Day 9 — Why I Travel Alone
Don’t worry. I have many friends but sometimes I need to travel solo.
As I have no particular hobbies that are interesting enough to share on this blog nor any writing skills to write a long, meaningful article, I hope to share some of my travel stories along with some of my travel photos in this post. Now I can finally accomplish my dream of becoming a travel blogger. And I can imagine Peter, one of our co-workers who has traveled all over the world, saying, “Oh, you’re still so young and haven’t been anywhere yet”- but oh well, I AM young.
So let me introduce myself first in order to explain why I’ve been free enough to travel so often. I joined HENNGE in May this year as a new grad, which meant I was still a university student who had plenty of time and no money until I started my working adult life. During my time at my university, I did not have a heavy work-load and the quarter semester system of my university allowed students to spend summers and winters outside of the university. This was one of the reasons why I chose my university and I made sure to make the best use of the semester system, spending almost all semester breaks traveling outside of Japan.
In this post I will share some of the memories that I got from my trips to Fiji, Spain, and Jordan. Hopefully, this might help you get some ideas for your next trip!
1. Fiji
I visited Fiji 2 years ago because I didn’t have anything particular that I wanted to other than just sit on the clean beach and not have to think about anything.
Below is the place that I stayed at. The seawater was super clean, the people were lovely and the local beer was the best.
When I arrived at the island, on the first day I felt that Fiji could be a place I could live once I get old and retire from my job. But then on the second thought, I was like ‘no’. Being a woman from Tokyo, a fast and busy city, I realized I would eventually get tired of the slow-paced lifestyle- which I think is probably better if you have spent your entire life on a peaceful island like that. For me, I’m just not used to it.
I stayed there for three nights, mainly just sitting by the beach in Nadi, one of the largest towns in the country.
It was nice to stay there and talk to the local people but buying a ticket to Cloud 9, a famous floating bar was the best decision I made on the island! When I first got the ticket from a local travel agency, they canceled the tour for no reason so I almost gave up the idea of going there. I thought Nadi was already so nice to spend the four days of my Fiji trip. But luckily, I bumped into a Japanese guy at my hostel and he told me that he knew of a Japanese company that also held tours to the floating bar! It was already late at night but I managed to ask a random local person to lend me his phone for a minute. I called the Japanese agency, which was already closed for the day but they were kind enough to let me join their tour the next day! So don’t be afraid to talk to people when you travel! They might make your trip even better!
Here is what I got from the 1-day trip to Cloud 9! Blue ocean, blue sky, and I managed to get some beer since it was a bar! I mean, what else did I need in my life?
2. Spain
The next destination I would like to write about is Spain. I took a short summer course in Barcelona for a month and then spent another month traveling around the country with its rich culture and history. Barcelona is a beautiful city with amazing food and huge shopping spots. I would definitely love to visit there again.
I also took some short trips to other cities in Spain like Madrid, Figueres, Toledo, and Cordoba. Each of these cities has its own cultural background and the most amazing thing is that we can still see and feel the history in the art, the architecture, and the food. Just writing about this makes me crave for a glass of Sangria (red wine soaked in fruits).
Oh, make sure to check-in for your flight as soon as possible when you travel in Spain! (This could be the case in other European countries or anywhere outside of Japan). I booked a flight to Granada, which is known for its famous Alhambra Palace, two months before the trip. But I did not check-in until the last minute at the airport. When I went to check-in, they said they didn’t have any available seats for me anymore because the flight was overbooked. At that point, I was already really disappointed but I soon found out that there were at least 15 other people who were in the same situation as me! Like, why?! I had no other choice but to wait for another flight for 3 whole hours at the boring airport, reading their policy on refund, which said I would get a good amount of my money back. But no! don’t trust them so easily. I didn’t get the money back after all. I guess it is because I only had a Japanese bank account. But they could have still refunded me through other means like gift cards or something else. I did email them A LOT and by doing that, I felt like I learned how to talk to adults who don’t listen to you by email, which was a good lesson for me, I guess. Anyway, now all I can do is to make sure to check-in as early as possible next time I travel with that airline (I am not going to say which one here though). And I’m no longer upset since I got to see these beautiful gardens and the view.
3. Jordan
This trip is the most recent one I took and one of the most interesting ones because it was my first trip to an Islamic country. Most of my Japanese friends asked me why on earth would I visit a “dangerous” country. But I wondered why they didn’t ask me the same question when I told them that I was going to Hawaii even though the Pineapple island could be as dangerous as Jordan. Japan is a very safe country so we tend to be extra careful when choosing a destination to travel overseas. I guess we can go anywhere we want as long as we keep ourselves alert and safe. Don’t go outside too late at night by yourself. Keep your eyes on your stuff. It’s normal.
And here I am, coming back from this so-called “dangerous” country with photos of gorgeous remains!
Petra is definitely one of the most popular destinations in Jordan and really crowded at noon but if you go early, you won’t see so many people. So you can enjoy the amazing view all by yourself.
I also went to the Dead sea, another famous tourist attraction in Jordan. According to the locals, just swimming in the water is supposed to make you healthier. They said some Olympic athletes go there to heal their bodies after their match/game. I’m not an athlete or anything but I definitely felt refreshed after swimming in the sea. The water felt so thick because of the high salt content and made my skin so smooth! I would love to visit there again- maybe from the Israeli side next time. I would recommend you to as well because the water is rapidly disappearing. I don’t want to explain why since it will make my post too academic (at least for me). But simply put, the water is evaporating too fast and the river that provides water to the lake is shrinking as well with the low amount of rain in the area.
I cannot wait to visit there again before it disappears. If you are also thinking of going there, try to talk to the local people as well. They speak really good English even the ones who have never been outside of the country. My taxi driver was super friendly and we talked for three hours straight on the way from Petra to the Dead Sea, and we became good friends by the time we got to the Dead Sea. He offered me a ticket to upgrade my cheap hotel room to a really good one, which kind of scared me at first because I was worried that I might have to pay extra or something worse. However, nothing bad happened and I just ended up staying in a huge room with two king-sized beds to all myself. So don’t be afraid to talk to the locals! Of course, not everyone is nice like the taxi driver I encountered so I still have to be careful.
Let me conclude this casual travel post by saying that I love traveling by myself because I feel like I can prove to myself that I am stronger than I think. The best thing about traveling solo is that I do not have to be the same person that I usually am. That means that I can even say I’m from Korea and people would believe it. I could tell them that I came to volunteer and people would appreciate my presence there, even though it could be a complete lie and I am just one of the travelers- involuntarily contributing to the damage of the local environment. Don’t worry, I wouldn’t make up things like this in reality but my point is, I can pretend that I am stronger than I really am when I travel because they don’t know me at all. With that mindset, I can let go of my shyness and talk to anyone and go anywhere, which really increased my confidence and makes me a braver person than I usually am.
Thank you so much if you came this far. (I hope at least my team members have read until the end. So 6 people in total. Great.)
Hope you have a great trip for the coming holiday!
This article is part of the HENNGE Advent Calendar 2019. An Advent calendar is a special calendar used for counting down the days till Christmas. HENNGE Advent Calendar 2019 presents one article by one HENNGE member per day for 25 days until Christmas, 2019
