Fall in love with travelling alone

Everyone travel for a reason. For me, travelling means leaving my comfort zone to discover new thing at somewhere i never been, regardless the distance.

In September 2015, just after quitting my full time job, i booked a ticket to China, to meet a friend of mine and return to Malaysia together. And, to my surprise, i am not travelling alone. Her relative and friends will be visiting her too, on the date i am going, and of course return together. About 9 of us. Wow.. Fantastic right? From alone, and comes a group.

Well, i like travel without rush and without plan. When i say without rush, means i can wake up anytime i want, and without plan means i can go to any attraction i found when i am at a place. I will make some research before going to that particular place too as there are some basic information we at least need to know before.

Come back to the trip in Xiamen, China.. I really have a great time with all of them on an island, name Dongshan. We took 2 hours private van ride from Xiamen airport to visit here. The seats of van, not really comfortable, especially after 4hours flight from Malaysia to Xiamen.

Walking in between the sea.. 

This is their job, their Rice & Meat depend on the pull.

After spending a night in Dong Shan, we moved to Xiamen. Realized the group that travelling with me are nightlife owl =P and i am not, so i sleep while they party, and they sleep while i had my breakfast. Instead of wasting my time waiting to join them for their afternoon activities, i decided to walk by my own.

So, the Travel Alone idea comes after this morning. The plan goes like this :-

Breakfast, head to the Harbour to go to Gu Lang Yu island by 10am ferry, as they have ferry every 30 mins, and spend whole day in island. Back to town for dinner with my friends. 

However, i end up bought the earliest available ticket at 4.30pm and the plan had to change. Need to decide immediately what to do next as it's 9.45am now. I have about 6 hours.. There are people selling tickets for immediate boarding, but double the cost of the original price, and require to buy at least 2 tickets. So, i don't care.

I grab a map of Xiamen, and queue for the cabs. About 20 person in front of me, and i have time to decide a place to visit before i hoop into the taxi.. There are a lot of things in my mind. Back to hotel room? Mall? etc.. and, i am lucky to meet a friendly taxi driver. I asked his suggestion, and he brought me to the Park. It was a costly ride, but is fine for me, as it's really far from town and took about 30 mins. And, i got some tips from him too. ^^

The Harbour

The Park

So, arrive here, really not knowing what to do, i decided to walk around. And here are some pictures.. *It's really really HOT*  and i discover the ice room.. I would love to explore, away from the sunny bright sun. The challenge, need to wear the "cartoon" attire.. No choice, if do not want to die of cold.

Walk along the beach, and looking at the children catching the crab, and collecting the shell.

Restaurant, with local foods..

I like any building in blue & white. I always remind me of Greece. My dream.

I order one of each type

I challenge myself to ride the bicycle before leaving. * i don't really know to ride * And, you can see this is a small bike. I look for the smallest, and wow.. really love the wind kiss my face and hair flying during the ride..

While cycling, i stop to take picture of the buildings / view i like. This is the best part of travelling alone.. ^^

Temple with the high building as background. The culture remain, even the world had changed.

I am here, in China.. 

After done 2 hours enjoying myself here, i need to go back to the habour. Taking cab from here is really difficult. I asked the staff in Tourist Information Center, and he guided me to catch the taxi by the road. I went to the road side, and i failed.

So, i walked around, keep on walking until i got a cab. Finally... The conversation start as i can speak fluent in Mandarin. The taxi driver thought i am from China.. =D  And after i told him i am from Malaysia, he was amazed. Haha.. Well, i always surprised people..  All the taxi driver that took me that day praised my Mandarin, and one of them taught me some local dialect too..

Since it's still early, the driver ask me to drop by a beautiful place facing the pond. He said a lot of rich people hang out there for coffee.  I agreed for coffee, as am so tired and guess what, no coffee in Dongshan. Most of the Chinese drink tea.. I ask him to drop me at the entrance of the street and i will walked to the end of the street and to the harbour..

Sitting at the park, rest and sleep.

See my bag? I am sitting here, for 30 minutes, feeling grateful and enjoying the moment. Looking at the birds flying, feel the wind and the heat.. And, am singing too.. 

This is how the street looks like. 

Spot the wines bottle...

This is awesome.. Such a big saloon here.

I stop here watching the catch too.. Enjoying..

 Now, it's almost 3pm. Still early, so i decided to go back to hotel, take a shower before go to the harbour. And so i did.

After shower and got changed. Ready to go again.

         Finally, i am here in Gu Lang Yu Island. Looking at Xiamen. Waiting for sunset. 

The whole sharing today, is about travelling alone without rush and plan. Usually i will have a place to visit, and make it the main plan of the day, while at the same time, discover more other places to visit. Rest and easy, without rush and be flexible. 

Travelling alone means i can stop whenever i want to, and i can change my schedule following my body condition. No waiting and no troubling people. No time limit and no decision limit too. 

Travelling alone doesn't mean gotta be travelling myself forever. I had my travel partner too. Am always love to travel with them, and we always have fun, laughter and jokes throughout the time together. That is different kind of experience and environment. Since i wrote about travel partner for the first time in this blog, gotta show the picture of them.. =D

Emmy, Iris and Grace, Me and the Buddha. 

Sometimes, i just want to be alone to discover myself, know myself, and challenge myself.

Last but not least, travelling alone helps me to be more independent. Travelling alone is fun too when you meet your idols. Wefie with them.. As, no one help me on the camera..

 

So, this is the story of me, falling in love with travelling alone. Hope you enjoy reading.