Confessions of a Passenger Princess
If you’ve been hanging out with me, chances are you’d know that I’m a big passenger princess.
I detest the hassle of planning trips. Especially ones that require visa application with 82791 amount of paperwork (this is a very fresh spite — I just went through a shitload of paperwork for Australian visa application). Asli, kalo punya duitnya, gue akan selalu pake calo. I would pay you the big bucks to save myself from the hassle. I guess 70% of the reason why I did not apply for student exchange in undergrad — nor move forward with my never-ending desire to study abroad for Masters — was probably because I loathed paperwork and the general hassle of planning everything.
This is also true for small trips. If I went on a date, I would let the guy decide and plan our itinerary. If I went with my friends, I would let them choose the restaurant, the coffee shop, and the activities we’re going to do for the rest of the day. I’m also terrible at navigation. Those who are kind enough to pick me up will know that I am not the best at Google Maps — so they drive and navigate (sorry). A friend of mine once said, “mungkin kalo lo diculik, kayaknya bakal iya-iya aja karena beneran tinggal ngikut!” No truer words have ever been spoken.
Point is — I’m a shit EO when it comes to planning trips. I let myself be a passenger princess — because apart from the fact that I am generally lazy about making plans, perhaps it’s just a bodily reaction to cease the hyper-independent façade for once (or as I like to call it: the eldest daughter/ trophy daughter syndrome— but more on that on another piece soon).
Then, just a week ago — I had to fly alone to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam for work as part of my international rotation. A friend & a colleague of mine flew there earlier — so I wasn’t completely alone. But due to some unprecedented events and mismatched schedules — I find myself having to plan my own itinerary and explore alone. It challenged me because I had to do the two things I hated the most: (1) planning trips, and (2) going alone — which means I had to hail my own cab, navigate through short walks with Google Maps, and also be braver to engage with locals/tourists along the way, because I had no company.
(As I’m typing this, I know a lot of you must think this is cakewalk and that you probably did these things on a day-to-day basis — but for me — the self-anointed passenger princess — this is probably the equivalent of navigating the Sahara to reach the Promised Land.)
It was scary and uncomfortable at first, especially when you are in a foreign country. It is very easy for you to feel lonely and isolated by the locals, even more so if English is not their first language. But however daunting it was — I’m glad this trip forced me to get out of my comfort zone. Summarizing my proudest moments:
Exploring the City (alone)
Due to cancelled plans — I took an unplanned random stroll to explore arguably the busiest main street in Ho Chi Minh — Nguyen Hue in District 1. The explorer in me refused to stay in the hotel because of said cancelled plan— though as I sit in the cab alone (with a very grumpy and non English-speaking driver, might I add) — I trembled just a little with equal parts of excitement and trepidation.
I picked the most touristy spot as my first destination — the iconic Cafe Apartment building. It was an old building which looks a bit shady on the outside — but houses lots of iconic cafes and small local businesses. Unexpectedly, the ground floor of the said building is a big bookstore — Fahasa Bookstore. The bookworm in me was elated, of course — and this might sound a bit mushy and sentimental — but at the point where I felt a bit lost and alone, finding that bookstore feels a little bit like coming home.
So it turned out alright, even better than I expected. I rewarded myself with a nice cup of gelato afterwards — not just because I successfully navigated my first foreign stroll without getting lost, kidnapped or scammed — but for also discovering the beauty of traveling alone and that I could also be comfortable with just my own company.
Haggling at the Ben Thanh Market (also alone)
For a little bit of context, let me tell you that I am notoriously allergic to haggling. I loved taking a stroll through the market, was never afraid of a little dirt, grime, and sweltering heat — but I absolutely loathed haggling. It doesn’t seem fair for me as a customer to shell out the money to pay for the goods, while also having to do the extra work of fighting (literally) with the store owners to get the best price. I would usually just pay the first price offered because I was too lazy to haggle (and then get an earful from my Mom or my friends who told me that it was, in fact, an outrageous price to pay for whatever it is I’m buying).
But the Ben Thanh Market in Ho Chi Minh was one of the most popular places to visit, and because it was frequented by tourists, the store owners are familiar with English. Knowing that fact, I thought it was a friendlier ground for me — the clueless tourist — and boy, I couldn’t be more wrong.
The store owners were, of course, ruthless in their asking price. And precisely because the place was frequented by tourists, they know that tourists are generally more oblivious with foreign currency — and thus, easier to get scammed because they’re not familiar with the value of the said currency in comparison to theirs. I visited a stall to get myself a pack of Vietnamese coffee to bring home, and I was prepared to pay the first asking price (as per my usual lazy habit), if the price hadn’t been so outrageous. I ended up engaging in a very lengthy negotiation with the owner, and because my competitive ass cannot do anything halfway, I refuse to relent until I settled with half the original asking price.
It was nothing much, but I see it as a small win. I guess to recap the important life lesson — scammers are everywhere and you have to be brave enough to call them out. And also — practice haggling more I guess. That’s an essential life skill :’)
Booking a day tour to Mekong Delta (with new friends!)
Due to cancelled plans (again) — I find myself with a block of free time on Saturday before my flight back to Indonesia. I decided to book myself a Day Tour to Mekong Delta — around 2 hours away from Ho Chi Minh. I’ll admit, another reason for me to book the tour was because I don’t really trust myself to travel that far to Mekong Delta without getting lost, and my only emergency contact being my Line Manager (and getting lost in Mekong Delta wasn’t really the best image you would want to present to your boss).
But the tour really did turned out great. We went on a boat ride along the river, went canoeing, and had a nice meal — which was the perfect getaway without the activities being too strenuous for tourists who just wants to explore and chill. The highlight of the trip though, I befriended another tourist along the way — a Japanese girl named Mai who was on solo vacation, and a Korean guy named Jun who was a mechanical engineer on a short work trip to Vietnam. We were shy at first and the conversation is very limited due to language barrier — mostly just “wow, good!” to refer to good food, or “oh wow, so hot” to refer to the scorching heat. But however simple, it reminded me of the spark of human connection. Whatever was lost in words was compensated with genuine smiles.
All in all, it was a very wholesome trip. Albeit unexpected as a lot of these activities were the substitute of cancelled plans — I did learn the most important lesson from traveling alone: It’s really up to us to seize our own happiness. Though I was (still am) a passenger princess, I would never sit back and let cancelled plans or negative vibes ruin the trip. Going to Vietnam is a privilege, and I had to make the best out of it.
And despite everything — I’m glad I did.
