Things you should know before becoming a traveller

Is there any certain rule or manual?
The answer is absolutely not.

If you have the drive to travel, go for it and live with the gut of exploring the world and enjoying the adventurous life. We have different ways to travel and we see the world differently. If you ask me how to become a traveller, I would only tell you that I do not know myself. We all start as a tourist and at one point we find our hearts beating stronger and butterflies in our stomaches when someone mentions their stories of going places. It means, we have found our missing piece in life – travelling.

If you are going to take your first trip of your life as a traveller, you should know:

Travelling does not always come with comfort

As a traveller, you are not able to stay in hotels or resorts all the time. This is because you would want to save money for your further adventures. Why would you pay big bucks for a bed while you could save it for a cheap nigh stay in a hostel and travel for few extra days. In this case, of course you have to define what kind of traveller you are – budget traveller or luxury traveller. Either way, at some certain point, you will meet the circumstance that comfort is no in the reach.

Travelling alone gives you the opportunity to perform your abilities at the maximum

So don’t be afraid that you are not able to travel by yourself. In some situations, you are forced to deal with certain matters that you have never prepared to face with but you will find out that you are able to handle it by yourself in the end. There might be some difficulties but don’t we always have to get through those moments to get over our disabilities? Travelling is the best way to maximise your abilities. It has proven that to me and many other travellers. Let it proof that to you, too!

We travel not to compete how many countries we have been to

The desire to travel must come from your heart. It is all about how you travel, how you interpret new cultures, how you meet new friends on the way but not how many countries you have travelled. The experience that counts! And the most important is to LIVE YOUR DREAM!

You are about to experience one of the best time of your life. You are not going to explore the world but also yourself. You will see that the world is not only round but it has many dimensions. DON’T HESITATE, GO FOR WHAT YOU ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT! We might have things that stop us from travelling, in my case is studying, but it doesn’t mean that you cannot go travel. Take chances and you will find the way.

Safe travels and enjoy!

 

What I have learnt from hitchhiking in Europe

Xem bài viết được dịch bằng Tiếng Việt ở đây

Two months on the road, multiple cardboards, cars and trucks after, I crossed countries to countries, hitchhiked a full month in Italy, got to learn many people from different places and be friends with some of them. I left home with the smallest budget I had ever had and decided to be homeless for two months in the summer. Luckily, it was a beautiful summer in Europe that you wouldn’t expect for more.

After planning my trip with such a short notice, which was 2 weeks before my travels, I was nervous to tell everyone about my trip.

“It is too dangerous!”, “Are you crazy?”, “Please don’t do that stupid thing”… That was what I got from their responses. It got even worse while I was hitchhiking, like “Be careful because you might get kidnapped then they would kill you and take your organs”. That was not cool to hear at all because you would not feel comfortable moving forward. It was hard! Very hard! I had to handle all the harsh words and the tiredness to move on and to finish my hike. And just so, from one city to another, from Italy to Slovenia, Austria, Slovakia, I hitched with confidence and no fear.

Have trust on people

I thought of hitchhiking with a goal, not just because I wanted to do something crazy or wanted to be killed. I wanted to learn about people around me and learn to have trust on people.

People aren’t that bad, just think of yourself and what you say about people in general because you are them too. We are all people and we deserve to be trusted. Surely there are bad and good people around the world but you need to give them a chance to be trusted and follow your feeling to know when is right. Hitchhiking requires a lot of trust, not only just from me to drivers, they also need to have trust on you to give you a lift. Your appearance could also cause them danger but who would tell.

Italian men are open about sex

Irony but fact! Most of my time hitchhiking was in Italy and I experienced quite some weird and scary moments there. They wouldn’t mind stopping their cars to ask you if you would want to have sex or even offer you money to be in bed with them. It could be the culture but for female solo travellers from else where, it would be terrifying. The worst case I got was being touched all over while I was in the car and I had no other option rather than asking to get out in the middle of the highway. Funnily, they would still talk to you like nothing had happened. Quite strange, isn’t it?

It is important to be calm instead of acting like a child or being a princess in this situation. Showing that you have no fear over them and react smartly. I would not recommend to be aggressive here because it might arouse some men even more.

Asking is better than waiting

The shortest time I had to wait was 5 minutes, and one hour for the longest. The average time was about 20 minutes. However, this would not be applied to everyone, especially if you are a boy and which track you take. Gas stations are always a good choice because you would have more chances to have closer interaction with people and they are more likely able to see your signs. In some cases, people feel very intimated to see you standing with a puppy face so they either pity you and give you a lift or they try to avoid eye contact and walk as fast as possible. Sometimes you will be dropped off at some off-track roads that it is nearly impossible to get a lift. Therefore, take action works much better. It is hard sometimes to approach strangers and especially to ask for a favour. But if you wait, you might wait for a very long time. Just knock their windows or just approach them friendly, ask if they would go in the direction you are heading to. Short distance than nothing!

It is not dangerous!

It depends how you define danger but it is definitely not dangerous as how your parents or your friends think. The fact that they have never hitchhiked in their lives, they would not know. I am a solo traveller and I am a girl but I returned home safely. I could understand that you might get in some bad situations but again, you need to take precaution and trust your gut as well. The sixth sense needs to be activated here.

It sounds very old-fashion but there are still many hitchhikers out there. You might meet them on the way, or notice them more often after your hitchhiking trip. If it was dangerous, why would people still do it?

 

TRUST YOURSELF, TRUST PEOPLE, TAKE PRECAUTION BUT NO HESITATION AND ENJOY!

 

 

Enjoyment of Life and Travel

When you call yourself a traveller, you always strive to reach to every point of the world to see things that you have heard of. Actually, I am not so sure if that how you see traveller right. Or is that called a tourist? I have realised that when most people travel, they certainly want to see the most well-known attractions or we call ‘must-see’, and tracing the attraction track to cover them all. However, how I see it is as a failure of travelling. The lack of time has made us rush and become a tourist. Our eyes just stare at the travel guide book to get information instead of wandering around to get answer, getting to historical sites and focusing on photographing the attractions to share on social media… Too hectic, don’t you think? Especially, some travel bloggers out there try their best to check out all places in one destination to write their posts and forget about their passion for travelling. I have lost myself in some of those times but I at the same time have found my way back to my passion and just enjoy what I have at that moment. As I always tell myself: Pictures can be kept, moments not.

Travelling alone could really do great for yourself to see things in a different way. The ability to focus on details is what I have learnt and it has taught me to appreciate things as they are instead of how they are described. When was your last time looking up close at a certain building, touching the sand to feel if it’s wet, or simply enjoying the heat even if it is freaking 40 degree hot. I have started to learn to slow down and look around me what is happening, enjoy the moment which I wouldn’t get when I am not travelling. The day I found the joy of a second standing still must be finding my mind lost in the sunset on Koh Lanta – A place I didn’t plan to go but became the place I found myself and got the best experience of my whole trip.

“Then the night reached to this island. I loved the fact that I stayed in a bungalow that was 20 steps away from the beach. I took a stroll spontaneously on the beach at one night. Some restaurants were still open and had music on. The dimmed candle lights could be seen from a distance. Oh, it could be very romantic if I was with someone. Crickets chirped. Waves pounded the shore. I looked up and there were stars, sparkling over the dark sky. The full moon light illuminated equivocally behind the trees. That moment is so hard that impossible to find in the city. I was soaked up in the dark for a while. The only thing I hated was the mosquitos. But I wouldn’t do a crazy thing if I was so bothered by them. I ran to the water. Having my legs in the cold water felt just amazing. I could have actually dipped my whole body in unless I was not having my phone in my purse. And just like that, another day on this beautiful island passed by.” – Koh Lanta, Feb 2015

You say it is easy to enjoy the moment because you simply just have to relax. I say it is not! Social media is covering our free-time and certainly the urge of being in touch has been so crucial. I am no exception for those social media addicts. One time I talked to T and he said it was not travelling if you had your phone and your laptop with you. I spoke against it aggressively to prove my point that I was still a traveller with them without any consideration. It was 4 months ago and now I get it. When my head was over Instagram or blogging, I felt exhausted enough to enjoy my travels. Daily life is no difference – before crawling out of bed all social medias need to be checked, email checked…. Habits would follow our way to wherever you are, so better change it, shall we?

Why don’t we take sometime to listen to some good tunes of music when we wake up, dance along, get some bites for our tummies. Getting some fresh air would do good as well, opening your windows to check out the weather of today or maybe you are up early to catch the sunrise. A good breakfast is something I am so fascinate about when I first wake up. Strolling out to the kitchen with the radio on, I feel so energetic. I certainly still need to learn to manage my time on social media but everything needs a start. Sometimes I choose to write on my notebook instead of typing to get some writings done. In fact, it is way much better then typing because there is no distractions and less hesitations when it comes to writing on the paper.

We all sometimes need to learn to enjoy ! And especially to appreciate every single moment you have wherever you are and whatever you do!

Favourite Travel Photos

I went travelling first time with no knowledge about the camera and neither photography. However, I always want to capture the moment which I find most important. A good photo for me must have a story to tell, a mood and the beauty behind it. After 3 years of travelling, looking back hundreds of travel photos, I’m sharing with you my most favourite photos in my most favourite places to be. I guess, I wouldn’t need to tell you any stories and let them tell instead.

1. Hanoi and the people

2. Koh Lanta

3. Squid Jigging in Terengganu

4. Uetliberg, Zurich

5. Sunset in Riomaggiore

10 Values of Travel

Since I first started travelling, I have found myself in a better place. I’m not talking about a certain location but personal position. It has developed me and several human-beings out there, as I suppose.

I can’t tell how much I enjoyed first time having a road-trip. I was singing songs being played on radio and putting my hand outside to feel the wind. Or my first time taking a plane alone when I was 15 to China to visit my mother. No matter my fear of flying, it was excitement to see a place for the first time. And till I became a solo traveller heading myself to South of Spain, backpacking in South East Asia and the most recent trip was hitchhiking in Europe, I learned something new about the world and a little bit more about myself.

Here are 10 values of travel as I have found during my travel:

1. Your ability is much bigger than you have known so far
2. Never enough when it comes to learning something new because everyday has something new to learn
3. Culture differences are what open our eyes to the world
4. Adaptation is a crucial step when you arrive in a new country
5. Socialising wouldn’t hurt
6. People are interesting and you might able to learn something out of them (even if they are not interesting at all)
7. Be spontaneous and no hesitation
8. Travelling alone but you are never alone
9. Moments are priceless
10. Finding yourself when you’re most lost

Life is too short to stay at one place!

Germany: Munich’s Local Favourites

We – as tourists/travellers – know a city, a place through many platforms like Tripadvisor, travel books, blogs, etc. In the end, all sources are mainly reviewed by other travellers. What/how do we really know about a city? As my mission, I walked up to some people at Viktualienmarkt to ask their favourite things to do and to see. I kinda chose the place purposely because that is where you find least tourists around in the centre but at the same time easy to spot locals.

Apparently, our knowledge about Munich is just as much as locals’, as I suppose. For most Münchner, Englischer Garten is the most favourite place to be when they have free time to chill or simply the day is beautiful. I could guess why. The garden is so huge that it could numb your legs if you want to make the whole round. Anyway, it certainly a relaxing place to hang. I walked along the stream of the Isar running through the garden and felt how silence could get me. So quiet and refreshing. On those sunny days, the sun light goes through leaves and makes the water surface sparkle.

One not-so-surprising thing that I was told is sitting at the Biergarten – the second favourite place for locals to spend time at. We have known the German so well that it is something we can never miss out, especially when we are in the region of beer – Bavaria. Two well-known open Biergartens are (1) at the Chinesischer Turm which is located in the Englischer Garten and (2) where I was standing – Viktualienmarkt. On a nice weather day, people go out to Biergartens to have some good time with some good beer. The place could get packed quickly and some people have told me that it could be just as busy as the Oktoberfest. People squeeze in to get a spot to stand or sit to sip their German beer and eating the Pretzel. Oh, how typical!

Museums are mentioned quite many times during my chats with the locals. Even though they live in the city but they never forget to check out museums here every now and then. Based on different interests, if you like art, Pinakothek is what you should look at, or if you are interested in science and technology, Deutsches Museum is perfect for you.

What is your favourite things to do in Munich? How do you turn yourself a local while living in a foreign country?