Travel experiences with Pickyourtrail across various countries in Asia

Staying in the same city for years, hanging out with the same set of people, trying just a particular type of cuisine, not being open-minded about different religions, beliefs and cultures and just having a monotonous life. What are these? Oh, just some of the ways to live a mundane life.

Mark Twain has rightly said that ‘travelling is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow mindedness’ and I feel this is by far the aptest thing I have read. Travelling has immensely changed my life. It has given me a completely different perspective on life and the world. And no, this realization did not occur to me suddenly. So, let’s start with a teeny-weeny story on how I started travelling recurrently.

This is what inspired me:

I was always fond of reading the blogs that all travel bloggers wrote and their work unavoidably fascinated me. Also, always curious to know about the varied cultures and lifestyles of people from different regions. I started reading blogs of various people, and that, to some extent, motivated me to create my own travel blog. I got a chance to travel abroad due to my official visits and I gradually started writing my experiences through blogs. Then, there was one such trip that banged a great impact on my life.

It was the summer of 2013 when my friend and I went on an impromptu trip to Phuket. That was the time when I verily went out of my comfort zone and tried scuba diving. That was one of the most enthralling experiences I ever had. While diving, the serenity of the oceans made me realize that there were so many beautiful things in this world that I have been missing. Since then I have been travelling almost 5 times a year. I took a hiatus from the busy life and just went on exploring the world to the fullest. I have just been striking off the things in my bucket list since then and each new adventure has taught me a lot about life and travel experiences.

My Solo Travel Experiences:

Many people are scared of travelling solo but I feel solo travelling is the best experience I ever had. It does change your life for the better. There are many advantages of solo travelling and it makes you evolve into a better person every time. Here are some of the key benefits that I have enjoyed while travelling solo:

Travel entirely according to your convenience and spend sufficient time you want to spend at a particular place.
You get the best experience of the destination because you eventually start conversing with the localities and look at the place from a localities’ view and needless to say, it is the best experience ever.
You gain immense confidence by travelling solo. There is a sense of freedom that comes when you know that things can be done your way.
And the most important one, it is economical. Travelling solo and saving money go hand in hand.

Challenges I Face:

I won’t say that solo travelling is rosy all the time. We do face a shed load of challenges and in diverse aspects. But these challenges should not stop you from visiting the places that you dream of visiting. I will attempt to help you by listing some of the challenges I faced and also trying to give the possible ways to overcome them.

1. Budget:

The main trials faced by travellers are regarding the budgets. Budget constraints play an important part while planning any trips. But you can always cut down on your expenditure by planning wisely.

2. Language barriers:

When travelling abroad, there are many instances when people just speak in their native language and you just cannot understand the local language. Sometimes the check-ins also get difficult due to this. You for sure cannot learn every local language and hence, when such instances arrive, be smart and do use translators. Make use of the technology that you are gifted with!

3. Food issues:

I profoundly love trying different cuisines and I am a lover of trying the local cuisines of the places I visit. But maybe, you would not have the same interests as me or sometimes you would just not appreciate the things which localities eat and it could be due to your religion or beliefs or anything. At such instances, you could search for restaurants that serve the cuisine you are comfortable with, or in the worst cases, you could just visit the superstores and buy the food you are okay with eating. It could be a bit tiring but hey, that is real fun!

4. Cultural Barriers:

According to me, as a traveller, you should be open-minded and you should have a broad mind towards all cultures and religions that co-exist so beautifully in the world. There are possibilities that you would not like the cultures of certain regions but try not to be vocal about it, especially when you are at that place. You will unintentionally hurt the sentiments of the localities which could cause ramifications.

My Journey and Future Plans:

I have visited many places like Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and the list is boundless, was lost in the woods, dived deep in the ocean, relaxed on the beaches, petted tigers at the petting zoo, climbed mountains, jumped off the plane and what not! I have eaten at lavish restaurants, starved, been drunk, lost ways but in the end, I have explored the pulchritudinous side of every place. All the cities and towns I have been to have made me realize that the world is such a beautiful place.

I plan on visiting all the countries worldwide and will keep sharing my experience with you through my travel blogs and vlogs. Also, have launched my own YouTube channel – “Mission World Travel” which is a dedicated travel Channel for travel experiences. I would be thankful enough to Pickyourtrail for crafting all my vacations and helping me make memories to cherish for a lifetime.