“The journey is my home.”
– Muriel Rukeyser
February 26th 2020 I had officially been travelling for three years straight. My “Round the World Adventure” was drawing to a close and even though I was incredibly happy (and a little proud) that I managed my stated goal of travelling full time for three years, the nostalgia was setting in… I don’t like it when things are drawing to a close, I don’t like it when things end…
“Better to see something once, than to hear about it a thousand times.”
– Asian proverb
February 26th 2018 I had officially been travelling for a whole year. I celebrated the day by checking off a bucket list item: Cu Chi Tunnels. The tunnels the Viet Cong used in their resistance against the US in the Vietnam War. It’s an item that was high up on my list since I started planning this trip so I organized it for this day to appropriately mark the date.
“That light is brighter than my future!”
– Mangala
The bus from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore takes about 5-6 hours and the buses are really good. Like, REALLY good. The one I took cost me $47 for a round trip (KL – Singapore – KL) and it had wifi, a decent driver, good seats and three stops for toilet breaks/food.
“You have to go there.”
-Terje, showing me there’s a park with my name on it
For my birthday one year, Terje posted a picture of a sign from “Bako National Park” and told me I definitely had to go see it on my trip around the world.
Well, one has to inspect ones lands, I guess.
“Let it be slow as long as it’s safe; a mountain won’t run if you chase it.”
-Malay Proverb
I hadn’t planned to see Penang at all when going to Malaysia, but it’s an easy bus ride from KL and I was unsure about what to do and how long to stay so I hopped on kind of last minute and decided to check out this Penang-business.
“I love the fact that after being here, we are both going home to google exactly what it is we are looking at right now…”
– Fabi & I not doing the necessary research before going to the caves
If you’ve ever googled Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur or, if you are particular in your tastes, the philosopher-warrior god of Hinduism (Kartikeya/Murugan), then you’ve probably seen a photo of the humongous, golden statue outside the Batu Caves of Kuala Lumpur.
“So what do I do if he jumps off the balcony?”
“Don’t worry. We will know it’s not your fault. He’s done that before…”
– Maya giving last minute instructions
If you love animals doing a housesit is an amazing idea. Especially if you travel alone and would like some company that doesn’t talk back. Unless you petsit Ewok. He talks. A lot.
“I don’t know if you’re familiar with Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. You step outside the hotel and you’re soaking wet within 10 minutes.”
-Craig Fairbass
I just left Malaysia behind and arrived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I didn’t write nearly enough about my time there, mostly because I was feeling totally out of it and was generally done with pretty much everything and anything for a good part of the time there.
“I always say, keep a diary and someday it will keep you.”
– Mae West
Still struggling a bit and it only feels worse when I feel like I’m lagging behind on the blog, because I know how much I’m going to rely on this later when I’ve forgotten the small things.
“Travel far enough, you meet yourself”
– Cloud Atlas
Turns out Malaysia was the country for me. The country where my first massive slump happened. I don’t really want to call it a meltdown because to me that implies a dramatic reaction. Like yelling or throwing stuff, at least there should be some crying involved… I had none of that, but I noticed something was seriously off a couple of days after landing in Kuala Lumpur.
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