While I haven't had the same person with me the entire time I've been gone, for the most part I have been surrounded by other travelers. In India, I lived, worked, and traveled with other volunteers. Then in Bali, my friend Alex was with me all but the first and last day.
Alex flew out of Bali yesterday afternoon. I had exactly 24hours to myself to do whatever I wanted until my flight to Bangkok. Earlier in the week I had thought maybe I'd go scuba diving or try out surfing, but when the day actually got there I'd decided scuba was too expensive and probably not much fun alone, and surfing required a swimsuit that would not fall off. The trouble with solo travel is that when you want to actually do activities (versus just walking around or sightseeing), you're going to be doing them by yourself or with other groups you don't know. Some people make it work, and some activities are better suited for the lone wanderer than others, but generally it's always nice to have someone accompany you, or at least have the option. So instead of surf or scuba, I just wandered around the shopping area and until I actually did find a swimsuit. Later, after wasting time in the hotel, I headed back into town to find something to eat, and ran into my friend that we had booked our snorkeling trip through, and that had driven us to Lovina.
He took me around the city on his motorbike and then practiced his English with me on the beach as I watched my last beautiful Bali sunset. Afterwards, we went to a traditional Balinese place to eat cheap good food. All in all, it was a great way to end my stay in Bali.
I've only very briefly experienced any kind of solo traveling, mainly in the airports and getting to my next destination. Probably, those are the more stressful times, at least for me they have been, but each time that I am forced to do things on my own, it gets a little easier. And I learn from my mistakes too (this time I made SURE I had a trolly to roll my luggage around on - that makes all the difference in the world!)... I've realized, when in a foreign country that speaks a different language, you just have to accept that everything is going to take a bit longer and be a bit more difficult than it is when you're on your home turf. After getting through customs and grabbing my bag, I spent a good hour trying to find my free transportation to my hotel. I could not get the phones to work for the life of me. I'll probably have 10 phones calls charged to my credit card when I get home lol. Finally, I walked up to an airport hotel shuttle stand, knowing good and well, it was not for my hotel, but hoping maybe they could point me in the right direction... I gave the guy the information, he made a quick and easy call on his cell, and kindly told me to wait there, as someone was on their way to find me. Hooray! Why did I not ask him 45 minutes ago?!
Looking back at my past two airport experiences, I can easily see that things go much more smoothly when you just ask someone. For whatever reason though (pride most likely), I continue to try and figure it out for myself. Maybe when I fly to Cambodia tomorrow, I will finally admit defeat and learn the lesson.
Alex flew out of Bali yesterday afternoon. I had exactly 24hours to myself to do whatever I wanted until my flight to Bangkok. Earlier in the week I had thought maybe I'd go scuba diving or try out surfing, but when the day actually got there I'd decided scuba was too expensive and probably not much fun alone, and surfing required a swimsuit that would not fall off. The trouble with solo travel is that when you want to actually do activities (versus just walking around or sightseeing), you're going to be doing them by yourself or with other groups you don't know. Some people make it work, and some activities are better suited for the lone wanderer than others, but generally it's always nice to have someone accompany you, or at least have the option. So instead of surf or scuba, I just wandered around the shopping area and until I actually did find a swimsuit. Later, after wasting time in the hotel, I headed back into town to find something to eat, and ran into my friend that we had booked our snorkeling trip through, and that had driven us to Lovina. He took me around the city on his motorbike and then practiced his English with me on the beach as I watched my last beautiful Bali sunset. Afterwards, we went to a traditional Balinese place to eat cheap good food. All in all, it was a great way to end my stay in Bali.
I've only very briefly experienced any kind of solo traveling, mainly in the airports and getting to my next destination. Probably, those are the more stressful times, at least for me they have been, but each time that I am forced to do things on my own, it gets a little easier. And I learn from my mistakes too (this time I made SURE I had a trolly to roll my luggage around on - that makes all the difference in the world!)... I've realized, when in a foreign country that speaks a different language, you just have to accept that everything is going to take a bit longer and be a bit more difficult than it is when you're on your home turf. After getting through customs and grabbing my bag, I spent a good hour trying to find my free transportation to my hotel. I could not get the phones to work for the life of me. I'll probably have 10 phones calls charged to my credit card when I get home lol. Finally, I walked up to an airport hotel shuttle stand, knowing good and well, it was not for my hotel, but hoping maybe they could point me in the right direction... I gave the guy the information, he made a quick and easy call on his cell, and kindly told me to wait there, as someone was on their way to find me. Hooray! Why did I not ask him 45 minutes ago?! Looking back at my past two airport experiences, I can easily see that things go much more smoothly when you just ask someone. For whatever reason though (pride most likely), I continue to try and figure it out for myself. Maybe when I fly to Cambodia tomorrow, I will finally admit defeat and learn the lesson.
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