I’m excited. That always comes with being inspired. And it’s a good feeling to have when you’re starting a new project. Definitely way better than anxious, which is my default mode.

But before we go any further, I must credit my inspiration for this blog: Grand Forks: A History of American Dining in 128 Reviews by Marilyn Hagerty. Although I’ve never been to North Dakota, the book reminds me of my family vacations in the 80s and 90s in the US. And from that trip down memory lane, sprang an idea—a possibility, finally—for a personal writing project about one of my least fleeting passions: food.

I’m not just excited. I am humbled.

For the past 10 years,  I’ve been covering the small theatre scene in Thailand for the Bangkok Post. I also had a stint working at a magazine for Indians in Thailand (I’m not Indian though, despite my name). I love knowing whom I write for. I love writing about a community. At the moment, I’m recovering from a burnout, but I can’t fathom never writing again. So I am humbled by community reporters like Ms. Hagerty, who, at the age of 90, still writes five columns for the Grand Forks Herald every week. And she’s been at the paper since 1957, mind you. Who am I to complain?

So no more complaining. This blog is part of my burnout medicine. Not that food only evokes positive feelings, but I can always sense joy and lightheartedness in my favorite food blogs. I hope to write like that here—with joy and lightness. This is not work after all.

So as writer Elizabeth Gilbert says when she signs off—by the way, I got the idea for the name of this blog from her most famous book, the one with three verbs—onward!