Night and Day

Just finished "Four Corners: A Journey into the Heart of Papua New Guinea" by Kira Salak, an autobiographical account of her coming-of-age, solo backpacking trek across the country.

I stayed up all night to finish the book's 401 pages, and I've had an hour to digest its contents, but I'm still mostly at a loss for thoughts and words.

It's an ambitious book. It's an adventure novel, yes, but it's also an anthropological study, a spiritual manifesto, a political call, a piece of journalism. Mostly, it's Salak's exploration of self, and her dealings with fear, low self-esteem, and a religious Ayn-Randian upbringing.

But here I am, merely wondering how she could possibly be alone for months, in peaceful coexistence with her own mental cogitations?

Either totally insane, or completely at peace, this crazy meri.