My (personal) 9 politically “incorrect” Do’s for the solo traveller

Never be afraid to try something new, because life gets boring when you stay within the limits of what you already know”

 Many years ago I had a complete lack of knowledge about travelling. Truthfully, I didn’t even know I wanted to travel at all! It never crossed my mind that solo travelling could generate addiction as strong as the most powerful drug, one that would fill me up with knowledge and experiences to fill a lifetime, which would not destroy me but build me and ultimately, make me.

  Back to those years, I would have never imagined that my longest relationship would be with my faithful backpack. I look back now on those days and I realised that I have learned or self-learned an awful lot of stuff and I feel I own to other fellow travellers the right to throw some light into the insights of the solo traveller in Asia, maybe with the hope to make someone’s journey a bit more joyful. 

 By all means, the below tips must be read very objectively and with a hint of sense of humour as they are based on my own personal experiences and indeed, there aren’t two experiences that are the same or lived on the same way, therefore my points are mostly valid for myself, first of all, and hopefully, good for you, too.

 If anything, I hope you find these lines entertaining, I will definitely try to provide you with some valid points and hopefully, get you to smile, too!

  1. You will cross land borders and believe me, 70% of your adventures, frustrations or desire to kill someone will be during those borders crossings! Many and I mean, MANY times they will try to scam you. If you have a feeling that they are doing it, chances are that you are right! Do speak loud and clear to the person in front of you and tell them how it is, chances are that you will still be scammed but at least, they know that you know and believe, it feels good to say it J

 

2. Before you leave for you trip, research like crazy and not the night before your flight!! You will be glad to feel some sense of familiarity on situations that will occur to you on the other side of the world, like land borders scams! You will be shocked to find out that in some places they have never seen a PC let alone Google and no, your Lonely Planet will not talk to you when you are in need of some urgent answers.  Be adventurous, no stupid.

3. In several Asian countries their habitants don’t get the concept of queues, they just DON’T. You will find that your occidental education totally goes to waste on those circumstances and they will push you as there is no tomorrow, no mercy! Believe, forget to be a lady or a gentleman, you are a gorilla and out there is the law of the jungle, therefore make yourself a favour and imitate the locals. If they push you (and they will) push harder!! Don’t be afraid, Cambodians found me most entertaining when I started pushing them with my backpack like a crazy woman but eventually I reached to the counter, ha!

 

  4. You may wish to remain alone during your travels (I have done it and that is all right, too) but do not let your fears get on the way of the pleasures of sex with a stranger. You should be able to let yourself go taking always the right precautions and not putting yourself at risk, EVER. Said that, sleeping with a fellow backpacker or a charming local will provide you with beautiful passionate memories that will last you a lifetime and if you are going to do it, then have sex as if there isn't a tomorrow! Nothing matters but the moment, you will find that letting yourself go is very refreshing and chances are that the charming local or attractive backpacker will never become too familiar as neither you nor the other person will remain too long on the same place.

 

 5. Never ignore the power of a smile witch it can improve your travelling enormously. Smiling is contagious, makes you more approachable, trustworthy and attractive to the world. Discover the world with your best face and many times people will act towards you in the same way; there is no price for the smile of a person. Light up your own days and the days of others and be grateful for the sights you see, you are incredibly blessed to be on that side of the world, what else can you do if not smile for those precious moments?

 

 

  6. Don’t let your shyness spoilt a moment of truth. Approach people, say hello, smile, ask questions, do not remain hidden in a corner, go out there with a good attitude, gratitude and sympathy and talk to the world, the world will talk back to you. There are good people out there, sometimes you will find them easily, other times you will feel that there aren’t there but remember that your own attitude makes the journey and a simple hello goes a long way, so don’t let your shyness to stop you making friends, discovering amazing people and giving you intense moments of discoveries.

 

 

 7. Eat like a local, travel like a local. Leave the luxury at home and go out there to experience reality. If you are carrying a backpack with you, chances are that you have daily budget limitations. It is a perfect combination; not only you will save money but you will also live and experience the struggles of travelling like a local and get your senses tested with the delicious and genuine food from the streets. Yes, from time to time, you will prefer a bus with AC and you should not stopped  yourself of giving you that pleasure occasionally but do not make an habit of being comfortable, experiencing their realities is what will make you a humbler person.

 

 

 8. Trust people, there’s no other way.  Where there is adventure, there is fear and to a certain extent, is normal to travel without rusting people, at the end of the day, you are alone on an unknown country and no one will take any responsibilities for you. That feeling is overwhelming at times and understandably you will feel that the only way to protect yourself is by not trusting others but if you do that, you will lose the sense of the journey. Of course always remain vigilant of what surrounds you but, believe me, there is always good people out there, doesn’t matter where you go. Of course, not everyone can be trusted and myself, I experienced that with a fellow traveller but hey, from all experiences you learn and if you fall for a lie, that is also all right and not the end of the world, just another lesson you learnt!

 

    9. Do what you are scare of doing. Believe me, those will be the things that you will talk about it for years to come. I took a helicopter ride, walked on pending bridges in Nepal, flew in a tiny plane so close to the Himalayan mountains that to this day, I still don’t understand how we didn’t crashed, landed on  what is known as the most dangerous airport in the world, slept with beautiful men,  swam with bio luminesces at night with a stranger in the Sri Lankan sea, climbed mountains, taught English to local people in the middle of the street sin Laos, joined a family in Sri Lanka that took me to a secret temple for a beautiful intimate religious celebration, saw savage elephants at night in the middle of the road, spoke with monks, joined the street children in Cambodia, made lifetime friends, had a water fight with local children from a village in the Laos mountains and many other wonderful experiences that I would have never had if I let my fear stopping me to go out and discover the world alone.

 

 

 

 

Singapore; where tradition mixes with modernity (contains detailed info of the easiest way to get to Malaysia with public transportation and my very first Coachsurfing experience)

While doing research I often came across with several comments from other travelers about how Singapore (the Lion City) is that tiny country that a traveler use just to cross countries or as a step over between flights so I was, in a certain way, influenced by all these comments and I decided before I arrived that there was pretty much nothing to do in Singapore just to hang around and let the time passed by waiting to get onto my next destination.

7 Essential Don'ts for the solo traveller that won't save your life but will may it easier

Very recently I wrote an apparently quite successful (thank you!) post about my personal 9 politically incorrect Do’s for the Solo Traveller and because where there is Ying there is Yang, where there is love there is hate, here there are another 9 because when there are reasons why you should do something, there also some other reasons why you shouldn’t do it.

In my opinion some of us we must be deliciously insane to take a backpack and fly for far too many hours in an uncomfortable plane seat (I take it that if you are travelling with your backpack and a budget and not in that order of priorities) you will fly tourist and throw yourself to a strange land.

While out there, there are so many things that you should Do, I truly believe that to make the experience unforgettable and useful for you, the Do’s must always overcome the Don’ts, it is just a matter of common sense; Do has a positive connotation of being proactive, brave, an achiever, a creator of experiences BUT not always is a good idea to be ready to DO and hence this post. It is indeed based only on my own experiences and so you must read it like this. May you find something useful among my words, please do take it and use it, how wonderful that we can all learn from each other.

 Here they are, I hope you like them!

 

 

I was really naïve at the very beginning of my travels; I badly wanted to believe that everyone was nice and the world was full of good people. For most of the time I like to believe that, BUT.

Look, I may sound now like a bad person and don’t take me wrong, I love helping because I have the capacity to put myself in other people’s shoes but the sad reality is that there are a lot of scams out there and many of them will come from fellow travellers (shock!). My first DON’T is be nice and emphatic but not naïve. If you see an a fellow traveller that looks more capable of travelling the world that you will ever do and tells you that someone has stolen his wallet and has not money at all and needs you to give him so money…well, think but really think, observe and trust your feelings.

If you become Saint Mother of Theresa of the Travellers and give him money and then he tells you to give him a bigger amount, well….What would you do? I tell you what you should do. Don’t give this traveller money, 90% he is lying and relying on your good faith.

 

 

 

  Be forever grateful for the countries you visit and the people that welcome you to their houses and lives, most locals are just too wonderful for words BUT the world is not pink, unfortunately and so not all the locals are nice, accommodating, generous people. Truth is, out there are also those that are waiting for you to get something. Unfortunately there are countries where these are abundant. I did experience a lot of that in Vietnam, incredible place but also incredible scams.

Don’t trust every local that approach you with a smile, unfortunately, chances are that many of those smiles are not genuine hence why, once again, you should trust your feelings. You don’t know yet, but they are full of wisdom.

 

 

 

  We all love a drink. We all love a drink in an exotic land. We all love a drink in a exotic land full of attractive people. We all love a free drink in an exotic land full or attractive people.

I guarantee you that if you travel long enough, there will be a time or many times that you will end up in a bar in good company and you must enjoy it, those are moments to be lived with intensity but as tempted as you are to accept that exotic colourful drink that this attractive man (in my case) is offering you…well, Don’t. You want a drink, you get it. You want to accept a drink from someone, please do spend some time talking and getting to know this person. Of course most people will wish the same as you, to have a good time but hey…the world is not pinkie, remember?

 

 

 

  Oh… the joys of having sex with a stranger. The night if young, the music loud, the sky has a curtain of stars, the sea is warm, the beer cold, you are tanned and happy and carefree and the world is your oyster and you are as far away from home as you can be, so far away…you can do anything, no one if going to judge you, they won’t find out if you don’t want to. Those are very powerful feelings, very powerful….

To be this free in an exotic land it makes you do things that you wouldn’t do at home, I know because I’ve been there. You know the been there, done that, right?

If you are alone and happy to be alive, I can pretty much promise to you that you will sleep with a stranger and you totally should, why not?  But if this is a male stranger and desires you as much as you desire him, chances are that he will slip protection. Don’t let that happen, just don’t. An orgasm doesn’t’ last a lifetime unless other things.

 

 

 

  My fifth don’t is very simple and straight forward. If something doesn’t feel right, don’t do it. It is simple and yet many people ignore this. Call it a sixth sense that help us protect ourselves, I really don’t know what it is but I know how important is to learn to read the signs that unconsciously your mind gives you. No travels are exempt of difficulties, it is highly important that you remain aware of everything that surrounds you and act in accordance to how you feel.

 

 

 

 Don’t shut up, do speak up. You will disagree fully in many circumstances, many times you will have to fight your way into things, discuss it or argue and so what, don’t be shy or stupid because you feel you own to people to be nice because you are far away from home. It does not matter, backpacking can be tough, don’t believe those that come back home full of only good experiences, that is not true. You go out there and many times you will go through difficulties, I promise you that not every day will be easy hence why you should never shut up, do yourself a favour and don’t because the moment you jump onto that plane and your most faithful company is a backpack, you will have only yourself to take you to places, this won’t be any easier by not expressing yourself.

 

 

 

Don’t stop the communication with your people. You own to your family all sorts of explanations about your new life, whether is temporary or not. Because you are overwhelmed with this new life of freedom and lack of responsibilities, doesn’t mind that what you leave behind it suddenly appears less important. I know is too easy to keep travelling and getting lost in your experiences but don’t forget that possibly none of that is because somehow you had a family that supported you and that is why, no matter how much fun are you getting or how difficult is to find a computer, you should never forget about those that are at home concern about you, They deserve to know that you are taking care of yourself. Don’t let anything get on the way between you and them. Don’t forget the important stuff.