20 Oct 2013

Europe Trip Update 20: What have I learned from the trip...Part 2

Salam guys, yeah  I know, it has been so long, but in my defense, I'm just overwhelm with workload, and even I need to do my work during weekends  and not to mention have family function last week so my hands are tied up. So here I am continue with the second part of my updates.

6. Trust your guts - Yep, sometimes when you are alone, there is nothing to trust but your guts, although sometimes your guts make you lost in the middle of the night. I know it takes courage to go to foreign country for the first time and alone, but you got to do what you got to do. You have to believe that you can do it and pray a lot. That's what makes you go through beyond your limit. So, now you can believe that you have good guts and they guide you along the way. To tell the truth, I never feel unsafe during my journey except maybe in Paris but thank god nothing happen. I remember, after getting down from Eiffel Tower, I was alone to go to the village by myself taking the train. I just have to act out like I'm local and on my daily routine to go somewhere. Of course you just watch up for anyone, but I did enjoy the 45 minutes train ride. If you scare to do something, then you can't go anywhere, period. Just trust your guts, trust me.

7.  Take your time - Sometimes, in the rush, you forgot to enjoy the time you have there.  You know, busy taking picture or taking someone's picture and you forget that you are on the Swiss Alps mountain. After all the locomotion, it is good to take time, soak the sun and enjoy the scenery. I really love it when I was on top of Jungfrau. It is the whitest place I've ever seen and I even lay down on the sun to see the sun and fell the coldness of snow on my back. You will never get that feeling ever again. I also love the time in Paris, you can still hear you know the "Paris song" that always playing in the movies or Ratatouille. I do feel romantic there with all the small cafes, sipping coffees, I just wish I can do it again.  Sincerely, the place I miss the most is Fussen. I don't know perhaps with the cold weather and looking at the castle, it just bring a lot of satisfaction, I fulfill my dream. I love walking around the Alpsee and seeing people with camera hang loosely and fell so secure. I really wish to go there again.

8. Learn something new - Like people say, travel is like reading a thousand books. I learn new culture, new language "parlez-vous anglais" and even I learn about "khuf wudhu" and it is taking wudhu and then you wear something like stocking and you no need to take wudhu again, unless, you take off the stockings. This is taught by the Med students from Galway. You can get more info from here: http://www.al-azim.com/masjid/infoislam/ibadat/khuf.htm

I also learn more about people, nurses from Saudi Arabia, who some of them are still young and travel away from the beloved country and family to work in foreign country. I admired them, I don't know if I can do that. I also learn about myself, I can use public toilets, yeah before this, seriously, I think in my previous posts I do mentioned I don't like to use public toilets, except for emergency and there's not so much public toilets that I approved.. But after the trips, I learn to use them and actually, it is not that bad. So, I think my bladder will thanks me a lot.

9. Document everything - Other than taking photos, I also bring travel journal as photos below. It was a gift from colleague of mine. I wrote my feeling for the journey and getting the addresses, postcards to send to and comments from other travel buddies. Every night, after the journey I will took some time to write it. Sometimes, I wrote it in the bus while looking through the window. It is not only help you to write the blog updates, it also captures the true moment of the feeling of that time. Sometimes, when I read the journal, it just bring back all the memories, and you feel like you are there. I also kept all the receipts, tickets and info and planning to do scrapbook, yeah one day.

10.  Enjoy yourself - I mean that is important lesson. You work hard, save your money for the trip and you should enjoy it. I learn that you can budget, but sometimes, you want to try something new, like eat waffles in Belgium, eating fries while shopping in the village outlet or sipping coffee in Paris, yes it will cost a lot, buy you can't buy the experience elsewhere, why not invest for the experiences? That is why you travel for, right? If we are thinking about the budget or fear of someone snatching your camera, you are not able to enjoy yourself. You also need to enjoy the people around you, if you come with friend and just the two of you, then you can get much experience of getting to know someone new. Trust me, I didn't think about my work and even after I came back, I think my IQ has dropped a little bit until my boss said I need to wake up and re-focus. Sorry boss.

So once a travel bug, it always will be. So now I fulfill my dream trip and now what? Seriously, I have a hard time to figure out where to go next. I also have some dilemma like what is my life goal now? Seriously, I don't know. I am a little bit lost on what to do now. Should I wait for my prince charming to come and swept me away or should I go for another adventure to find myself? I still thinking and will update once I got it. So after this more boring updates of my life and hoping you guys still want to read them.

Thank you for taking your times to read my Europe updates and if you have comments please write them and if you want to go for travel, can I follow? I will be good partner, I swear!


My travel journal...

Yep, some notes...

Wrote the travel plan inside...

Postcard for friends








5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello.
Can i know how much was your total expenses during the trip in europe? (including the flight ticket,accommodation, entrance fee and shopping)

Thank you!

saerah80 said...

Flight Ticket (KL-Munich-London-KL) = RM 4000.
Tour = RM 2500
Accommodation = RM 2500
Transportation = RM 1000
Shopping + Entrance Ticket~ RM 4000

So I guess around RM 14000, but this is for one person. I guess if you travel for 2, the budget for accommodation will be lesser.

Anonymous said...

Hello! Thank you for blogging about your Europe trip with Kelana Convoy. I enjoyed reading them! :D. I plan to take a tour with KC and am wondering how equipped are the cabins? Do they provide pillows/basic cooking utensils (kettle, pots, forks & spoons etc) in the cabins? Or do we need to pay extra for those? Tqvm in advance!

saerah80 said...

Hi Anonymous,

Thank you for reading my blog. Most of the times I stayed in tent and only stay in cabins in Belgium. In Belgium the cabins has is quite big and has provide basic pillows and cooking utensils. As for others Im'm not sure but from what I gather cabins are for sleeping matte. Don't worry about cooking as KC Crews will cook fresh for us.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for your feedback on the cabins!

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