1 . I’ve reached the turn-around point of the day’s kayaking (皮划艇) trip. Sweat runs down my cheek as I ______ my fingers through the cool water. I look around. It’s just me, a couple of seagulls, and shining freshwater to the horizon. This, I whisper to myself, is ______.

Solo outings had never ______ my mind before because I always had loyal friends willing to tag along. But three years ago, I moved to Cleveland. Meeting close friends in a new city is ______. And a world wide health crisis made ______ impossible.

In October 2022, I decided to ______ a whole day on a solo hiking trip. I went to Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP) to ______ the autumn leaves. Five miles in, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt so alive. I was more ______ of my surroundings than I’d ever been while hiking that day. I studied the markings of trees, focused my ears on each forest sound and did something I had almost never spared ______ for: I listened to my own thoughts. Every word in my mind pointed to a newfound ______—solo hiking is my happy place. From then on, I have adjusted myself to any solo activity.

Pride ______ through my body when I first launched my kayak. My chest, ______ tightened by nerves, was bursting with happiness as I finally reached the middle of the river that I’d long ______ standing on shore before.

Adventuring alone has become like medicine for me! It’s also pushed me to go ______ my comfort zone and to meet new people. Through meetups and social media, my adventure friend circle has ______. But at least once per month, I schedule time to hit nature with my favorite trail buddy: me.

2 . My husband and I just spent a week in Paris.    1    So the first thing we did was rent a fantastically expensive sixth-floor apartment the size of a cupboard. It was so tiny that we had to leave our suitcases in the hallway.

The place wasn’t entirely authentic, though. Unlike a normal Parisian apartment, the plumbing (水管) worked.     2    Our building even had a tiny lift with a female voice that said, “Ouverture des portes,” in perfect French. That is the only French phrase I mastered, and it’s a shame I don’t have much use for it.

Parisians are different from you and me. They never look lazy or untidy. As someone noted in this paper a couple of weeks ago, they eat great food and never gain weight.     3     French strawberries do not taste like cardboard. Instead, they explode in your mouth like little flavor bombs.

    4     On our first morning in Paris, I went around the corner to the food market to pick up some groceries. I bought a handful of perfectly ripe small strawberries and a little sweet melon. My husband and I agreed they were the best fruit we had ever eaten. But they cost $18!

In France, quality of life is much more important than efficiency.

You can tell this by cafés life. French cafés are always crowded.    5    When do these people work? The French take their 35-hour workweek seriously — so seriously that some labor unions recently struck a deal with a group of companies limiting the number of hours that independent contractors can be on call.