2022- The end of an era :(

In November, my Camry’s transmission went out. No offense to my car, but it was not worth $2000 to fix LOL. Conveniently, I already had a trip planned to go overseas and my car broke down right before I left, so I no longer had to find somewhere to park my car for 3 months and I downsized from car to backpack.

My friend invited me to join her family trip to Vietnam, and boy don’t play with me when it comes to traveling- I will absolutely book a ticket if you’re serious. I confirmed that she was indeed serious about me coming, so I planned my next long international trip. Since my car conveniently broke down, I was able to shove the bare necessities into my giant travel backpack and start backpacking Asia. (https://youtu.be/5TPa6nCqPHw)

I’ve mentioned before in my previous international travels that when I travel overseas, I make lots of stops to get my money and time’s worth. It’s been awhile since I have traveled overseas, so I didn’t want to go too crazy with too many stops. This time I booked so I had a 23 hour layover in Seoul, South Korea. Of course, I partied in Itaewon. I wish I went to a Korean spa instead, but it was still an experience. I hope to return there for a full trip and make even better memories. From there, I went straight to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. I was then supposed to go from KL, Malaysia to Vietnam, but I kind of fucked that one up heh. I accidentally put my e-visa for Vietnam for 4 days later, and couldn’t enter the country until that exact date. So I had 4 more days to kill but I felt content with what I explored in KL. I was already at the airport and checked out of the hotel, everything packed with me… so I booked the next flight to Langkawi Island, Malaysia. There I spent most of my days, met some other travelers who told me to check out Penang Island as well. Booked a flight for a couple days there, and changed my flight to Vietnam to a later date.

Vietnam was a whole vibe, and I enjoyed staying with my friend’s family. I stayed for about a month and got a real local experience - I even attended a wedding. I partied and bonded with my friend and her siblings, and made so many great memories. I’ll write more about that later.

After Vietnam, since I no longer had my car to go back home to, and I’ve been needing and yearning to return to Australia, I thought why the fuck not. I missed my friends out there so much, and the borders are open so I booked my flight from Vietnam to Melbourne, AU. Originally, I wanted to spend New Years in AU with my friends, but my friends in Vietnam begged me to stay for New Years. Definitely no regrets, I had the best New Years of all time in Saigon.

A few days later, I left and returned to Melbourne, AU. I didn’t book a return flight anywhere since I didn’t know what I was doing with my life and ended up spending just over a month there. I had such a great time catching up with friends and also making new ones. It really felt like I lived there like a local this time. (You can see my personal life and mini vlogs in AU by subscribing to me on Instagram @nomadhippiee) I would’ve loved to stay longer, but I was definitely needing a break from traveling at this point. However, my friend from New Zealand (south island) and I have been talking about vanlifing New Zealand, both islands, and exploring it down to the core. He has an old van, but wanted to get a newer and more comfortable one. At the time, he thought he would have it together by the time I arrive, so I booked my ticket. Unfortunately he backed out last minute because he wasn’t financially comfortable (understandable, but my flight was not refundable). I was at least able to shorten my time in New Zealand to a couple weeks rather than a couple months, but I told him I'm still coming to New Zealand, and he has to show me around LOL. The last time I went to New Zealand (2019) I explored the north island, so this time I got to see the south island. We didn’t do as much as we wanted to, but we had a great time and slept 1 night in the van in the mountains. I definitely can’t wait for when the time is right and we can explore both islands together.

Finally, it was time to return home. Well I don’t really have a home anymore now that my car is gone, so I went back to my parent’s house. The next international adventure will be soon to come!