Day 19: Hunting Sunsets

I stand up on my desk to constantly remind myself to look at things in a different way. - Mr. Keating, Dead Poets Society

In every place that I visit, there is 1 thing I always try extremely hard to catch: sunset from an elevated point of view.

It is hard to deeply understand a place and its people in a short period of time - the 5 to 10 days that my trips usually last. Due to financial and time constraints, most of us cannot travel to stay. We travel to leave.

And that’s fine. I’ve learned to accept that this is just a brief introduction of this beautiful place into my life, just enough for me to decide if I want to come back and learn more.

These short visits force me to be more aggressive with my exploration, compared to when I settle into a city (Hanoi, Changshu, Saint Paul). No nap, lots of museums, lots of talking, listening, walking, and eating.

As much as I love learning about people and the spirit of their lives, traveling and socializing can be quite exhausting to an introvert like me.

That’s why I find refuge in sunsets, especially those from an elevated point of view. Rooftops, viewpoints, hills, emergency exits, deck 9 of the MV World Odyssey… Crowded or not, these spots during sunset are like temples where people sacredly respect one another’s personal space and time.

There’s a beautiful tension among everyone present. We are forced to suppress the impatience that was built into our fast-paced society. Unlike the next Tinder match, or the next TikTok video, sunset is not “one swipe away”.

Sunset, like many things in nature, treats everyone the same.

You can’t cut the line. Nor skip the ad. Nor get the premium. You. Just. Have. To. Wait.

The sun doesn't hurry for anyone.

Sunset hunters, like me, know that no one is here just for that exact time on your iPhone weather app, when the sun disappears into the horizon.

6:18 P.M

Sunset hunters are here for the entire ride. The 30 minutes before, as well as the 15 minutes after. Sometimes, we come a little bit earlier and leave a little bit later. Sometimes, it’s the opposite.

It doesn’t matter. There’s no right way to catch a sunset.

My way is to do it from an elevated point of view, for many reasons. The most important of all is the view.

When you spend all day in the hustling current of life, crossing things out from your to-do list, it’s easy to get caught up in the “narrowed view”. I make the effort to climb up that hill, that building, that tree, to constantly remind myself to look at things in a different way.

When I’m up there, absorbing the patience of the sun, I become more patient with myself.

I found a different point of view.

“It’s okay if you failed. It’s okay if you’re late to the bandwagon. It’s okay if you haven’t figured everything out.”

Good things take time. Like a good sunset.

Even if you miss it today, you can try again tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that…

I remember the sunset I was hunting with Joao in Cabo de Roca. It took us 2 hours and 2 bus rides to get to our spot, only to realize that the whole sky was clouded. So little sun to be seen.

But to this day, it is still the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen.

The most Western point of Europe. With the best tour guide that has ever hosted me. Probably the best beer I’ve ever had. I want to propose to my future wife there.

I realize that it was never about the sunset, or the view. It was about trying.

“Just when you think you know something, you must try to look at it in another way.” - Mr. Keating, Dead Poets Society

Hunting sunset is a reminder to try.