I like going everywhere, without any destination. And only enjoy the walking.
Starting with this post, I basically retype my travel journal:
In the meantime I am in the airplane from Dubai to HCMC, I slept a little bit and feel just great and prepared for my adventure. And that it is, right? For the first time backpacking, without a real itinerary and going to South-East-Asia, where I have not been before. Alone.
Even packing a backpack can become a significant event. At least everything fitted (against all odds and the very discouraging prognosis of the sales person at Globetrotter, who was convinced, that I would not be able to fit in clothes for three weeks - well, I guess he had not seen me packing before, and what did he think I would take to go to Thailand? Sweaters?). I know I am bringing too much stuff and Christian even had the glorious idea, to travel with an empty backback and write a book on the things I bought untill it´s filled up. Nice one. Next time. This trip I´d rather be on the save side.
So, after an indian dinner Maria brought me to the airport. So far everything went according to the plan. got my connecting flight in Dubai - unfortunatelly I did not really see a lot of the city itself - it was covered in a cloud of dust. The airport only had standard duty free shops - very disappointing. But the rolling walkways had a white stripe in the middle - at least that is very well regulated.
In HCMC I have booked a hostel room - at least for the first night. Someone is supposed to pick me up at the airport as well. Hope everything works out. Honestly, yes, I am a little anxious, but on the other hand - everyone treated us nicely in the Dominican Republic, once noticing that we were really interested in the country and culture - and despite all the warnings of the Department for Foreign Affairs. Only thing is, this time I do not know the language at all... But a ton of other people have done this before... And I wanted an adventure.. And who knows, maybe this is just a test/preparation for much larger things to come next year...
Flying Emirates does not really thrill me by the way... The stewards a dressed really nice, but food is standard and the movies are the most uninteresting choice one could find... Remarkable on the other hand is that the aircraft is almost empty... only one person per window seat. That´s it. Reminds me of my travels in March...
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Friday, August 30, 2013
Packing.
How do you pack a backpack for almost three weeks of vacation?
Well, 25 T-Shirts, 5 pairs of shorts, 4 dresses, 2 skirts, 5 pairs of shoes, 2 pairs of long pants, 2 long-sleve thin jackets, 2 towels, socks, underwear, bikinis, a hat, nail polish, nail polish remover, 2 pairs of sunglasses, ...
Then a friend said to only take half of all the things I wanted to take initially. Ok. And I´m standing in front of all my stuff and wonder, which half I should go for... This is cruel.
The clou is, that all those things actually fitted in my backpack, so there was not a single incentive to not take all of the stuff. Besides the wise forecast, that I will be shopping and needed some space in my backpack for the goodies to come. Eventually reasoning kicks in.
So, in the end I did take:
2 pairs of long pants
3 pairs of shorts
3 dresses - one long one for the temple visits
1 long sleeve thin jacket
15 T-Shirts
Underwear
3 pairs of socks
1 bikini
1 pair of sunglasses
2 different colours of nail polish
nail polish remover (small bottle!!)
a hat
1 towel - even an ultralight and tiny travel towel
5 pairs of shoes - no way around that: tennis shoes, flip flops, heels, sandals, balerinas
2 tiny bottles of sun screen - 50 ml each?!
1 large bottle of after sun - 400 ml (!!)
toilet paper
a swiss knife
toilettry stuff
plus the phone, camera and all the charging devices, 2 travel guides, 2 locks and my purse.
That was that. While I was waiting for my friend to bring me to the airport, I took out another 2 shirts. Just because I knew, I still had too much stuff...
In the end, I did wear all my clothes at least once, I needed all my shoes and the nail polish equipement, ... The things I really did not need were: For once the after sun lotion. That bottle came home with me untouched. Of the sun screen I only used half a bottle. Yes - I can be very resourceful. And the toilet paper was a good thing to have, but a few paper napkins would have been well enough.
Well, 25 T-Shirts, 5 pairs of shorts, 4 dresses, 2 skirts, 5 pairs of shoes, 2 pairs of long pants, 2 long-sleve thin jackets, 2 towels, socks, underwear, bikinis, a hat, nail polish, nail polish remover, 2 pairs of sunglasses, ...
Then a friend said to only take half of all the things I wanted to take initially. Ok. And I´m standing in front of all my stuff and wonder, which half I should go for... This is cruel.
The clou is, that all those things actually fitted in my backpack, so there was not a single incentive to not take all of the stuff. Besides the wise forecast, that I will be shopping and needed some space in my backpack for the goodies to come. Eventually reasoning kicks in.
So, in the end I did take:
2 pairs of long pants
3 pairs of shorts
3 dresses - one long one for the temple visits
1 long sleeve thin jacket
15 T-Shirts
Underwear
3 pairs of socks
1 bikini
1 pair of sunglasses
2 different colours of nail polish
nail polish remover (small bottle!!)
a hat
1 towel - even an ultralight and tiny travel towel
5 pairs of shoes - no way around that: tennis shoes, flip flops, heels, sandals, balerinas
2 tiny bottles of sun screen - 50 ml each?!
1 large bottle of after sun - 400 ml (!!)
toilet paper
a swiss knife
toilettry stuff
plus the phone, camera and all the charging devices, 2 travel guides, 2 locks and my purse.
That was that. While I was waiting for my friend to bring me to the airport, I took out another 2 shirts. Just because I knew, I still had too much stuff...
In the end, I did wear all my clothes at least once, I needed all my shoes and the nail polish equipement, ... The things I really did not need were: For once the after sun lotion. That bottle came home with me untouched. Of the sun screen I only used half a bottle. Yes - I can be very resourceful. And the toilet paper was a good thing to have, but a few paper napkins would have been well enough.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
I´m off to great places: Vietnam/Thailand
So what is the story behind this trip?!
It´s several things together, which pushed me to go on this very particular trip.
First of all, my best friend asked me way back in February, whether or not I would come on a trip to Asia with her and a couple more people. While this idea seemed great, I have to admit, I´m not quite the person to plan holidays so far in advance. So I told her to go ahead and book and I would decide on short notice whether I could join or not.
Secondly I got inspired by someone to just go out and say "Yes" to the things coming along my way. So that is what happend.
Third reason: I needed a challenge. Something new. Something I had not done before. And doing this trip with just a backpack, parts of it just by myself was exactly that new, adventurous thing I wanted.
So, just four weeks prior to flying out of Hamburg I booked. The flights. Nothing more than that.
As far as expectations go, I have to say, I did not really have any. At least I do not remember. But you learn something about yourself with every new place you discover, right? Let´s see what I will get out of this.
Of course my parents were fairly worried about me. Dad literally said "Doreen, if something happens to you, we would not even know, where to search for you in the first place." Yes, that is very right, and I was a bit afraid myself. On the other hand though, noone could have stopped me and at least I would have had fun. And besides - a little bit of anxiety keeps your senses alive and makes you watch out better.
It´s several things together, which pushed me to go on this very particular trip.
First of all, my best friend asked me way back in February, whether or not I would come on a trip to Asia with her and a couple more people. While this idea seemed great, I have to admit, I´m not quite the person to plan holidays so far in advance. So I told her to go ahead and book and I would decide on short notice whether I could join or not.
Secondly I got inspired by someone to just go out and say "Yes" to the things coming along my way. So that is what happend.
Third reason: I needed a challenge. Something new. Something I had not done before. And doing this trip with just a backpack, parts of it just by myself was exactly that new, adventurous thing I wanted.
So, just four weeks prior to flying out of Hamburg I booked. The flights. Nothing more than that.
As far as expectations go, I have to say, I did not really have any. At least I do not remember. But you learn something about yourself with every new place you discover, right? Let´s see what I will get out of this.
Of course my parents were fairly worried about me. Dad literally said "Doreen, if something happens to you, we would not even know, where to search for you in the first place." Yes, that is very right, and I was a bit afraid myself. On the other hand though, noone could have stopped me and at least I would have had fun. And besides - a little bit of anxiety keeps your senses alive and makes you watch out better.
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