T- minus 13 days until I embark on one of my longest, and most exciting adventures. I would be lying if I said I was not a little nervous considering this trip will include the longest time I’ll be spending traveling solo. I’ve traveled solo before, but only for a few days here and there. So spending three weeks on my own before joint some friends is making the anxiety rise. Oh well, it is too late now to back down. My excitement definitely outweighs the anxiety, but I want to mention it to show that it is okay to be anxious about it.
Where am I going?
I do not know. This trip I will be flying from my home of Atlanta, Georgia to Shanghai. As of now the only things I have booked besides my round trip flight to and from Shanghai are my flights to Bangkok, Thailand , and my flight back to Shanghai from Phuket, Thailand. Other than those flights and a hotel in Shanghai I’m going to book as I go.
There is definitely a list of things I want to do, and a lot of suggestions from other travelers that will get me some checks on the bucket list. From playing with elephants (in an ethical sanctuary), taking a river boat for a few days, to partying on a beach all night I will be quite busy.
I will be flying to into Shanghai, and spending a couple days ther acclimating to the time change, and recouping from my almost 20 hours of travel time. After a few days rest, I will fly to Bangkok to begin my journey. While in Thailand I want to see Chang Mai, and Chang Rai before heading to Luang Prabang, Laos; where I will be taking a riverboat for a couple days into the city from the boarder. The end goal is to continue on south through Laos stopping in a few different towns along the way, and eventually get back to Bangkok. After all of the research I’ve decided to fly to Phuket instead of take a train or bus. With flights as low as $23 USD you can’t really beat the convenience. In Phuket there is so much to see, especially the islands surrounding the city. Unfortunately there will not be any full moon, or half moon parties while I am there, but from everything I heard there will be no shortage of a good time, or things to do and see. After this leg of the trip I will be flying back to Shanghai to meet up with some friends!
One of my closest friends, and business partners actually lives in the city of Fuzhou which is south of Shanghai, and teaches English. To be fair, he is one of the main reasons I started traveling so much. For the last six years he has lived across the globe, and I’d just go follow and explore! While back in Shanghai I will be meeting up with him and two more friends! We will be traveling through southern China, and even hopping over to Taipei for a few days! I do love traveling alone and having the freedom of not being restricted, but you can’t find better people to travel with than the group I am going to be meeting up with! We all share the sense of adventure, and want to experience the true culture of where we are visiting. While traveling so many people forget that we are guests in this forgein country, and we have to respect and even admire the other ways people live.
How much am I bringing?
My answer to this question tends to shock people. I only bring carry on with me. There have been too many horror stories about bags being lost, and that’s just something I don’t want to deal with while on a trip. I’ll be making a post about the packing process, and how I am preparing. My usual bag is a 46 liter back pack made by osprey, but for this trip I am bringing a 40 liter pack made by the company Cotopaxi. As for clothes I tend to bring 3-4 pairs of shorts, and about 6 shirts. Most hostels have laundry service, or if you’re staying in one place for a few days do your laundry in the bathroom and hang it to dry. I’ll also bring a pair of tennis shoes, and a pair of sandals. Again I’ll go into way more detail on a later post!
If you have been to any of the places I have mentioned before, and have any awesome recommendations, or questions feel free to comment!