- 11shares
- Share on Facebook
- Share on Twitter
Someone asked me a few weeks ago how many countries I’ve been to during my 5-month backpacking stint in Southeast Asia. My response was just two – Thailand and Cambodia. The person who asked the question couldn’t believe it. She went on a 6-month backpacking trip across Southeast Asia and visited a lot of countries. It seemed that a similar figure was expected of me given that I was only one month short.
However, that didn’t happen. As much as I wanted to spend time to get to know each SEA country, I never got the chance to. My original plan was simple. I was supposed to roam around each country every time my visa stamp runs out.
instead of going to Laos, I headed to Chiang Mai instead
I almost made it to Laos though. I would have enjoyed the thought of visiting the French-inspired architectures in Vientiane or perhaps figure out a way to cross the busy streets of Vietnam. Heck, I didn’t even get the chance to visit Bali, roam around Malacca, and experience the rest of the amazing holidays to Borneo not to mention walking the streets of the highly developed and organized city of Singapore. There were a lot of things I could have seen on those 5 months. But due to the lack of funds, I decided to stay put on 2 countries – Thailand and Cambodia – because of the cheap cost of living.
When I realized that I could not afford to move around as often as I wanted to, I decided to change my goal and focused on living abroad at my own pace. Although living in Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia and Indonesia are not that expensive, I’ve considered Thailand and Cambodia as my comfort zone countries on my backpacking trip. I don’t want to mess up my finances knowing that I only had a few to spend. I was afraid I’d ran out of funds had I pursued my main goal without any decent job to keep me afloat. So I ended up going back and forth those two countries, which I love dearly.
After the turn of events last month, I decided to go home and postpone my dream. I’ve been wanting to do so, to tell you honestly. I was just holding on to the last straw before I finally pulled the plug. There were so many things I learned during those 5 months which I will share with you in the next coming days.
Currently, I’m home now and still trying to figure out the next move I’ll make to satisfy my itchy feet. When I travel again, I need to make sure I visit new places this time, whether here or abroad. I know I can’t easily give up on my dream. I know I’ll get there someday. When that day comes, I know I’ll be prepared.
I am glad you went home again. I visit home after a few months all the time, it is good to do so 😉
thank you Alex. I’m glad I went home too. the only problem i need to face is starting the trip again since i’d find it hard to leave home already. hehehe
sayang nga na di mo napuntahan kahit vietnam or malaysia since kadikit lang sila ng thailand and cambodia.
uu. pero sige lang. someday i will… 😉
I guess going home every once in a while is good. Ok lang yan, Doi. At least you were able to visit other parts of Cambodia and Thailand 😀 #ChiangMaiPai <3 Looking forward to your next destinations 😀
thanks mica! sana masundan pa talaga international trips ko 😉
[…] I backpacked in Thailand and Cambodia for 5 months, I had to find ways on how to keep healthy. I checked out for information on tips on […]
Having the courage to go on a journey to fulfill your dream is something that shouldn’t be scoffed at. All of us have dreams but only few are crazy, er, brave enough to pursue them. Kudos to you and your 5-motnh backpacking trip. I’m sure you’ll conquer more places someday. 🙂
Thank you Echoserang Lakwatsera! 😀 sana magdilang anghel ka! 😉
[…] to try out a new flavor in Cebu, it made me more excited. Ever since I came back from my 5-month backpacking trip, I never got the chance to see what happened to Cebu so this was a great idea too to see what […]
[…] Another friend gave me the yoga mat Been trying (well not really) to find one that’s cheap but the stores always ran out of stocks. So when I received the gift-wrapped yoga mat, I immediately knew what’s in it. hehehe. With that mat, I’m hoping I can continue doing my health routine when I backpacked in Siem Reap and Bangkok […]