Living the Lao Life on the Mekong River, Laos - GAdventures SE Asia trip, 2/2012 - 3/2012

Reflecting back on my SE Asia trip and what I’ve learned. I’ll miss you SE Asia – you have changed my life!! Thank-you for the opportunity, sharing your breathtaking natural wonders, a different perspective of life, culture and people with me!

SE Asia was definitely a very memorable and adventurous trip. Beyond happy that I decided to take this particular GAdventures Bangkok to Hanoi group tour, at this time in my life! I was able to truly interact with the natives and see how they live in the Hilltop Villages, the country, and in the city. Let me tell you that I didn’t miss the gym at all on this trip and I was able to have new experiences in the outdoors including rock-climbing up a waterfall, mountain bike riding, trekking through the jungle for 3 hours (12k / 7.5 miles), riding an Elephant, climbing up 200 – 300 steps to some of the temples, and being on a traditional private luxury long boat on the Mekong River for two days. Highly recommend GAdventures tour group!

I’ve learned how to better embrace being out of my element and going more with the flow. Without a doubt, I was definitely alittle more sensitive and emotional than usual, however I held it together and managed not to have any emotional melt downs in front of the group. This is so normal to feel this way given that you are in a foreign country with strangers away from people close in your life, you don’t always have all the comforts of home where you travel, other people get moody and may make a comment that annoys or insults you, and people may misunderstand others due to different communication styles, which can result in conflict or misunderstandings early on in the trip.

Couldn’t have been happier with the roommate situation! I was so fortunate to be paired with this remarkable Canadian girl, Jessica, also in her 30s, as my roommate, who has traveled to every continent – seriously incredible. In one of our chatting sessions, I learned how Jessica has lived abroad working in her field as a physical therapist for two years in Bristol just outside of London, United Kingdom by means of a working holiday visa. How amazing is that! Working holiday visas are typically granted to citizens of certain countries and limited to 18 – 30 year olds, but definitely do your research on what your options are related to working abroad, if this is your desire. It may also be possible to get a company sponsored work visa.

Jessica is a really down to earth girl, similar to me, but less intense than me, which is a good match. We bonded right away and had some girl heart to heart talks. Jessica mentioned that she was grateful being paired with myself, the New Yorker, who over packed with 60 lbs of luggage with a pharmacy inside – Advil Cold and Sinus, Theraflu, Cough medicine, and Airborne – which was beneficial to both of us. Best to prepare for all the what ifs, as you are not sure what you can find in stores/pharmacies in a foreign country. Jessica and I are making plans to visit each other this summer/fall and to travel together again.

Getting more comfortable with taking risks in life – nothing life threatening, of course. Traveling alone on a group tour and not having any contact with the other travelers until the first day, I believe qualifies as taking a risk, which is exactly what I did! Some of my coworkers and friends said that they would never do that – really? What an opportunity to miss out on, especially if no one else can travel with you at the same time. I’ve learned that you can’t always wait on everyone else for what works for them because otherwise you may never get to see new places or travel to faraway countries.

What I find most fascinating is how 10 travelers and the tour guide from all over the world can come together and after a matter of two weeks feel as if we have known each other forever. Love that dynamic and meeting new people!

It’s a unique way to learn so much about yourself, others, and you get to experience life in a different way. Even more so, it’s inspiring to hear their travel stories and experiences in life. All of which leaves me thinking if my fellow traveler friends can find a way to take off of work for one month or a few months, or to travel in between jobs, or to live in another country and travel to the surrounding countries, then why can’t I? Well, of course I can!

Traveling has allowed me to break free of more boundaries I have created for myself and I realize more and more that anything is possible. It’s ourselves that limit what we can’t do by means of excuses and our thinking that restraints us from not living the life we want. Certainly the thought and desire of requesting a sabbatical leave from work for one year to live aboard in London and then travel to see the rest of Europe has crossed my mind. I would need a plan to make it work. While, I may not have it all figured out, one thing is for sure, I see more travel and new friends in my future.

Oh, some final advice from the New Yorker, leave your Tory Burch strappy high heel sandals and dressy clothes at home when traveling to SE Asia. You won’t be wearing them on that trip.

What do you believe holds you back in life? How can you change or work around your situation to achieve your goals whatever that may be? It doesn’t have to be travel related. All in all, it comes down to making decisions rather than allowing ourselves to get caught up in the excuses.