Travelling Southeast Asia: Preamble to the Blog

Alright then, here we go! After university, I worked for a year in a job unrelated to what I want to do with my life. I had one thing in mind though: I wanted to travel, to see the world.

I picked out Southeast Asia for its incredible landscapes, food, and relatively low cost compared to somewhere like Europe. It’s sort of like the well-travelled starter-route, right?

Saving around £6000 over 12 months wasn’t too difficult when I lived at home—paying minimal rent—and reduced all spending to the necessities. My friend, let’s call him S, agreed to come with me. We’d talked about it often; back then it seemed like a fantasy. While we were there, it often seemed like one too… but more on that later.

In the year leading up, I spent a great amount of my spare time researching travelling and Southeast Asia—the anticipation growing daily, month upon month. In August of 2019, we finally booked a one-way flight to Bangkok. In September, I handed in my notice at work. In October, we flew across the world!

Every single day that I travelled, I wrote down that I did, what I felt, and what I saw. I want to show not just the highlights of travelling, but day in, day out—the nitty-gritty.

One thing I learnt is that we don’t realise how much our brains have to say until we sit down to think about our day—to write, read, and think. I was amazed by how many words spilt themselves into my phone notes. There was rarely a dull moment, to be honest.

Primarily, I wrote just to capture all the memories that I knew would leave me, like particles falling through a metaphorical, very forgetful, sieve. Secondarily, I wrote to achieve I’ve always wanted to do: a writing project!

But that’s enough background.

I’ve tried to keep everything detailed and sincere. To capture exactly what the process of travel was like for me. What changed change along the way? Was it all fun and games? Which countries and areas were my favourites? Did I learn to carpe that motherfuckin’ dieme?

I guess we’ll find out.

Let’s get into it with the eventful and somewhat disastrous day one.