Traveling the World

1. The best way to enjoy an experience is to go into it with no expectations.

2. It’s great to travel on your own because you learn a lot about yourself. (Shanghai, Malaysia)

3. It’s great to travel with friends because you can strengthen your bonds and share new experiences. (Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, China)

4. It’s great to travel with strangers because you never know what’s going to happen. (Malaysia/Singapore)

5. Not all locals want to screw you over!

6. When people recommend something to do or somewhere to eat, you should listen.

7. Only eat at places where the locals are eating!

8. Couchsurfing.org is your friend!

9. You will ALWAYS regret later on the things you didn’t do but wanted to do. (i.e. sitting in the hotel with an injured foot while your mates are swimming around the island where the movie “The Island” was filmed).

10.You don’t need to be rich to travel often. (9 trips in 1.5 years to 4 countries including 11 out of 23 provinces in China for a total time of about 4.5 months at a total cost of $3,500 USD)

11.You don’t need to stay in hotels with room service to enjoy yourself. Sometimes a bus, train, or chicken truck are just as good! (33 hours by train to get close to the Vietnam border? No problem!)

12.Don’t be afraid to rent a bike/scooter and take a map and explore the areas outside of cities or towns. (2 hours outside of Krabi town has beautiful scenery and deserted white sand beaches)

13.Travel is what you make of it. (Trains are better than planes because you meet cool characters)

14.Traveling to developing or poor countries gives you a real perspective on life. (China will blow people’s minds).

15.Life is very precious, and it’s a shame that those with power and money do pretty much nothing to help those with nothing.

16.Every chance you take now is another story to tell later on. (But some stories are meant to be kept a secret!)

17.Don’t ask what the food being put in front of you is. Eat it now and ask questions later. (That was a pig’s heart? Not bad!)

18.Always have your credit card, debit card, and a backup source of funding in case of emergencies (getting robbed of all your money while sleeping on an overnight bus from Krabi to Bangkok).

As I think about it more and more, I become increasingly afraid of this trip for the fact that I believe it will change my life. I try not to be too philosophical or existential as it hurts most people’s brains, but in this case I feel it’s the only way to express my feelings.

I’m afraid of a few things: I won’t fit into Australian society; I will love it and regret coming back; I won’t want to leave.

When you stay in a country like China (or any other country which isn’t the place you grew up in) for such an extended period of time, you begin to change and become more like the people you surround yourself with, and in this case it’s Chinese people. That’s not to say it’s a bad thing because I’ve become much better with my money, and much more generous towards others, but there are other little things I couldn’t begin to explain which might make my return to the West a bit awkward.

On a brighter note, I got $1000 Australian dollars converted over yesterday, bringing me even closer to my trip only 12 days away! All that’s left is getting my school to pay me before I leave so I can pay the landlord.

These boys are angels around me because it’s 1-on-1 and they know I care about them. But when they go into the world without me they go back to being alone and having to face things on their own. I almost feel burdened by it because I only want the best for them.

My newest boy, William, stabbed his friend in the head with a pencil on the bus two days ago. Lol. It fucking amazes me how our children have become more violent, less responsible, and more babied over the years.

And thus starts a VERY long day..

ps – I got an 82 on my Psychology of Personality exam and an 80 on my Psychology of Behavior exam (it’s okay.. I could have done better if I only tried..)

Chu Ru Ping An (出入平安）= “May you be blessed with peace and safety wherever you are.”