solo travel

i was sort of "alone" for 1 or 2 days in taipei trip 2008..

i dont know how/why the asian/singapore 1950/1960s parents feel that it is extremely dangerous/scary etc to "solo travel" or..

i dont mean that solo travel has no "dangers"

ok thankfully now you can google which country is safe to visit etc

and do all your research

yes language barrier exist/whether you learn certain words or i guess generally more places will make themselves more international gradually (becos incoming foreign currency vs local currency floating in the market = outside bringing money to the country = more "sustainable" as it is a form of external investment haha ok go google it if you wanna)

lol on a weirdest note. mom dislike/dont wanna spend funds on travelling. she enjoys watching travel stuff on the tv. and she's sort of against me travelling since i started travelling too. and i think the 1980s onwards all do enjoy travelling hahaha (guess it is like maybe in the stars/horoscope to SEEEEEEE the world/explore self)

so i did solo travel to korea after the initial trip i went with "father".

for some reason mom allowed me to pick up korean language - class.

when i asked to study japanese long ago she's like nah

she told me she just happen to have some funds during then so she agreed ROFL

i thought it is becos she watches kdrama thats why ahahha

so i kind of "cheated" since i understand the language sort of to "navigate" better than someone who cant speak or understand a single word.

i did free & easy (well! FYI, in those days it was more of TOUR GROUP trips, even for korea haha)

i think it is 2010s., the early part

but even when i later on visited japan with friend i was freaking out becos of language barrier again.. -_-

ANYWAY then came recently 2022 2023 (backstory: sis had breast cancer so she din mind to help foot a europe trip for me first.. ACTUALLY she was suggesting that i do an exchange programme. but SUSS part time studies have no exchange programme. it is vacation programme which is $$$$$$ FYI. even for korea. -_- i was like wait how/what sense does it make for me to pay a school $3000 a week for sch fees alone ?!?!??!??!?!? and her bf suggested that why not make it a vacation instead...)

where i planned rome switzerland and paris. sis insisted to slot herself into the picture and suggested like many european cities and im like nah............................ and asked about northern lights. and boom iceland.

so i did rome, switzerland and paris alone (anyway these are extremely walkable cities so you can TOTALLY do solo travels to these places)

be sure you read up alot on common scams (if you wanna do solo stuff you have to deep research yeah theres no cheat way). the MAIN motive is to DISTRACT you

im kinda ok to ignore anyone in real life situations.. so ignoring people and being in my own world is something im totally decent at rofl

ANYWAY i did use body strap for the phone because i needed to navigate!

to be honest i was freaking out until the day i flew HAHAHAHHA.

i mean cmon it is language barriers filled, lots of common scams, the list goes on

i had a most assuring friend - australian chinese who's like "YOUD BE FINE".

where most singaporeans accompanied me in freaking out LOLOLOL

i was sort of inspired to do a so full blown trip becos ive seen my thai friend visiting various cities alone too. however the friend is able to french. hehehe

but it was still inspiring ya..

OKAY the thing about travelling.

theres extrinsic and intrinsic or even anything in life

so intrinsically i probably really wanted to YOLO as well as sort of a BUCKET LIST mode and to see europe

so ~

yes ive been to korea/seoul too much/too often where i can navigate blindly (ok maybe not so blindly if i stay at a different location)

i solo travelled to korea at least 5 times? (concerts etc)

becos asking people to go with me wasnt logical and yes friends and i did meet at the country/concert but we didn't "go together" kind of concept

oh the thing is. actually european cities that i visited are more english than seoul is.

and in case you didn't know. but do learn how to SPEAK SLOWLY if necessary

OH I dont mind you speak slowly as a form of "INSULT" but more of allowing people to understand what you are saying because your accent may be different from their usual english etc.

so speaking slower and not like your usual conversational speech

for the sake for others to understand you.

not the slow until it sound insulting state ok? -_-

fun fact

so i went to japan with a primary school fren

we havent met in the longest time..

but friend is able to japanese and plan itinerary to a T

so i just followed.

there were hiccups prior to the trip (will make another post)

but haha me reading about 'travels' and how making a travel enjoyable.

we split alot of time for the trip.. like i wasnt interested in some stuff so i did other stuff

yes, solo travel is mainly to really indulge in alone time and it builds confidence - doing things yourself does it in all aspects.. also becos when you travel with people it requires more planning and time (the list goes on... it is definitely more "complicated" but hey i did save a quote about in life if you wanna go far you go with a team but you wanna do things fast then you go alone hehe)

i dont actually feel "alone" on my trips cos i be texting friends or insta story-ing.

i did ask a friend sometime back about did they ever feel im bragging when i post on my insta stories those travel? nope. oh and i realised.

intention/motives exist = can be 'felt' / 'read' etc

my motive is always sharing experiences/values.