Lately I find myself transporting my mind back to my travels to South East Asia. From thoughts of becoming a soon to be broken record on repeat about my travels coming home, I now declare I AM a broken record, but a happy one of course. Actually, I'm really glad I've been able to continually share and have been asked about that part of my trip (the other part being Korea) because like I mentioned in my last post, it's been a quite dry and steady pace since returning.
It's crazy to think back how different I was a wee three months ago when starting this trip compared to now. Recalling the line up of places I went to, the food I ate, people that I
divinely crossed paths with, and the highlights that come flooding back, it be a lie if I said I was not wishing I could go back.
Though, I have come to appreciate all that I have taken away from this trip. A few thoughts that have been running through my mind:
1. The concept of
family is much stronger there than it is here. Even though Canada takes great care of its people, has welfare services, protection of rights, freedom of speech, and is a fantastic country to grow a family, I never felt a greater sense of family than in a country with almost nothing-
Cambodia. Though I was in Siem Reap for only a mere three days, the
innocence of the people untouched by the power of wealth, as said by one person touches you deeply in how much joy they have with their loved ones as for some, that is honestly all they have-
e a c h o t h e r.
2. It`s funny how people always say Canadians are known for being polite and friendly, I mean I guess those two words do represent the majority of us pretty well, but it`s amazing the extent of
hospitality and in return gratitude I have for the people I met in
Singapore. For some reason I thought that such an advance and forward thinking country would not be so intentional on making one feel welcomed, but I was blown away. It makes me question what I have been doing with my blessings and challenges me to go out of my way to make one feel so touched by another`s actions.
3.a.
Stereotypes. Bia-isms. Judgement. Despite being Asian myself, being brought up in North America has imposed on me many
stereotypical judgements on people on the other side of the world that I have never became aware of until actually being in SEA. First of all, I was astounded by the amount of English locals knew from Siem Reap to Bali (yes they do know English!). Though I have to say it was hard to do any communication in Vietnam other than Sapa (the village tribes learn all their English from grade school and tourists and it is impressively FLUENT!) as people kept thinking I was Vietnamese. I know I adjust well to different cultures, but I have come to value not just communication, but mutual understanding when communicating and not have to take a double thought to consider what I am asking or saying here compared to there.
b. I think
safety was another thing, I was so paranoid about being robbed or getting hurt initially (I partly blame fearful parental worries). In Kuala Lumpur, it was my very first destination on my own so I don`t know if feeling unsafe was due to my lack of confidence in traveling or the certain aspects of the East Indian population there that I was not comfortable with (ex. the men constantly staring at me and other foreign women). However, thank you Jesus that he sent many long time travelers to me while staying at my hostel that shared with me traveling tips and stories to help ease me into the start of my trip. From there on, the rest of my itinerary was much smoother. I do take feeling and being safe for granted as back home I would put my bag down almost anywhere and not have to worry about it being stolen, but in SEA I am frequently reminded to zip up my bag and to keep an eye on it even when I did feel relatively safe. Praise the Lord that I never had to deal with any of these issues!
c.
Development. Besides knowing how developed and successful of a country Singapore is, there was a part of me that thought South East Asia equated to poverty and this is absolutely not true. Though some places are shabbier and obviously poorer areas than others, there are a lot of developed areas and places. This is also a bittersweet aspect that makes it so affordable to travel to SEA as you can`t complain about $3 meals and barely any money in local commute, but understanding the history of where you are traveling helps to widen your perspective on why places are the way they are. In turn, it also reminds me how little I can live on and be able to live on compared to living in Canada. Despite the lower exchange rate of the Canadian dollar when I was traveling, the money we have hear stretches much farther than in Canada.
4. I miss
walking. exploring. trying something new. and the list goes on. But I think I could really do without a car. There is convenience and comfort attached to it, but also a huge price tag to driving. If I lived in a bigger city where the transport system was highly efficient and places close by, I would not even consider owning a car. I feel so lazy sitting at home so often, and I actually feel weight climbing back on as I am not constantly moving as I did when traveling. You realize how privilege life can be living `middle class`in Canada. Life also seems to move differently (no pun intended) when you walk versus driving everywhere.
5. I can finally say I have mastered my
minimalistic challenge compared to
this madness two years ago. Can I just say how PROUD of myself I am! Throughout traveling, I found people commenting on me traveling with a 24`` luggage; friends thought I was amazing traveling with so little while backpackers may of thought I was ridiculous. But, I actually discovered so many pros to this as I was pleasantly surprised to even see a few traveler`s backpacks bigger than my luggage as a whole-I just can`t imagine their backs! Funny thing is, I don`t know the psychology behind it, but despite traveling with so little, I was force to be creative with my outfits and rarely thought I had nothing to wear when I was so limited on my choices, yet back home with my whole wardrobe, I am quick to think I have nothing to wear as I can`t decide on anything.
If you made it here, thanks for reading my rambles aka traveling thoughts. I think my next post will be on traveling blues as I sit here daydreaming about when my next trip will be.
Posts
With an early start to catch our 7am ferry at Pireus port, we were on our way to the famous blue sunny skies and white cave houses, Santorini! By the way, the metro transportation in Athens is super accessible and easy to figure out. It is only three years old and you can hit up almost any place from the airport to central Athens and down to the ports.
There are plenty of restaurants, shops, and cafes lining the main street of Oia with plenty of great views. However, prices are obviously and distinctly higher as its so touristy and I can't deny that I did miss the cheaper eats of Athens. Though, this is such a gift of a place so I can't complain. That night we walked down the 240 steps to Amoudi Beach (don't worry the walk is not bad at all, but dont expect much with the beach part) to watch the sunset while having seafood at one of the four restaurants overlooking Caldera Bay. We had a dish of fresh mixed fish and calamari to share which was delightful. When heading back though, it was dark so we couldn't take the stairs back up (there are also donkey options before the sun had set) so we were thankful to be able to hitch a ride up the hill back to the top of Oia as taxis are not sighted here (first hitch hiking experience-CHECK!).
