Flying at Angkor and Life Lessons

*Published on **2018-10-12** by **Kelley @ traverse this earth** | Categories: angkor wat, solo travel, Travel*

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The people you chose to have around you are immensely important in life, but even more importantly, while traveling. Hanging around with a bunch of negative Nancys aren’t going to make your life better. And they won’t make traveling more fun either. Surrounding yourself with people who are positive, outgoing and adventurous can change each day and every experience. Lucky for me, while I was in Cambodia I got introduced to some people who were incredible rays of light. I found out you can just bike your little butt to Angkor instead of spending more than an entire day’s allowance on a driver. (I lived on $15 a day while I traveled.) You could bike and it only cost a dollar. What surprised me the most was that I got introduced to Aero Yoga. It is amazing. You have a partner and they “fly” you in the air. They act as a base while you are on top of their legs so essentially it feels like you are flying. We gave it a try while we were hanging around at our hostel and it went pretty well. When Jason told me that he wanted to do Aero at Angkor Wat I told him without hesitation that I was on board.

Jason is a photographer than I ran into in Siem Reap. (His website and incredible work can be found at [Jason Abraham Photography](http://www.jasonabrahamphotography.com).) We had a mutual friend who said we might get along well. And we did. He continues to be a bright spot in my life and a source of inspiration for travel and photography. He suggested the bikes the next morning and I ran with it. It was a blast finding our way together with our friend Miles, who also joined us that day. We happened to pick up one more friend at Angkor Thom which rounded us out to four.

Hanging with these super cool dudes turned what would have been a quiet day of solo exploring (absolutely nothing against that indeed) into a bit more fun. We visited some places that I didn’t even know existed.

I may have never found them alone. Again, I found myself face to face with structures I could never dream up on my own.

And I investigates spots I may have never come across solo.

Then it was time. We found a flat spot where the afternoon sun shown down. “Let’s give it a try.”

Here we go. First we just limbered up a bit. This might be my favorite pose to stretch. I love that Aero Yoga takes the stress off of your body while you’re flying. I’m sure I can’t say the same for Jason. But I felt great. And having someone move and stretch your body for you is a pretty a sensational feeling.

I was up and feeling good without a worry in the world. I could feel the sun on me as my muscles were guided into the most wonderful stretches. And then… That’s when I felt my shorts start to slip. Yep. Down I went. And right on top of the poor guy.

Into a pile of laughter we fell. I thought maybe we shouldn’t keep trying. I wore a pair of running shorts to keep cool during this hot, walking extravaganza. Maybe it isn’t the right choice for flying. But Jason said, “Nah. Let’s try it again.” I was stoked.

I took a breath…

And we started again.

It. Was. Amazing. I felt strong and stretched. I felt light and wonderful. Above and below me I could see this stunning, intricate world built by our own hands centuries ago.

We flipped me around, which, I mean, is SUUUUUPER fun in the air, and then tried some different poses.

I think this pic might be my favorite. Miles snapped it with my camera as I giggled my way through the moves Jason directed me in and out of. It’s one of those moments that I will never forget and can pull the picture up in my mind at any moment. I can still feel the small bits of dirt that were stuck to my feet falling past my face. While you’re doing something like this, you have no clue. It’s not until you see the proof on the page that you’re just like, WHOA. This one ended up as my profile pic for ages.

This is the last moment we enjoyed before someone told us we shouldn’t be doing yoga here. It never crossed our minds that it might be bad or disrespectful to try Aero Yoga at Angkor Wat. But then again we were at some of the biggest temples in the world. It’s interesting the things you don’t think of when you’re not familiar with the culture. Needless to say, the experience was had and obviously the shots were taken. Its something I’ll carry around with me for the rest of my days.

So from this I took to incredible life lessons that you can see here in a few shots. First, do everything you can to surround yourself with incredible people. They are the ones that will push you to do staggering things with your life. Open minds and hearts will get you where you need to go and push you farther than you ever imagined on your own. Second, don’t be afraid to try again when you fail. Even if there is doubt. Be it shorts or money or the real fear of failure, try anyway. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve started and stopped writing in this blog. But I was never willing to throw in the towel. You know, the worst you can do is fall. But all that does is give you another chance to try again. It is in the time where you are flying that you will meet some of the most thrilling moments you can imagine. And maybe some that you haven’t been able to imagine yourself. Either way, take those steps. I promise you will not regret it.

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