How Far Have YOU Traveled From Home?

Today’s post is inspired by a writing prompt from Lorna over at Gin & Lemonade, a lovely blog with quite insightful and honest posts, I must say.

This week’s post was…

 

How far have you traveled away from home?

 

I had to look at a map for this one just to verify…my perception of distance is not always the greatest. Currently I live in Southern California, so I will use that as the reference point.

There are three places that come to mind, and I kinda want to take this opportunity to rant about them and reminisce on how much those trips meant to me during those times in my life. So here’s a little reverse countdown for ya…

 

3. Paris, France\ 5,620 miles

I have been here twice, but the first time was truly special. A couple years ago, I was in college and I came across a flyer on campus that said something like, “Do you want to travel to France for free?”

What? Free? What kind of scam was this? Needless to say, I was intrigued.

I looked into it, attended a meeting, and it was an invitation to join Model United Nations! If you don’t know what that is, it’s like the political Mock Trial. Initially, around 40 people signed up. But as time went on, more and more people were dropped either by choice, or by force. The final number of people was about 6 or 7. And I was one of them!

So, it wasn’t so cut and dry. You had to earn your spot on the team, and subsequently, on the trip. The trip was a competition where we would travel to Nice, France and other locations in that region to compete against international students around the world.

The months leading up to this trip turned out to be the most stressful of my entire life! (I think.) We had to PROVE ourselves worthy everyday. This was not a vacation, but more like a work trip. As the trip came near and the stress piled on, I was not excited to go. The amount of research, writing, impromptu speeches, etc I had to do in advance of the trip + dealing with a relationship, being President of a club on campus and all my other school work did not make life any easier.

I started to get a little excited when my passport arrived. It was like the first ray of sunlight you see after a long, cold winter. Then, things became real. For the first time in my life, (except when I was 3 and went to Canada which I have no recollection of) I would be leaving the country! And going to FRANCE at that! The passport arrived in the mail, and I saw all the empty pages. This is where I would keep official record of my travels. I would get to actually collect stamps like a REAL traveler!

I will write more about my experiences in France in later posts, but I do want to say how much this trip meant to me. At the time, it was by far the furthest I had ever traveled. I had to EARN this trip. Coming from a lower class background, I could have never afforded to go here at the time.

It TRULY showed me that with hard work and determination, you can achieve anything. Really. This is a lesson I will carry with me for a lifetime.

 

2. Guangzhou, China\ 7,276 miles

This trip was pretty random and impromptu for me.

I was traveling to Thailand as a graduation present for myself and a way to spend my 25th birthday. I had saved my money and my vacation days from work, and I really wanted to maximize my stay.

Was it possible to visit more than one country during a trip? Would I have time? Would it be in my budget?

I decided to research and see how other travelers did it. After skimming through others’ blogs, I discovered that many people did long layovers as a way to see as much as possible during one trip.

 

So here’s a travel trip: The flights with the longest durations (which means with long layovers) are usually the cheapest tickets! Many people like to get to their destinations as fast as possible and do not want to be bothered with the “hassle” of a layover. They will pay extra for getting to their destination as quickly as possible.

 

I’ll give you an example. I am doing some research for a future trip to England and wanted to see the ticket prices. I found a ticket price for only $500 from LAX. The rest of the tickets were at least $1200 for that time frame. So why so cheap? The ticket included a 19-hour layover in Reykjavik, Iceland! Now for me, that sounds very exciting. For someone on a tight time schedule, that would be a nightmare.

So, back to the trip. The difference between China and Thailand was night and day. You could tell you were in a socialist country because everything seemed very neat and orderly. I did not see a single bit of trash on the ground. The organization was deep in the culture.

In this part of China, although it was a large city with millions of people, I saw only a total of 2 people that looked like tourists or non-natives. A lot of people were staring at us, 2 tall-ish Westerners of a mixed race background. We did feel out of place, but not necessarily scared for our safety.

I do want to come back to China, properly, for at least a week or two. I cannot wait to go and share my experience here on this blog to see if my next trip differed at all.

 

1. Bangkok, Thailand\ 8, 304 miles

This is the furthest I have ever traveled form home!

When I was deciding which country to travel to, I chose Thailand in particular for a couple different reasons.

One, several people I knew personally went and claimed that it was a life changing, whirlwind of a trip.

Two, your dollar stretches pretty far there. You main expense is the initial plane ride, and after that, spending money on food and excursions is pretty minimal. When I went, $1 USD was equivalent to $32 Thai Baht. As of this posting its still about the same exchange rate.

And three, I had just taken a couple classes where I learned about Thailand’s culture, language, and history. The first class was about cultures of Asian Americans. We learned about each Asian ethnic group, their journey/reason for coming to America, and the triumphs/struggles they face today. I also took a class on Southeast Asian cultures where we learned about countries like Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. It was an eye-opener for sure.

Bangkok was the furthest I have ever traveled in distance, as well as in culture. Everywhere I had traveled before this trip, for the most part, had been Westernized. Thai culture, and Asian cultures in general, is just…different (in a good way!)

This is the first predominantly Buddhist country I had ever been to. Everywhere you go, you see Buddha. There are shrines at every turn. Images on buildings, t-shirts, billboards. An old culture with a deep history and an immense respect for Buddha and his teachings. It was beautiful to experience a society like this.

I see why people have such a love for Thailand and Southeast Asia and general. In the United States, we are a fairly young country dating back only a few centuries. Our history is limited. Immerse yourself in a culture several times older than this and you will truly “feel” the difference. It is difficult to put into words properly.

I was in Thailand for less than two weeks, and I feel like I barely scratched the surface. There were so many layers to uncover. I went to the three main regions of Thailand; Bangkok (bustling city), Chiang Mai (serene mountains), and Phuket (sunny beaches.) The generalization I just gave them really do not give them justice, though.

 

Writing this inspires me to continue to travel outside of my comfort zone. These are the kind of trips worth taking. It is less of a relaxing, tourist vacation, and more of an educational, life changing experience.

 

Where is the furthest you have ever traveled? How did that impact your life? I would love to here about it in the comments below!

 

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