As much as I enjoy the company of my friends, there are times when I crave some alone time. I travelled a good part of Laos alone, then later Bali, and both times I really enjoyed myself. Travelling alone to a foreign place for the first time is intimidating, exhilarating and the experiences make good stories to share.

Being alone enabled me to cover more grounds than if I were to be with someone else. Last week, while I was in Tokyo, a friend and I went into the enormous Forever 21 store and somehow we managed to lose each other. After 10 minutes of searching, I sent her a text and went out of the store and explored Shibuya on my own. ALL the things I saw, from desirable looking male models to the Disney store and a Kirin beer fest that was going on at a corner of the city. Almost 3 hours later when we rendezvoused, I saw her armed with a huge bag of shopping, stating that she spent almost 2 hours in that store itself. As much as I love her, thank God I lost her.

On my way from Chiang Mai to Laos, I met 3 awesome German dudes and 3 Swedish chicks, we ended up sticking together throughout the journey. Met more awesome people along the way, made plans to conquer Vang Vieng and Vientiane together.

In Nusa Lembongan, Bali, I met a local while lazing at the resort’s infinity pool and he took me to a secret cliff diving spot. A few days later in Kuta, while the night started out with four girls from the same bunk heading to Alleycats for some pre-gaming… we met a whole bunch of awesome people there who turned out to be our hostel mates. Which meant, Mcdonald’s fries after party at the hostel lounge.

Of course there are risks when you’re a girl and travelling alone. My advise is to take care of your own belongings, don’t do anything stupid stupid (fun harmless stupid with friends is fine), keep an open mind to the endless possibilities and mishaps you could get into, take a leap of faith and trust me, once you’ve travelled alone… you’d wanna do it again.