

ESSENTIAL OILS! I think I was so far stuck in my gym-time-packed-sardine college memories that this felt positively luxurious in a way that I’d never experienced before. We were led through guided meditation, which included some softly-read poetry.

Essential oils and poetry? Please. If I had known yoga class was going to be like this, I wouldn’t have begged the studio so hard to release me from class before.

Before I knew it, I was on my back in shavasana – corpse pose – my brow damp with sweat. Only this shavasana was different from any other shavasana that I’d experienced before: instead of the emphatic sheer relief that this pose used to bring at the end of a class – a definite thank goodness that’s over – it instead felt much like the teachers had always told me it should feel. I thought not so much relief that class was over, but an incredulity that I had, in fact, survived.

A random stock photo of a woman in what I assume to be shavasana (corpse pose).

In the following weeks, I booked classes at least three times a week – marveling at how language that I would have rolled my eyes at and dismissed as “woo-woo” resonated with me.

It was odd. It was weird. Have you been to a yoga class? (Probably yes). They say things like this:

“Relax the sheet of skin covering your face…”

“Energize your toes…”

“Release your brain to the back of your head…”

And, the most befuddling one: “Let your eyes sink to the back of your head, and turn them downward to gaze at the heart…”

Um. It was baffling. But somehow, it made sense.

When I Realize Not All Yoga Classes Are Created Equal, and I Spend Money To Do Yoga

Some people like to spend money on really expensive things that they perceive to be of high quality. These are the people who have memberships to gyms like Equinox in the US (for those uninitiated, Equinox is a very expensive gym that’s outfitted to basically be the Google of fitness clubs: restaurants on the premises, juice and smoothie bars selling spirulina shots at $10 USD a pop, and golden fountains spurting all the ionized alkanized water you can drink). Okay, maybe the golden fountains don’t exist. But I know the spirulina shots do. I know because I bought one. And the golden fountains should exist, because the most measly basement-level membership at Equinox is still $2200 USD a year, plus a $500 initiation fee. Maybe you get the pewter fountains instead of gold – I don’t know.

This is a lifestyle that I admittedly find very attractive (though purely coincidentally, its attractiveness seems to coincide with the days I get paid). On these days, I do things that make a lot of financial sense, like buy 1.5 inch-diameter Diptyque candles for $50 USD and Shiseido moisturizers and $30 USD bottles of wine instead of my regular 2-for-1 bottles for $19.99. Sometimes I even splurge on pink stones that are labeled with pretty packaging promising to “align your chakras” and “give forth good energy.”

Come to think of it, I think I took that spirulina shot around that time.

What, exactly, you might ask – does this have to do with yoga?

It’s because on one of these days, I caved and bought a membership to a yoga studio separate from my gym membership. I practically cried. I was becoming a yuppie, and I was not even close to buying my first home. I even still go to Starbucks. Like, a lot.

I did this, because yoga was already offered at my gym, and I actually attended some of those classes. For one, the classes fit around thirty people per class. Fine. You know, I am not a prude. I can ignore the smell of sweat and humanity as much as the next person. I don’t even mind the smell of feet that much.

But the classes were a wholly different animal than the ones that I’d already taken at the yoga studio. We received no instruction on breath.

A much cleaner, much more zen version of the actual yoga class.

“Hold itttttt – HOLD IT!!!!” the instructor screamed, as the blood stopped flowing to my calves in a forward fold.

He then instructed us to bind whilst in a low lunge. Binding is something I was only able to do after a month or so of consistent practice. I watched some students struggle, the crowns of their heads straining toward the floor.

“IT SHOULD FEEL GOOD!!!” he shouted.

I tried to breathe. I thought about what he’d shouted. A lot of things feel good. Different things feel good to different people. For example, some people really enjoy taking baths in sub-zero temperatures. You can even pay to do something like this – it’s called “cryotherapy” (not, as one might reasonably assume, because it makes you cry). Others enjoy having needles inserted into their bodies. I’m told that this can make you feel a “release”.

I wondered if anyone in this class, holding this position, where I felt my circulation slowly being cut off from the lower half of my body, thought this was enjoyable. I stared down at the patterns on my mat formed by my sweat, falling like unholy rain from my brow.  I tried to enjoy it, I really did.

And then, that evening, I bought a pass to the yoga studio.

When I Think I’m Becoming a Yoga Nut

In the following week, I woke up thinking about yoga and went to bed thinking about yoga. I began reading about mudras and chakras. I half-scoffed-at-half-devoured articles about the benefits of yoga – and whenever I felt I was too deep into “opening my third eye” or “becoming one with the universe”, I brought myself back down to earth with texts on the appropriation and widespread commodification of yoga and sobering pieces on yoga injuries (including this one in the New York Times – “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body”).

I was so weirdly obsessed with yoga – the way you become obsessed with something you know you’ll never quite reach, kind of like owning a home or dating someone emotionally available and communicative.

Just one of the many books I bought on yoga.

Yoga didn’t replace the other parts of my life, though. After an hour class at the studio, I’d rush off to the gym and do my regular weightlifting routine, and cooling down by doing – you guessed it – more yoga.

It was during one of these sessions where I rose from a badly-aligned attempt at one-legged king pigeon pose (Eka Pada Rajakapotasana) and felt a strange achiness in my right knee. I brushed it off as a kind of one-off case of putting too much pressure on the joint, and thought nothing of it.

But it persisted. And then it got worse – a tiny, niggling, daily discomfort. I found myself readjusting my sitting positions during the day, noticing the pain of sitting in cross-legged positions on my mat. I thought uneasily about the article I’d already read a month prior about how yoga can wreck people’s bodies, and wondered if I’d wrecked mine. I thought of all the things I wouldn’t be able to do without my right knee. I thought about a pole dancing class I’d once wanted to take. Surely there must be some badass single-kneed pole dancers. Given that WebMD pushed me to get a colonosocopy last year when I was convinced I had colon cancer, you can imagine how this sent my mind spinning.

In the end, I made an appointment to see a doctor (with the sole goal of getting her to refer me to a physiotherapist), despite my misgivings when it comes to doctors (not that I actually don’t believe in their education or training – it’s just that every time I’ve gone to see one, usually the feedback they give me is some version of “just rest” or “it’ll go away on its own”, which in America, when you’re leaving a few hundred dollars poorer, seems a lamentable waste of time).

Where I Decide That Yoga Can’t Actually Solve All of My Problems

The saga with the knee helped me come to the realization that, actually, despite the hundreds of articles I’d read on the benefits of yoga, that doing the physical asanas weren’t the cure-all that I’d expected it to be. At work, I sat up a little straighter. I imagined a string gently tugging on the crown of my head. In the mornings, I meditate with the determination of someone doing something good for myself, but with the slight sense of not knowing exactly why.

Today, I’m sitting with a healed knee but with wrists that click at the slightest movement – a sound I’m positive wasn’t there before. I try to ignore the clicking in my knees, too. The yoga studio hasn’t been open, because of a third wave of coronavirus in Hong Kong, and instead, I’ve found yet another way to spend my money (funny how that tends to happen) and bought a monthly subscription to Alo Moves. For the uninitiated (or the social media abstinent), Alo Moves is an online video fitness platform with an aggressive social media strategy and pretty athleisure clothing – a lethal combination for a yuppie like me. I can only see ads on IG repeated for so long before I buy.

A pose that undoubtedly contributed to my now constantly-clicking wrists

Kind of like the time I decided that I wanted to try being raw vegan in university, or the time I avoided all carbs for the grand total of three full days, I realized that a daily intense vinyasa practice was wearing down my body, not strengthening it. And it was then that I realized that my constant pushing to do as much physical yoga as possible was antithetical to what yoga was about – sort of how these yoga competitions exist.

And so, my introduction into yoga has been instructive. Humorous at times. Anxiety-inducing during others. Did yoga come into my life just by chance? Was my attachment to yoga a symbol of anything other than my desperate yearning for comfort during a time that seems to spit out anything other than comfort? I mean, it took me three months to write this post.

Until I find the answers, you’ll hopefully find my wrists stop clicking and yours truly a little wiser.

Until then, namaste. 

Share this:

0shares

Category: Asia, Hong Kong, Longform, Musings, Nothing to Do with TravelTag: coronavirus, COVID, hong kong, musings, nothing to do with travel, yoga

Previous Post: «A bowl of beef brisket noodles from Ying Kee in Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong Hong Kong Neighborhood Spotlight: Sai Ying Pun Food – the Local Edition
Next Post: I Traveled from Hong Kong to the USA During the COVID-19 Pandemic and This is What It Was Like. »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Shannon

    September 17, 2020 at 8:36 pm

    Gosh, you’re a good writer Lily!! This was such an entertaining read!!!!

    Reply
    • Lily Wu

      September 19, 2020 at 5:05 pm

      Shannon, you’re way too sweet (as usual!). Thanks so much for reading and for sticking around!

      xx Lily

      Reply
  2. Phil Rosen

    September 15, 2020 at 10:43 pm

    I loved this. So well written and funny and insightful into a world that I am certainly not part of (but maybe I should also join up the yogi ranks).

    Reply
    • Lily Wu

      September 19, 2020 at 5:04 pm

      You should try, Phil! I have a feeling you’d enjoy it – it’s helped me so so much in my life in a lot of strange and unpredictable ways. it’s also really easy (and when gyms are closed it’s such a great go-to!).

      Reply
  3. Joe

    September 15, 2020 at 10:35 pm

    The longer you spend wrangling these sorts of questions, the more profound the eventual understanding. Thanks for sharing !! 🙂

    Reply
    • Lily Wu

      September 15, 2020 at 11:01 pm

      Haha, thanks so much Joe! I do hope I’m working towards SOMETHING….

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

A girl in Boston Common
Boston Common. Boston, MA. November 2019.

Hi, I’m Lily!

I’m a Boston-raised, Hong Kong-based writer, traveler, and content creator.

My site is about sharing stories relating to millennial travel, travel blogging, Asian diasporic identity, and Hong Kong living.

📍Los Angeles, CA, USA 🇺🇸 Lol this photo 📍Los Angeles, CA, USA 🇺🇸 Lol this photo was taken during one of the most arduous and expensive trips of my life - trying to make it back from the USA to HK is no joke. My flight was cancelled last minute and I had to reroute with three new flights....then at the last minute I was turned away at the gate because my COVID test had my middle initial instead of my full middle name! HK doesn’t mess around. Hundreds and hundreds spent on hotels and a new COVID test notwithstanding...I got to spend time with a dear friend of mine on the west coast and it was so, so, nice. The air smelled of weed and the air was salty and sandy and amazing and nice. And the tacos!!!! Ugh. Just a few hours of an almost-vacation....here I am sitting at Venice Beach eating the Fairfax sandwich from Eggslut. Ugh. So good. I’d love to come back and do a more proper trip next time - any recs for the LA/SoCal area?? #losangeles_city #losangeles_la #losangelescalifornia #bostonbloggers #losangelesbloggers #travelgirlshub #venicebeachcalifornia #venicebeachskatepark #journeysofgirls #damestravel #lifeofadventure #alwaysgo #wanderfolk #letsgosomewhere #exploreeverywhere #visualwanderlust #welivetoexplore #adventurethatislife #adventurevisuals #californiadreamin #californiablogger #californiavacation #westcoastblogger #hkbloggers #hongkongblogger #ilovecalifornia #californiacoast #californiaroadtrip #westcoast_exposures #westcoastlife
📍Massachusetts 🇺🇸 I was laughing to a f 📍Massachusetts 🇺🇸 I was laughing to a friend last week about how cold it is here in New England, but how much better I am actually dealing with the cold even though I’ve lived in Hong Kong for 4 years now! When I go out NOW, I’m wearing at least 4 layers of clothing and a thick coat on top, and always, always 2 layers of pants. If I run I’ll put on leggings and joggers on top of those, OR two pairs of leggings, one on top of the other. I don’t know if I thought I was too cool for dressing warmly or what - but I’d shiver through countless snowy days in Boston waiting for the bus to get to school, refuse to wear a hat - and even sometimes wore skirts. This did not, I am sad to report, make me cool. It just made me very cold. Here’s a photo of the moon at sunset, a few miles from my parents’ house. #bostonbloggers #newengland #ilovemassachusetts #massachusettsnature #massachusettsphotography #bostonphotographers #cathaycreators #hongkongblogger #bluehillreservation #bluehillsreservation #newengland_igers #newenglandliving #newenglandlife #newenglandphotography #newenglandoutdoors #newenglandwinter #travelgirlsgo #journeysofgirls #newenglandsunsets #sunsetgram #sunsets_oftheworld #sunsetoftheday #sunsetcolors #sunsetlove #massachusettslife #massachusettsoutdoors #bostonliving #bostonweather #bostonphotography #bostongram
📍Massachusetts 🇺🇸 ⁣ I loveee the New E 📍Massachusetts 🇺🇸 ⁣ I loveee the New England vibes in this photo so much! This was taken during a short run I did with my brother - I always always always avoided running because I was obsessed with “maintaining gains” when I began weightlifting 6-7 years ago. I’m surprisingly really loving it - I love just putting on a new album in whatever genre (so far have listened to Kanye, the Beatles, Linkin Park, and a LOT of Bach) and listening to it all the way through with no interruptions. ⁣ I can only really go 3-5km at a time right now without feeling like I want to stop (and I won’t be running any marathons soon) but I’m really happy I’ve found something else meditate and good-for-me to do! ⁣ Do any of you run and have any tips for a novice like me?? ⁣ ⁣ #newenglandwinter #newenglandoutdoors #newenglandfall #randolphma #newenglandblogger #newenglandpictures #bostonblogger #bostonbloggers #hkbloggers #newenglander #newenglandnature #newenglandtravel #newengland_photography #ilovemassachusetts #iloveboston #beantown #newenglandigers #bostonian #bostonlife #travelgirls #travelgirldiary #travelgirlscollective #damestravel #dametravelers #runningstyle #runningviews #winterrun #winterrunning #winterruns #belcherpark
📍Massachusetts 🇺🇸 ⁣ Since I’ve been 📍Massachusetts 🇺🇸 ⁣ Since I’ve been here, I’ve been going on walks with my parents a few times a week. My dad always ALWAYS wants to catch the sunset (he’s an avid photographer!) so here’s one that we caught a few weeks ago. ⁣ Life here is, as one of my friends described, so wholesome here. I’m still working remotely, but without a social scene all of my free time has been spent listening to new music, reading new books, practicing yoga, and moving my body. I honestly don’t miss the hectic life at all and I always wondered if I could ever live outside of a huge metro urban setting (and whether I’d get bored). I honestly think I could do it, I love living the way I have been! ⁣ For those of you who live in cities and love it, do you think you’d give up the go-go-go lifestyle for something more simple? ⁣ ⁣ #ilovemassachusetts #bluehillreservation #bluehillsreservation #cantonma #newenglandphotography #newenglandsunsets #newenglansphotography #iloveboston #beantown #bostonsunsets #bostonbloggers #travelgirlsdiary #journeysofgirls #journeyofgirls #randolphma #sunsetsofinstagram #sunsetsgram #hongkongbloggers #hongkongblogger #hongkong_ig #sunsetscape #massachusettsoutdoors #massachusetts_igers #massachusettsmade #naturalmassachusetts #sheisfromhk #agameoftones #girlswhotravel #massachusettsgirl #bostongirl ⁣
📍USA 🇺🇸 (Massachusetts) ⁣ It snowed a 📍USA 🇺🇸 (Massachusetts) ⁣ It snowed a huge snow last week! ❄️ We had a proper “nor’easter” - which, according to Wikipedia, is “a macro-scale extratropical cyclone in the western North Atlantic Ocean.” After having missed snow for many years living in Hong Kong, I honestly can’t tell you how much I’ve missed even the meter-high walls of snow we’d get, without fail, every winter in New England. ⁣ My family is driving down the Cape (Cape Cod) for Christmas! What are your plans?? ⁣ ⁣ #massachusettssnow #ilovenewengland #newenglandsnow #noreaster #bluehillreservation #newenglandphotography #newenglandphotographer #bostonbloggers #bostonblogger #cathaycreators #newenglandliving #newenglandlife #ilovemassachusetts #snowsnowsnow #snowmountain #snowlove #snowhike #snowscape #snowcovered #journeyofgirls #journeysofgirls #travelgirlsgo #snowfilter #snowseason #massachusettsoutdoors #massachusetts_igers #massachusettslife #travelgirldiary #travelgirlsofficial #travelgirlscommunity
📍Hong Kong 🇭🇰 (Lion Rock) ⁣ This was t 📍Hong Kong 🇭🇰 (Lion Rock) ⁣ This was the second time I’ve hiked to Lion Rock in Kowloon (the first time being over 3 years ago), and I still love the little Lego-pieces of HK’s buildings as far as the eye can see! ⁣ I’m not jn Hong Kong at the moment, but I’ve been telling my family here in the US that it isn’t all dense concrete and gray cityscapes, a huge amount of HK is literally just lush tropical wilderness. ⁣ Hope everyone is having a lovely start to their holidays! My family has never been big holiday people (don’t think they place a lot of emphasis or value on atmosphere), but we still got a little cat-proof tree tree at my insistence to spruce it up a bit. ⁣ ⁣ #ilovehongkong #homekong #hongkongphotography #hongkongphotographer #cathaycreators #hikinginhongkong #hongkonghiking #hkhikes #hongkonghikes #sheisfromhk #sheisnotlost #lionrockhike #lionsrock #hk_iger #travelgirlsgo #livetoexplore #hongkonglife #hongkonginsta #hongkongig #explorehongkong #discoverhongkong #awesomehongkong #bostonbloggers #bostonblogger #hongkongblogger #damestravel #traveldames #thedreamytravel #girlsvsglobe #girlsborntravel
📍Massachusetts (USA) 🇺🇸 ⁣ What’s th 📍Massachusetts (USA) 🇺🇸 ⁣ What’s the coldest place you’ve ever been to? ⁣ Can you smell how crisp the air is? It was also bone-shatteringly cold - 🥶 30 F (just below 0 C) feels just as fresh and stingy on my face as I remember! There are ZERO “Instagram spots” in the classical sense here - so you’ve got to get creative with Mother Nature! ⁣ Life has been funny lately. I’ve been in the USA for about 2.5 weeks now and I’ve finally settled into a rhythm and a routine. Part of that routine involves 3-4x weekly walks with my parents in a nearby “reservation” - big swathes of land with hiking trails, ponds, and lakes. I’m wearing leggings underneath jeans here, and could STILL feel the sharpness of cold air penetrating all the way through to my skin. ⁣ I’ve traded skyscrapers and haze for lakes and sunsets, and right now, feel super content. ⁣ ⁣ #ilovenengland #houghtonspond #newenglandsunsets #bostonbloggers #bostonblogger #newenglandphotographer #newenglandphotography #newenglandliving #newenglandlife #newengland_igers #newenglandfall #newenglandblogger #sheisnotlost #travelgirlshub #damestravel #dametraveler #sheisfromhk #agameoftones #cathaycreators #newenglandpictures #newenglander #ilovemassachusetts #masachusettsphotographer #massachusettsoutdoors #bluehillsreservation #hikingboston #newenglandhikes #massachusettslife #massachusettsmade #naturalmassachusetts
📍Boston, MA (USA) 🇺🇸 ⁣ This photo was 📍Boston, MA (USA) 🇺🇸 ⁣ This photo was taken last year in one of my favorite places in Boston, the Boston Public Library (where my dad still works!). ⁣ If I get my negative COVID result today, I’m finally out of my self-imposed quarantine! It won’t bring me much freedom, but I’m excited to meet the two new cats in the house and to finally be able to make and serve my own meals. Hope everyone is having a good week! ⁣ ⁣ #iloveboston #bostonpubliclibrary #beantown #newenglandphotographer #newenglandphotography #bostonma #bostonblogger #bostonbloggers #lifeofadventure #alwaysgo #wanderfolk #letsgosomewhere #exploreeverywhere #tasteintravel #instatravel #stayandwander #welivetoexplore #neverstopexploring #visualwanderlust #femmetravel #girlslovetravel #dametraveler #wearetravelgirls #ladiesgoneglobal #sheexplores #girlsborntotravel #theglobewanderer #traveldiary #travelphotography #bostonphotography
📍Hong Kong 🇭🇰 ⁣ This summer, I met so 📍Hong Kong 🇭🇰 ⁣ This summer, I met so many wonderful friends and formed exciting and fun friendships - as a result, I ended up on boats WAY more than any other HK summer, and still took place well into October. Now that I’m in cloudy and rainy and cold New England, I’m absolutely thinking about these sunny days, but being around my family is just as amazing. ⁣ I feel like I have so many books to read, things to write, yoga poses to learn, dishes to cook. My stories won’t be as fun as they are usually (a lot less booze and boats and a lot more books and cats) but I hope you guys will stick with me over these next few months! ⁣ #ilovehongkong #homekong #cathaycreators #outonthewater #imonaboat #sheisfromhk #hk_igers #hongkonginstagram #hongkongphotography #hongkongphotographer #hongkongig #hongkonglife #theprettycities #travelgirldiary #travelgirlsofficial #travelgirlscollective #travelgirlsgetaways #travelgirldiaries #travelgirlsvibe #explorehongkong #discoverhongkong #hongkongcity #hongkongview #hongkongharbour #exploreasia #travelgirlsgo #girlswhotravel #lifeinhongkong #hongkonglife #bostonbloggers
Follow me

Trending

  • A photograph of Acorn Street on Beacon Hill in Boston - top things to do in Boston
    North America, Travel, Travel Guides and Tips, United States of America I’m From Boston. Here Are My Top Things to Do in Boston.
  • Gordes France
    Europe, France, Travel, Travel Guides and Tips 5 Beautiful and Underrated Towns in the South of France You’ve Never Heard Of
  • A girl sitting on the beach shore in Tap Mun
    Asia, Hiking, Hong Kong, Travel, Travel Guides and Tips Why the 2-Hour Journey to Tap Mun Island (Grass Island) in Hong Kong Is Totally Worth it
  • Breakfast set at Lan Fong Yuen; Central, Hong Kong. 2019.
    Asia, Food, Hong Kong, Longform There’s Virtue in Bland Food – Or, How I Found Home in Hong Kong Macaroni Soup
  • Instagram Spots in Melbourne Brighton Beach Boxes
    Australia, Instagram, Oceania, Photography, Travel, Travel Guides and Tips My Top 5 Instagram Spots in Melbourne (And Tips On Getting the Perfect Shot)
  • Full meal with tomato broth soup and condensed milk buns at Sin Heung Yuen, one of the best local foods in Sheung Wan Hong Kong
    Asia, Food, Hong Kong, Travel Guides and Tips Hong Kong Neighborhood Spotlight: Best Local Food in Sheung Wan
  • A Turkey on Thanksgiving day
    North America, Nothing to Do with Travel, United States of America Home for the Holidays: A Very Chinese Thanksgiving

Site Footer

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
📍Los Angeles, CA, USA 🇺🇸 Lol this photo 📍Los Angeles, CA, USA 🇺🇸 Lol this photo was taken during one of the most arduous and expensive trips of my life - trying to make it back from the USA to HK is no joke. My flight was cancelled last minute and I had to reroute with three new flights....then at the last minute I was turned away at the gate because my COVID test had my middle initial instead of my full middle name! HK doesn’t mess around. Hundreds and hundreds spent on hotels and a new COVID test notwithstanding...I got to spend time with a dear friend of mine on the west coast and it was so, so, nice. The air smelled of weed and the air was salty and sandy and amazing and nice. And the tacos!!!! Ugh. Just a few hours of an almost-vacation....here I am sitting at Venice Beach eating the Fairfax sandwich from Eggslut. Ugh. So good. I’d love to come back and do a more proper trip next time - any recs for the LA/SoCal area?? #losangeles_city #losangeles_la #losangelescalifornia #bostonbloggers #losangelesbloggers #travelgirlshub #venicebeachcalifornia #venicebeachskatepark #journeysofgirls #damestravel #lifeofadventure #alwaysgo #wanderfolk #letsgosomewhere #exploreeverywhere #visualwanderlust #welivetoexplore #adventurethatislife #adventurevisuals #californiadreamin #californiablogger #californiavacation #westcoastblogger #hkbloggers #hongkongblogger #ilovecalifornia #californiacoast #californiaroadtrip #westcoast_exposures #westcoastlife
📍Massachusetts 🇺🇸 I was laughing to a f 📍Massachusetts 🇺🇸 I was laughing to a friend last week about how cold it is here in New England, but how much better I am actually dealing with the cold even though I’ve lived in Hong Kong for 4 years now! When I go out NOW, I’m wearing at least 4 layers of clothing and a thick coat on top, and always, always 2 layers of pants. If I run I’ll put on leggings and joggers on top of those, OR two pairs of leggings, one on top of the other. I don’t know if I thought I was too cool for dressing warmly or what - but I’d shiver through countless snowy days in Boston waiting for the bus to get to school, refuse to wear a hat - and even sometimes wore skirts. This did not, I am sad to report, make me cool. It just made me very cold. Here’s a photo of the moon at sunset, a few miles from my parents’ house. #bostonbloggers #newengland #ilovemassachusetts #massachusettsnature #massachusettsphotography #bostonphotographers #cathaycreators #hongkongblogger #bluehillreservation #bluehillsreservation #newengland_igers #newenglandliving #newenglandlife #newenglandphotography #newenglandoutdoors #newenglandwinter #travelgirlsgo #journeysofgirls #newenglandsunsets #sunsetgram #sunsets_oftheworld #sunsetoftheday #sunsetcolors #sunsetlove #massachusettslife #massachusettsoutdoors #bostonliving #bostonweather #bostonphotography #bostongram
📍Massachusetts 🇺🇸 ⁣ I loveee the New E 📍Massachusetts 🇺🇸 ⁣ I loveee the New England vibes in this photo so much! This was taken during a short run I did with my brother - I always always always avoided running because I was obsessed with “maintaining gains” when I began weightlifting 6-7 years ago. I’m surprisingly really loving it - I love just putting on a new album in whatever genre (so far have listened to Kanye, the Beatles, Linkin Park, and a LOT of Bach) and listening to it all the way through with no interruptions. ⁣ I can only really go 3-5km at a time right now without feeling like I want to stop (and I won’t be running any marathons soon) but I’m really happy I’ve found something else meditate and good-for-me to do! ⁣ Do any of you run and have any tips for a novice like me?? ⁣ ⁣ #newenglandwinter #newenglandoutdoors #newenglandfall #randolphma #newenglandblogger #newenglandpictures #bostonblogger #bostonbloggers #hkbloggers #newenglander #newenglandnature #newenglandtravel #newengland_photography #ilovemassachusetts #iloveboston #beantown #newenglandigers #bostonian #bostonlife #travelgirls #travelgirldiary #travelgirlscollective #damestravel #dametravelers #runningstyle #runningviews #winterrun #winterrunning #winterruns #belcherpark
📍Massachusetts 🇺🇸 ⁣ Since I’ve been 📍Massachusetts 🇺🇸 ⁣ Since I’ve been here, I’ve been going on walks with my parents a few times a week. My dad always ALWAYS wants to catch the sunset (he’s an avid photographer!) so here’s one that we caught a few weeks ago. ⁣ Life here is, as one of my friends described, so wholesome here. I’m still working remotely, but without a social scene all of my free time has been spent listening to new music, reading new books, practicing yoga, and moving my body. I honestly don’t miss the hectic life at all and I always wondered if I could ever live outside of a huge metro urban setting (and whether I’d get bored). I honestly think I could do it, I love living the way I have been! ⁣ For those of you who live in cities and love it, do you think you’d give up the go-go-go lifestyle for something more simple? ⁣ ⁣ #ilovemassachusetts #bluehillreservation #bluehillsreservation #cantonma #newenglandphotography #newenglandsunsets #newenglansphotography #iloveboston #beantown #bostonsunsets #bostonbloggers #travelgirlsdiary #journeysofgirls #journeyofgirls #randolphma #sunsetsofinstagram #sunsetsgram #hongkongbloggers #hongkongblogger #hongkong_ig #sunsetscape #massachusettsoutdoors #massachusetts_igers #massachusettsmade #naturalmassachusetts #sheisfromhk #agameoftones #girlswhotravel #massachusettsgirl #bostongirl ⁣
📍USA 🇺🇸 (Massachusetts) ⁣ It snowed a 📍USA 🇺🇸 (Massachusetts) ⁣ It snowed a huge snow last week! ❄️ We had a proper “nor’easter” - which, according to Wikipedia, is “a macro-scale extratropical cyclone in the western North Atlantic Ocean.” After having missed snow for many years living in Hong Kong, I honestly can’t tell you how much I’ve missed even the meter-high walls of snow we’d get, without fail, every winter in New England. ⁣ My family is driving down the Cape (Cape Cod) for Christmas! What are your plans?? ⁣ ⁣ #massachusettssnow #ilovenewengland #newenglandsnow #noreaster #bluehillreservation #newenglandphotography #newenglandphotographer #bostonbloggers #bostonblogger #cathaycreators #newenglandliving #newenglandlife #ilovemassachusetts #snowsnowsnow #snowmountain #snowlove #snowhike #snowscape #snowcovered #journeyofgirls #journeysofgirls #travelgirlsgo #snowfilter #snowseason #massachusettsoutdoors #massachusetts_igers #massachusettslife #travelgirldiary #travelgirlsofficial #travelgirlscommunity
📍Hong Kong 🇭🇰 (Lion Rock) ⁣ This was t 📍Hong Kong 🇭🇰 (Lion Rock) ⁣ This was the second time I’ve hiked to Lion Rock in Kowloon (the first time being over 3 years ago), and I still love the little Lego-pieces of HK’s buildings as far as the eye can see! ⁣ I’m not jn Hong Kong at the moment, but I’ve been telling my family here in the US that it isn’t all dense concrete and gray cityscapes, a huge amount of HK is literally just lush tropical wilderness. ⁣ Hope everyone is having a lovely start to their holidays! My family has never been big holiday people (don’t think they place a lot of emphasis or value on atmosphere), but we still got a little cat-proof tree tree at my insistence to spruce it up a bit. ⁣ ⁣ #ilovehongkong #homekong #hongkongphotography #hongkongphotographer #cathaycreators #hikinginhongkong #hongkonghiking #hkhikes #hongkonghikes #sheisfromhk #sheisnotlost #lionrockhike #lionsrock #hk_iger #travelgirlsgo #livetoexplore #hongkonglife #hongkonginsta #hongkongig #explorehongkong #discoverhongkong #awesomehongkong #bostonbloggers #bostonblogger #hongkongblogger #damestravel #traveldames #thedreamytravel #girlsvsglobe #girlsborntravel
📍Massachusetts (USA) 🇺🇸 ⁣ What’s th 📍Massachusetts (USA) 🇺🇸 ⁣ What’s the coldest place you’ve ever been to? ⁣ Can you smell how crisp the air is? It was also bone-shatteringly cold - 🥶 30 F (just below 0 C) feels just as fresh and stingy on my face as I remember! There are ZERO “Instagram spots” in the classical sense here - so you’ve got to get creative with Mother Nature! ⁣ Life has been funny lately. I’ve been in the USA for about 2.5 weeks now and I’ve finally settled into a rhythm and a routine. Part of that routine involves 3-4x weekly walks with my parents in a nearby “reservation” - big swathes of land with hiking trails, ponds, and lakes. I’m wearing leggings underneath jeans here, and could STILL feel the sharpness of cold air penetrating all the way through to my skin. ⁣ I’ve traded skyscrapers and haze for lakes and sunsets, and right now, feel super content. ⁣ ⁣ #ilovenengland #houghtonspond #newenglandsunsets #bostonbloggers #bostonblogger #newenglandphotographer #newenglandphotography #newenglandliving #newenglandlife #newengland_igers #newenglandfall #newenglandblogger #sheisnotlost #travelgirlshub #damestravel #dametraveler #sheisfromhk #agameoftones #cathaycreators #newenglandpictures #newenglander #ilovemassachusetts #masachusettsphotographer #massachusettsoutdoors #bluehillsreservation #hikingboston #newenglandhikes #massachusettslife #massachusettsmade #naturalmassachusetts
📍Boston, MA (USA) 🇺🇸 ⁣ This photo was 📍Boston, MA (USA) 🇺🇸 ⁣ This photo was taken last year in one of my favorite places in Boston, the Boston Public Library (where my dad still works!). ⁣ If I get my negative COVID result today, I’m finally out of my self-imposed quarantine! It won’t bring me much freedom, but I’m excited to meet the two new cats in the house and to finally be able to make and serve my own meals. Hope everyone is having a good week! ⁣ ⁣ #iloveboston #bostonpubliclibrary #beantown #newenglandphotographer #newenglandphotography #bostonma #bostonblogger #bostonbloggers #lifeofadventure #alwaysgo #wanderfolk #letsgosomewhere #exploreeverywhere #tasteintravel #instatravel #stayandwander #welivetoexplore #neverstopexploring #visualwanderlust #femmetravel #girlslovetravel #dametraveler #wearetravelgirls #ladiesgoneglobal #sheexplores #girlsborntotravel #theglobewanderer #traveldiary #travelphotography #bostonphotography
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • TERMS OF USE

Copyright © 2021 Lily Wunders · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Mai Theme

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. I'll assume you're OK with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsI'm OK!
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.