Hello Stranger

...There I was, sitting on the other bench next to him.

There is something poetic about traveling alone. There is this rush of courage, sense of liberation and hint of foolish excitement all running in parallel. To me, this emotion is pretty much indescribable. It’s the very type emotion that you can read it up, but can’t never learn it or absorb it from someone else. Simply, you have to experience it to truly understand it.

During my 3 weeks holiday adventures in Down Under, I read about the evolution of an independent traveler.  It was an interesting read, noting that travel taste changes as one gets older, richer, more tolerant, more adventurous or less adventurous, or everything in between. I guess it is true that traveling differs when you are in youth, young adulthood and middle age.  I still remember my first days as an independent traveler. I was a fresh-face traveler in a foreign place, who wanted to see everything and go everywhere.  No journey is too long or too comfortable, no dorm is too shabby or too small and I loved my life as a wanderer, constantly moving to a new destination as though spending more than an hour in one place is a waste.  As a travel young adult, I am still no different than my well, teen years.  Both my traveling feet and spirit are still going strong. Now I have learned to slow down my pace and savor every moment of it.  Knowing that to see everything and go everywhere is impossible, and this gives me more reasons to come back again.I know this might sounds pretentious, but I feel the ‘real travel’ is when you speak to the locals, eat what the locals eat, and live how locals live. And I am glad to say I did pretty much what the locals did! I am not sure how my travel middle age would be like, though I am looking forward to find out. I sure hope that my passion to see the world hasn’t lessened!

❝ The woman who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The woman who walks alone is likely to find herself places no one has ever been before ❞- Albert Einstein 

I am refreshed and re-inspired.