“A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.”
– John A. Shedd
First and foremost (in case you were pulling out your hair wondering if I made it back to the States in one piece): Yes, I am home. I am alive.
I cannot express how wonderful it feels to sleep in my own bed again. Never before have I bundled myself so tightly in my bedsheets. And been so happy to sleep with the lights off.
(Confession: I resorted to keeping my lights on every night in Cambodia.)
Before we get to the retrospective, let me give a rundown of my journey back to the United States.
I had to get to the airport at 6:30AM the Morning-After-Bazooka. It almost felt like a walk of shame, given the outlandish proceedings of the day before. Did all of that actually happen? I was Adrenaline-Hungover. Oh, btw, as promised, I have two videos for you: (1) This is the uncut version of my bazooka-firing; (2) This is the edited version of mine and John’s entire day at the range (it includes blowing up the hut with the M60/M16).
So sadly, the Phnom Penh International Airport didn’t have free Wifi. No surprise there. To pass the time (I accidentally packed all my books into the checked-in luggage), I decided to indulge in the dignified pastime of “Snapchat Art” (you will see this hobby play itself out in the rest of my layovers):
The flight to Singapore was around three or so hours, except we were delayed for about an hour due to late arrival of our aircraft. It was alright – my transit time was already going to be 27 hours, what was ONE MORE HOUR?
However, I was slightly disappointed when I approached the information desk upon arrival at Singapore Changi Airport, asking if I had enough time to go on the Free Singapore Tour that they offer to layover passengers. The woman said it wasn’t enough time. Ehhh, to be honest, I wasn’t even mad. I was all traveled out. Plus, it was nice to see Changi airport while it wasn’t a soul-sucking ghost town of despair where dreams went to die (see my previous post where I spent seven godawful hours in the middle of the night at the airport wondering if life, love, and happiness had forsaken the world). This time, I could at least people-watch (more like, watch all the asian babies running around). Also… I HAD INTERNET. And an airport Snapchat filter :O
Shoutout to that high-speed airport wifi, though. What took me three hours to upload in Cambodia took me just TWO MINUTES at the airport. Yeeeee technology.
Anyways, I decided if I couldn’t go INTO Singapore for the tour, I might as well eat some Singaporean (Southeast Asian) food.
So back in the good ol’ college days, my (and my suitemates’) go-to hangover food was often Malaysian food. We would quite literally order take-out boxes upon take-out boxes full of greasy, MSG-loaded noodles or rice (I’m talking really “carby” stuff here) to the point of utter embarrassment. To this day, I’m fairly certain the delivery man who would drop off our meals thought we all had boyfriends to feed. (… We did not.)
In any case, my favorite hangover dish was Chow Kueh Teow – it’s basically a dry Ho Fun noodle dish. And I hadn’t had it since my last time heavily drinking in college (good times). For nostalgia’s sake, I decided my Adrenaline-Hangover also deserved some tender loving care (and man, was it yummy):
After eating, I still had a couple of hours to kill, so I decided to write some of my bazooka blogpost.
I’m now going to confess something: I had a “Mendi moment” (a.k.a. did something really stupid). I totally forgot that Singapore was one hour ahead of Cambodia and didn’t think to adjust my watch to reflect this time difference.
The exact moment I realized my mistake was the moment I heard on the intercom: “Final boarding call for Singapore Airlines flight SQ2 to Hong Kong and San Francisco. We are closing the gate in five minutes.”
AHHH F——— I’m at the other end of the terminal!!!!
I slapped my computer screen closed and ran like Forrest Gump, backpack open and jacket/scarf/sweater/laptop in hand. Imagine the hottest of messes bolting down the entire length of Terminal 2.
Luckily, I got onto the plane in the nick of time. Let’s not mention how sweaty I was getting into my seat.
… The middle seat. I was going to be in a middle seat for the next 23 hours of my life. Help.
I sat between two men. And get this – I asked the guy on my right: “So where are you traveling from?” “Penang, Malaysia. Stopped over in Singapore.” “That’s cool, what for?” “For work, I work for Intel.” “Ah, nice! We’re a big customer.” “Oh, who do you work for?” “Cisco.” Man on my left: “What…? I work for Cisco. I just came from Bangalore, India [second biggest office location aside from San Jose].
-____________-
SMALL. WORLD. Not to mention I was likely sitting in the nerdiest row of the entire aircraft. So proud :D.
The second leg of the trip was to Hong Kong. It took about four hours. It wasn’t too bad, except for the fact that I felt bad disturbing the guy on my right who was sleeping so I didn’t go to the bathroom the entire flight. Definitely not one of my brighter health decisions.
But, yay, more Snapchat airport filters!
And to really drive home the fact that I was in Hong Kong:
I also realized I accidentally packed my prescription glasses into my checked luggage (another “Mendi moment”). My prescription is -8.00 and I wear soft contacts. That meant no movies for me. The flight was going to be rough.
Not going to bore you with flight details: I reached SFO around 7PM Saturday night. My luggage took AN HOUR TO COME OUT (“issues with the conveyor belt”). It was aggravating, to say the least, especially after suffering “the middle seat” for so long. But WHATEVER, I WAS HOME.
Admittedly, I had one last “Mendi moment” of the trip (funny how all of these happened on my very last day of travel, ugh). I accidentally left my bag of prescription meds on the plane. Meaning I never finished the full cycle of malaria pills. OOPS. (Airline never called me back. Bastards.)
(Not too worried, though. I didn’t get any mosquito bites in the malaria red zone. Also, NO, it’s not contagious.)
The best part about coming back? THIS WIDDLE CUTIE WAITING FOR ME. Her name is Sammie and she totally grew into that godawful haircut my sister gave her before I left for Cambodia. Cute as a button now.
OKAY, onto my retrospective on the entire trip. The million-dollar-question: Will Mendi ever go on another solo trip again???
Throughout this entire traveling/blogging process, I’ve never tried to put on any sort of façade. I’m certainly not a “cool” person, not a “brave” person, not a “bold” person – and I’ll never be. That’s just not me and you saw that in some of the choices I made along the way. But… at least for a split second, this trip, this entire experience has allowed me to take a step in that direction. Do things I would absolutely never do. And for no one but myself.
To quote modern philosopher Vitamin C (in her song “Graduation”):
“And so we talked all night about the rest of our lives
Where we’re gonna be when we turn 25
I keep thinking times will never change
Keep on thinking things will always be the same“
Many tears were shed to this above song in my lifetime: First at my middle school graduation dance, second at my high school graduation.
But man, do I remember thinking to myself: “Goddamn, 25 is a long ways away. I’ll be SOOOO OLDDD. I hope I become a ‘cool’ old person one day.”
… I really hope middle-school-Mendi would’ve been proud of the almost-25-“oldie” I’ve become. I still may not be the most adventurous person in the world, but I’m certainly trying to live a meaningful life. And that’s enough, right?
Solo traveling has allowed me to step beyond my comfort boundaries, beyond my sheltered existence. After all, sweating for 12 days straight wearing the same clothes and never feeling 100% clean ever (even after a shower) were real eye-openers for me. So were the perspectives I gained from the countless travelers I encountered along the way. Some of their stories were truly inspiring and I cherish every single interaction/connection I made on this journey.
I was able to rely solely on myself for twelve days – even amidst getting lost, over and over again. And while I initially questioned my willpower and strength to press forward, it just… happened. And it was glorious.
I received some feedback on a previous blog post that mentioned my experiences in Cambodia were not necessarily genuine; I was basically supplanting a true Cambodian “local” experience with an upscale, sheltered “American” experience. Well, first of all – it’s all subjective. But instead of arguing on this point, what I really wanted to do is use it as a way to emphasize why I think everyone should solo travel at least once in their lives. When solo traveling, you get to do whatever YOU want. Not what anyone is telling you to do or what you see other travel blogs posting as the “cool thing to do”. If you want to stay in a hostel instead of a hotel, go for it! If you want to eat street vendor food every single day, that’s your prerogative. The beauty of solo travel is YOU ARE IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT EVERY SINGLE DAY. No one can tell you “no”. And that in itself is truly empowering.
For instance, I’m fairly certain if I had traveled with some of my friends, I may not have ever shot that bazooka. And that experience alone ended up defining the entire trip for me.
… That’s the power of solo travel.
So what if I didn’t “find myself” on this trip. That I haven’t emerged a “new person”, and that I certainly did not reach any huge groundbreaking epiphanies. What I do have is this incredible experience under my belt, a larger perspective on life, and a damn good story to tell.
So, if you were to ask me: “Would you every travel solo again?”
HELL. TO THE FREAKING. YES. I absolutely would. In a heartbeat.
Lastly, I wanted to thank everyone for all the overwhelming support – with this trip, but also with this whole blogging business. I honestly didn’t know what I was doing or how people would respond to the things I wrote, but the comments/feedback I’ve received have been immensely encouraging. You all know this: I can ramble on and on and on. And the fact that I can brighten people’s days with my random musings makes it all the more worthwhile. Through this blog, I’ve been able to reconnect with so many old friends. It’s been an INCREDIBLE journey…
So from the bottom of my heart: THANK YOU FOR TUNING IN AND THANK YOU FOR CARING.
I will end this post, AND CLOSE THIS ENTIRE CAMBODIA CHAPTER, with one last quote from Mark Twain:
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.“
So until my next adventure… 🙂
With love,
Mendi
the wanderlust is real. 