A Girl in the World

travel advice

Fantasy travel trips that you can do now

March 19, 2010

If you haven’t already read The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferris, I highly recommend you do.  Though parts of it can sound unrealistic at times, it will change the way you think about work, play and everything in between.  Among other ideas, Tim talks about the highly affordable lifestyle of taking mini-retirements while you’re still young, able and energetic enough to enjoy them (like, right now).  No matter what age or background, you don’t need a million dollars to spend a month in Thailand learning muay thai. You can do it for a fraction of what it’s costing you to rent your current apartment in your current city.  As long as you’re smart about exchange rates and differences in cost of living, hanging out for a few months in a new country is totally do-able.  I know this for a fact.

Fun with mirrors in Luca

After I got over the very difficult process of leaving my cushy job and severing ties to things like a lease, a phone plan and a gym membership, the ability to spend 2 months abroad (like in Argentina) became a reality.  I’m no millionaire.  And yes, income is and will become more and more important as the months stretch on but I know that taking time off now is a much easier thing to pull off compared with a few years from now when I might be married,  I might be thinking about kids, I might be committed to another job/business/venture.

Wanna learn to speak Argentinian castellano?  Or write kanji in Japan?  Or make home made pasta in Italy?  Don’t wait your whole life to experience things that you’ve always wondered about doing.  Life is a long journey and sometimes saving our dreams for later means they may not come at all, so while that desire is in your heart and while you’ve got the resources to do it, stop making excuses and just go! Go, go, go!

Imagine…

… renting a villa in Tuscany for a three month lazy summer.  Take fashion classes, learn art history, speak Italian.  On the weekends, take the train to Sienna and eat gelato in the middle of Il Campo, the square where the palio takes place.  Wander the streets of Florence and bargain for beautiful Florentine jewelry.  Discover wine.  Lots of it.

… a solo trip through Bali’s lush, tropical inland villages.  Take cooking classes, ride bikes down volcano valleys and spoil yourself with a $5 massage every single day.  And if you’re feeling up for it, hang out on the coast for a few days and learn to surf off Kuta’s famous shores.

… winter in New York City.  Harsh, beautiful, an urban wild.  Ice skate in Rockefeller Centre, explore the Guggenhiem, make snow men in Central Park.  Light a fire in an old flat in the East Village and relish the fact that the winter is only playtime for you, not forever.  Sometimes a new twist on a familiar season will help you see things in a completely different way.

… December in Brazil.  Hot, humid, sexy.  Milder than scorching January, it’s a great time to sample a tropical Christmas.  Learn forro.  Brave a Brazilian bikini wax before hitting the beaches of Rio.  And when you’re tired of the street dancing, hire a guide and rough it through the Amazon.  Come back a toasty, delicious golden brown.

… a life with no boundaries, with no rules, with endless possibility.  No lifestyle has to be forever and sometimes, change is good.  It helps us to figure out what’s important and eventually, after all of the running around, we realize that place is just place.  What matters is who you’re with, what you’re learning and how you’re changing along the way.

Go!  Now!  Make it happen.

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A Girl’s Guide to Traveling Safely through Asia

February 5, 2010

If you’re a girl and you’re planning to trek through Asia on your own, take some time to plan. Asia is a totally different monster compared with Europe and North America. Language barriers, the climate and cultural differences mean that you have to be a little more careful and a lot more resourceful to stay safe and on budget.  Though some of the tips below seem quite antisocial, they’ll be helpful when you’re not feeling particularly friendly or open to meeting strangers (sometimes alone time during travel is just as important as social time).

Dress modestly
Leave the short shorts for home, or when you’re traveling in a group.  Tank tops, mini skirts, and see-through anythings will draw unwanted attention even from the most well-meaning people (men and women included). If you’d like to travel in peace, don the sleeves and knee length cargo pants. Trust me!  Things to bring: a shawl/scarf, hat, sunglasses, sarong, cargo pants, safari shirt.

Take advantage of shuttles
Shuttle services from the airport are a great way to get into the city centre hubs without having to deal with evening cabbies. Places like Singapore and Hong Kong have great airport transport systems (train or bus services) that will save you a lot of money (i.e. 6 USD from Singapore Airport to your hotel doorstep using the van shuttle service). These are an especially smart option when you’re arriving really late at night.

Sign up for tours
Though I prefer to wander cities without a tour guide, when traveling alone group tours are the best way to meet new friends.  Oftentimes you will run into the same folks over and over again and can plan travel together. I particularly enjoy cycling and walking tours – they are a great way to exercise, green and intimate.

Travel with an iPod Touch
Download the Skype and Google Maps applications. Wifi is quite prevalent in Asia, even in the tiniest towns.  Being able to check email, book hotels and plan itineraries online will be a big help.  With an iPod Touch, you won’t have to worry about lugging a big laptop around – and you won’t get charged accidental roaming fees because it’s not your mobile phone.

Bring a book
If you’d like to sit in peace (at the train station, airport, restaurant) without the risk of someone trying to hit on you, bring a book and read it. Nothing says, “I want to be left alone” more than an engaging, engrossing book. This also works well when you’re on a 12 hour flight and the person next to you just won’t stop talking.

Be married
[Feminists will want to shoot me for this one] While in Bali, I met a fellow traveler who gave me the best piece of advice: buy a wedding ring. I was complaining about how hard it is to stay anonymous in Asia as a lone woman and he suggested buying a decent wedding ring (preferably gold) and having a tight story about my (non-existent) husband. After a few weeks staying in Ubud on my own, many of the local people started to notice my daily routine. It made me nervous, especially since the only ones who decided to talk to me about my stay were men and it would usually happen at night on my way home from dinner. Having a tight story about not being alone will help during those moments when you’re feeling threatened or a bit worried about safety.

Trust your gut
Instinct isn’t always right, but you can’t lose by listening to it.  Sometimes even the best situations don’t feel quite right.  Listen to that little voice inside of you that is just about ready to push the panic button.  There’s a reason you’re feeling off and though it might not be so obvious,  it’s smarter to listen than to ignore.  In Kuala Lumpur, as the days passed, I started to feel more and more uneasy about hanging out there.  My hotel wasn’t in the best of neighborhoods (which may have contributed to the dodgy feeling I had), but I found it odd that the longer I stayed, the less comfortable I felt (it should be the opposite).  So one night I made a decision to leave – to abandon my India tourist visa-in-process (which was already late in the first place) and just move to another country. The nagging feeling in my stomach and the growing fear I had wasn’t something I could ignore. Don’t ignore that little voice!

Don’t be stupid
Don’t walk home alone in the dark, don’t walk down quiet abandoned streets, don’t follow strangers to areas that you don’t know, don’t forget to lock your door when you go to sleep.  Common sense right?  Well, just don’t be stupid!

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The flip side of the coin

January 20, 2010

So, I’d like to take this opportunity to rant a little.  All of this Asia travel comes with the goods and bads.  There have been great foods, cheap accommodations, beautiful tropical scenery and relatively good weather.  But then there has also been the heat, the pollution, the insistent hawkers and all the people trying to rip me off.  Fine.  It all comes with the territory; all part of the adventure.  But I am really getting sick and tired of being leered at, whistled at, followed and basically harassed by men.  It is SO annoying.

Traveling as a woman alone in Asia can be tough work.  Maybe not as bad as traveling through the Middle East as a lone woman but definitely worse than doing Europe.  Maybe men just aren’t as exposed in Asia, or maybe I’m just not used to the blatant hawking and cat calls and rude stares (that the local women have perhaps learned to deal with on a daily basis) but honestly, it’s all enough to make me go mad.  I’m so much more cautious because I have to be, and it makes me less open to meeting potentially nice people along the way.  Because of the random jerks that I’ve met thus far (whose intentions have been less than good), I am less apt to trust any other man that strikes up a conversation.  And that annoys me.  It annoys me that my gut instinct is to be judgmental, cautious, suspicious.  I don’t like traveling this way.  =(

For India (if I actually end up getting a visa in time), I’ve got a new strategy.  I am going to be married.  That’s right.  Tomorrow, I am shopping for a wedding ring.  Preferably simple and gold, just like the locals would have it.  This is the best traveler tip that I’ve gotten so far, from a guy I met who traveled to India with his girlfriend.  He told me to go and buy a decent looking wedding ring and to be armed with a story about meeting my husband and our two kids at some town nearby in a few days.  Brilliant!  Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!  That plus a shawl, sunglasses and hat should do the trick.  =)

Of course, this plan could all go bust if I don’t get my visa in time.  Plan B is to go get my diving license somewhere off the coast of Thailand or Indonesia.  We shall see how the drama unfolds!

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So, how’s it going so far? An update on travel tips

January 16, 2010

  • On underwear.  Remember the packing advice post that I wrote from a while back, when I suggested bringing only two pairs of travel undies made with quick-dry breathable material?  Well, honestly, every night I thank myself for having gotten these undies at REI before leaving California.  They’re not cheap – I think 18$ USD per pair but they are worth every single penny!  They are super comfy, do not give you undie lines and really are quick dry (I wash a pair in the shower every night). I am actually going to buy more when I get home for normal use!
  • On Moleskins. These are my favourite notebooks of all time.  They are leather bound compact journals that are great for jotting down notes and travel information and sketching and friends’ email addresses and addresses and everything!  Mine has been my true companion during my travels.
  • I packed too much. And really, I hardly packed anything at all.  All I really wear these days:  a sarong, a tank top, sports bra, flip flops and hat.  Sometimes I will use my travel cargo pants and trainers.  What I did fail to bring is a long sleeved linen shirt for when I visit Muslim countries (i.e. Malaysia) and need to cover up.  I wonder how much it would cost to mail my extra clothes home?
  • Tripadvisor. Use it, for everything!  I look at reviews on Tripadvisor before I book a tour or a hotel.  And then I compare Expedia’s rates with hotel website rates.  This way, I am getting the cheapest possible deal!  More saved dollars = more massages!
  • Makeup. Haven’t used any since I started traveling.  I am sure my face is thanking me for it, but my back is not.  The makeup bag should have stayed at home.
  • Other things I brought and don’t need: a pair of jeans, 500 tank tops, Lonely Planet’s Southeast Asia on a shoestring (it is crap, go use The Rough Guide instead!), an extra camera lens, contacts and contact solution (I’ve been using glasses when I need them), two reading books (should have just brought one!), painted nails (they look terrible now that they are chipping away and I don’t have nail polish remover to clean them up!)
  • Things I brought that have been life savers: a fleece, convertible cargo pants, sarong, my computer (lets me write, helps me make skype calls, enables me to edit pictures and pretty much keeps me sane!), flip flops, sun screen, mosquito repellant, a hat, silk pajama bottoms (they are breezy but still makes you feel protected if you’re picky with hotel sheets), a universal adaptor

So, thus far, it has been going well.  I still would have packed half of what I brought!  =)

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On packing

December 14, 2009

Not many things in this world cause more stress for me than packing.  I hate it.  It’s tedious, it requires forward planning and always reminds me that I have way too many things, scattered in way too many places.  It’s a reminder that I truly am a vagabond.  No closet, no apartment, no city to call my own.  I own things that are scattered across countries, hiding in borrowed storage places and relative’s garages.  This is actually not as glamorous as it may seem.  It’s pretty damn annoying.

The irony?  Each time I pack, enroute to another new destination, I am overcome with a desire to have a home.  HA.  Packing for me means moving clothes from one suitcase to another, depending on weather conditions and length of stay at my new destination.  How I wish I had a closet to peruse!  Even a messy one!  And that desire snowballs into a wish to have my own kitchen, my own living room, my own patio where I can barbeque… etc etc.

The result?  After two hours of packing, I’ve gone through a multitude of life’s questions in my head and am so exhausted emotionally that I am tired even before the trip has begun.

If only I had some sort of “packing plan”!  A list!  A routine!  Some way to make this process much easier.  Tonight, I took careful note of what I’ve learned in the last few years of living out of a suitcase.  Below are my tips:

  • Ziploc bags are your friend. I met a set of girlfriends traveling around the world during a safari in Africa and they swore that Ziploc bags saved their lives (when the monsoon rains hit during their time in India, nothing in their packs got wet!).  Everything should be packed in a clear Ziploc bag.  One bag for each of the following (colour coordinated if necessary):  undies, socks, tank tops, t shirts, pair of shoes, shower flip flops, dresses, jewelry, toiletries.  Not only will it force order and function during the process of packing, this little tip will help a lot when you’re rummaging for that yellow tank top later!
  • Do a first round packing, and then halve the load. YOU DO NOT NEED THREE PAIRS OF JEANS on your trip.  Trust me.  Nor do you need 5 different colours of the same t-shirt.  In Italy, I wore 1/4 of the things that I brought but was stuck carrying the whole lot everywhere we went.  NOT FUN!
  • Get a proper shower caddy.  The kind that is labeled “shower caddy” in the travel gear aisle at Target or REI.  Preferably one that has a hook you can sling over a shower door.  It will make bath time quick and easy, and the material it’s made of will not stink of mildew later.  It also makes it easy to pack all toiletry items in ONE PLACE.  I like this one from Target.
  • Buy a nylon stuff sack. For laundry, wet clothes, muddy shoes.  I used to carry extra plastic bags everywhere but they never lasted more than a few days on the road.
  • FLIP FLOPS. For showers, for warm nights, for walking around the hotel/hostel/beach.
  • For backpacks, purchase one that has a full mouth opening, not just top.  This will make sorting much easier.  I’ve got this one, by Berghaus.  It opens almost like a normal suitcase, which makes it less frustrating to search through.
  • Two good pairs of travel underwear are all you need. This summer, I packed 30, yes 30, pairs of undies for a month in Italy.  Lacey ones, black ones, red ones, flowery ones, ones with bells (kidding!).  STUPID STUPID.  Lacey underwear is not meant for hiking, nor 40 degree celsius heat.  Today I purchased two pairs of silk, fast-drying undies.  Boyshort cut to avoid butt lines. Wear one pair, wash the other – every night.  Then switch.
  • If you have thick hair, use elastic headbands instead of normal hair ties.  They will last, they will hold your hair up and they’re not as easy to lose.  I got these at Target (gosh, I love Target!)
  • Lastly, when in doubt LEAVE IT BEHIND.  You will not need it.
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