I am now almost 6 months into my first solo backpacking trip and wow has it been incredible. 2 months ago, I posted about my first 4 months and thank you all so much for the support and reading that post, so here comes part 2!
I have added more of Southern Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei and currently the Philippines to my list of countries and it has been just as incredible, inspiring and at times challenging as the previous months.
Disclaimer: the text is rather long and my personal experience. If you have made different experiences or want to know more, just reach out! I’d love to chat and hear about your past trips. With that out of the way, please enjoy a recap of my last 2ish months:
You will quickly sense a common trend in my activities for the next couple months… I got my Open Water Diving Certification in Koh Tao and did another couple dives on the island before exploring the other beaches and spots on land a bit more, but I was hooked to being underneath the ocean surface. After Koh Tao, I made my way over to the Thailand’s other coast but stopped by Khao Sok National Park for an overnight stay in the infamous floating bungalows. It was such a fun time and I met some great people. One of my favorite memories of the entire trip so far is sitting on the “dock” (basically a bunch of floating plastic cubes that the boats get tied to), drinking a beer, watching the stars and listening to our guides play the guitar while singing Thai Songs and telling us about their meanings. We sat there for at least 3-4h just listening.
After Khao Sok, I took a bus down to Ao Nang (Krabi). I wanted to avoid Phuket and Ko Phi Phi since most people I ran into said it just feels overcrowded and touristic. Well Ao Nang had some sort of charm on me because I extended TWICE and ended up for staying a little over a week. It must have been the mix of beaches, fantastic night markets, fun people, great nightlife, nearby Raileigh Beach and idk what else but it felt really nice to be in the same place for a little while. Up next was a stop on Ko Lanta, since I stayed a bit longer in Ao Nang, my days on the tourist visa were starting to run short so I only spend a couple days here but of course had to jump right back into the scuba gear and explore the stunning underwater world a little bit more. The next day I took a ferry to Koh Lipe and spend a day relaxing on the beach before meeting up with a fellow traveler I met in Khao Sok. We spend the next couple days together and made our way to the next country: Malaysia, more specifically to Langkawi.
By the time we got to Langkawi I was a bit islanded out so we only stayed for 3 days. We rented a bike and drove to most places, among them one of the coolest pizza places I’ve ever been to. They have no menu; you tell the chef what you don’t like and he then whips up a pizza based on available ingredients. It was so good and very different. I also made a stupid mistake on Langkawi and drove my bike without a helmet (because the helmet was too big and kept slipping). Of course, I then quickly ran into police stop and was pulled over. After giving all of my information, he told me there is a 60 Euro fine in Malaysia for driving without a helmet and I will have to go to the department of transportation to pay it. So, I got to see a government building from the inside (yay…).
After Langkawi, we headed to Georgetown which used to be a quick ferry ride but that shut down during covid and never reopened. It makes getting to Georgetown a 10-14h journey which you have to book a couple days in advance. In the end we made it without any hiccups and got to Georgetown in the late evening. I completely fell in love with the town. It was just around time for the Lunar New Year so all the temples were decorated with different light installations and open well beyond sunset. The city also feels really vibrant, has a lot of street art (which I loved spending a day hunting down) and sooooo much good food.
On my last evening in Georgetown, it was time to say goodbye and make my way to the Cameroon Highlands for some hiking and to visit some of the gigantic tea plantations. It was cool to learn about how tea is made and amazing to be in colder temperatures and wear a hoodie for a change! The adventure quickly continues as I made my way to the Taman Negara, the world’s oldest rain forest. I spend a night camping in a cave, listening to wild elephants trumpeting and hearing “horror” stories about the wild tigers and black panthers they’ve encountered on the trails before. Luckily and sadly, we didn’t see any.
After the rainforest it was time to completely overwhelm my senses and head to Kuala Lumpur. I booked myself an apartment in a fancy hotel looking onto the twin towers and wow did I need that. Solo traveling is amazing but it can get very taxing. I am constantly on the move, meeting new people and experiencing so many things that other people can only dream off. Having a few days by myself with AC, Netflix, a shower with great water pressure and doing very minimal things felt amazing and I was able to recharge. I love going to concerts and it is something I really missed too so I was beyond thrilled when I found out that Ed Sheeran would be in town the same time I was. Seeing him was also really cathartic, I got to feel all the emotions and left with a laughing and crying eye.
From KL I made the jump over the ocean to Malaysian Borneo, but first stopped in Brunei. I booked myself into a dive camp and did my Advanced Open Water while I was there. I saw my first turtle and that was the moment I knew I was really hooked on it. The diving was great (lots of wrecks and marine life but limited visibility) but other than that Brunei disappointed me. The country is very religious, preventing the consumption of alcohol or any night life and I didn’t find much to explore outside of the mosques build by the current Sultan and his father. It’s the first time I thought I spend too much time in one place.
From Brunei I then made my way down to Kuching to experience Malaysian Borneo and really enjoyed my time there. Sadly, it was still the end of the rainy season, so most of the days were filled with rain, forcing me to stay indoors a lot. After a couple days in Kuching, I made my way to Kota Kinabalu. The city might sound familiar since it is home (well sort of) to Mount Kinabalu, the third highest peak of an island on earth. I went white water rafting on my first full day, so much fun but surprisingly most of the other people on the trip couldn’t even swim?! To me that sounded impossible when going rafting but oh well, all is good that ends well. After that I took a day to mentally prepare for my Mount Kinabalu summit and then hiked it. It was a 2D1N trip and I have never had more sore muscles. I am a pretty good hiker and it showed during the summit, (3rd to Base Camp, 5th to summit and second all the way back down to the bottom) but my legs were a wobbly mess for the next couple days. After a full day of recovery I was still a bit shaky walking but took a flight to get to Sepilok and visit the Sun Bear Conservation Center and Orangutan Rehabilitation Center. Both of these were incredible since I got to see these stunning animals up close and they work for really good causes! If you’re ever in Borneo I would highly recommend checking them out and maybe even volunteering with them! I would’ve if my flight for the Philippines wasn’t already booked.
Which leaves me in my current country: the Philippines. Everyone I have met traveling has loved it but also recommended booking flights, tours and the popular hostels well in advance. So, I did and it feels weird. Part of the appeal in solo traveling is flexibility. If I like a place, I stay longer, if I don’t, I leave. This is impossible now that I have booked my next month ahead of time. It is nice because most of the planning is down but I also feel weird already knowing when and where I am headed next. I landed in Manilla, slept for a night and then quickly made my way back to the airport. I almost missed my flight since I booked my grab (uber in SEA) for the wrong Terminal and it takes over one hour to get from one terminal to another. But I somehow made it and a couple hours landed in Coron. Flying in was already a stunning view. That evening, I hiked to the mountain in town to watch the sunset and get my bearings and rewarded the strenuous day with a very local meal of McDonalds (sometimes the cravings for Western food just need to be appeased). The next two days were spent under water exploring the various WW2 shipwrecks and marveling at the clear waters and marine life. I got a text from some friends from back home and they told me that they’re headed to Coron as well to finish off their Philippines trip so we met up in the evening and then went on an island hoping tour together the next day. It was so nice to have some familiar faces around and skip the normal “travel” small talk.
Sadly, I had to leave them again the next day but it helped that the next few days were one of my highlights of the trip. I went on a 3D2N expedition to El Nido. There were 24 of us on the boat plus the crew and for the 3D we went to remote beaches, small fishing villages and were completely off the grid with no cell phone connection. It was such a great time! I got to El Nido and decided to take a break from the water and stay on land for a day but was then drawn back into the water to go diving the next day. It was a great day diving with new friends and lots of turtles! I arrived in Port Barton yesterday and sadly the weather isn’t the greatest today but hey that gives me a good excuse to sit down and work on this!
If you made it all the way to the end, thanks for reading! Looking back at the past two months, it has been an incredibly journey and I loved it but I am also starting to experience some travel fatigue. Being on the road the entire time and constantly exposed to new people and experiences can be draining. I try to have some chill days build in and get a private room every now and then. That helps a bit but I can definitely tell that I am not as excited about things that would’ve blown my mind 6 months ago. It’s almost like constantly seeing paradise makes you a little numb to it? I still very much love to travel and my trip is not coming to an end soon but I wanted to highlight some of the “negative” thoughts too. Again, thank you for reading!