Chasing Amy-Lou

Hoi An, Vietnam:

Yesterday was a pretty big day. My exposure to the sun had been more than I’d needed and I woke with achy shoulders, my body a little weary, my throat groggy, and in need of a day of relaxation.

Without realising it, travelling can take an almighty toll on your physical and mental health – especially if during the excitement and desire to do and see everything you forget to give yourself a little respite. Today was my respite day. And I planned to go to the beach.

Now everyone knows that plans can often change, especially when you travel without an itinerary. And even though I did eventually make it to the beach (albeit at 5pm just as the sun was beginning to make its way down therefore rendering me unable to begin any sort of decent tanning session), I spent the majority of the day cycling round the old city, browsing the markets, drinking expensive coffee, attempting to blog, chewing the fat of life with strangers and new friends, and pondering my next moves.

While frantically trying to edit some photos over a pricey flat white I got chatting to a lady from Albany, Western Australia. Like me, she too was a solo traveller but I got the impression she would’ve preferred to have been travelling with a companion of some sort.

As the conversation flowed she explained that since her kids were of an age where they could take care of themselves, she felt able to travel without having to take them with her. It was just a shame that none of her friends could join her on this trip. She continued telling me that the night times were the loneliest for her as she was uncomfortable going out for dinner alone. I asked her where she usually stayed, and found that she was partial to choosing budget hotels over hostels. Using my ‘youthful’ knowledge and a bit of backpacking wisdom I suggested that next time she travelled to maybe consider a homestay, if only for a couple of nights – it would provide her with a group of people to converse and share stories with and she would never be alone in the evening.

Sharing advice like this, and chatting to people from all walks of life really seals the lid on the essence of travelling. Most people travel to get the best experiences and immerse themselves in local culture. Some people travel to escape life; some to run towards it. Some people travel to get the perfect photograph and the best stories. And all these are great. And I get these too, but what I find with travelling is that not only do I get a sense of having had my eyes opened to the wider world, but it’s the fact I get to meet people along the way; it’s the imparting of advice or information; it’s the connections you make in a short space of time; but most of all it’s about helping others, whether that be physically, with practical advice, or just having the right words for that one person at the right time.

When the lady from Albany left, a new friend from my homestay, Joe, came to meet me around 2pm and we discussed travel and our lives back home; and we shared memories of our individual times in Australia and spoke about work and the future. And the theme continued when we both returned to the homestay later that evening. A few others joined us for a family dinner and a couple of beers, and it was there that we all carried on talking – about politics and religion, money, power, humour and satire.

It was wonderful to hear such colourful stories and to talk so freely about sensitive or controversial subjects. It’s as if there were no inhibitions that night, and everyone’s opinion was valid, and no subjects were barred from conversation.

And we enjoyed it – the debates and the back and forth. But I suppose that’s what travelling helps you to do. It helps you to see life, the world, politics, religion, love…whatever it may be…it helps you to see all these things from a perspective other than your own.