Living the Daydream: Month 14
Ladies and Gentlemen: If you haven’t already noticed, we are back on the blogging grind! As of right now, I’m sitting on my couch at home in Richmond, Virginia - and the year and a half I spent in Asia honestly feel like a fever dream. The first morning home, I woke up in my own bed, and it was the WEIRDEST feeling in the world - like it never even happened!
But it did - and we’re about to dive into exactly what went down over the last three months. So if you’re confused, this monthly roundup is for the month of September, and the first month of my trip through Southeast Asia!
Where I’ve Been
Oh baby - this was such a fun month. Finally, finally I have new places to talk about! Covid really trapped me in Korea, so finally having some freedom to move around without quarantining felt incredible. Here’s where I’ve been this month!
2 days in Busan, South Korea - officially moving out of my apartment and saying goodbye to my beloved kiddos, Isaak and Victoria :’)
3 weeks in Bali, Indonesia: Here’s the rundown
• 3 Days in Uluwatu
5 days in Canggu
3 days in Munduk
4 days in Ubud
4 days in Gili Trawangan
3 days in Nusa Penida
1 day in Ubud
4 days in Northern Thailand
1 Day in Bangkok
2 days in Chiang Mai
1 day in Chiang Rai and Chiang Khong
2 days cruising on the Mekong River
Departed from Huay Xai
Spent the night in Pak Beng
Arrived in Luang Prabang
1 day in Luang Prabang
(I spent three days there but that takes us into October ;)
Highlights
Being blissfully unemployed
If you’ve read any of my other monthly recaps, you know that I have struggled with work for the past year. Work culture in Korea is extremely demanding, and I felt like a shell of a woman by the time I left. I barely took any pictures (or did much of anything, really) my first few weeks in Bali, because I was just letting it slowly bring me back to life.
And it did:) Bali gave me such a second wind of energy and happiness with life that I hadn’t realized had been kind of sucked out of my body working 45 hours a week with a terrible boss for the last year.
Even when I would go out with friends on the weekend in Korea, I would try to be home by 1, and I would start freaking out if the night was going later than that. I called it my sleep anxiety ?? I don’t quite know how to explain it. I worked so hard during the week, I never wanted to waste a day of the weekend just sleeping! I’ve never struggled with anxiety before, but this particular type/circumstantial anxiety did get really bad.
In Bali I had to relearn that it was okay to stay out late, to say yes to spontaneous adventures that kept me out til the sun came up, and to not feel the existential dread settle in my stomach. It sounds so dramatic but it really was the truth! It took a little while, but Bali (and the people I met there) literally healed me. They reminded me that I’m doing the same amount of living whether I sleep when the sun is up or down and helped me to learn how to live a little.
Flying my drone for the first time
So before my trip, I decided to buy the cheapest DJI drone on the market: the DJI Mini SE. It was super inexpensive, and since I’m a solo traveler, I liked the idea of being able to take pictures with me in them without having to lug around a massive tripod (The drone is actually so tiny! I could throw it in my beach bag and take it anywhere). I didn’t even learn how to fly before I left for Bali, but luckily my tech-savvy friend Rayan, who I was traveling with in Bali, was able to help me figure it out! And its SO EASY!!
I was so happy with how easy it was to use - I’m desperate for the upgraded version! The DJI Mini 3 shoots vertical content, which is perfect for what I do with instagram and blogging, while mine only does horizontal. The camera quality of mine isn’t the greatest either, and the photos take a lot of editing afterwards, but I was honestly so happy with my decision to buy one and bring it along:) I’ll get better at it in the future!
Jumping off waterfalls at aling aling
This was, out of my entire 3 weeks in Bali, one of my absolute favorite days ever - it was a day full of waterfalls. We started at Banyumala waterfall and ended at Gitgit, but the real star of the show was our time spent in between at Aling Aling. The actual Aling Aling waterfall is sacred and swimming isn’t allowed, but it’s surrounded by other waterfalls that you can jump off of and slide down!
We started with a 5 meter jump and a natural water slide, then graduated to a 10 meter jump, and finally a 15 METER jump that I threw myself off without hesitation, only finding out afterwards that only 2 other people had tried that jump in that entire week! As much as I love swimming under waterfalls or laying at the beach, there’s something about an activity like this that’s actually just so much fun. We tried backflips off the little jumps, took lots of GoPro videos, and had an overall incredible time. “Never try, never know” :)
Swimming with Sea turtles in Gili T
I’ve been on a few snorkel trips in my day, and I’ve swam with sea turtles a few times as well. I went snorkeling in Koh Tao (Thailand), Koh Rong (Cambodia), and even Gili T in Indonesia. But something about the snorkel trips and everyone crowding the poor little sea turtles just didn’t sit right with me.
One day, while I was having a little browse on Google Maps in my hostel in Gili Trawangan, I came across an interesting beach. Normally beaches have names. Shark Bay, Gili Beach, Sunset Point, etc. Well, this beach was literally called “Beach with turtles to swim with” - and so I hopped on my little bike and headed in that direction. (no motor vehicles allowed on Gili T! such fun vibes).
Local vendors rent out masks all along the beach, and you simply wade waist deep into the water, and go looking for turtles! I came across three massive sea turtles all swimming and playing with each other in no time, and it was just me and three other people observing in awe. No crowding, nobody trying to touch them, just a sweet little moment with these cuties. It was my favorite sea turtle experience I’ve ever had - and I didn’t even have to pay for a tour :)
a sponsored 2 day river cruise down the mekong
My travel blog win of the entire backpacking trip was landing a sponsored 2 day river cruise down the Mekong that transported me from Thailand to Laos. I was the only solo traveler on the entire boat, but all the other couples on the boat really welcomed me in, and together we all had the best two days watching the scenery pass by!
We stopped in a tiny village called Pak Beng for the night, and after months of staying in crusty dusty hostels (jk I love hostels but sometimes you just want a private bathroom haha), Nagi of Mekong, the company I was working with, put me up in the most gorgeous Eco Lodge for the night, where I had a balcony with views of the river and the elephant sanctuary directly across from me. I swam in the pool, had an amazing dinner, and watched an epic sunset.
I feel so grateful to have had that experience because of this travel blog - and I hope to have many more like it in the future:)
Overnight train in Thailand
Now, overnight busses and trains and ferries can, at first glance, sound like a nightmare. 12 hours of travel?? No WAY that can be fun. But I actually had such a fun experience on the overnight train in Thailand that took me from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. The Train was actually two hours late, which isn’t ideal, but I had brought snacks, downloaded a movie on my laptop, and ordered a pizza to the train station. THIS is the way to do an overnight train.
I changed into pajamas, brushed my teeth and washed my face, and crawled up into my top bunk. I had just enough space to have my own little slumber party up there - traveling through the Thai countryside, eating my pizza and watching a Rom Com. In the midst of all of this, I had a little “how did I even get here?” moment, and although it’s such a silly little thing to put on the list of monthly highlights, I just felt really proud of myself for getting this far and doing it completely by myself. I think about that moment, all alone in a train traveling through Thailand and having the most wholesome slumber party ever, a lot. I have so much fun by myself sometimes.
Swimming with Elephants in Chiang Mai
Lastly on the list of highlights (this entire month was a highlight for me don’t get me wrong, there’s just only so much I can write!), is visiting the Elephant sanctuary in Chiang Mai. We did our research to find an ethical sanctuary, and the two friends I made in Bangkok and I set off to go see some elephants.
Sometimes I think that everyones intense love of elephants is ridiculous, but after spending a day with them, I get the hype. They each had so much personality, and even though it poured rain on us, we still got to play with them in the river, feed them bananas, and go on a little jungle trek.
Another pinch me moment - walking through the jungle next to an elephant, in the pouring rain. Not even the bad weather could wipe the smile off my face as an elephant wrapped his trunk around my wrist as if he was holding my hand while we walked down a particularly muddy hill. I’m in love. Get you someone who looks at you the way I look at this elephant.
Lowlights
Learning (failing) to surf
I wanted to be a surfing QUEEN on this journey through southeast Asia, and I thought - no better way to do it than to learn in Bali! There are so many surfing spots in Bali for everyone no matter their level, and I was fully confident that I would come home as a surfer girl.
That did NOT happen. I tried so many times. Like, 5 different times, and I just could not do it! I either couldn’t get past the break (and I’m a really strong swimmer), the nose of the board would always go under while trying to get up no matter how far back I sat, and even with lessons I still was just an absolute failure.
It’s really disheartening to try something so many times and to never improve, so that definitely took a toll. I would roll onto the sand, salty, bloody from crashing onto the reef, and out of breath, - feeling SO discouraged. I’m hoping for my next trip to be somewhere in Central America, and I’m resolved to try a dedicated, week long surf camp while I’m down there. I want to be a surfer goddess SO BAD. I’m not giving up, but definitely not progressing as fast as I would’ve liked.
The horrific ferry from Gili t to Nusa Penida
Like I mentioned in my 3 month southeast Asia packing list, the most important thing I brought was my motion sickness essential oils, that saved me from vomiting on people like 99% of the time. I get severely motion sick, and it was the thing I was most worried about for this trip through Southeast Asia - especially because I knew I’d be probably spending 25% of my time in transit from one destination to the next.
The only instance on this trip where not even the oils could save me was when we decided to take the ferry from Gili Trawangan to Nusa Penida - during a storm.
——> Gorgeous Gili T and a screenshot of a video I sent to my parents trying to show them how much misery I was in:
(It wasn’t a crazy storm, it was just very windy and there were dark clouds and patches of rain, but like, when you’re on the freaking open ocean in a tiny boat, the effect was about the same.)
It was supposed to be a 1 hour 45 minute ferry, but because of the waves, they kept having to cut the engine, and it ended up taking 3 and a half hours. We were riding the waves up and SLAMMING down, there was no air conditioning where the passengers were below deck, the heat was stifling, people were literally screaming and videoing. I put my little essential oils behind my ear and closed my eyes, CONCENTRATING on not emptying my stomach on the person next to me (Tom, my travel buddy at the time, was a very good sport about the whole thing).
My entire body from my neck down was pins and needles, and I couldn’t even make a fist with my hands I was feeling so horrific. I made it two and a half hours without incident, but I was sweating bullets and feeling ILL. I had to do the most embarrassing walk of shame to the back of the boat, stumbling from left to right as the waves continued to crash, where I could get some fresh air. It was still raining and waves were crashing over the boat, but I literally collapsed into the fetal position next to the coils of rope at the back of the boat, and just sat there, shivering like a drowned rat, until we finally pulled into port 45 minutes later.
Shoutout to George and Tom from England who rubbed my back, sat with me in the rain on the back of the boat, and helped me get to my hostel okay :’) Solo traveling but never ~really~ alone:)
I didn’t throw up though!!! So that’s a win LOL
Jarring experience at the royal palace in Bangkok
My introduction into Thailand was a rough one - I won’t lie! I only had 24 hours in Bangkok, and I wanted to make the most of it, so I set off to the royal palace. I knew that I had to be fully covered, so I wore long pants, and tank top, and a scarf as my shoulder coverup. After being dropped off my the taxi and the complete opposite side and walking in the blistering heat to the entrance, I was told that I couldn’t go in because they require an actual shirt with sleeves. They were extremely unkind, they yelled at me for dressing inappropriately, and it had me SUPER flustered.
I had come a long way to visit, so I was really disappointed, but a woman on the street was selling T-shirts and I decided I would just buy one. She was selling them for nearly 10 USD, which was a third of my daily budget! She wouldn’t drop the price at all because she knew I needed it, and I reluctantly bought one. I started to walk through the gates, thinking I would just go to the bathroom and change because there was a line growing behind me.
They yelled at me again and made me change right then and there. I just put it on over my tank top, but it was still a very jarring experience. Once I got through the gates, I was informed I had to wear a mask, even though everything was outdoors - and the only way to buy a mask was to purchase a box of 20 for another 10 dollars.
Everyone involved in the entire experience was SO RUDE, and I had only heard good things about Thai people, so I went to the bathroom and had a little tear up moment where I wished I had a friend with me, someone that would help make moments like this into something to laugh about. It was a very expensive ordeal, but the palace was genuinely stunning, so I’m still glad I went. I just remember feeling SO uncomfortable.
LoLs
The roads in Munduk
If there’s one thing I have to say about the northern region of Bali, is that when other travel blogs tell you to pay for a private driver…they are NOT lying. The roads up there…are not roads. My friend Rayan and I rented a motorbike, and since he has a motorcycle at home, he was fully confident in his abilities to drive us from waterfall to waterfall.
And while we managed to do it without incident, some parts were straight up TERRIFYING. we were pitched forward at a near 45 degree angle, heading down a hill that was “paved” with loose rocks. Not gravel, loose rocks. Our bike tires were spinning, Rayan was nearly going over the handlebars from both of us sliding forward so much, and we were maniacally laughing trying to distract from the amount of DANGER we were in.
Our butts were so bruised for literally days after - but the waterfalls were worth the horrific, hilarious journey to get to them.
If you hire a driver, it’ll be so much easier. They know what roads are accessible and they know the best routes from one to the next. There are so many videos on my phone that I took on the back of the motorbike - and you can literally see the fear in my eyes.
Obviously it was dangerous, but the state of the roads and our journey through them was honestly so comical.
going to Hiking a volcano straight from the club
This is quite the story - I’m definitely exposing myself. Long story short, I met the love of my life in Bali. I’ll probably never see him again, but it was a cute little holiday romance while it lasted. We all had so much fun together, and without knowing which day he was leaving Bali, I booked a 2 am sunrise hike up a Volcano.
When he told me that I needed to come to the club to celebrate his last night in Indonesia, I panicked. Ain’t no WAY I’m missing out on one last moment with the loml - but also ain’t no way i’m missing out on hiking this volcano. Not the ideal situation, but I did what had to be done. I set an alarm for 1:45 in the morning so I could leave the club in time to get on my shuttle, and set off.
I rolled up to the club, where he had bought us all ROWS of shots - and in that moment I knew it was game over for me. We begged the DJ to play Africa by Toto for their last song, danced the night away, I’m pretty sure I begged him to cancel his flight, and then my alarm went off. I said a tearful goodbye, promised to come to South Africa one day, hopped on a motorbike taxi, changed out of my dress into athletic clothes, and hopped in the shuttle ate 1:58 with two minutes to spare.
And then we started the hike up Mt. Batur. This was NOT an easy hike. I figured that since everyone I met had done it that it would be relatively easy - but at least for me, hiking in my Nike Airforces up volcanic ash and slipping backwards every 5 steps, tearing up every 30 minutes (I’m exaggerating but just let me embellish this story plz and thank you), and still buzzing from the club, it was HARD.
We got to the top and the sunrise was… okay. Nothing crazy like so many other travelers before us had said, because we had lots of clouds, and at that point I had been up for 40 hours, and I was just honestly ready for a nap.
Looking back, I think this moment is the funniest thing ever, and I can’t imagine being in the shoes of the other hikers who had to walk 3 hours up this mountain having to listen to me stumble around and cry about silly little travel romances that take way too long to get over.
Missing the last bus to chiang khong + a road trip with random thai men
So this story relates to one that I mentioned in the highlight - the one about the blogging opportunity with the slow boat company! I was required to be in Chiang Khong at 7 am the 29th of September, which means I probably had to arrive the evening of the 28th.
I was traveling from Chiang Mai, and decided to make a pitstop in Chiang Rai to see some of the amazing temples there. I made sure to check the timetable of the last bus so that I could be sure to be back at the bus station at the correct time.
I rolled up to the temples with all my backpacks and bags, and it was a big hassle of a day honestly. I had to find places to store my luggage while I was walking around, I was completely by myself, and it was a surprisingly rural area of Thailand where I was having a hard time finding people who spoke English, even at restaurants and things like that.
When it came time to call a taxi, there were absolutely NONE to be found. I spent 30 minutes panicking, before I literally ran into a random store and told the man I would pay him if he took me to the bus stop in his personal car.
There I am, in the back of my first random car of the day, chilling with this man’s child next to me in his booster seat as we speed down the highway to the bus station.
I profusely thanked the man and paid him extra for the inconvenience, ran into the bus station and to the sign where it said Chiang Khong with three minutes to spare.
Except there was no bus?? I triple checked the timetable, and realized what an absolute IDIOT I am. Guess what I did: (I’m really exposing myself this monthly recap - this is so embarassing)
Upon further inspection, the timetable was in military time. When it said the last bus was at 14:30, my brain just completely ignored the 1 in front of the 2. I missed my bus because I DIDN’T REALIZE IT WAS MILITARY TIME AND THOUGHT THE BUS LEFT AT 4.
Immediately, I burst into tears. Chiang Khong is 2 hours away, not an ideal distance to take a taxi. Upon seeing me in SHAMBLES, tuktuk drivers raced over all offering their services. I eventually haggled the price down to 25 dollars (my daily budget was 35 so this was a HIT lol), and the man told me to jump in the back of his open air tuktuk.
There I was, in my second random car of the day, hunched over in the back of this rickety little tuktuk as we fly down the highway. I’m like, mildly concerned for my safety, but fulfilling this travel blog commitment meant more to me at the time.
We pull off the road into a gas station, where a tiny little sedan is sitting. It looks like it’s barely being held together, the seats are stained with God knows what, and there are three Thai men sitting inside.
Keep in mind, literally no one is speaking English. My tuktuk driver gestures to the car and says: “My friends. Chiang Khong” - and the men in the car all simultaneously cheer above the BUMPIN music coming from the stereo: “CHIANG KHONG!!”.
I looked at the car. “Am I really getting into my THIRD random car of the day with three strangers in the middle of rural Thailand?” I thought.
And I did.
Obviously I had my google maps pulled up and whenever we made an unexpected turn I made a huge fuss - but it turns out we were just dropping off the other passengers at their respective houses along the way.
Honestly, towards the end, I was kind of having fun. They were trying to teach my Thai songs and make me feel not as left out of this strange little road trip, and I eventually made it to my hostel safe and sound.
Was that my wisest decision? No. But in all seriousness, I’m never going to be distrustful of kind strangers in countries where the main contributor to the economy is tourism. Always follow your gut! And my gut told me I was going to be just fine.
Wrap up
There you have it folks! That sums up the highlights, lowlights, and LOLs of my first month on the road.
This - this trip - is what I worked so hard for during my time in South Korea. It was full of goodbyes, challenges, a little bit of loneliness, and growing experiences, but it’s the most incredible thing I’ve ever done.
Stay tuned for the October wrap up! It’ll be posted next month:)
Love you all! Leave a comment down below saying hi!
xx
Emma
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