5 UNEXPECTED JOYS OF TRAVEL

We all know how exciting travel is or at least we are anticipating it. We’re ready to be captivated by the scenery, in awe of the must see sights and excited by the atmosphere. Here is a list of five unexpected things from my experience, that will bring you joy along your trips.

1.  HOME BRAND HAPPY

Forget the Eiffel tower or the must see sights & just head to the local supermarket. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a travelbug suddenly jump for joy in the middle of a crowded shop. Pointing and smiling completely unaffected by the local stares, because they’ve unexpectedly stumbled upon something from home. HEY! I HAVE THAT AT HOME! THAT THING COMES FROM WHERE I’M FROM! THAT IS ME! THIS LITTLE INSIGNIFICANT THING RIGHT HERE COMES FROM MY COUNTRY AND THEREFOR REPRESENTS EVERYTHING AWESOME ABOUT ME AND 
MY LIFE AND ITS HERE ON YOUR SHELF AND RIGHT NOW IN THIS MOMENT... It’s the little things. Whether it’s the familiarity, the reminder of home or the fact you really wanted what you found- we’ve all had the little ah!-moment in our minds when stumbling on a home-made brand.

2.  DITCHING THE MAP

There comes a time in ones travels when you’re sick of prepping, planning and probing a map and you decide to just take the leap and wing it. Sometimes this joy is forced upon us by the rain destroying all that was our directional papers or because apple has yet to perfect battery life & your itinerary was on your phone. Whichever way you find yourself in this position, once the complete freakout of having no idea where you are or how to get where you’re going starts to fade; you’ll feel the sense of adventure and excitement bubbling up inside as you take a deep breath, hold your head high & follow your nose. –YOU’VE GOT THIS.

3.  BEING NIJEL-NOBODY

Whether you’re standing on the top of a cloud-covered mountain in the Alps, in a puddle of a deserted alleyway in China, amongst the autumn fall of the woods in Czech Republic or solo in an empty multi-story carpark in America there’s something really special and beautiful about finding yourself in a place where no one knows your name much less your story, without a soul in sight & alone in an open space abroad.

4.  THE EMOTIONAL FLASH-MOB

So you’re getting your dance on in the local club of a non-english-speaking country when suddenly wonderwall comes on, or any other one hit wonder from your high school playlist & you find yourself arm in arm with twenty other drunken dreamers singing in broken English or screaming the few words of the song they can make out and repeat. Welcome to the emotional flash mob; upon completion of the song carry on dancing like it never happened but sneak a little smile about the fact that a bunch of people abroad also grew up loving the songs you did- even if they haven’t a clue what they’re about.

5.  WHEN THEY THINK YOU'RE A LOCAL

We all love travelling. We’re proud to be on the road and are the first to start ranting about where we’ve been and where we’re going. AND YET when a local or more importantly a fellow tourist asks you for directions it serves as a quiet and simple success. You’ve done it. You’ve been here long enough to blend in like a local or successfully turned off the bright red sign that hovers above your head generally reading TOURIST. This person trusts enough that you will know how to help them & they picked YOU out of all the people around to ask for directions. OHHHHHH-yeah.

Sometimes it’s the little things in life. :)
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What random joys have you encountered? COMMENT BELOW & SHARE YOUR STORY!

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BREAKING DOWN THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA

SNAPPED IN PU MING LU, SHANGHAI.

Not the great almighty wall you’re thinking of. I'd like to shed some light on China's other GREAT WALL. The wall that surrounds most of the country blocking & preventing access to sites such as Facebook, Google, Wikipedia and many more.
With work taking me to Shanghai for the past few weeks came a forced and probably well needed social media detox. No more buzzing of notifications, no more up-too-close-and-personal snapchats of my sisters face or countless photos of her dog, no quick googling to solve my everyday problems. NO. It became evident very quickly just how heavily I rely on these apptastic services. How ever did one get by before the internet? A time when people actually had to open a book to learn something, make human contact in order to see someone, or show up to lectures to get an education.  I guess that’s just an easy statement and the kinds of questions that roll with ease off thge Gen-Y tongue. More than 2600 sites are currently blocked by this great firewall due to China's tough internet censorship policies. Some of the big names on this list include Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Blogger, Wordpress, Pirate Bay, Dropbox, Soundcloud, IMBD, and anything Google related –docs, drive, plus, picasa & the like. Oddly enough though you can periodically access google search & I had no troubles reading emails.

So a few weeks net-free is NBD. Though one must ask themselves, does no one in China have Facebook? What about the countless expats living and working within this wall? Thinking of myself as somewhat computer savvy I just assumed I’d punch in a proxy address & trick the servers into letting me through.
Oh, bless that thought.
This is China we are talking about; the hub from which the techo-elite are rising. & there ain't no cheating China.
After chit-chatting about this issue with some expat friends living in Shanghai I learned of ONE and only ONE work around. That is to purchase a VPN (Virtual Private Network) from the US and install it on each and every one of your devices you plan to use.

These sites are some of your one-stop-shops to purchasing a VPN                                                                     
WITOPIA : $39.99 half yearly EXPRESS VPN : $8.30 p/m  VYPR VPN: $8.30 p/m IP VANISH: $10 p/m BOLEH VPN : $10.50 p/m

I believe there are free VPN sites you’re able to use or test out for a short period of time, though keep in mind you’ll be jumping into an open fishbowl & in full view of anyone else doing the same. There are also apps for your phone, ipad or tablet such as VPN EXPRESS starting at 99c/30days.

So, if you can’t bear the thought of shutting down or you're worried stepping off your virtual social scene will be the death of you.. Hereth lay your options when heading to Mainland China.

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STUCK IN SINGAPORE

Leaving Malaysia- Cherating Beach, Kuantan

So I’ve had a pretty crazy past few weeks. In late September I packed up my things, and made the move with work from what came to be my home in Malaysia.  After flying off to Male (Maldives) having a quick squiz around and setting my things in the corner, I was off again. Shanghai bound for a 2.5 week work trip. Between Malaysia, The Maldives and China I bounced back and forth from Singapore. (Don’t ask me why, it’s just how things worked out) 
On the morning I was due to board my flight from Singapore to Shanghai I was flicking through my passport when suddenly my heart sank. There was no Chinese Visa stamped in my passport. This meant there was absolutely no way I was getting on that plane. There I stood, like a complete fool with my suitcase at the door, a lift outside and unable to board the plane I was due to be on in less than two hours. Panicking I started the ring around in a desperate attempt to get hold of someone at the embassy & find out if it was possible to apply for the entry visa once already in China, or what on earth my options were.
Now normally I’m really on the ball when it comes to my travel planning, however as this was a work trip I was under the assumption my visa would have been sorted when my ticket was booked and purchased and my passport was taken for two weeks. I’m not pointing fingers here, and regardless of what happened or why it wasn’t organized along with everything else, at the end of the day I was the one getting on that plane and I really should have checked it. LESSON LEARNED.

I spent the next few days frantically running around Singapore trying to obtain first a phone or data sim (which proved to be far more difficult than I had anticipated- for future reference Starhub offers a wonderful $18 5-day unlimited data sim for your phone & can be purchased at phone stores, the airport or supposedly 7-11s although I came to the conclusion after the 6th store that this was untrue).
Off to the Chinese embassy I went, and after running about getting passport photos printed, copies of a bunch of documents I finally managed to get in a RUSH visa application which if approved, was able to be picked up the following day. THANK GOD. Now to change my flight. Changing a flight, even in your own name is actually not easy to do if you’re not the one who booked it. As the travel agent of my company booked the flight they had to be the ones to make contact with SIA and change the date. Easy, I’ll get in touch with them and have them do it. In keeping with the recent theme, luck was NOT on my side. Of course, of all the days- this particular day was a public holiday in Malaysia and therefor the travel agent was closed and unable to be reached. After a number of calls and pushing and sobbing to the Singapore Airlines hotline they eventually gave in letting me change the flight and I was ready to head off the morning after obtaining my visa. SUCCESS! (Just on a side note: I really love flying with Singapore Airlines, I find their flights and service to be a real breeze) Time had run out with all the running about so I decided to head to the airport early and spend my last day wandering around my favourite airport; Singapore Changi Airport. It’s by far one of the best airports I’ve ever been, and an attraction in its own right. From catching butterflies in the butterfly garden to shopping until you drop at one of the 300 stores if one was going to be stranded at an airport – Changi was the place to be. Look out for my upcoming blog post about the airport that’s for more than just flying.

The moral of this story is ALWAYS CHECK YOUR DETAILS. Even when your parents, friend, colleague or company is organizing your itinerary and all you have to do is rock up- check it anyway. There’s no use showing up, ready and rearing to go, only to find you’re knocked back due to minor missed details that could have been prevented. As I said- at the end of the day, you’re the one getting on the plane, you’re the one that will have to deal with the consequences of any complications – you are responsible. CHECK, RECHECK AND TRIPLE CHECK YOUR TICKETS AND DOCUMENTS.

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