Skip to the content

Khsin Adventures

A work in progress travel blog

Home
why khsin?
contact me

Home
why khsin?
contact me

contact me

Bear with me, I’m new to this whole blogging thing. Got questions or suggestions? You know what to do…

Name *

First

Last

Email *

Comment or Message *

Name

Hi there!

My name is Karen Hsin and I’m an ABC (American Born Chinese) who grew up in New York City’s original Chinatown. Back in Oct’ 2018, I quit my cushiony art director job and began my adventures in the eastern hemisphere. I’m an iPhone toting, suitcase wheeling, weird food loving, value hunting, itinerary abandoning kind of traveler.

Recent posts

2023 recap, books I read this year

December 31, 2023
How Slovenia kick started my hitchhiking adventures

February 1, 2022
How to cut the cord, cancel cable and port a landline to Google Voice

October 12, 2021
Why I donated my expiring Asia Miles to charity

January 27, 2021
Reflections on Two Years Abroad As A Traveler Turned Expat

October 17, 2020

On Instagram

I post a lot more current stories that disappear within 24hrs⏳ so you should follow me :)

those who know will know 🥰🎶 i couldn't wait

those who know will know 🥰🎶
i couldn't wait to show my mom this video i took of this guy on a nyc mta subway platform crooning a #jackycheung love song from the 90s! totally unexpected. last night was probably one of the few times i wish my train would arrive later. watching him made me smile from ear to ear. jacky was my all time favorite idol back in the days

anyway, if anyone sees this guy or knows him, please tag him! i also want to tell him that he should totally move to the grand street or canal street #nycchinatown station platforms, that's where his audience is at 🫶

#張學友 #一千個傷心的理由 #nycbusker #nycsubwayartist #subwayartist #onlyinnyc

finally using this journal i bought over 5 years a

finally using this journal i bought over 5 years ago. i had always thought it was too beautiful to be used, but its life and existence serve no purpose collecting dust in a box.

main photo: totally staged
2nd photo: the "real" photo i took before cracking it open

random details:
🖊️ i bought that pilot hi-tech c coleto pen during the same trip and i've crazy glued its cracked body too many times.

📖 reading new rick rubin book, a gift from my #buynothing neighbor. it's actually refreshing and easier on my eyes reading a physical book with pages at night

well if you've read this far into these captions, hello hello and thank you for your interest 🤗

what an ugly picture to post. i tried my best to m

what an ugly picture to post. i tried my best to make this look pretty, but nothing is gonna save an ugly looking journal. 🫠as ugly as this notebook appears (and rife with marketing logos), the pages inside are filled with a year's worth of writing. as the saying goes, don't judge a book by its cover.

this post is in conjunction with a new blog post i wrote about how a crap journal freed me from a mental block that kept me from writing more. go check it out 👉 https://karenhsin.com/writings/ or click the link in bio

main image: my "crap" journal vs my "real" journal and my favorite pen 📒🖊️
fun fact: the "crap" journal was a gift from a friend in egypt and i've had it since 2012! (if you're reading this, i love the journal and it's definitely not crap😬)

i'd love to hear from you if this tip has motivated you to journal more! please drop me a comment 🫶

#journalspread #writemoreonpaper

first post of the year 🎊 featuring stuff i boug

first post of the year 🎊 featuring stuff i bought in 2023. if you want to see a list of ALL the things i bought in 2023, head over to my redesigned site 👉 karenhsin.com (link in bio)

starting the year feeling super motivated! this post is an announcement of sorts:
👩‍💻 i’ve completely migrated my #designportfolio from cargo over to #wordpress. if you don’t know what cargo is, it’s basically like squarespace but geared toward designers. i’ve been spending more time delving into the pros and cons of closed and open sources. with sites like ss or cargo, they are closed sources. once you build on their platform, you’re basically locked in. there’s a bit of a learning curve but once you make the switch to an open source platform like wordpress, you own your site completely and can switch hosts freely.

🌅 i’m officially sunsetting my travel blog and will be migrating the content over to my personal site. khsinadventures blog will be out of commission some time this year (no one will miss it 🥹). i still want to have a space where i can share my thoughts with the world in blog format so i decided to create a #writing section on my personal site. the problem with sharing on instagram circles back to the concept of open vs closed source. instagram owns the platform and if they decide to ban me, all my pics + posts will be gone.

#nyresolutions i’d like to contribute more meaningful content to the internet. over the past decade+, i’ve benefited tremendously from other people’s DIY videos + tutorials. i hear the term #selftaught often, and while i don’t have any formal education on fixing vintage cassette players, customizing code on wp, or throwing donut vases on a pottery wheel, i can’t exactly say i’m self-taught. that’s because i learned from the plethora of youtubers and bloggers out there who generously spent the time to share their content! i’m grateful to those people and i hope my content will inspire and teach someone someday.

📸
1 local handmade brushes. kyoto
2 mexican handbags from street vendor. cdmx
3 topologie phone lanyard. tokyo
4-5 Top10 fave purchases of 2023
6 my pen haul. tokyo
7 flower pendant. cdmx
8 shoes. cdmx
9-10 postcards. kyoto

a double whammy post to close out the year and boa

a double whammy post to close out the year and boast about the one and only blogpost i've written this year, on the last day of 2023 😅 talk about procrastination!

📚 if you're curious about the books i read this year, check out my pretty static blog 👉 khsinadventures.com (might be retiring this next year)

photo dump part 2 ~ so hard to narrow the selectio

photo dump part 2 ~ so hard to narrow the selection down. en route to maine, we made stops in green mountain forest in vermont and white mountain national forest in new hampshire.

1. pups on an easy hike to sawyer pond
2. some of my fave fall foliage shots were from the kancamagus highway in NH. absolutely stunning even in the rain
3. one of our fave campgrounds and proof that i can pitch a tent (almost) on my own! 💪🏕️
4. lots of railroads in white mountain national forest. this was the entrance to our campground
5. different terrain and wonderful lighting near sawyer pond
6. 🏔️ mt crawford was our biggest hike this trip with 2100ft+ elevation gain
7. equinox pond trails, vt
8. white mountain national forest, nh
9. private bridge crossing somewhere in vt
10. saco river, nh

photo dump from acadia national park featuring som

photo dump from acadia national park featuring some of my favorite moments from the trip. it's hard to post pictures while traveling bc it's important to be present, but also bc there's often no signal.

1. jordan pond
2. breakfast at seawall in bass harbor 🍳
3. south bubble rock 🪨
4. 🍂 fall foliage + jordan pond
5. the sun + cadillac mountain summit
6+7. the sun + moon 🌙 ☀️ above cadillac mountain range
8. 🦞🍞 one of the best lobster rolls i've had! portland, me
9. one of the easier hikes with rewarding views of long pond
10. 🐶😍 gypsy on flying mountain. such a loyal pup. she always wanted to wait for everyone on hikes.

Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of working w

thanks for the nod mayor adams! 🤗 my studio dir

thanks for the nod mayor adams! 🤗
my studio director gave me a certificate of service recognition from the mayor’s office today, sent in may while i was still on vacation. apparently folks who have volunteered over 100 hours receive these. even though i’m sure a ton of people have gotten these, i still felt proud and happy – especially when i saw that huge giddy smile on my ceramic director's face when she gave it to me 😄 pure coincidence that it sorta matches the new toppers i had on my shelf today.

#100volunteerhours

nyc dogs on the mta 🐶

nyc dogs on the mta 🐶

scenes from chinatown, nyc. something about that

scenes from chinatown, nyc.
something about that couple felt endearing

#grandstreetwalls

i love riding buses when i travel because it's the

i love riding buses when i travel because it's the easiest way to see a city while commuting. the double decker buses in hong kong are among one of my favorite modes of transportation ❤️🚃

it's been 4 years since i last visited hk and it was cool that my trip coincided with the 10yr anniversary display of the double ducks on victoria harbor 🐤🐤 other than that, the biggest lesson i learned is not to come to hong kong from may-august. it was hot as hell 🔥🥵

Load More... Follow on Instagram

Hey friends!

Don't you want to get an email whenever I write a new post? Sign up for updates 📩 No spam, I promise

Email address:

Leave this field empty if you're human:

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén