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monsoondiaries

🩺NYC Emergency Physician
🌏190 countries in 10yrs while from student➡️doctor
🎒& as others join along our adventures🛫
🌦Monsoon with us! Next: 🇲🇱

“A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what

“A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” – John A. Shedd…but most of all, you’re going to miss the silent reveries on the water while staring up at a night sky full of stars, before drifting off not knowing what kind of dreams you’d still have if you were already living one…Full throwback to last week’s monsoon caper, written in a Jack Kerouac stream-of-consciousness scroll style without interruptions and while inspired by the photography of @wanderingwoo — link in bio or https://monsoondiaries.com/2022/01/20/mslg/@nursesabnyc @toowuforyou @wanderingwoo @tammyyingmusic @drive2blue @_jeanetteeeeee @theyachtweek.....#martinique #saintlucia #stlucia #vaccinatedtraveler #ethicaltravel #beautifuldestinations #yachtweek #theyachtweek #diving #travelinstyle #monsoondiaries #tripideas #bbctravel #guardiantravelsnaps #natgeo #natgeotravelpic #lonelyplanet #livetravelchannel #theglobewanderer #travelblogger #travelblogginglife #wonderful_places #whereshouldigonext #thenexttrip #wanderfolk #places_wow #passionpassport #backflipchallenge #travelphotography #backflip

We're now on 'pause.' On the last legs of a trip w

We're now on 'pause.' On the last legs of a trip where we may create unplanned branching alternate realities. And one of them being that I don't usually miss or change flights...…but when I do, it would probably be because of an epiphany connecting kindred souls physically separated across hundreds of miles at the same time, or right after a kind of trip ending worthy of a 90s teen prom movie, or right before visiting what has been regarded as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world in one of the least visited islands in Europe ... or all of the above. The monsooners with me right now generously have determined that manifesting these branching realities to be “monsooning." As warm those words are for me to hear, I rather suppose that what we're doing is really just daring ourselves to live the lives we’ve always wanted.Full blogpost on #lampedusa and to see my hair flip attempt: link in bio or https://monsoondiaries.com/2021/09/13/lampedusa/#vaccinatedtraveler #ethicaltravel #italy #beautifuldestinations #sicily #islands #islandhopping #italia #safetravel #monsoondiaries #vaccinelife #bbctravel #guardiantravelsnaps #natgeo #natgeotravelpic #lonelyplanet #livetravelchannel #theglobewanderer #travelblogger #travelblogginglife #beach #beachbum #doctorlife #beaches #gratitude #vaccinated

This week (April 24-30) happens to be World Immuni

This week (April 24-30) happens to be World Immunization Week, and it comes at a critical juncture not only during a pandemic but also in our own lifetimes. How this world collectively acts at this moment will determine the course of our entire lifetimes and the arc of human history. We can make a difference now. We can make history now. We can make a better world for our children now.Despite being exhausted, battered and bruised for nearly a year, frontline healthcare workers in the first photo signed up for these vaccines 6 months ago relying on even less data than you have today, instead pinning our hopes on an unshakeable trust in science. We heeded a calling knowing that the benefits of a vaccine still far outweighed the risks of catching COVID-19 and bringing it home to our families and most vulnerable, let alone letting it obliterate our entire healthcare system and life as we knew it.I know every single healthcare worker in this first photo and I know not a single one of us have regretted our decision. And with nearly half a year since, we implore that those of you still on the fence empathize and reckon in your soul what we were going through at the time, because we now can’t do this together without you.Vaccines ultimately will help us end the pandemic so we can finally be one step closer to each other again. #VaccinesWork to bring us closer. SHARE this important message this World Immunization Week and play a part to make a difference. Because one day when we look back on all of this, will each and every single one of us be able to declare without hesitation that we did our best? That we each played our best parts to remake a better world for our children?

“They need you right now, but when they don’t

“They need you right now, but when they don’t they’ll cast you out, like a leper! ...it’s a bad joke.”I knew there was no going back after they called it a pandemic, and about more than a year ago I predicted that some of the very people who had rose to the occasion on the frontlines would be kicked to the curb after this is over. Some have lost their livelihoods, some even their own lives.And yet seeing this coming for over a year I find myself nonetheless still dismayed and disheartened to see how these predictions are already happening even long before the end of this pandemic.Current trends suggest that there will be a surplus of 9,413 Emergency Physicians by 2030. That means a lot of my younger colleagues will have invested nearly half a million dollars in their education for potentially few jobs and a lifetime of debt. Our practice is being endangered.Obviously we can still change this destiny by ingenuity and innovations of what good folks can accomplish when they foresee an avoidable situation, but as of the time of making this video 6 months ago, not many signs have been encouraging. Prove me wrong. While grateful that’ll I’ll be okay (I’ve never been good at doing only one thing anyway), I worry often about my colleagues and colleagues-to-be who went all in. We need to change the narrative. If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.“Nearly one year since the pandemic first hit the US, doctors and nurses around the country are dealing with mounting fatigue, stress and exhaustion. Meanwhile, as hospitalizations remain high and ICUs are overflowing, some doctors are losing their jobs or unable to find positions. @cnn “Go There” speaks to three ER doctors from Los Angeles @iamaustinwilliams, New York @monsoondiaries and Kentucky @coming_to_amarica .” - @cnn You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.

What will greet you at your front door when you do

What will greet you at your front door when you don’t get vaccinated........#happyhalloween #halloween #halloweencostume #wearamask #maskup #mask #ppe #personalprotectiveequipment #personalprotection #covidarmor #covidproof #covidproofed #facecoverings #pyramidhead #pyramidheadcosplay #pyramidheadedit #silenthill2 #silenthill3 #silenthillcosplay #cosplay #halloweenmakeup #halloweenmakeup #halloween🎃 #masks #silenthill #horror #horrormovies #thisishalloween #halloweenkills #halloweendecorations #covidhalloween

The first stage of grief is usually denial. Anger,

The first stage of grief is usually denial. Anger, depression, and bargaining then follow before acceptance. As I only post what we experience personally in front of us in ERs and UCCs, we are seeing all 5 stages of grief unraveling quickly before us: Folks who had denied what was going on, lashed out in anger, or evoked varying forms of depression are now bargaining with us privately in increased numbers to get vaccinated secretly. Whether for themselves, a family member, or yet unvaccinated children, they are reaching acceptance; many of them are among you.As more conclusive data emerges (swipe➡️to last slide; there’s have been just too many of these in too many states for too many months to consider it “anecdotal”) of countless hospitals nationwide overflowing with the unvaccinated — while still not a single hospital has filled with the fully vaccinated (as no reason exists to fill up a hospital when fully vaccinated, esp. with an @fda approved vaccine) — one must wonder: Does one want to still wait & see where these trends are going? To bet against the house with as high as 10,000 to 1 odds when the stakes are your and loved ones’ lives?Having been fully vaccinated for almost a year now — esp. healthcare workers pouring from empty tanks for this pandemic — we must move on. This unkind world does not wait; we’re still healthy and therefore must take reprieves to fill empty tanks before we may quit altogether and leave our healthcare systems short. And yet those of us who are now traveling and stepping away with a bird’s-eye view continue to observe the obvious: This is has now become an entirely preventable pandemic of the unvaccinated.p.s. Speaking of reprieve, I’m taking the next week off to lead my largest monsoon yet (40 fully vaccinated monsooners sailing in open winds of the Tyrrhenian Sea). Will try to still respond to DMs and comments, but just in case you don’t hear from me: you know why! In the meantime, you can follow our trip live with updates here and on our blog (link in bio). 🚀

Our first official international monsoon since Feb

Our first official international monsoon since Feb 2020 is planned to commence in exactly 2 weeks, where I’ve screened 12 fully vaccinated and trustworthy folks — most of whom have traveled with me before and I can trust to behave responsibly during a pandemic — will endeavor on a pilot road trip (much like our successful road trip across USA last August) across Cyprus 🇨🇾. Essentially it will be exactly like our road trip last August but this time also being fully vaccinated on an island with a far lower infection rate than 🇺🇸 had been suffering from last year.All 12 monsooners will submit proof of full vaccinations to Cyprus’ official government travel portal (info in the gallery, swipe ➡️) prior to clearance to enter the island nation, after which we’ll self-drive our own private vehicles and conduct all activities outdoors: beaches, ancient ruins, and dining al fresco (as we have always been doing in the 🇺🇸 since the pandemic began to wane). Our lodgings will be private apartments only with good air flow from open balconies and with nobody having stayed for at least a few days prior to arrival. Even when fully vaccinated, we will also all ensure negative test results prior to boarding our flights and minimize our stopovers prior to and after the trip.Best part? WE’VE DONE THIS BEFORE and DID IT SAFELY even without 💉 . And to re-prove it to you, beginning TOMORROW and in anticipation of this upcoming monsoon, we will recap the day to day live vlog (composed by @noeleentong) on our IGTV of our previous official monsoon — a private road trip across America last August from NYC to Seattle over 10 days in an RV — before finally premiering the epic and moving 26-minute aftermovie of our trip directed, edited, and composed by the masterful @rauburnin on June 6, 2021.Beginning tomorrow and in celebration of a hope of what’s to come, learn from and be inspired by the 14 monsooners who traveled safely from coast to coast twice-over so we could recharge and recuperate properly after 5 months of burnout on the frontlines of the epicenter.Beginning tomorrow, we look back to look forward in rebuilding towards a more ethical and sustainable way of travel.

Spoke live on @yahoofinance 2 days ago on the infl

Spoke live on @yahoofinance 2 days ago on the inflection point we’re in now; feeling like putting out fires everywhere — COVID-19, intersectional organizing, working 16 hour shifts, and taking care of myself. No rest for the weary. Here are the main updates:Outbreaks in the NE and Upper Midwest are growing in 37 states with rates increasing and staying high. The number of hospitalizations over the past two weeks continue to be flat instead of falling. That means they’re still filling up and we’re not slowing the pour.While deaths are still falling, that is a lagging indicator behind hospitalizations by a few weeks (remember you don’t immediately die from COVID-19 the moment you have symptoms or get hospitalized; that can take a few weeks).Why is this happening?1. Mandates can only do so much if the effort is half-hearted, not all businesses or states are enforcing them, individuals refuse to follow them, and especially if governors are relaxing restrictions even in states where cases are rising2. Variants: The B117 variant is continuing to become the dominant variant here and in 130 other countries. The B1351 (South African) increased from 5 to 80 countries and the P1 (Brazilian) variant is in 45 countries. While our vaccines work well against the more contagious B117, that may not the case with the every other variant.3. All the spring breakers are returning home and bringing COVID-19 with them to us. Most of my positive cases since last Thursday were spring break travel-related or someone exposed to another who traveled for spring break.Keep in mind only a mere 16% of our population are *fully* vaccinated, most of them older. That’s not enough.Lastly, the UN COVAX program that was supposed to ensure distribution of vaccines to all countries is not working. Many developing countries do not have access and may not have it for months to years. Nobody is safe until all of us are safe.Therefore like last year, this April will be another inflection point: Will we have a spike in new cases and end up like last year? or will we escape that fate with our vaccine programs? We’ll see over the next month. If you must do anything social, stay outdoors.

Haven’t bought a newspaper in years, but an exce

Haven’t bought a newspaper in years, but an exception can be made for today’s issue of the @nypost — grab a copy today (Mon Dec 6, 2021) and check the Business/Work section, Page 31!Not in the NY area? Swipe ➡️ in the gallery for the full article.Thanks for the write-up and Monday morning surprise Perri!#nypost #inthenews #hope #newspapers #newyorkpost

Wherever I go I know I can always count on a fully

Wherever I go I know I can always count on a fully immunized group of reliable ride-or-die crew to follow through and join. Showing up is 90% of the battle.When 11 responsible and fully vaccinated monsooners – 4 of whom have traveled with me before – jump on for an experience for which a majority would have otherwise gotten cold feet, I’d find that it would be a bigger risk now to not risk anything at all.Travel might still not be for everyone these days, but if we can plan a trip that is ethical and sustainable on an island with historically low rates, filled with proven COVID-19 negative and fully vaccinated individuals, and without making any impact on our communities at large (especially those of us who waited out travel for over a year), this is how we may better recharge before whatever next crisis is around the corner.Here are the main safety precautions our group has taken for this trip: Can I trust you? A critical mass of the group personally knows, worked with or already have traveled with me AND each other in the past, whether in international conflict zones or with nearly impossible itineraries. This familiarity of having been through difficult travel circumstances already establishes a critical mass of trust and a culture of safety.Is everyone healthy and fully vaccinated?Yep. Otherwise Cyprus wouldn’t even let you in. No brainer!Have we minimized all controllable variables?We’re all coming from low prevalence areas such as NYC, not setting foot in any high risk layovers, only traveling to low-risk outdoor areas, avoiding indoor public spaces, large gatherings and hotspots, and we can easily seal ourselves from the outside world if necessary in our private vehicles. Contingency plans (location of hospitals in each location, immediate isolation precautions, how groups will be separated) have been planned ahead and we performed thorough orientations to manage all the expectations inherent in unpredictable travel.Full roster of our trip here: https://monsoondiaries.com/2021/05/28/meet-the-cypriots/The trip begins tomorrow. Follow us live for as we explore Cyprus for the first time the next week!

“The sweet is never as sweet without the sour.”After hitting a few walls on our way to visit the walled-off abandoned ghost city of Varosha, the Cyprus monsoon crew finally made it through today as one of the first visitors since 1974 on our 2nd attempt.Check out the stories in the Cyprus highlight!— Context: In the early 1970s, this city was one of the top tourist destinations in Cyprus if not the world, where movie stars chose here as their preferred destination away from Hollywood. Then as what had happened in Pripyat/Chernobyl, its entire population quickly abandoned the city in 1974 when they had received news that the Turkish army were advancing from the north, after which the army took control and walled off the entire city. It has been frozen in time ever since.https://monsoondiaries.com/2021/06/12/varosha/

I’ll just keep it simple for your newsfeed today

I’ll just keep it simple for your newsfeed today: Racist, misogynist domestic terrorism.Consider how some have been through enough and/or overspent enough energy on trying to educate and explain for the longest time. Do your due diligence if you want to help and fight with us if it’s worth your cause; we’ll stick be busy putting out the fires that have been burning long before we were born.It’s also not just Asian violence. Do your due diligence.p.s. and “fed up, “bad day” my ass. We’re all fed up and having a bad day.

“Creating a space where creativity and curiosity

“Creating a space where creativity and curiosity meet.” - @estherperelofficial Day 1 theme: Catharsis First day in Cyprus with the first international monsoon group since the pandemic! Not even 3 hours after meeting everyone in person for the first time, we’re already making up for lost time with all the conversations that have been pent up over the past 16 months.So we skipped small talk and went straight to catharsis, something that usually only happens near the end of the trip. If this is the first day, let’s see what happens the rest of the week! Stay tuned.

Exactly 1 year ago today - March 8, 2020, 7am at a

Exactly 1 year ago today - March 8, 2020, 7am at a Brooklyn emergency room - my first COVID-19 patient walked through the door.Since then: one tragic year of countless patients treated, counseled, lost, and grieved, with even more lives upended and altered forever. We grappled with a year of the virus, and also a year of entitlement and willful ignorance exacerbating a pandemic of institutionalized injustice, iniquity, and violence in all its forms. March 2020-21 felt like signing up for a Shirley Jackson-esque lottery you didn’t want to participate in, or having us run naked into a hurricane and somehow expecting us to come out just fine (We didn’t). Burying loved ones, colleagues and friends, we continued taking care of patients as if they were our very own loved ones, colleagues, and friends. Many times they actually were. And many times it felt that the loudest of voices still turned their backs on us, skeptical of our efforts or even the existence of an existential threat. Too much to fathom for a year. Who cares for the carer? Who heals the healers?Prior to the pandemic I felt having traveled to 190+ countries while a full time med student turned doctor bestowed me countless lifetimes the past decade. That past decade now pales to the countless lifetimes I feel to have lived this past year alone. Died and reborn everytime we felt a lump in our throats or aching chests, we always woke up for the next shift more of a shell of the person we had gone to bed as. But until none of us are left, we always have and we still always will run into fires lifting up our fallen vulnerable as if it was our birthright to existence.Therefore a year of perseverance against seemingly insurmountable odds will remind us of our humanity. For every faceless chimera that doubted us, hundreds more good samaritans validated us. So if there were anything to celebrate a catastrophic year of, it’d be those brethren, allies, and accomplices guaranteeing that our efforts - and not those who fearfully choose to be on the wrong side of history - will be remembered long after this year and long after we’re gone. Forging fiercely ahead together, here’s to better years to come.

Backstage during the rally against hate event this

Backstage during the rally against hate event this past Sunday, we overheard feedback to amplify female voices onstage especially when of the 3800+ known anti-Asian incidents this past year, most of them were against women. I want to amplify the voice of at least one right now, grateful to have recorded (and with her blessings yesterday, post on my social media) this breathtaking speech in its entirety given by my friend, former colleague on @ecaasu, fellow monsooner, and fellow co-conspirator @musicwithmissalice. Alice Tsui needs to be heard first and foremost on behalf of our children, women, Asian Americans, teachers, and all the other intersections that can relate to her words. We need to transform this world into something better for our children than the kind of world we had inherited. We need them to know that WE ARE GOLDEN.Let’s take our respective spaces we have long been privileged to and transform them into becoming more accessible to the other groups without that privilege and have been long oppressed.#wearegolden #rallyagainsthate #allcrewsonecrew #runningtoprotest #saytheirnames #stopkillingus #stopasianhate #stopaapihate #hateisavirus #blackandgold #asianlivesmatter #nojusticenopeace #asianamerican #aapi #teachers #intersectionality #truthtopower #antiracisteducation #antiracism #speakyourtruth #speakitintoexistence #wewillwin #sleepinggiant #wewillgetthroughthis #educationispower #educationmatters #student #amplifywomensvoices #nojusticenopeace #blm

Everyday feels like we’re marching towards anoth

Everyday feels like we’re marching towards another potential apocalypse and yet everyday feels as if the generosity of our universe’s tug-of-war allows us a reprieve before an inevitable. Checking in: Art has conceived the disaster/zombie/end-of-days narrative to reflect social turbulence and anxiety inherent in human civilizations, but let me be Cpt. Obvious and observe how we are actively living through an unfolding disaster narrative right now: After the initial threat of a zombie “virus” and even with zombies (COVID) everywhere still, we’re living in a society that compels our fellow humans to jockey back onto the main stage as the main antagonists. Reality becomes art which is always becoming reality. We are our own self-fulfilling prophecy.If 2020 was like season 1 of @amcthewalkingdead then we’re now heading into season 2-11 where the survivors are fighting one another over scraps instead of the true enemy. While we consume these stories as privileged entertainment, and partially to prevent ourselves making the same mistakes as a society, it feels as if we are now still falling for it. And unlike in art, real lives are being ruined.I wrote last April that even if there would be no next wave, life is life, and there will always be ‘a next wave.’ There always will be new disasters, returning pandemics of cruelty, racism, gender violence, willful ignorance, keeping others (even betraying those who had uplifted us) down to “get ahead.” If we keep at this rate especially during a pandemic, little will be left. And it dismays me that I didn’t have to wait too long to apply last year’s statements to different circumstances today.But since we’ve learned from countless tragedies before, I also had stated my understanding that those who hold the line and still “fight in the face of futility” will discover a meaning within meaningless. If that also can be part of our disaster narrative, then perhaps even disaster movies can be rewritten. Maybe we can still save ourselves and make new narratives, new art, and new realities.Let’s atone for our sins and rewrite the script.🖼 by @shainamocciomac on a 📸 by @kareemblack

Lis-“bon” There…But Haven’t Done That! (fu

Lis-“bon” There…But Haven’t Done That!(full blogpost link in bio! or go here: https://monsoondiaries.com/2021/07/10/lisbon/)Last minute $338 USD roundtrip airfare, 1 hour turnaround on a negative RT-PCR at work, a tattered 7-month-old vaccine card at check-in, and clearances by both Spanish and Portuguese travel portals: Now I’m briefly in Lisbon while on the way to Azores and Madeira; it’s been 10 years since the last time I was here!The even more surprising part was running into friends with the same mindset not even within 3 hours of landing; another travel serendipity that would less recalled for me what life had been like before the pandemic, but rather how lucky we are and what we’ve endured together to get this far to the next step and other side.So before the next storm, “live now (responsibly).” And I shall.#thevaccinatedtraveler #vaccinatedtravel #monsoondiaries #portugal #lisbon #lisboa #belem #europe #vaccinated #doyoutravel #bbctravel #guardiantravelsnaps #lastminutetravel #natgeotravelpic #livetravelchannel #theglobewanderer #pandemictravel #wonderful_places #covidtravel #travelawesome #wanderlust #wanderfolk #mybudgettravel #backpacking #passionpassport #travelblogger #travelphotography #serendipity #carpediem #travelstory

Extra”Azores”-dinary! Cue double rainbow monol

Extra”Azores”-dinary! Cue double rainbow monologue.If our past 72 hours in The Azores isn’t close enough to paradise 🌈 (slide ➡️ for more!) on Earth, I don’t know what is. This is #nofilterneeded Full blogpost on The Azores in link in bio or go here: https://monsoondiaries.com/2021/07/12/azores/Like what you’re seeing? See it for yourself; join us for our upcoming trips in August & September! (Links in bio or: monsoondiaries.com/headliner-trips)#thevaccinatedtraveler #vaccinatedtravel #monsoondiaries #portugal #azores #pontadelgada #europe #vaccinated #doyoutravel #bbctravel #guardiantravelsnaps #lastminutetravel #natgeotravelpic #livetravelchannel #theglobewanderer #pandemictravel #wonderful_places #covidtravel #travelawesome #wanderlust #wanderfolk #mybudgettravel #passionpassport #travelblogger #travelphotography #rainbow #saomiguel #backpacking

It’s “Sintra-l” to Every Visit To Portugal 🇵🇹 (full blogpost link in bio, or go here: https://monsoondiaries.com/2021/07/10/lisbon/#sintra)Or as @sharonlli puts it: “Disneyland without the Disney characters.”#thevaccinatedtraveler #vaccinatedtravel #monsoondiaries #portugal #lisboa #lisbon #europe #vaccinated #doyoutravel #bbctravel #guardiantravelsnaps #lastminutetravel #natgeotravelpic #livetravelchannel #theglobewanderer #pandemictravel #wonderful_places #covidtravel #travelawesome #wanderlust #wanderfolk #mybudgettravel #backpacking #passionpassport #travelblogger #travelphotography #castles #carpediem #travelstory

I’m Getting Mad-iera About You (full blogpost li

I’m Getting Mad-iera About You (full blogpost link in bio, or: https://monsoondiaries.com/2021/07/14/madeira/)!Taking advantage of seaside cliffs views (2nd highest in the world and highest in Western Europe) in the island birthplace of @cristiano . To enter all I had to do is upload a copy of my vaccine card to prove a fully vaccinated status on their travel portal madeirasafe.com and show my actual copy at arrivals and I was in.To return to a country or region that requires proof of negative status for 🦠 they have free testing tents all over in their capital city of Funchal; just arrange an appointment at a local participating pharmacy beforehand. Result turnarounds take 45 minutes.Everything is connected: Healthcare workers still are getting little respite after more than a year fighting this public health crisis. Treating a pandemic of misinformation now is something many of us didn’t expect to sign up for. So don’t forget we can’t pour from empty cups; let’s recharge responsibly and safely before we truly can’t anymore. Minimize the layovers when traveling and choose places both with low rates and that focus on only allowing fully vaccinated travelers (like Cyprus and to a degree, Madeira).Barring extenuating circumstances, vaccinated folks can now join us for our upcoming yacht trip (4 spots left) to Sardinia & Corsica in September; link in bio or: monsoondiaries.com/headliner-trips#thevaccinatedtraveler #vaccinatedtravel #monsoondiaries #portugal #madeira #funchal #europe #vaccinated #doyoutravel #bbctravel #guardiantravelsnaps #lastminutetravel #natgeotravelpic #livetravelchannel #theglobewanderer #pandemictravel #wonderful_places #covidtravel #travelawesome #wanderlust #wanderfolk #mybudgettravel #passionpassport #travelblogger #travelphotography #panoramicview #coastline #backpacking

Invited yesterday to speak live on @yahoofinance a

Invited yesterday to speak live on @yahoofinance again regarding the current state of affairs on 🦠, its intersection with travel, what’s going on in India, and how to reopen responsibly.When in doubt, the answer will usually be “it depends.” A one-size-fits-all, generalized, blanket approach, even with the noblest of intentions, can be misguided in most circumstances. With a little more effort and self-awareness, you can still achieve your goals, keep it ethical, not set an unnecessary double standard, have your cake and eat it too if you just #thinkalittleharderWe must do well, but we also must do good.

You’re going to crave … eating through Portuga

You’re going to crave … eating through Portugal. This food gallery is not a comprehensive list but rather exists just to make you hungry and/or drool on yourself 🤤 —1. @em.carne.viva of Porto2. Elderini with lemon foam and zest, and paprika salt, Brioche with cod liver and trout roe + Explosive Olive, Brioche bun filled with eggplant caviar @belcanto_joseavillez 3. Francesinha - Portuguese sandwich originally from Porto, made with bread, wet-cured ham, linguiça, fresh sausage like chipolata, steak or roast meat, & covered with melted cheese and a hot, thick spiced tomato and beer sauce. Plant based option @em.carne.viva 4. Cozido das Furnas (Tony’s Restaurant) - traditional Azores stew slow cooked (without water or spices) underground with natural volcanic heat5. Azores Pineapple - the island of São Miguel is the only place in the world where pineapples are grown in greenhouses and each takes 2 years to blossom from flower to fruit6. Bolo do caco - Madeiran flatbread cooked on a flat basalt stone slab. Best with garlic butter or local 24 month old Azores cheese from São George island7. Madeiran passion fruit pavlova dessert 8. Sweet egg cream and lemon dessert @belcanto_joseavillez 9. Crispy suckling pig ‘sandwich’ with sarapatel paté, peppercorn sauce, orange purée, watercress emulsion and puffed potatoes @belcanto_joseavillez 10. ALL the Pastéis de nata from the legendary bakeries @pasteisbelem @castropasteisdenata @manteigaria.oficial

One year in and this is the longest I’ve stayed

One year in and this is the longest I’ve stayed in this city since I started traveling a decade ago.I can never be awake enoughto open my eyesto a city that never sleepsIs this city really my identityOr just a childhood memorySoon forgotten when I take off.Like a petulant adolescent,Impatient for independence, a life to claim his own.Will I miss the city then?Crossing countless tunnels and bridgesAn upper west pupil with upper east roots,A patron of Washington to Jackson to Brooklyn Heights.Multiple personalities lace these multiple districts.But shouldn’t I have one identityTo call my own?One distinction with which I am comfortable,to return home the same person as when I left, declare a name.Or just be without an identity.- me, 2005Have we grown? Or did everyone else just stay the same? We’re getting and going to get through this.

Seatbelts don’t prevent car accidents. Helmets d

Seatbelts don’t prevent car accidents. Helmets don’t prevent bike accidents. Bulletproof vests won’t be the solution to gun violence. So as cumbersome as they may be to wear for some of you — and UNLESS getting into a car accident is safer than wearing a seatbelt, getting into a bike accident is safer than wearing a helmet, and getting shot is safer than wearing a bulletproof vest — does that mean we shouldn’t wear seatbelts, helmets, or bulletproof vests if given a choice to when walking through a firefight or driving/biking down a high speed highway?Vaccines won’t prevent 100% of breakthrough infections in the same way bulletproof vests won’t prevent 100% gun violence. Unless the alternative is safer than the seatbelt/helmet/vest, that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t wear a helmet biking in rush hour, won’t wear a seatbelt driving on winding road with your family in the back, won’t wear a bulletproof vest in a firefight, and won’t get fully vaccinated in the middle of a pandemic that has already killed countless millions.So if we live in a world where everyone now can be shooting or crashing a 🦠 into you as if you were caught up in a firefight or driving/biking down rush hour, why wouldn’t you put on a bulletproof vest, wear a seatbelt or get fully vaccinated? …Unless you fully embrace how getting ejected from a car crash is safer than seatbelts, a bike collision is safer than the helmet, or getting 🦠 and spreading it to your loved ones is safer than being legally able to travel to USVI, Cyprus and Portugal this year 😉You know these measures aren’t designed to prevent you from getting hit, but you’ll at least LOWER THE OVERALL RISK OF DEATH if or once you do.This, with the resurgence of yet another variant is why an increased number of those who although would refuse the vaccine publicly, secretly have come to us to get vaccinated without losing face to their friends. As they would tell me themselves (while using the analogies above): “Patient privacy is a wonderful thing.” 🤫 Please share far and wide!

Giving an update on COVID-19 around the world with

Giving an update on COVID-19 around the world with a macro lens on rising rates and vaccination data. It ain’t over until it’s over.#frontlinehealthcareworkers #frontliners #covid #covid19 #covid_19 #corona #coronavirus #pandemic2020 #pandemic #nurselife #frontline #healthcareworkers #healthcare #residency #gratitude #vaccine #doctorlife #medschool #residencylife #vaccinated #fuckcovid #emergencymedicine #doctor #medicalstudent #hope #covidkindness #fightagainstcoronavirus #covidphotodiaries #medstudentlife

One day when we look back on all of this, will eac

One day when we look back on all of this, will each and every single one of us be able to declare without hesitation that we did our best?That as far from perfect as we are — especially in times of uncertainty — would we persist in every waking moment to build together a better world, even when staring directly in the face of hopelessness?Yesterday this was placed at @javitscenter among the 10,000 daily vaccinations they have been distributing there. Fathoming how someone out there in this city would think of a fellow stranger amidst one of the most precarious times of a generation, somehow has both given me pause and moved me tremendously. I guess who are we without each other?So if I may have contributed a tiny bit to move the needle for you, then allow me to express my gratitude for even being trusted with the opportunity to have done so.Because also without you I could never be.....#thankyouback #gratitude #thisisourshot #covid #covid19 #covid_19 #corona #coronavirus #pandemic2020 #pandemic #nurselife #frontline #healthcareworkers #healthcare #residency #thankfulness #vaccine #doctorlife #medschool #residencylife #vaccinated #fuckcovid #emergencymedicine #doctor #medicalstudent #hope #covidkindness #fightagainstcoronavirus #covidphotodiaries #medstudentlife

I want to paint our skies orange red, capturing th

I want to paint our skies orange red, capturing the chemiluminescence of ideas long forgotten.I want to journey beneath the surface of our moons, and reflect the rays of garish suns.I want to weave together the threads of an imperfect reality that still manifest dreams of a better world, and yet remain buried under miles of doubt and uncertainty.And through it all may I still hear the music flying low, floating through, and knowing everything. — written December 17, 2005 for a photo taken March 27, 2021Felt compelled to shift from prose after witnessing yesterday’s sunset after the moments of the day (especially a shout out to rally organizer @rachelhu888 who led our march through Flushing!). The angst I’ve had 16 years ago still apply. And yet, spring is coming. ✊Also long overdue to finally meet in person @levitatestyle @aliciammara especially after all the collisions we’ve had with mutual connections beforehand. To more opportunities in the future to rally together, whether for leisure or justice. 🤙

Rubbing my eyes and pinching myself when seeing my

Rubbing my eyes and pinching myself when seeing my name on a front cover of a published book shipping worldwide! Earlier this year I was asked to write the introduction for and be published in @mjhiblenart ‘s latest work “Holding The Line,” in which he honors frontline workers during the pandemic in hospitals, shops, and on our streets. Featuring 75 full-color illustrations + black & white sketches, his book is now on sale with link in bio or: https://blackspringpressgroup.com/products/frontline-heroes-1Consider a gift for the #frontlineworkers that you know who helped us see us through last year in the darkest of times.And in those times before @mjhiblenart knew who I was, I remembered looking to his art for support. They were widely shared on my feed as if some kind of flickering reminders of who I was and what I signed up for. The images at first came steadily, and then persistently, reassuring me that there were still good people outside our bubbles who saw us and made efforts within their non-medical avenues of expertise to validate our realities. As you go through these images, I’d like for you to close your eyes and imagine — or recall — the myriad heartbreaks and moments of grace that led to these illustrations in the first place. Looking back myself, I fight tears when I see how these pieces has since encapsulated all that frustrates us, and yet all that gives us hope. If they say a picture is worth a thousand words, his have been worth countless millions to us. His first major work in the series “Hero” was our attitude at the beginning and his subsequent follow up, “OUR second wave,” became our reality. We soon realized as much as we felt alone, we could not do it alone. We needed people outside our worlds to pick us up when we fell. Because who will care for the carer? Who heals the healers? This pandemic did not create new problems as much as it clarified how our collective society cannot sustain itself on healthcare systems that remain fundamentally fragile, and for countless others broken and inaccessible. Sometimes, the sheer futility of it all may render one feeling a sense of absolute powerlessness…Get your copy today. Link in bio.

It’s not a choice. It’s a calling. This imag

It’s not a choice. It’s a calling. This image summarizes my social media newsfeed for 3 months now, and every time I see an opportunity to add to it I can’t help but finally appreciate this little thing called hope, and entrusting destinies greater than myself.Those who know me would recall my untraditional path in becoming a doctor (long story), and yet as wayward as my journey has been I have come to share this commitment that many of us became healthcare workers not because of any conscious decision as much as it was kismet: We had to.It’s best described by my concept of love: forces out there will compel us to override all that may seem logical — especially what is comfortable — as we commit to a purpose that far outweigh our physical existences.I wish this pandemic didn’t have to be so dire that we’d want/need/debate over another vaccine in the first place. But 3 months after being one of the very first to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, a lingering emotion hits pretty close to those same sentiments I had endured when I doubted whether I could be doctor — but even when given the choice to opt out of the shot, we didn’t see this as a “choice” for a vaccine as much as it was a manifestation of a shared destiny: We had to.I feel I speak on behalf of countless others when I know we could never bear to look back one day and feel like we gave up “our shot,” literally and figuratively, betraying any fiber of our soul and committing disservice to ourselves, families, patients, or you. Even if there are people out there who still/will doubt, hate, blame, ignore, castigate, litigate, or betray us, we’re not going anywhere. We have endured. We will learn from all our mistakes as lessons, continuing to commit to the moment and what will be required of us.Like love, there will be inexplicable forces will compel us to override all that may seem logical — especially what may seem safe and comfortable — to dedicate ourselves to an idea that far outweighs our brief time together on this planet.Whether you call that idea a calling, purpose, destiny or love: if we haven’t yet given up our shot for you, perhaps neither should you.🎶 by HookSounds.com

A double rainbow by sunset — how can we not see

A double rainbow by sunset — how can we not see the signs right now that we’re exactly where we need to be?Thanks @nursesabnyc for the assist (and grabbing my attention in the first place not to miss this fleeting moment on the water).........#saintlucia🇱🇨 #saintlucia #stlucia #vaccinatedtraveler #ethicaltravel #beautifuldestinations #travel #travelblogger #doublerainbow🌈🌈 #doublerainbow #monsoondiaries #caribbean #bbctravel #guardiantravelsnaps #natgeo #natgeotravelpic #lonelyplanet #livetravelchannel #theglobewanderer #travelblogger #travelblogginglife #wonderful_places #whereshouldigonext #sunset #wanderfolk #places_wow #passionpassport #cnntravel #travelphotography #bbctravel

Posting this in full as it hopefully answers a lot

Posting this in full as it hopefully answers a lot of questions and I like posting cautiously hopeful interviews and making them shareable. This one from @yahoofinance yesterday live right before beginning a shift — “And what I'm seeing on the ground now from the people who are getting vaccinated, I'm seeing so many side effects-- them being relief, joy, catharsis, and just a feeling, though, a huge weight has been lifted off their shoulders. So that's all really good stuff so far, and I think it's been very encouraging, relative to what we've been through in the last year. But again, relative. The bar has been set very low with last year.”

Antibodies from a COVID-19 infection = Iron Man su

Antibodies from a COVID-19 infection = Iron Man suit built in a cave under duressAntibodies from a COVID-19 vaccine = Iron Man suit built in Tony Stark’s laboratoryWhich one would the Avengers rather have to protect Earth against future threats/variants?#justsayin

Although the past year has now left me (grand)fath

Although the past year has now left me (grand)fatherless on this physical plane, it also has evoked the strength of my single mothers; they are still here, they are still with me, and they shall continue to live on to be even stronger than ever before.And therefore also cherishing those without mothers, mothers who have suffered the loss of a child/pregnancy, those who desire to be mothers, those who struggle in their relationships with their mothers (as I have, especially after losing my father), or those who never knew their mothers. This day is for you too. #mothersday #raisedbywomen #fullyvaccinated #gratitude #singlemothers.....#fuckcovid19

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