Digital Nomad

In Central Citibank Tower Pacific Coffee. Dressing formally drinking a cup of coffee nearby my old work place like in the old days. I was there after an interview for the US visa. The first time in almost a year to wear heels again.

I am excited my visa got approved. My plan is feasible. I am going to the U.S. and South America!!

I have researched on all those questions and cases where the visa was declined for single young women. The more I researched the more stress I had and I pictured all those scenarios that I was being challenged and declined. I even brought my Invisalign braces to prove that I was going back to my country to see my dentist for sure! Haha! I thought of as many points as I could to defend myself that I was not going to stay in America. I was lucky anyway my visa got approved in just 5 mins. Thanks god thanks visa officer thanks everything.

I have got two projects on hand with a crowdsourcing company. One for Cantonese transcription and one for website rating. Hopefully I could pass the qualification test and start working on them. Then I would have good income while at the same time freedom of location! Though it may not be a stable job/career but in the meantime it really fits my needs. I could be anywhere not necessarily traveling volunteering or studying!

Being at home is more pressured than traveling. I feel my choices are more limited as when people around me are all talking about the importance of money and marriage. These thoughts grow stronger when at times I am not sure of what's next. Perhaps it's better I stay somewhere else to clear my thoughts since now I'm locationally independent in terms of work:)

Almost the end

Sitting on the balcony of the orphanage watching sunset has been my favorite pastime these days. It gives me plenty of time to think. I'm thinking about the past, the future. I know I should be enjoying the present. But some times you need to have time to reflect right?

Coming to this point I am always thinking of getting home and the situations I would face. I had just finished a book about an inexperienced backpackers story. When he got home he could not tell clearly what had happened to him. And his mum just couldn't understand and lost interest and kept rambling about nothing important that happened during the time he left. 

This is exactly how I'm picturing the situation when I get home. I would be meeting some old friends and they would ask me about my trip. I wouldn't know how to start and the topic changes when they could not understand or lost interest in what I'm saying. Then the conversation would resume to the normal cheesy tv drama or work or career or relationship or gossips. Even just imagining that made me scared. It was a priceless experience for me though. But I could just keep it to myself, or those interested. 

I miss home somehow, for the food, for the things I don't have here. People tend to remember only the good things. And it strikes me that I had almost forgotten about what I hated most, the boring conversations, the inescapable tv dramas and noise. 

Thinking about that made me a bit melancholy. I'm afraid that I could not enjoy my time any further. I'm also afraid that I would not have the determination to leave my family again once settled down. It is pointless to think so much about the future though. I will know when the time comes.

In the end, we are all traveling solo

It was a long story. 

I met 2 Koreans and 1 Japanese friends in Moscow. We became good friends instantly and had a very good time and in touch even after we split from Moscow.

The Korean boy and girl were good friends but not a couple. They headed to Eastern Europe and I joined the Japanese girl again in Iceland.

The Korean boy was very outgoing and funny and the girl was not very adventurous and spoke no English. It seems that every decision was made by the boy (which Korean men were very pleased to) and the girl just followed. They knew each other very well but no romantic relationship in between.

Days after we heard from them they separated and the girl was traveling alone by herself. We were surprised because the girl knew no English and it was the first time she was abroad. She was always very nice to him but don't know why she suddenly left him. We thought at some point even good friends may not want to be together all the time...

I had been traveling with other girls (girly and not girly) but it did not work out very well. Maybe its just me who are not compatible enough. I prefer meeting people and explore off the beaten track but they may fancy seeing some famous sights and less keen to meet new people. But one thing for sure we felt better when we can go independently whenever we wanted. 

The time with the Japanese girl was great. We cooked together and came up with new ideas each other day. We met new people and had an incredible road trip around Iceland with 2 Eastern European guys. She was fearless (and careless), flexible and willing to try new things. We planned our next trips together and I thought we would travel together for the rest of our journeys.

But no one is perfectly compatible. I'm afraid traveling with someone is more dangerous than being in a relationship...at least for me. The other day she found 2 Japanese guys and we went on a another road trip together. They had no plans, indecisive and dependent. They talked only in Japanese and I could just follow. I was more pleased to be just silent and watch the window and think and go wherever they took me. But too many stupid things happened and I decided better not to go with them the next day. I was never a fan of Japan and I am sorry this made me even more negative...

So I am traveling solo again. But somehow this helped me decide to visit my friends in Germany instead.

The Trans-Siberian Journey

10 Sep 13:50 to 14 Sep 13:50 (101 hours, 6266km)

Day 1 18:00

I have been spending 4 hours sitting on the train doing nothing but to watch the mongolian landscape. I could not take my eyes off the window.   After the Gobi it was nice to see the greener side of Mongolia. I enjoyed watching the tiny spots of cows, sheeps, horses and people wandering on the green hills and vast land, the colorful villages and trees shedding their yellow leaves. Everything is in such a slow pace. 

21:38

Before boarding I was expecting to meet people on trains. But now I seem to quite enjoy being alone in my room. Privacy is not easy to have while traveling, especially when sharing a ger with 5 men and women you can only change your pants in a sleeping bag.

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How much can you live without?

One of the most important thing I learnt from traveling is how to live simple and flexible. In a small backpack you could only bring what is necessary and can't live without. It was a compact 50L backpack to most people but still quite heavy for my size.

On the Gobi trip it was interesting to see what others brought with them. Although 3 meals are included, they still had the family sized coffee, milk powder, salt and pepper, chili sauce, whiskey and honey with them. It was nice to have though. But for me it does not bother me much to eat just what was offered. I am not a snack person so it took me weeks to finish a pack of Oreos cause I always forgot to eat them.

I'm still struggling to leave anything unused behind. When I pack I always want to have my favorite brand of shampoo, conditioner, cleanser, moisturizer and sunscreen with me (I have a sensitive skin and my hair gets oily with other brands) I've packed supplies that last for months but now I'm looking forward to replace them soon. I can buy them even in Mongolia. Or maybe I can adapt to what the locals use, or not use at all!

Mongolia Wrap up

People

Karim, Uranus So, Rieke & Sandra, Diane, Vio & Kenny, Kan, Will

I stayed in the UB guesthouse in Ulan Bator and it was where I met most of the people. It was like a secret underground club where you found you are not the only person who have quit your job and travel the world. Many of them are experienced travelers either going to Russia or China by trains. You are at odds here if you travel by planes.

The other night I was moved to another apartment from the main one as the guesthouse was full. It felt like home now with my warm hearted roommate Diane. And the other people I have shared a good time with made my stay in Mongolia wonderful.

I admired a lot the Mongolian people and their animals for they are so strong and tough, but never rude. They don't care so much about money and are good with animals and nature. It seems we have a different definition of "harsh" as nothing is difficult for them. Plus Mongolian men on horses are simply too cool.

For Mongolians in the city it is another story. They are much influenced by Korean culture. Boys and girls dress so fashionable that you can't connect them with the word tough found in Mongolian nomads. Though I did not have negative experience but most say Ulan Bator is not safe especially at night.

For animals, camels and horses are so patient like they don't care. And the way the cows and camels look at us foreigners like chewing gum saying "what's up dude?" are so adorable.

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Adventures in Gobi desert

30 Aug to 5 Sep (7 days 6 nights)

Before the trip the hostel owner Bobby said it would be the toughest trip of all routes. With no showers, no toilets as expected, we had to bring all the food and water supplies along. Plus I was the only one in the group who had not been on other trips so I was a bit worried.

The first day was not that bad. We had 2 German girls, 1 Swiss man and a Spanish couple who hardly speak any English. So I was with the German speaking group but all I can speak was just "Ich kann kein Deutsch" (I can't speak German).
We spent most of the time on our great Russian minivan. It took two days to go into the desert. Lunch was in the middle of nowhere. Our great guide Moogii prepared for us quick and delicious non-meaty dishes just behind the van. I would like to learn some too.
While we waited we went far out to pee in the nature, played games with stones, and picked up nice stones for souvenirs. I had a device to pee standing so it was not a problem ;-) but better not to look around for someone or you will see something you don't want to see.

We visited a nomad family with many kids and they served us goat cheese and a big bowl of horse milk. We each took a sip and passed to another for a few rounds. At last our great guide Moogii helped us finish it all or we would all get drunk before the night.

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Horseriding in Mongolia

Back from the Gobi I have been staying at the hostel to relax and plan for the next trip. I have not yet ridden a horse in Mongolia. It makes no sense right? So I have to do it, by a short trip to Terelj National Park.

The hardest part of traveling alone is when you have to find someone to do things together. The tour to Gobi was nice. But having everything organized for you is not that fun. So when it is possible to go by myself I would. Or I should say, when there is one more person going with me, I would definitely take the more risky but fun way.

So I was lucky to be able to grab 2 guys to come with me. One from the Uk and the other from Beijing. They turned out to be nice people. 

The bus schedule was not the same from every source on the Internet. And there was no number for the bus and there was no English. We waited at the Pepsi stand on the west side of peace avenue and at 12pm we got on the bus. 

As for accommodation, we planned to (or should I say I plan to?) randomly ask some gers for a night's stay. But we were taken to one of the gers with someone speaking English which we did not like much cause there were too many settlements around.  We would prefer one that stands alone in the park. At last we did not stay and just do the horseriding. 

The park was much more non-touristy and scenic than I had expected tough. I thought I had done the Gobi and it must be better than the more touristic Terelj park, which is not far from the city. In this time of year (early September) the leaves are turning yellow and the area was covered in different colors. It was stunning even without a bright sun. 

The horseriding trip was a highlight of my stay in Mongolia. I have done horseriding in Tuscany of Italy and Cambodia and this definitely was the  most scenic and fun ride I have ever had! It was just 10 USD for 2 hours which was crazy. The Mongolians must be thinking, why would someone pay for riding a horse when they are born to be horseriders? We did not wear any helmets and the Mongolians just brought us the horses and there we went! Help yourself, which I'm pretty used to it.

The Mongolian horses are superb. They have their own way. When they like to trot, they trot. To canter, they canter. They are super tough. We went through slopes, forests, swamps, rocks, rivers. Half of the horse was in the water when we pass through the river so we all had our shoes wet, which was very fun. The area was very beautiful. And we felt so free as we had no strings attached and we could just trot or canter as we like in the grassland. Our guide, a tough Mongolian horse man, would just come along when he had to and sometimes just singing on his horse in the peaceful nature.

We had such a good time on the horse and glad we did that.

Farewells are too heavy

The best part of the trip is not in the photos.
I am so moody right now. On a trans Mongolian train. I had nothing to do but to rewind the things I have done in the past week. I do not want to forget that. But nothing is left other than my memory.

This is the first time I do not want a change to happen. Change is good as I always believe. I could easily let go of my job, my friends and family to seek what I want and I believe the better is ahead and this would be a life changing experience for me. But the week in Beijing was so remarkable that I felt sad leaving the people there.

It is just the beginning of my solo trip. The really first time that I am alone to an unknown place. Maybe that's the feeling of loneliness and insecurity that are creeping into me. And I've just say farewell to the last person that I could rely on. No I should never rely on anybody. This is the worst thing I would do for myself.

I've been asked many times if I'm excited for the trip to Mongolia. And honestly no. Even now when I'm on the way there. It feels like my heart is empty and numb, fearless. I could only see the present and enjoy it. Do not think about the future and the past. Those people I met and what we did will soon fade away. Being homeless is not that cool. I guess this is the price I paid for the freedom. Maybe I just have to let my feelings go so I could enjoy my time again.

Things and people in Beijing

Too much happened in the week in Beijing. I have just been to the Forbidden City, the Great Wall and Temple of Heaven and those are simply too touristy to enjoy. What made it remarkable, was the people.

Girl in the middle of a plastic surgery
The other night I met a girl having a plastic surgery in my hostel. We were staying in the same room. At the beginning I thought she was having an accident or something but I did not ask. Yet she was pretty open about it and told me she was having a surgery for slimming the face and deepening eyelids (I don't know what it is called). Brave.

New North Korean best friend
North Koreans are much more open to the world than I have expected. Or perhaps it is just those I met. Of course they are the special ones as the father is a diplomat in China and his 16-year-old kid was very well built than our average size. They speak fluent Chinese and some English and open to talk about their country. And the kid, which is my friend now, knows very well about international issues but just from different perspectives as we do. We cannot judge who is right or wrong. And he can watch whatever Hollywood movies and never thought his right is restricted. He reminds me of the book "Nothing to envy". When some of us are getting aware of the negatives brought by capitalism, can we say socialism is necessarily a bad thing? At least I don't see it from my friend's point of view. One thing different is that North Koreans are very conservative. They do not allow women to drink alcohol so he kept pouring mine. We went for a picnic and played ukulele at the gate, trying to see if anybody would throw in some money, and he thought it is a shame and stopped us doing it. We may think he is crazy and so did he. Overall he is a fun and normal kid, we are all humans beings.

An unexpected morning in the Chinese police station
I was about to get breakfast in the morning and saw some men in uniforms taking videos and asking questions in the reception. I was curious and stopped for a bit and then I was asked to show my ID card. I was so surprised that he kept our cards with no intention of giving us back! Then I was bound to wait until he got a couple others staying at the hostel to the police station. Everyone was confused and had no idea what was happening. I was half excited but for a moment I remembered cases like fake policemen or dying accidentally in the police stations. Who knows what could happen. At the station we waited one by one to have our records on paper. One of the police looked very serious about me being a Hong Kong citizen staying at this unlicensed hostel. He said it was illegal and I would get into trouble.
I was taken to a small room with a computer, a single bed and an underwear hanging at the corner. Probably they sleep here. Then I was asked to the very detail of what happened at the day I arrived the hostel, what the girl at the reception was wearing, her height and weight, how I did the transaction, my political background (I suppose this is important) etc. it took around half an hour to finish. And I had my fingerprints and signatures on each page of the records. The police were nice though. They told me to check out immediately so I moved to another legal place to stay in the end.

Discussion with the communist youths
I met a Chinese girl in a Hutong on the way I looked for my illegal hostel. The other night she came to visit with her friends and we had a great night discussing the difference between HK and China. One of them is a member of the communist party but he was open to different ideas.

Officially unemployed

These days I have been experimenting a more dynamic lifestyle as I mentioned before, to the extent that I have almost forgotten it is just a week before I leave!

It was my last day at work few days ago (feels like weeks). It was the time when I got more attention from friends and colleagues than on my birthdays. I just saw it as a normal day but the people made it special.

Since then I am free to do whatever I want to do. It is such an amazing feeling that I have lost for a long long time. Days are never boring. I meet friends, play snookers, movies, cook, make delicious Chinese dumpling with grandma, water my plant, play ukulele, hiking, watch fireflies, enjoy the time with my funny family (and forget about packing). And it is the first time I would say I am living at present. Not worrying about the trip, jobs, houses, the future. I have a feeling that things would go on the right track no matter what and I am not wasting my time to worry about it.

As a result I have not booked or planned anything except the train tickets and nothing is fixed after Russia. (p.s. I am was one of those excel addict who would prepare a detailed spreadsheet for my previous trips)

So a little update of my plan:
19th August - a 24-hour sleeper train from Hong Kong to Beijing
27th August - a 30-hour sleeper train from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar
-----adventures in Gobi desert (no plan)-----
10th September - 5-day Trans-Siberian train from Ulaanbaatar to Moscow

Sounds like a good plan.

Father is criticising me

My parents' reaction becomes very rejective the closer it comes to the start date.
My father, in particular, keeps criticising me of my immaturity, irresponsibility, and of not acting like a Chinese!
I am quite used to it but I am still hurt, for it is their feelings that I cared most. But I cannot find a word to explain.

The Alchemist

As a "why-not" person I always don't see why not to do. All you need is just: desire and circumstances (not excuses be careful). Until recently from reading the Alchemist I found 3 kinds of people:
1) The shepherd, who has a dream and willing to realize it
2) The candy shop owner, who is content of doing what he is doing because he is living his dream
3) The crystal shop owner, who first starts from working towards his dream, but soon work dominates and he feels comfortable at the status quo. He knows he can do more but he fears failure, fears change.

Which one of them are you?

Trans-siberian must have: Dry Shampoo

Background: A trans-siberian train from Mongolia to Moscow takes 5 days...

seat61.com

Captured from Man in Seat 61, a very useful website for train information. I especially like the lines that read "Remember that the need to take a shower every single day is a relatively recent western social trend, not a human necessity". Okay! Sometimes we are trained to assume it a must.

So here is my way to keep my hair clean: the dry shampoo

click here for product information from Amazon.com

It is hard to find and the only brand available in the shop. From my research it is sometimes used by stylists to add a little bit of volumn to the hair. Spray a little on the hair and rub and blend until it absorbs all the oil and it is done! Looking forward to give it a try!

The Mongolian dream

picture from volmongol.org

My Mongolian dream stems from a book called Wolf Totem I read about 10 years ago. Though it was about inner Mongolia the picture of endless grass steppe and stand alone mongolian ger were deeply embedded in my mind. I have decided to go once at least in my lifetime and although not expected to be so soon, it is now.

And since it is a must go I do not mind postponing it til a perfect time (no idea when). The only travel friendly months are July and August and being so close to Hong Kong it would be a pretty good starting point of world travel. So why not now?

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A Map for Saturday – sneak preview of the backpackers’ life

If you have no idea what I was talking about…THIS IS IT!

5 Reasons NOT to Quit Your Job and Travel the World
An insightful article that reveals the myth of quit-job-travelling

Don't let dreams be dreams

Not long before I was just a poor university student who has never travelled out of Asia. In this competitive city of Hong Kong I was content working diligently in the office from 9 to 6 and made some progress in the career of my choice. Pretty nice isn't it?
Things changed from my first 2-week travel to Europe. Then it came the second, third, fourth trips in a year like crazy. These experiences reshaped my perspectives in life totally. For I see there are many other possibilities in life and what I have always dreamed of is more like an option in reality.

So now my rational decision is that I am going to quit my job and travel. For those of you who are struggling with (or maybe starting to think of) the same decision, I am happy to share my thoughts with you. This is a tough one to make but I hope I could conclude it later as a "best decision in my life!" :)