I’m going to preface this entry by saying these problems are incredibly first world and I feel guilty even having to speak about it, but I needed to vent out.
My initial plans for Chile fell through, and after hitting up a few other friends for their plans, I’ve come down to going back to Taiwan (after 7 years away) to visit family and friends. Good news is I can fly stand-by 1st class (for a standard economy flight price) internationally which is a DREAM since my aunt works for an airline and I’m going to visit her. The bad news is that it’s stand-by so who knows if I’ll ever get on.
Second: As much as I love Taiwan, there is absolutely no way I can spend two entire weeks through without going insane. Between the constant jabs at my singledom and my “obesity” (yes, I’m very normal by American standards, but was considered obese 20 lbs ago by Asia), I don’t think my mental state, no matter what strong it is this year, can handle it. So I will flee to another Asian country.
Third: Lucky me! An old friend will also be in Taiwan suffering through the same questions about being 29 and single. We talk about escaping. I discover her parents, for some reason, have nixed her going to “less developed” (or as they say “unsafe”) countries. Countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Burma, Mongolia have been killed automatically despite being like most other countries: safe if you’re smart. Because I’ve already been to Japan, Thailand, Singapore, China and Hong Kong, it has come down to South Korea.
Now, I love Korean culture, love the food and visited when I was five and remember nothing, but I have this nagging feeling it’s somewhere I can always go in the future with family. It’s not somewhere I’m really up for being so young and still up for backpacking to “less developed” countries, so it’s always been low on my list. My friend has also rarely traveled (and we all know my spring adventures with newbie travelers) and keeps asking about tour groups (gag). I worry out travel styles will clash. I worry that I scream if she has to check-in w/ her parents every possible moment. I worry that I’m not living my life to the fullest (this is clearly an ongoing anxiety for me).
So what do I do? I really do love traveling with the right people and would rather not doing it alone. First world problems, I tell ya.
Family. Can’t live with ‘em, can’t kill ‘em. At some point, you gotta realize it’s okay to make your family uncomfortable. And if it means you trade a few minutes of their insanity for a new adventure, then it seems like it’s minutes worth spent. That being said, since you’re going to be in the hood, Angkor Watt is amazing. You can fly into Siem Reap, spend a day or so and skip the rest of the country.
I would LOVE to do that, but my dear friend and her parents have nixed Cambodia (“safety”). See me rolling my eyes.
how old is this friend?
29…this is why I find this situation ridiculous.
I’m so bummer we couldn’t make Chile work. I really needed it right now. Is there another time of year you can take a big trip? It sounds like you’ve got some good options, though…just not as good as me!!! Be safe wherever you decide to go to, and I’ll look forward to seeing some great photos.
Hmmm this is a pickle. There’s nothing worse than being trapped on a trip with someone who isn’t a compatible travel buddy. But I have to say that I went on a tour the first time I went to Europe and it was surprisingly fun.
Maybe the bottom line is that no matter what the circumstances, your trip will be what YOU make it. You can be annoyed if it’s not the way you like to travel, or you can look for silliness or good in the situation and try to enjoy it. You can always take a do-over with all that vacation time you have now!