“Travel Alone” recalls me the time when I travelled alone from Kedah to KL after STPM last paper. That was the fantastic time for me because I finally put down my burden and travelling to a place where nobody knows me which I can re-brand myself in a new environment. I was enjoying travelling in the train, KTM by putting my mind blank and observe the surroundings!
Probably, you also have the “Travel Alone” journey that you enjoy a lot!
Recently, I talked to a friend of mine, Kee Tian who just came back from India’s volunteering project (GCP). So, we had a chit chatting about his “Travel Alone” to India.
Dialogue:
J: Hey, how’s your journey in India?
KT: It was GREAT!
J: Okay… Actually, I was wondering why you made up your mind to participate in the volunteering project?
KT: Oh, I went for that because I wanted to put myself in a challenging environment to further develop myself and I also wished to discover my passion throughout the project.
J: I kind of resonate with you because I always deem that a challenging environment can bring a big leap in self-development. Oh ya, why you choose to go India?
KT: Haha, I was assigned to the country’s project despite of choosing it. Frankly speaking, I never imagined that one day I will travel this country and I don’t have a good impression towards this country before this. I always think that India is an underdeveloped country and it seems like a dangerous country for me.
J: Then the “Not So Good Impression” country is quite tally with the challenging environment that you mentioned before!
KT: Yea, absolutely. I still remember that all my friends asked me to be careful with the food cleanliness before going there.
J: Personally, I never been to overseas alone before and I’m quite afraid of it even I used to travel alone in Malaysia. Did you feel so when you decide to go India?
KT: It’s not my first time of travelling alone so I’m quite fine with it. But, my first week in India was tough because I miss my friends and family a lot in addition to adapting myself to the new environment and culture over there.
J: I can’t imagine how can I live in a new environment alone especially with the new type of food, different culture and so on. How you adapt yourself to the new environment, India?
KT: Making new friends and I adjust my mind-set in addition to reflect on my purpose of being there. That’s how I adapt to the new environment.
J: That’s cool, why those actions you taken made you adapt to the environment?
KT: Making new friends make me feel like I’m settling down over there, belong to a group of people and feel comfortable. Reflecting on my purpose was the SIGNIFICANT one that makes me adapt to the environment because I made myself tie on the purpose of participating in the project to challenge myself. I also believe that all the hardships are OPPORUNITIES for me.
Hardship = Opportunity, it makes me ponder about the journey I have gone through so far. I realized that I grown and developed after gone through stress and obstacles, don’t you feel the same?
*Stay tuned for next blog to know more what have KT faced throughout the volunteering project in India.
