It started on a cold, stormy evening as the rain violently attacked my window sills. Well, I wish it was this dramatic, but, truthfully, this whole idea started in November 2021 when I texted one of my friends, Rahul, that we should go on an international trip together. It was the end of the second lockdown and the number of covid cases was finally reducing. Living through multiple lockdowns taught me that if there was anything I really wanted to do, it was to explore the world. Who doesn’t, right?
But it wasn’t one of those momentary urges where I wanted to go on a vacation. It was a full-fledged desire to work hard and explore the world in the limited time I had on this ball we call Earth. I no longer had the patience to wait for the perfect time to go on a trip. So I decided that I would just take some time out of my life and make it “the perfect time“.
Being a fresh graduate from college with a job in my hand, I told myself that I should make the most of the privilege. My parents were quite supportive and from their personal experience, they advised me that I should start traveling early. They learned the hard way that keeping too many things for your retirement is not ideal as you never know what may happen around the world(staring at you, Covid). So when I finally found a friend who was equally excited to go on an international trip, I thought all my stars were aligned at the right moment. We even decided when we wanted to go – January 2022.
But guess what? Yeah, bad news. A few days later, we found out that the third wave of covid had hit several countries. It was such a bummer because I was really manifesting that trip to happen but instead, I think I may have manifested my fears. Ouch :’)
When did I start planning the trip for real?
Speed travel 4 months into the future when the third wave started settling down and several countries started opening up their borders. I started thinking about exploring the world, again. This time, solo traveling was also on the table because I didn’t want to be dependent on other people’s schedules to make my travel plans work. Moreover, I always considered myself as somewhat of a lone ranger who can survive anywhere by myself. I could easily sit in a cafe, alone, minding my own business without feeling conscious of what others may perceive of my social life. I’d say it’s a superpower because people generally feel anxious and start panicking if they have to be alone in public.
Where should I Travel?
“Best countries in Asia to travel solo”
This is what I entered on the Google search bar. I could not stand the temptation of traveling after reading travel blogs and watching 4K vlogs. It made me so restless.
“I’m going to Bhutan this year, no matter what!“. But I did not want to go on the trip without informing Rahul so I dropped him a text explaining that I really want to visit Bhutan sometime in August.
“You tell me dates. I’ll take leave“
That’s it. He was in.
Bhutan, the happiest country in all of Asia, was going to be our first destination. A 5-day trip. I was so excited that I even created a self-planned itinerary based on recommendations I saw online. My excel sheet was an encyclopedia of sorts. How to get there, where to stay, what to visit, and why a phallus was worshipped in Bhutan(you should really look this up) – everything was written over tens of sheets.
But several days later, on a cold stormy night, Rahul, the harbinger of bad news, tells me that Bhutan has a 10-day quarantine in place and we wouldn’t be able to go there. It was yet another setback. I felt stupid. I did so much research but forgot to check the most important requirement of traveling in a post covid world. The quarantine restrictions!
The prospect of having the international trip was looking bleak, again. But we started looking for alternatives. Thailand was another destination that fell under a similar budget but Rahul had already visited it and he wasn’t keen on visiting it again. So Thailand was out of our options.
Nepal was always an area of interest, even when we were planning the trip in December. But August is supposedly the peak monsoon season in Nepal so unless we wanted to spend our vacation watching the rain gods spoil our plans, we shouldn’t go there. It looked like the odds were against us, but we were not ones to back down.
Around this time, another friend of Rahul’s, Karan agreed to join us for the international trip and we were all on the hunt to find our first vacation in a post covid world. Dubai was one of the other options we had in mind, but we were saving it for a time when we had a higher budget in mind. Between the three of us, we visited Singapore and Malaysia. So what next?
Can you believe that we were running out of options in a world as big as ours? At one point, we sarcastically agreed that North Korea was the only option left! All hail Kim Jong Un!
Talking of Korea, South Korea was another fascinating country on all our bucket lists but the flights to Seoul were just too darn expensive. Curse you, Putin! It was almost as if the universe was sending us a message. Jordan was out because Rahul had never heard of the country and Egypt was in Africa(this guy!). What was left?
Vietnam & Cambodia! Yessssss!
Nooooooo! August is one of the wettest months for those countries and it’s not too far away from Nepal. What did we even expect?
We found our destination – Adventure Bali!
Bhutan -> Nepal -> Thailand -> Dubai -> Malaysia -> Jordan -> Eygpt -> Korea -> Vietnam & Cambodia -> Bali
BALI! We forgot about Indonesia! This was perfect. It was a tropical island and August was among the peak months to visit the country. Although I would’ve liked to avoid the peak rush, I wouldn’t mind it this time. In fact, I wouldn’t even complain about the mosquitoes if I got there.
Weather? May to September are the driest and best months to visit. Check.
Budget? It’s supposed to be a cheap destination right? Check.
Food? Supposed to be flavorful and tasty. Check.
Currency? Weak and puny. Check.
Stunning beaches and magical temples? Oh, you have no idea. Check.
Volcano trek? What? Really? Check.
Scuba diving & Snorkeling? Check.
Flights? Uh-Oh. The flights were more expensive than we expected. Even the cheapest Air Asia flights to Bali were costing us in the range of 45-50K. But we were not going to let money come in the way now. “If you don’t spend in your 20s, when will you spend money?” Word. So flights? Check.
Visa on Arrival? Check.
Destination Loading: Bali
Bali would be privileged to have us visit during the month of August!
But how many days are we going to stay there? Bhutan was going to be a 5-day trip, but that was partly because it was a really small country. Bali on the other hand has a lot more to offer. Considering the two back-to-back long weekends in August, we decided that we will have a 9-day trip. We decided that we would take the help of a tour and travel company to help coordinate the procedure and reduce our effort to plan the Bali trip. To be honest, I would’ve liked to plan the complete trip by myself. But I did not want to take the blame if we had a little unsatisfying experience.
The 8 months’ urge of going on an international trip was finally becoming a reality. We were all over the place while trying to find the right destination, but maybe, that’s why we were so satisfied when we finally found one.
This vacation to Bali is going to be my first self-sponsored International trip and it’s happening when I’m still 22. It feels unreal because I never imagined as a kid that I would be able to afford to go on an international vacation all by myself.
I guess life always finds a way to surprise you, no?
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