One of those days…My Travel Diary.
My mood has taken somewhat of a reflective turn today where I am pondering and drawing upon days passed in order to inspire my future. As a result, I have decided to share something special to my heart..my travel diary.
During 2015–2017 I participated on a journey. A journey of which I couldn’t see the end and so therefore I lived for the day. It was during this time that I kept a journal, a note to self to inspire me whenever I need imagination. I tried to diligently force myself to write in it everyday but sometimes things don’t pan out the way you expect them to.
Whilst my entries were not as frequent as I would have hoped, they a portray a life that is full of adventure, excitement, friends and love and one that I would like to share a glimpse of with you in the hopes that if you ever feel as though you are stuck, just know that there is so much out there…you just have to be fearless enough in order to pursue it.
Enjoy xx
“15th June 2015 – 4 Thousand Islands, Laos”
Dear Diary,
Today I woke up at around 7am in order to meet Imani at 8am to go kayaking which we spontaneously booked yesterday. After a quick breakfast we got ready to board our kayaks and embarked on what would be the trip of a lifetime.
The Mekong, it turns out, is a pretty unpredictable river and this meant that the current kept carrying us towards one of the many islands that seemingly popped up out of nowhere. So resultantly we kept bumping into branches along the way but I guess that just made the adventure.
Imani was responsible for steering in the back and I was the captain at the front of her ship where I channeled my inner Pocahontas, admiring the beauty and wondrousness of nature.
We got extremely lucky with our tour guide. He was a RIOT. I think he was either high or drunk as I wouldn’t know how else to explain why he kept making fun of the all the passers by in their boats which ended up amusing me for hours.
Our destination was South East Asia’s largest waterfall. We pulled up to an island and then travelled by car for about 15mins to get us there. The waterfall itself was situated in a rather luxurious resort which I thought was a bit weird, but that could never have marred its beauty. The falls weren’t tall but they were extremely wide with the water roaring over the rocks at an incredible pace.
We stayed there for a while to just admire and enjoy the view.
After copious amounts of daydreaming, it was time to ride the kayaks once more. I really couldn’t face going on the kayaks again as my arms were dying. But alas I had to suck it up. Thankfully, the guide jumped on the back of our kayak and we paddled together shouting “Laos! Cambodia!” for the different strokes as, due to where we were in the world, we could see both countries. After kayaking for what seemed like an eternity, we managed to make it back to shore at around 5:20pm where we all went home to try and shower. My shower, however apparently didn’t want to work and so I basically had to change in my sweat…
After that distressing ordeal, Imani and I met up with a few guys from the rest of the group to watch the sunset together over dinner. It was one of the most spectacular sunsets that I had ever seen. It was full of pinks, purples and blues and wish I could have enjoyed it more but suddenly ginormous flying insects kept crashing into all parts of my body which then forced us to leave in order to find peace. We ended up on a small stretch of road that could only fit a bicycle, just to the west of the town, where Imani and I shared an ice cream whilst admiring the different constellations.
The best way to end the day.
“7th July 2015 — Mui Ne, Vietnam”
Dear diary,
Today marks my first real day in Mui Ne and so I got up early and headed for the fairy stream but that wasn’t before making a pitstop at the market in order to get a bahn mii :). I ended up eating it on the beach and frolicked there for a while as I discovered that as I’ve been inland for so long, I’ve missed the ocean and found it calling to me.
Afterwards I headed to the fairy stream. I had to pay for the car park so I tried to find a way around it… Unfortunately there wasn’t a way around it so ended up paying 5000 dong.
Upon my arrival I was approached by a Vietnamese family who talked to me the entire time and even invited me to have lunch with them after we had walked around the stream together. Although, it did sound like they were trying to sell a business proposition to me but I hope that I just misunderstood their perfect English…
After a lunch of guess what?…Vietnamese food, we all wandered back together and I dropped their son off at the hotel on my motorbike. But bad story. As I was going up the hill, the gear was too high and ended up falling off the bike and scraping my knee. Ugh. So I decided to drive to the beach opposite to make me happy by playing with the waves.
After that, I then headed to the red sand dunes that Mui Ne is famous for and I could clearly see why. It was like a desert in the middle of nowhere.
Life is beautiful. I listened to music, got sandy cheeks and stayed there until sunset.
Blessed x
…
So that was a glimpse into my days as a nomadic traveller, where I was out discovering the world in all of its entirety. Even though this is just a snapshot into my life back then, I hope that if you are to take anything away from it, let it inspire you to be fearless — to be the owner of your life and seek adventure in where you think it lies.
Till next time,
Nikki x
