7 Reasons to Visit Maldives At Least Once In Your Life
As an ENFP, the best cure for feeling uninspired is to travel. Being in new environments, befriending strangers, experiencing new tastes and trying new experiences are kind of what we live for.
The downside to being an ENFP is also being ridiculously fickle minded especially when it comes to trivial matters like where to travel to because everywhere has something you badly want to see or experience.
Despite traveling a fair bit in the last 2 years, I’ve never really explored the Southeast Asian (SEA) countries around Singapore. So there was really a lot to tick off when I finally had time for a trip out.
I decided to hand over that decision to Hendric. But being the true blue ENTJ he is, not only did he pick the destination but decided to package it as a mystery trip – I knew which day I’d be leaving, what climate to pack for but not the destination. (The climate wasn’t much of a clue because all the countries around this area are “tropical”).
There were moments he almost blurted out the destination but did a really good job keeping everything under wraps. (I suspect he might have been a tad more excited about the trip than I was. Ok, maybe equally.)
So it wasn’t until the actual day, standing at the departure hall of the airport strapped with my trusty backpack where I finally found out where I’d be flying off to.
CAMBODIA!
Instantly pictured the magnificent view of the sun rising over Angkor Wat, Angelina Jolie’s scenes in tomb raider, tasting insects and new dishes – the excitement was taking over me.
Before I knew it, I was stepping off the plane in Siam Reap, brimming with excitement with the 10 other things I’d picked out from the guide book. (Typical ENFP wanting to experience everything out there)
Hendric had prepared a library-borrowed copy of Lonely Planet Cambodia (neatly colour tabbed), a typed out recommended itinerary with a couple of activities in each of the 3 cities and even arranged for an airport pick up from the hostel. It felt so assuring despite being alone on the trip.
Since arriving at the airport, I’d switched between feeling excitement at all the possibilities and new experiences of taking a solo trip and panicking at the possibility I’d be alone for the most part of the trip about a thousand times even before the plane landed.
Arriving at the hostel got me into the latter mode.
Since it was the late afternoon, most of the guests had gone out for the day and what’s left was a semi empty pool and bar. In the room of my 6 bed girls dorm, only 2 were in and having a nap, indifferent at my entrance.
There was a whiteboard behind the hostel’s front desk where you could plan outings and split the cost of the tuk tuk. I quickly left my name down for the 5am ride to Angkor Wat to catch the sunrise and hoped others would join in by the evening.
Rented bicycles from the hostel and went out exploring the city. With an extra pair of wheels and google maps in my back pocket, I spent the next 30 minutes heading in the direction of anywhere that seemed interesting – without plans to get anywhere in particular.
Ended up taking a yoga class at a cafe, getting a $6 foot massage, eating a tarantula for the first time, and getting slightly lost finding my way back.
***
The following days I’d began to get the hang of things.
I learnt to be ok being alone especially in the initial moments of being in a new city or a new hostel. I figured out how to feign confidence on the roads despite being lost as a sheep to avoid unwanted attention. I found out how easy it was to pick up conversations with a stranger and suddenly be talking about life’s big plans. I realised how I’d probably would do this again, really soon.
If you’re curious, read Solo in Cambodia on a budget: 7 days, 3 cities, US$500 to find out how I spent my week there!
Would you travel without knowing your destination? Let me know in the comments section below.
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Cherie Sim
ENFP, fuelled by yoga, the outdoors, adrenaline and anything that spells adventure. In 2015, she quit her job to complete a 500hr Ashtanga Yoga Teacher training in India for 3months. Follow her adventures on Instagram @cheriesyw.
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