Out of sheer curiosity, I joined the Fencing Club at my university back in freshmen year. Around the same time, I also joined the Varsity Outdoor Club there. As the weather got better when Spring rolled around, I ditched the dim-lit ballroom-turned-fencing-practice space, and threw myself into the arms of the great outdoors. It was from then I became hooked on rock climbing, and have not stopped taking backcountry hiking/climbing trips since.

Did I regret giving up the sword for the mountains? Nope. But I did always wonder whether fencing would be something I’d actually be interested in, or even good at, if I had given it a fair chance… so I added it to my “30 before 30” list a couple of years ago. Hang on, wait a second, I just went and double checked my lists, and turns out instead of being on the 30-list, it’s on the bucket list…

I had the bucket list first, but as the items started piling up, I decided that I needed to pick out the high-priority ones and add a timeline to their completion. Because, as the saying goes: a goal without a timeline is just a dream. Anyway, somehow, fencing didn’t make the high-priority list then; but who would’ve thought that today, I get to cross it off!

#7 GIVE FENCING ANOTHER TRY

I have only recently moved to a new city, a great one, actually; but due to career development and personal interests, I’ve been hoping that it would just be a transitional-stop en route to my desired destination. Consequently, for over a month now, I’ve been afraid of making any long-term plans, avoiding creating any sense of permanence here. As the days went by, I came to realize just how important having a schedule and a moderate amount of stress is to me — I am the type that needs to keep myself busy. So, in an effort to not put life on hold, along with other things, I signed up for fencing classes. And today, I picked up that foil again! It was a great feeling.

In the big picture, this city is still only going to be a transitional one; but as it appears, my time here might be a wee-bit longer than I had originally planned. Since I’m here now, might as well allow myself to take in all that this opportunity has to offer, whilst not loosing sight of where I want to go.

Today, I crossed something off of a list that I honestly never thought I would get around to… And also today, I had raspberries — ones as delicious as the fresh carton picked up at the street market in Vienna in late-July earlier this year. Hey, maybe I’ll be back there again someday soon, with the person I was there with… After all, never say never, right?

The park, where we sat and talked well into the evening, not far from the market with those fresh raspberries. (Vienna, Austria)