Right at this moment, it's 1pm and I'm in the guesthouse room, the tv is on, and Sianpei is taking an afternoon nap.

We both expected our trip to be sibeh xiong and that we'd be on the move all the time. But fact is, we're also resting and doing nothing for a lot of the time. And that's something I realised while travelling. Sometimes travel is not always exciting, sometimes we're really doing nothing. It isn't exhilarating all the time and there are days when there is a) nothing to do or b) uninspiring. It happens. We perceive travel to be on-the-go all the time because what we read online or hear from people are stuff that they've done so I guess we form certain expectations.

But having met people who have travelled extensively and for a long period of time, they have said that they like to stay at some place for a bit and settle for a while. It gets tiring - travelling. And it's true. There are times when we'd take an entire day on the road travelling from one city to another. We're just sitting and watching scenery pass us by but once we reach our destination, we're knackered. The whole process can be tiring. Once that happens, we'd have to take a day off to rest because we didn't get proper sleep while on the bus/boat. So, ample rest is needed.

At first, I felt that this was a bit disconcerting. Like, why do I not feel as inspired as I should be from my travels? Being someone who constantly needs to have regular injections/dosages of activity, I was also wondering if we're resting too much. Whether we're seeing enough. Whether we're missing out if we don't see everything. But I am learning to accept that travel doesn't mean that we have to do as much as we can or visit as many places as possible. I think travel sometimes is a feeling. As long as the place has given me an impression about something and if it has caused me to ponder about how things work or challenges some of the status quos that exist in my head, then I think it is enough.

For me, I have come to realise that it is the people whom we've met during our travels that have made this trip meaningful + exciting to me. Sianpei and I would talk to people from all walks of life and they've shared with us bits of themselves and their thoughts. After that, we'd go into discussions about these people and their ideas. What we agree and disagree on. I find this extremely exciting and interesting. There have been so many people I would like to tell you about and to help my poor goldfish memory remember some of these conversations, I'll list some of the people and where they're from.

Myanmar
1) A German couple in their 30s whom we shared a lot of laughters and insights about both our countries. We enjoyed guessing other people's nationalities. Up till today I can't forget about them.
2) A group of French citizens who could speak very little English. But we spent a night in the mountains of Hsipaw drinking and speaking to each other in a universal language - Music. We shared songs with one another that we liked and they so happily wrote us a list of French music to listen to.
3) A pair of old German ladies who were proud to be from Munich. Very very friendly and we had a lot of fate bumping into them every now and then.
4) A Burmese family consisting of a Muslim Indian man and his Chinese wife, whom we got acquainted with well. She's a grandmother of really cute children and she fed us chappati on three days (treated us to a piece on the last day) Didn't talk much, but we all had a connection with one another somehow...

Surprisingly, we met all of them in just one city in Myanmar - Hsipaw.

Thailand
1) A couple in their 50s who were old enough to be our parents. The man was mix French + middle eastern and the lady was Thai. I remember how they told us about their love affair when they were younger and how they had to write letters to one another because he was in France and she was in Thailand. They did a really sweet thing for us. After they said bye bye, and left, they came back. They saw us still sitting at the same spot, so they went back and bought two kebabs for us because they knew we wanted to try some of them. We were touched : )
2) Homestay guests in Chiangrai. Our Airbnb experience was wonderful because there was a young American couple, a Singaporean guy and a French man whom we met at the house. I had a great time speaking to them and learning from all of them about their experiences. We even spent an evening together at the Loy Krathong festival, which our fantastic hosts brought us to.

Laos
1) A Chinese man in his late 30s who treated us to some light dessert at a cafe and talked to us about his perceptions about China. Sianpei and I were amused and enlightened by a lot of the things that he shared. Too much to write but thought-provoking.
2) A Kiwi-Korean boy whom I shared a long conversation with about life on the boat ride from Chiang Khong - Pakbeng (thailand) to Luang Prabang (laos)


So far, these are some of the people we've met and the conversations we've had. I can't remember all of them, but the friendships formed definitely made my travelling experience memorable and worthwhile.

For me, I suppose people inspire me and I enjoy learning from them always.

Speaking of people and travel, it's the first time I'm travelling for so long and with a partner.

Similarly, it can be boring for Sianpei and I as well. Like, we know each other well and there were so many occasions when I repeated stories to her. And she would tell me that I had already told them multiple times hahaha yikes. Silence is also common between us because other than the fact that Sianpei is not one to talk a lot, we also know stuff about one another. So there's nothing new to learn about the other.

So yes, travelling can be boring sometimes even when there's a partner.

But the beauty of travelling with a partner is the shared experiences. Someone to gasp and talk to when we see something that affects us.

And even though silence is common, this is what makes it more beautiful - learning something about the other beyond what we already know about each other. There were times when there were actually stories that we hadn't shared and we'd go hey, now that's something I didn't know about you! And that's nice too.


What we see on blogs and Instagram, yeah shows how fascinating travel experiences are but there's also the not-so-fancy stuff about travelling that they don't show you. As with everything. So I think it's important to keep expectations levelled.

I still stick to the mantra that travel experiences are personal and what you take with you doesn't have to be the same as others~ and can never be measured by intensity or quantity.