Top 5 Reactions for "I'm traveling alone"

It is widely unheard of for a female to travel solo, especially a younger female. I have dealt with a wide range of emotions from people from shock and disbelief to support and and encouragement. I wanted to list the top 5 reactions I have heard from people when they find out I'm traveling all alone.

1. "OMG! Are you an orphan? What parent in their right mind would let their daughter travel alone?" This reaction probably pissed me off the most and caught me way off guard. My parents are amazing and while they aren't always excited about my escapades, they support me for it because they know it's what I really want and what will make me happy. And besides, I'm more than enough adult now to make my own choices.

2. "Aren't you worried about getting kidnapped or killed?" Of course I am. However, I was more frightened of walking into and out of work most days than I ever have been while traveling. As much as anyone may assume, I'm not stupid. I use a very complicated and intuitive amount of skills called common sense when it comes to my safety. I don't travel alone at night, I research the locations I'm staying and I get advice from people I know have gone to a place prior to me. I do not have a death wish and protect myself with everything that I have. 

3. What about your boyfriend/husband/fiance? Is he going with you? What does he think about this? Won't you miss him? Some people in relationships find it absolutely impossible to be separate from one another, which has always baffled me. I don't need Jeff, I want him. I am perfectly fine and functional without him but I choose to be with him because I love and adore him. Jeff and I are still at a pivotal point in our lives where we are still growing and we have grown together for the past 2 years, even when I went away on my last trip for 4 months. I am lucky enough to have a fiance that understands there are some things I need to do on my own. We each have our passions and he supports me fully in following mine, with or without him and I with him. Of course I will miss him, but if I never allowed myself to fulfill my dreams, I would end up being very unhappy and resentful. In a little over a year, I'll be walking down the isle to marry the greatest guy I've ever had the pleasure of loving and there's nothing that will hold me back from us being happy together. 

4. Wow! I'd love to do that but I couldn't ever do what you're doing. Yes you can! It isn't hard. Well maybe a little, but when someone says this to me, I do not quite understand it. I've always been told to follow my dreams and I have. Even when my parents weren't completely thrilled about me traveling alone, they never told me I couldn't do it or wouldn't make it. It doesn't make sense to me why people are so afraid of leaving their comfort zone and trying something new? If it's something you really want, why not fight hard for it? I know when most people say that, they don't exactly have the same exact dream I do but if you can say that to me, I will tell you that you can definitely do it and whatever excuse you give me, I'll tell you a way around it. It's not that you can't do it, it's just not enough of a priority for you.

5. Must be nice to have a trust fund. This is the second most infuriating phrase I hear. I don't have a trust fund or $30,000 just randomly sitting in my bank account. My parents don't give me money, although if there's something I needed for my trip, like shoes or a new camera bag, they'd get me what I'd need as a birthday or Christmas present. I have always worked hard for what I wanted most, and since graduating high school, that has been to travel as much as I can before I decide to settle down. Then, I'll work as hard as I can to support a family and home I wish to build. People think because they could never afford to travel like I do, that I shouldn't be able to afford it either, especially since I'm a young female right out of college. I enjoy proving people wrong ;). 

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Thailand Bucket List

I created one of these for my last trip and managed to hit every item I had set for my European portion. Now, I'd like to do the same for Thailand, just in case I need any motivation.

1. Rooftop Bar in Bangkok


I don't care about the price of having a cocktail on top of one of these rooftop bars. It'll keep me from having such a panic attack about being so high up off the ground. The view will be more than worth my fear or the cost of that drink.

2.Be kind to an elephant

 

Elephants are one of my favorite animals and when I originally decided on coming to Thailand, I could think of nothing else but riding one of these magnificent creatures. But I grew up, did some research and realized how abused these animals are in order to make them tolerate a person sitting on them. After a lot of research, I found an elephant camp with thousands of outstanding reviews that focuses on rehabilitating elephants and providing a better environment for them to live in. The Elephant Nature Park allows you to spend a full day with the elephants feeding, bathing and walking them. It may not be my dreams of riding one, but I would rather take care of something I love than be apart of what's hurting and enslaving them.

3. The White Temple



The White Temple is located in Chiang Rai and ever since I first saw this picture, I have wanted to go. I don't care if I go to Chiang Rai and see nothing else. It's free to get in to and is more like a modern art piece than an actual temple.

4. Floating huts in Khao Sok National Park



This bucket list item will be a bit harder to complete. I have a strict budget for this trip and these huts most certainly blow that budget out of the water at about $60 a night without any frills. It would be worth it, I know. But my head is screaming that if I do this, I'll have to give up something else.

5. Beach Massage

Obviously!

6. Full Moon Party


Just a party with a few several thousand other people where the drink of choice is a sand bucket full of ice, vodka, redbull and coke. Maybe not my smartest choice, but when in Thailand, right?


This is just a short list of all the major items I want to accomplish. If I made a list of it all, I'd be here for hours typing away. My main goal is to just enjoy myself, meet new people and take this time to reset my brain.


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Thailand, Here We Come!

In between busy and conflicting work schedules, Brittney and I have barely been able to meet up to discuss plans. We finally were able to send in applications for our visas and get our international driver's permits.

 There really is no point to this post other than to share what we're planning on doing while there. We're starting in Bangkok, obviously. Then, we will make our way through some of the older cities and ruins to head to the northern region. Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son are some of the places we plan on riding around. The Elephant Nature Park is the one activity I am most looking forward to doing while in Chiang Mai. After getting our fill of mountains and history, we will be heading to the islands for some beach time. 

Brittney and I have done an exorbitant amount of research and talked to quite a few people who have been to Thailand. The only thing left for us to do, after receiving our visas, is to get on the plane... for 15 hours. 

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Our wish, Europe's Command

"Think about if you get stuck there. You will see Amsterdam, yes?"

I didn't possibly think we were lucky enough but I entertained the thought and excitedly turned to Bri.

"What if we do?! It would be my second chance and we could do a tour of the city, see the canals, go to a smoke shop..." I drifted off in my fantasy of what it would be like to return to a city I didn't really let myself explore the first time.

Bri wasn't on the make-believe train and didn't want to jinx anything. I was doing enough for the both of us. We chattered on about our time at Oktoberfest with one of the other girls in our tour group while Ingo chatted with our driver.

We pulled up to the airport, grabbed our bags and went on our way to pick up our tickets. There was no mention of a delay or problems with out flight and my excitement faded into sadness. Our trip was really over.

The security line was a breeze and we passed through without incident. They didn't even check our passports, which I found a little odd.

Two hours left to go. Bri grabbed a last German meal of fastfood schnitzel and potato wedges and I played on my phone near the weird hallway terminal. Some time passed by and we decided to walk down the hallway.

16:40. I did a double take at the monitor. I don't speak nor read German, but I was pretty sure the alternate time was our new flight time. We were due to leave Munich at 14:00. I approached the flight attendant and asked her if our Atlanta flight was still due to leave on time. It was. Clearly, we were not making our flight to Atlanta.

The hours ticked by and the thought of us actually getting stuck in Amsterdam hit me. What were we going to do? How would we book a flight home? Where would we stay? How would we get there? What do we tell work? They're going to kill us. In all of my years of flying and traveling, I have never missed a travel connection, and this trip, it happened twice.

Finally, it was time to board the flight. It's a short and painless flight and once we land, the attendants direct us to go to T6 in the connections hall for flight rebookings. We made the several mile hike, it seemed, across the airport.

The music you hear in horror movies began playing in my head as we approached a seemingly endless line of disgruntled people. We groaned and reluctantly began trudging our way towards the end of the makeshift line of luggage carts and caution tape.

Once we got the the end, it didn't take long for an attendant to come up to us with an offering of water.

"There are no more flights to the US today and this line closes at 11. You should go to the arrivals hall, get a hotel voucher, get some rest and call the customer service line in the morning to rebook your flight."

The couple in front of us advised against it, as the line was just as bad. But Bri and I shared a look, thanked the couple and moved on to find the line.

"Oh my god, Bri, IT'S HAPPENING!!"

The couple was right and the line was atrocious. Ingo had told us earlier to contact EF with any issues and Bri took control and called them as soon as we got in line. Everything seemed to be going right for us. Since Bri had got the travel insurance with the tour company, it would cover us booking a hotel. After 45 minutes of calls and waiting in the several hour hotel voucher line, we booked our hotel, and cautiously stepped out of our place in line, hoping we didn't just make a mistake.

As we waited for our hotel van to pick us up, Bri gave the customer service line a call to see if we could go ahead and settle up our flights. By the time we made it to the hotel, the representative finally had options for us.

"So, a night here in Amsterdam, a night in Paris and home on Wednesday? That won't work."

That did not seem appealing. My emotions were going through a whirlwind of emotions and then suddenly, everything stopped.

"Two nights in Amsterdam and fly directly into Myrtle Beach? We want that one!"

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Recovering in Oia

It's been quite a while since I've updated with a post about my travels and I regret it but I haven't had many places inspire me to write until I got to Oia, Greece.

As soon as I got to Oia, I became very ill and couldn't keep any food or water in my system. I had a terrible fever and got used to only being able to eat a slice or so of bread a day and a few bites of real food. I'm not sure what it was but I decided to fight through it and not let it ruin my time on this beautiful island.

I thought my first few days would be uneventful, spent at a beach close by and enjoying the sun. Boy was I wrong. I met a guy during breakfast that used to work at the hostel I was staying in and got invited to go to a local beach with him. About an hour later, he asked if I'd rather go out on a friend's boat with him. Of course!!!



We were driven to the other side of Santorini and picked up the boat. To say I had a blast in an understatement. We rode around and saw the different beaches on the island, black sand beach, red sand beach, white sand beach. All of them were gorgeous but also crowded, making me glad I had skipped out on going to the tourist places. After speeding around in the boat for a bit, we pulled up to this small, beautiful beach on Aspronisi. Aspronisi is a small private island that makes up Santorini and we had the beach to ourselves except for a small family. The cool water felt absolutely amazing after sitting in the heat of the sun.





After a bit of swimming, we were back on the boat and headed to get our lunch for the day. Our wonderful host took us to a village at the top of Therasia, another island nearby. The restaurant we went to was nothing short of amazing and had panoramic views of the bay area of the island. The owners are kind hearted and welcoming and the food is home made. They served each of us a use a huge serving of moussaka, a plate of fresh tomatoes, feta cheese, sausage and another typical greek food I can't remember the name of. By the end of the meal, I was positively stuffed and incredibly satisfied.







Soon after, we headed back to the boat and made our way back to Oia. My traditional Greek day wasn't over yet. Once back at the hostel, we got dressed and ready, watched the beautiful sunset from the private terrace of the hostel and made our way to a restaurant right outside the main road in Oia, Santorini-Mou. I got to listen to and enjoy a traditional greek band and dancing, the typical breaking of plates and yells of "OPA!" In celebration of a couple's marriage, free shots were handed out and everyone, including me had a great time.



My first day on this island was more than I ever expected and tops my list of favorite days during my whole trip.





While on the island, I stayed at Youth Hostel Oia. The prices are decent considering you're in the more expensive part of the island. You also get free breakfast, a private terrace to view the sunset (which after you see the amount of tourists that pile in to Oia, you'll be thankful for) and are just a short walk to the most picturesque part of the island.

The restaurant we went to in Thirasia was called Panorama Restaurant in Manolas. You can get there by taking a boat to the bay area and then a donkey up the road to the village. You can also walk up to it but the road is very steep and zig zags. It's worth it though.

I didn't get paid to talk about these places, just want to share my wonderful experience and hope that other people will enjoy these experiences as well :).

Rolling Hills of Tuscany

After the Amalfi Coast, Tuscany would be my next favorite part of Italy. The rolling green hills with the tall cypress trees and vineyards that go on for miles hold a certain charm that makes me think of Letters to Juliet and Under the Tuscan Sun.

I booked a tour with a great company in Florence, called Walkabout Florence. They're a relatively new company and offer some other good tours I would have enjoyed taking if we would have had the time. The price for the tour was awesome considering all that we did.

The day started off early and with a drive to our first stop, Siena. The city is beautifully medieval and the building tops were covered in flying bats, giving it the feel of an old city. To talk about this city would take a whole post so I'll give an overview.

We began with a walking tour with a local guide. Siena is broken up into 17 different neighborhoods and has an old medieval tradition of horse racing. The horse race is known as the Palio Horse Race and 10 of the neighborhoods race. When we arrived, the city was setting up for the race, as it was only a week away, set on July 2. The small square we were in quickly fills up with 40,000 people during the race and it only lasts about 75 seconds.



I loved when we got visit the Duomo there. It's smaller than the one in Florence but way more impressive on the inside. The city origionally planned to build a much bigger Duomo than the one in Florence but lacked the money. If you visit, you have to go into the Piccolomini Library. The library is full of frescoes and illuminated choir books by Umbrian Bernardino di Betto. The frescoes are all origional and none of them have been restored. It's stunning to see how vibrant the colors still are after so many centuries.





When we finished up, it was time for some much needed lunch. I knew we were going to head to a farm and try some wines, but I didn't know it would be so great! Upon arriving, we doned our whispers and took a short tour of this organic farm, Poggio Alloro. The farm makes their own organic pasta, sauce, wines, breads and olive oils. It was so tempting to pluck a grape from the vines in the vineyard, but I managed to show some restraint and wait until we got to try the fermented ones ;P.



I thought our wine samples would be just a swallow of wine to swish around in our mouths, but no. We got bottles of the stuff and I probably had six glasses of it until I cut myself off. My favorite wine was the Vernaccia Si San Gimignano. For the meal, we had bread, pasta, salad and cookies for dessert. The servers gave us an extremely strong dessert wine to dip the cookies in and I couldn't even finish it because the strength of the alcohol burned my tongue.



Once we finished our meal, we had about 10 more minutes at the farm and went to look at the beautiful vineyard views. From our terrace, you could see the farm's mile long vineyards and San Gimignano. I took a minute to collect my tipsy thoughts and layed down at a lounger near their pool. I got to admire the view and catch a few rays before leaving.

Since San Gimignano was so close, it took only 10 minutes to get there. After drinking so much, it's a bit daunting to hear that we can climb one of the few towers in the town or walk around to see the many scenic spots around it. Jeff and I were perfectly content with getting some of the "best gelato in the world" and relaxing in the cool shade of an alley way. If you visit San Gimignano and craving gelato, try Gelateria Dondoli. The gelateria offers many different and unique flavors of gelato along with the usual favorites. I got blackberry lavendar, raspberry rosemary and berry flavored and it was delicious. Lucky for us, the owner was there greeting everyone with such enthusiasm and kindness and took goofy pictures with us.



Finally, (what I origionally thought was going to be my favorite part of the day) we made our way to Pisa. It was great getting to see one of the major icons of the world and something everyone knows about. Jeff and I took our cheesy touristy photos and walked around to find a nice spot to sit down. After our busy day, we didn't feel like walking up Pisa or inside the cathedral or baptistry there. Instead, we layed in the shadows of the Cathedral and basked in the fact that we were sitting at one of the most popular destinations in Italy. Shortly after, it was time to leave and head back to Florence.





Jeff and I enjoyed our time so much on this tour and glad we did it. We certainly got to do way more than we would have on our own and learned so much. My favorite part of the day? Our meal at the gorgeous farm. Not only was the food and wine spectacular, but the scenery was the epitome of what you would imagine Tuscany to look like.

Addicted to the Amalfi Coast

I know I'm bouncing around about my trip but I have been having difficulty with wifi in a lot of areas and I want to share the best parts of my trip as soon as I am able to. But don't worry, I'll update about everything else as well once I get the down time and better internet connection.

Jeff (the boyfriend) met me in Italy, and we spent two weeks traveling through Tuscany, Rome and the Coast. Italy tops my charts at one of my favorite countries because of the vast amounts of history and beauty it offers. While each region of Italy had its advantages and disadvantages, my favorite part was the Amalfi Coast and the way there.



We decided on taking a tour that left from Naples and went to Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. Pompeii was amazing, but we'll save that for another day. The guides came and picked us up from our hotel in Naples and we were off. After Pompeii, we began our journey and started off with beautiful views of the Sorrento Peninsula. It was stunning and was only going to get better from there. We passed beautiful beaches covered with people enjoying their weekend. Come prepared to pay, though, if you want to use the actual beaches here, as they cost about 20 to 25 euro to spend the day there.



The ride to the coastline after leaving the peninsula, is not for the faint of heart. While it's well worth the visit, you ride along windy roads on the edge of the cliffs, with steep slopes careening off into the water. The roads through the small towns along the way are so skinny, only one car can fit through at a time. If you're on a bus, I'm sure you'll love that. We saw two buses scrape by each other, causing a minor wreck and a little bit of waiting. Our driver was a bit nuts and took the turns at gut wrenching speeds. We finally had to let him know we weren't feeling well and he took it a little easier on us. Even then, if you're terrified of heights and get motion sickness, be prepared and take some motion sickness medicine before going through with this. The only way to get here is by car, bus or ferry in the high season.



I stumbled out of the van and wanted to kiss the ground for making it to our first stop, Positano. This village is one of the main stops along the coast and it's easy to see why. Positano sits among the cliffs with views of the sparkling blue waters of the sea. The purple flowers of bougainvillea hanging from the windows on the colorful buildings make for the perfect picturesque stop. People in this area tend to live very long lives. Their secret? It's wonderfully quite, has great food and to get where you want to go, you have to climb up or down stairs and steep hills.



There's a great quote that describes how amazing Positano is by John Steinbeck, "Positano bites deep. It is a dream place that isn't quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone. Its houses climb a hill so steep it would be a cliff except that stairs are cut in it...The small curving bay of unbelievably blue and green water lips gently on a beach of small pebbles. There is only one narrow street and it does not come down to the water. Everything else is stairs, some of them as steep as ladders. You do not walk to visit a friend, you either climb or slide. Nearly always when you find a place as beautiful as Positano, your impulse is to conceal it."



After grudgingly leaving behind the beautiful village in front of me, we headed to our lunch destination to a gorgeous restaurant located on the other side of Praiano called Calajanara Restaurant. The food was magnificent. We were served bread with organically made olive oil from the olives of the coast, a salad and a pasta with eggplant and tomato sauce. My mouth is just watering from remembering the taste of the food. We were served on a gorgeous terrace with views of the sea, Praiano and an old tower that used to be a lookout point to spot pirates. It's quite a romantic spot and the service there is one of the best I've received since being in Italy.





We left the restaurant and made our way to our final destination, Amalfi. Amalfi is very small and impossible to get lost in. Jeff and I spent our time admiring the view from the pier. I could have stayed there all day sun bathing on the rocks near the water and admiring the scene before me. Our visit was all to short and we were soon ushered back into our van to head back to Naples through the Milk Mountains (which was just as motion sick inducing, if not more, than the ride there).





I won't say the name of the tour company I used because I did not like them, but to give you an idea of how much it was, the tour cost €85 per person. It was combined with Pompeii and we also had to pay €11 separately to get into the ruins. There is a sight seeing bus tour that leaves from Sorrento, which only costs €18 per person. It begins in Sorrento and stops at Positano and Amalfi. For me, it would have been a better deal and I probably would have enjoyed it more because we would have had time to enjoy the stops. I usually enjoy tours because they're well organized, allow you to do and see a lot, learn a lot and take the stress away from you from having to do all of the planning. But with this, I would have preferred something different.

At least I know I have something to come back to Italy for!



This is part of the #sundaytravlerseries with Chasing the Donkey and don't forget to support all of the other participants! :)