There are some things that I’d never do in life, and probably never will if I didn’t travel.

Here are a list of things that I picked up while travelling. Most of these experiences are pretty harmless; some are things that I’ll never do again, while some are things that I’d do occasionally, when necessity requires:

1) Drinking
Never drank a single drop of alcohol till I travelled and volunteered in Myanmar last year. Not even those 4 years of my life, spent in Australia. I still don’t make it a habit to drink whenever I’m home however, can’t say the same while being on the road. It’s easier to bond with travellers over a beer or two. However, I’ve never drank past my limit and never went beyond tipsy. I’m the best person to take out to parties because I’d probably remain sober the entire time. Shame I don’t drive though.

2) Happy herb
I had my first taste of marijuana when I was in Sihanoukville. Since I don’t smoke, I usually decline the joints that were passed around. However, at one time, Mr. Faccenda made a pizza stuffed with pot and I thought why not give it a try. Besides, I’d only be eating it, not smoking it. Mr. Faccenda and Mr. Stienstra sat me down to tell me the effects of joint and how it’d effect a first timer, and then extended the plate of pizza to me. I took a piece and tasted the pizza as indulgently as possible. However, they both forgot that I should have a smaller piece as I’m barely 5ft tall. Needless to say, the experience hit me hard in the stomach. I spaced out, I cried and I slept. It was so awful (even though I knew what to expect) that I’d never try it again-whether eating it or smoking it.

3) Cursing
I’m a little foul mouthed lately. I don’t swear like a sailor but occasionally you’d hear me using the word ‘fuck’ to punctuate some sentences for emphasis. It’s good for story-telling, I reckon. Also, it’s especially not difficult to swear when you get rejected at the airport by some stupid authorities or thought your laptop broke. Sometimes, travelling puts you in situations where no amount of crying, pleading and fighting against authorities or circumstances will help; all there’s to do is to swear and sometimes, surprisingly, it does make you feel a little better.

4) Talking to strangers
Ah, most of my friends don’t agree with me at this point because back home, I do speak to strangers as well, but not as frequent. While travelling, it’s easy to talk to strangers; to go out for coffee and perhaps never see them again. However, having said that, I’ve met several like-minded souls that, what was initially a chat over coffee stretched into either a bowling session, breakfast-lunch-dinner, or long periods of travelling together. So essentially, the stranger turns into a friend after that. Do note that if you intend to employ this habit or hobby while travelling, you have to have certain instincts. You have to be able to sense the vibes the person exude ; you have to be a good judge of character. Try to avoid chatting up with paedophiles, serial killers or junkies.

5) Wearing a piece of clothing for at least 2-3 days.

When you’re on the road, you can’t expect every place that you’re at to be like Khao San Rd, where laundromats are aplenty. So when you get to a place the next laundromat is at least 3 km away, and it costs at least 2-3 USD for a kilogram of dirty underwear, shorts and shirts, I’d usually wear the same shirt and shorts for the next few days. When I get desperate, sometimes even my underwear for a few days. However, when some parts of the body start to itch, I’d know that it’s time to do that long walk or buy some washing detergent and use the Oral B floss as clothes line.

Current thoughts: Random strangers from all around the world, random good times, random names, random places, random connections; they all make up the intricate web of life.