I apologize for not posting any trip updates on here sooner!! I was a little overly ambitious thinking I would post regularly while traveling, but I will try to be better about it! I actually thought that I would use the time on flights to draft posts but on all of my flights so far I’ve either chatted with people next to me the entire time or read my book (I know, unacceptable! Haha).
If anything, I hope that lets you know that I’ve been staying present with my travels overall and making friends rather than sitting in my room blogging 🙂
I arrived in Thailand on August 2nd and I’m now traveling with my friend Nicole from Michigan for the next three weeks! It’s bittersweet that the solo half of my trip has come to an end. I will be posting individually (hopefully sooner rather than later!) about each of the cities I’ve traveled to so far — Seoul, Taipei, Bali, Singapore, Langkawi, and Kuala Lumpur. And I haven’t been by myself this entire time — I stayed with friends who are teaching English in Seoul, met up with my friend Sonia’s mom’s friend’s son in Taipei (he just finished his first year of college at Virginia Tech and is staying with family in Taipei for the summer), and did a group tour in Bali with about 20 other young adults from either Europe or the US.
Here’s some important highlights:
- Overall, I’ve had a smooth transition to life in Asia! 🙂
- I have been able to get by with English nearly everywhere!
- I’ve been safe! I’ve definitely been extra careful and aware when I’m alone, both during the day and at night. Even though I’ve had my guard up, I’ve thankfully never felt unsafe or been in a situation that could be dangerous.
- I’m healthy! **Knock on wood** I haven’t gotten sick during my trip. I’ve been drinking only bottled water and avoiding ice when I’m not sure if it’s filtered or not, that’s definitely helped. And I’ve only had to take Imodium once at the onset of possible TD…
- I’m extremely grateful to be here experiencing so many new places and cultures. It has definitely been a bit of a culture shock overall (particularly with the food–being gluten free is pretty limiting unfortunately 😔), but it’s well worth it!
If you’d like to see the few pictures I’ve shared so far from my trip and you aren’t on social media, feel free to look at my personal Instagram account – www.instagram.com/lifergu (second camera icon at very bottom of this website) 🙂
Look out for another post soon! And if you haven’t already, add your email to receive an update when I’ve posted something new!