Travel Notes

We share stories and essays that bring places and people closer: through reflections, impressions, and guides rooted in real experiences.

We explore the social and cultural dimensions that shape our world. Our goal is to bridge distances and help create a more tolerant, connected, and loving world.

  1. Read more: Notes from Tajikistan: Cascade of Seven Lakes
    Mountain gorge with turquoise water in the Fan Mountains, Tajikistan, Loud Etudes

    Notes from Tajikistan: Cascade of Seven Lakes

    We traveled from Samarkand, Uzbekistan, and kept thinking of visiting the Seven Lakes in Tajikistan. The route from Samarkand was: an hour by car...
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  2. Read more: Author’s Essay: Where Bukhara Meets You
    Historic domed building and arched gateway with street traffic, Bukhara, Uzbekistan, Loud Etudes

    Author’s Essay: Where Bukhara Meets You

    That morning I strolled across Bukhara with no destination. I wanted only to wander. I moved slowly through the dry city, unexpectedly tender, its...
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  3. Read more: Notes from Tbilisi: It Smells Like Home
    Rooftops of old Tbilisi old town seen from above, Georgia, film photography by Loud Etudes

    Notes from Tbilisi: It Smells Like Home

    Narrow, long streets of Tbilisi, enchanted by greenery. Old houses, the old town climbing upwards. Neat houses, and cypresses growing between them. Silver, graceful,...
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  4. Read more: Notes from Hong Kong: Rituals in Motion, Man Mo Temple
    Temple attendant before the main altar at Man Mo Temple, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong, film photography by Loud Etudes

    Notes from Hong Kong: Rituals in Motion, Man Mo Temple

    Tucked away in the lively streets of Sheung Wan, surrounded by towering skyscrapers and the hum of modern Hong Kong, stands a quite lonely...
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  5. Read more: Notes from Sri Lanka: Candor of Days
    Three women standing outside a roadside house, coastal Sri Lanka, Loud Etudes

    Notes from Sri Lanka: Candor of Days

    Do you know that feeling of heading somewhere unknown, a barely familiar direction, and not wanting your road to ever end? You just want...
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  6. Read more: Notes from Cairo: Fragments of Wonder
    Dark alleyway with Arabic signs and laundry overhead in Downtown Cairo, Egypt, film photography by Loud Etudes

    Notes from Cairo: Fragments of Wonder

    Cairo: First Right after we landed, got to the Airbnb house, checked in, and went out to explore the Downtown area. We explored Abdeen...
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  7. Read more: Notes from Hong Kong: Fragments of Chop Alley
    Seal carver working at his stall in Man Wa Lane, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong, film photography by Loud Etudes

    Notes from Hong Kong: Fragments of Chop Alley

    Historic Alley In Hong Kong, the street best known for seal carving is Man Wa Lane (Chop Alley). Man Wa Lane is a narrow...
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  8. Read more: Notes from Kuala Lumpur: A Sense of Belonging in Chinatown
    Local men eating together at a street food stall in Chinatown, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Loud Etudes

    Notes from Kuala Lumpur: A Sense of Belonging in Chinatown

    We saw how people coexist seamlessly. As a community, people trust one another, even while representing different minority groups in this small, island-like neighborhood...
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