GO. Have Fun.

Stuck in Transition

When I left Boulder at the end of December, I was more of a mess than usual. I felt like the days became so short and there simply wasn’t enough time. Finals were swallowing the last few days I had to spend with my friends and my anxiety exponentially puddled as I recovered from a dislocated elbow. Ultimately, I was incredibly sad and scared I was to be leaving the people that I had grown so close with over the past semester and the comfort of life in Boulder. Everyone kept saying, “Jess, you’re about to be traveling for 7 months. You’re living the dream.” But at the time it didn’t feel like it. The excitement of my upcoming journey was muted by the the uncertainty of change.

Before I knew it, finals were over and I was sitting in my best friend’s living room with a bottle of wine, preparing myself for a bittersweet goodbye party / get Jess excited to leave party. Good friends will be whatever you need them to be, and that night, they were the ones pushing me out of the country, telling me to GO, have fun. Shortly after, I was on a plane leaving Denver, headed towards the longest trip of my life (so far)!

Cambodia

After spending several days with our family in Hong Kong, my mom and I flew to Siem Reap, Cambodia. On the first day, I was absolutely enchanted by the massive green trees, ancient ruins, and gentle people. The few days in Siem Reap were spent biking through Angkor Wat, drinking coconut water, and playing with the world’s friendliness monkeys.

While in Cambodia, I met a Canadian boy who was going to get a tattoo, so I decided to join him. I tend to think of tattoos as passport stamps of your life; they have a way of bringing you back to the person you were at the time you got the tattoo. I thought for a little about what was in my mind and who was in my heart, and everything came down to having an overwhelming gratitude for life. All of the small aspects of life: the people, places, and experiences, had brought me to that moment in Cambodia, and I couldn’t have been more grateful for all of it. I chose to have “gratitude” written in Khmer, bamboo stick-and-poked on my arm (surprise mom if you’re reading this)!

After leaving Siem Reap, we headed to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. The first major lesson I learned is to never judge a place by your first impression. The modern buildings and the rush of the city immediately whipped us out of the mellow state of Siem and we were ready to leave Phnom as soon as we landed. I’m glad that we didn’t because we adjusted quickly and found Cambodian culture nestled in neighborhood markets and surrounding islands that we rode bikes through. My personal highlight from Phnom Penh was the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum because of the immense weight and information provided on a subject I knew close to nothing about.

Vietnam

Since we only spent 3 days in Vietnam, the only place we visited was Ho Chi Minh City. While in the city we explored the Vietnam War Museum, the Cu Chi tunnels and the back waters. I was looking forward to gobbling down Vietnamese Pho and Bahn Mi sandwiches, but unfortunately, I got traveler’s sickness for the entirety of our stay Vietnam. On our way to the airport, we met up with one of my good friends who was coincidentally also in Ho Chi Minh City and got dinner. It’s amazing being friends with quality people who get out and go often, because the world instantly feels smaller and brief moments of familiarity can be so enriching.

Thailand

We flew into Bangkok and spent a day wandering the temples of the city and pretending to be princesses. Of the hundreds of temples we saw over the trip, the temples in Bangkok were my favorite because of the intricate details painted on and how some of the temples were constructed using broken ceramic. After our day in Bangkok, we flew to Phuket to spend a couple of days relaxing and laying on the white sand beaches of Patong.

While in Phuket, we went on a speed boat day tour to several of the neighboring islands. These islands had brilliantly, massive towering rock faces that I daydreamed of climbing and luminous, electric blue water filled with millions of fish. The day was spent jumping in and out of the water, snorkeling, and realizing how much there is to learn from the ocean.

India

I spent 20 days in India spread across 7 different cities, each with unique aspects and cultures that define them. There truly is no other place in the world like India. It is an ancient country with political values so deeply rooted in the religions the culture is built from. Since my mom has former-coworkers in India, we had the opportunity to go to their rural villages on the outskirts of Jaipur and truly saw a widespread of lifestyles in the country. I absolutely love India, especially the food, and I’ll be sure to write more about my experience in each city and why I am dying to return.

Malaysia

Unfortunately, Malaysia was just a layover country and we only spent a little over 2 days in Kuala Lumpur. We were back in the first world, a place of traffic laws and recycling bins. While in Kuala Lumpur, we got lunch with one of my mom’s friends that she met while walking the Camino de Santiago.

China

We had a relatively short flight from Kuala Lumpur to Guilin, China, where we took a short bus to the town of Yangshuo. As soon as I got off of the plane, I noticed the drastic change in temperature and immediately pulled out my down jacket and socks . The way China has developed to me is fascinating. In several months, they can build high-speed rails that connect every corner of the country, but throughout cities and countrysides, there are half-built, abandoned buildings. Additionally, is a large environmental push, and every one own an electric scooter, but EVERYTHING is packaged. If you buy a package of cookies, each cookie is encased in plastic. The settings of your table at a restaurant and all packaged in plastic as well.

People often flee to Yangshuo because of the remarkable and endless mountains. We spent several days biking through the serene outskirts of the town while eating delicious fresh strawberries and ginger candies. Initially, we were planning on staying in China through the Chinese New Years, but after 45 days of being on the road, we simply couldn’t be bothered with crowds and train station lines. On Chinese New Years Eve, we hopped on a high-speed train and headed straight towards grandma’s house in Hong Kong.

Killing Time while Spending Time

Many people throughout the trip constantly said to my mom and I, “you’re so lucky to have this time together.” And it’s true. Since my mom retired at the ripe age of 54, she has no work obligations; she doesn’t have to report to any one, she has no deadlines, and isn’t concerned with PTO. Many people in their twenties simply don’t have (or think they don’t have) 2 months of free time, and if they do, their parent’s most likely don’t.

The trip wasn’t perfect. There were moments of tension and moments when I wanted to leave and hop on the next flight to Sydney, but for the most part, everything was simple. We began to dissect why we fought so much over the past decade, and how we are both working to fix ourselves and the relationship between us. I had the opportunity to learn about my mom and how her experiences have shaped her, while I let my experiences shape me.

Off to what’s next: 4 months studying abroad in Sydney, Australia! As noted above, I was a complete mess at the end of last semester, causing me to completely neglect finding housing while in Australia. Stay tuned for my next segment on Living in a Hostel while being a Full Time Student.