Single Woman Travels 3.0

Dear Amazing Human Beings,

Thank you for your  Readership.

This blog started on the Tumblr platform in 2012 and then I joined WordPress when I took an 8-month journey to South America and Asia in 2013.

2014 was another fun, sad, exciting and sometimes scary year for me. I pushed myself in ways I didn’t think I could; mentally, physically and emotionally. I started the year by going from zero to 5 days per week of Ashtanga yoga and become certified as a Yoga instructor after a 250 hour course, over a span of 4 months. Then a 6-month journey showed me valuable life lessons in Europe and Middle East.

Scenery Sunday :- Geneva Festival (Switzerland)

Fêtes de Genève is an annual 25 days event along the waterfront of Lac Léman (Lake Geneva). Locals, expats and tourists, from near and far, show up en masse to celebrate Summer in Switzerland. Fair rides, concerts and a grand show of fireworks on the last Saturday night of the festival are all part of fun.

Yes, if I had been more organized or actually done some planning and research, I would have known about the festival and made it to the fireworks. But I was flying by the seat of my pants and I had spent the day in 5 different cities. Needless to say, I was bone tired when I questioned why my train, in the direction to Geneva, was completely packed and not many were dressed up for clubs or bars. It was also the last night I get to spend with my friend and her family who hosted me the whole time I was in Switzerland, so I did not mind missing out on the firework show.

However, I was in Geneva on the last day of the festival and it was a great event for me to stumble upon.

Travel Thought Thursday :- Fulfill Your Desire to Travel

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Solo travel has helped shaped me to be who I am today.

I started traveling alone out of necessity and not for pleasure.

As you see, my family immigrated to Canada as a whole when I was young. However due to various circumstances, they all drifted back to Hong Kong. I was left in Winnipeg, Canada to finish school alone. During my summer vacations, I’d travel to Hong Kong to see my family. That was the only way for me to spend time with them physically. Fortunately, my family was able to finance these visits each year.

It’s a mixture of complex emotions that I did not realize until much later. That was life as I knew it. I was in survival mode without conscious awareness.

After the fact, some friends and acquaintances see it as a sad childhood. Maybe so, however, it definitely helped shape my independence and ease with international solo travel. It also inspired an intrigue to learn from exploration and feed my curiosity.

My Canadian Passport with airline stickers

Sunday Scenery :- Olympos, Turkey

In the past few weeks, I’ve seen so many ruins in Greece and Turkey – they’re getting blurry in my mind.

Bits of marble, limestone, sandstone.

Various mosaics, sculptures, carvings, symbols.

Byzantine. Roman. Greek. Ottoman. Lycian. Hittite. Persian.

Money Talk: How much did my 2013 Epic Journey cost!?!

Money, Budgets, Financial Talk

Whenever someone talks about going on a trip / vacation / holiday / escape / getaway / journey / pilgrimage – whatever it is labeled as, the BURNING question in the back of everyone’s mind… HOW do they afford it?! How much did it cost!?!

If you’ve been reading along on my blog, I tend to talk about anything but money. It’s a cliche thing for a Canadian or a Chinese descendent or in the general global society to be up front about financial matters.

Well today, I feel like sharing and talking numbers – as one of my intention for this blog is to motivate more people to travel – solo or not. So I do not want people to use $$ as an excuse or reason for them to deter from traveling and exploring this beautiful world of ours.

Weekly Photo Challenge: On Top (Paragliding)

Paragliding is one of my favorite activities while traveling!

Beautiful aerial view of the landscape below mixed with excitement.

One day I will try sky diving!!

View of Sarangkot, Nepal while paragliding

Weekly Photo Challenge: On Top (Nepal)

Nepali rides on top of the local bus

When I travel I like to try to immerse myself and be part of the local customs. While visiting in Nepal, I noticed the locals not only ride inside the bus, they are on the roof with cargo and animals. It was Diwali and everyone was heading home, so all the buses were extra full.

Yes, it is not safe and definitely exceed the occupancy allowance. However it looked like fun.

Experience First Flight with Women in their 70’s

This morning my attention was drawn to this video that Vodafone posted on their Firsts.com site.

http://www.firsts.com/content/vodafone-firsts/home/nans-on-a-plane.html#main-video

HAPPY Songkran Day!!

สุขสันต์วันสงกรานต์ (pronounced: suk san wan songkran) means “Happy Songkran Day”

A year ago, I arrived in Bangkok, Thailand on the last night of Songkran. When my taxi driver dropped me off at the round about in front of Swenson’s ice cream shop (steps from the famous Khao San Road), almost every person had a water gun, bucket or Super Soaker in hand. The streets resembled the aftermath of a big rainstorm. Puddles everywhere. People walked up and down the streets, soaked from head-to-toe. Everyone was happy, big smiles on their faces. Luggage in hand, I could not retaliate until I dropped off my luggage.

My First Time… Zip lining and Treetop Trekking!

Threshold to new things

Sometimes, it is a lot of fun to try something new.

New coffee shop. New thought pattern. New TV show. New path. New activity.

Until I try something new myself, I will never be able to know how I really feel about it.

One fine summer day, I went with a few co-workers (now ex-co-workers) on an outing. We drove 2 hours north of Toronto and arrived at Barrie Park . They offer many different adrenaline inducing activities for all seasons – that day we all tried treetop trekking and zip lining for the first time!