What if?

“What if you get robbed? What if you get lost?” What if, what if… my parents was right. I was scared. I did get lonely.

3 years ago as I was approaching the end of my tertiary education, I thought a trip to somewhere alone(YES ALONE) would be a great way to challenge myself. Some only consider the negatives that are associated with travelling alone such as eating alone, being lonely, not having anyone to talk to but forget the positive aspects of travelling alone. Sometimes you just need to let it happen. I booked a return flight to Melbourne for 9 days and needless to say it was one of the highlight in my life.

3 reasons why I chose Melbourne

• 99% of Australians speak English
• Most liveable city in the world according to Google.com
• Convenient and hassle-free public transportation

Google Map + Me

Scared what?有什么好怕的? Exploring new cities has never been more easy in today’s world. There’s no need to purchase expensive tourist guides/maps. Google has everything, which not only navigates you through a city, but also gives you information on public transport. TIP* Always look like you know what you are going/doing be confident, even if you’re faking it. Never pull out a map while walking looking like a goddamn foreign tourist, don’t make yourself an easy target for thieves. Always trust your instincts/intuition and sense of direction.

Grow the fuck up

When you are alone, you don’t have a choice either you organise it, or no one will. If something goes wrong, either it’s your fault or you’ll have to suck it up the fact that you’re stupid. Hence doing it solo, you’ll be better at organising and looking after yourself. Pretty sure these skills will definitely come in handy in all walks of life.

New Kids on the Block

A lot of people think that if you travel solo, you’re alone nearly all of the time. Nah, not true at all. Stay in hostels, go on tours etc the chances of making new friends? close to 90%.

The world can be scary place, but I can assure you that there are more good people than bad people in the world. That’s when I met three other fellow solo travelers while on a 3 days 2 night tour out of city. I was merely 21 years old at the time when I met Morten, Carina and David. Yes, they look like they were in their mid-twenties or late twenties but looks can be deceiving. Then, Morten from Denmark was 20, Carina from Germany was only 18 *her 80litres backpack was bigger than her* and David from Netherlands was 24. They were my partners in crime thru-out the whole tour. We ate together, slept together, cooked together and hiking through Grampians National Park together. These are the kind of memories that will last forever in my heart and look back at with a smile.

Thru-out the trip Morten, Carina & David provided me an opportunity to explore their cultures, traditions, food, politics and languages. Opportunities like these actually make me view the world in a totally different lens as well as making me yearning to travel more in the future.