First thing first, to indicate that I am a traveller, not a tourist. So I may not aim for the tourist spots as most people do, I might get to some of it sometimes but it won't be my priority. Of course, if I was travelling with others I may comply with their wishes, wanting to go here and there, even to each and every tourist spots they've seen online. But if I was on my own, it's not the way it goes. I am more interested in exploring the place myself, and if I happened to be somewhere known as tourist attraction, there's nothing wrong. It would look like as if I was walking with no direction - like what Hanif asked me before, but it ain't true. I do have directions, somewhere to go. It's just that I don't necessarily ended up at the place I planned to go initially. Having trouble understanding? Here is how it goes...
(After I'm done with the basics - accommodations and all) I would make a plan of where I would want to go - pick a tourist spot that matches my interest, and find a way to reach there with the most minimum budget. So that it would involve the public transport - how the locals travel from one place to another (e.g 'angkot' in Indonesia, or 'tram' in Australia). I would avoid the most easiest way to go there (i.e by taxis, express bus, domestic flights unless that is the only option left at the moment), of course because it would definitely be expensive and unadventurous - I'd rather change my destination. If you want more challenges, bring less money - this is extremely challenging, I have never done it before. It's not advisable, since we're still having some commitments (as in I'm still a student in Malaysia who has to get back on time to continue with the study). If I was such a freer, I might have take this challenge. Perhaps. But for now, let's just live the way it is.
Why the public transport? Because that is exactly what the locals ride everyday, it's how they live. It's where you could see them around and hear them speak their languages, even if it sounds strange to you. I'm having fun listening to those strangely-sounded conversations, cause sometimes I even try it out. Like what I did in every places I've ever lived all my life, where I encountered with numerous different accents (as in KL, Selangor, Perak, Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah, Sabah, etc) It started in Malaysia itself, and that habit would even cross boundaries, :-D. So yeah, the public transport is how you get connected with the locals. And when I said, I don't necessarily have to end up at my destination, means that it's not about being at the places people talked about, but it's the journey to the place that matters. Everything I would find along the journey, is what I travelled for. As I said before, I am a traveller, not a tourist.
About being solo in my trips, it's not that I love it that much... even though I do really love it when I was alone in desperate moments - it made me think harder, made me innitiate things unexpectedly, made me feel like I'm quite smart sometimes. These are the things that would bring you to your senses, that hit you somewhere in your heart, telling you that you are not worthless. It makes you feel good about yourself, which you need the most when you are in misery. And when you walk alone, it makes you feel the nature of in need for protections, the needs of relying to something. That is when you realize, that you have been protected in your whole life all this long. And you will always be, because He is taking care of you right from the beginning and will always takes good care of you - no matter how hard things would be for you. Walking alone is not always a bad thing, especially when it makes you think harder - it trains your mind to face unexpected things, though.
Guess what, the best thing about travelling alone is you can afford to screw some things up somewhere. There will be no judgements, because you're all by yourself. Do you remember when you made a mistake accidentally and you have no intention at all? Disappointments are from people around you, even though you know for yourself that you were not doing it intentionally. When you're on your own in a place where nobody knows you, you may just simply say "It's okay," and find a way out.
It's undeniable that I get bored sometimes, travelling alone. Having no one I can show off to, no one I can smile to (but strangers), no one I can make fun of, no one I can take care of, no one but myself. I do make some invitations to some friends, asking if they want to travel or join my trip, but somehow I get tired of taking all the 'no'. Because with every 'no', a bit of my motivation goes down. Let alone those that cancelled on the last minutes. These are the things I don't like to encounter every time I'm on a trip. So by travelling solo, it helps myself somehow. To make sure that none of my trip is regrettable. I would hate it if I managed to have a travelling partner, yet that trip is not good enough to satisfy her. Especially when it is not even a tour. Maybe that's the point, what I've been looking for in trips are not the things that people look for in a trip. It's okay, no worries. So I just have to keep travelling alone, I guess.
So that is how I travelled so far. I wish I cound improvise for the second thing on how I travelled (having a travel partner someday) but I won't rush to it. Anyway, this is just how I - a beginner - travel. So don't bother to follow if it's not to your preferences, because I do things only for fun and self-fulfillment and satisfaction, it's not a must to anyone. And I was just sharing on how I have fun with travelling. All the best for your trips, then.
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