A Final Word (for now...)

10am. Warsaw Chopin Airport. After downing my most expensive meal of my trip at the airport breakfast bar (there's really no point hanging on to my few remaining zloty's, is there?). Waiting for my flight home.

I need to credit my trusted companions on this trip. When you travel by yourself, your belongings become very dear to you. They became the only recognizable constant on the road. My large 70L MEC  backpack, part of almost every trip I have taken for the past decade at least, has been a warrior, and probably near its last leg (the rubber on the lining seems to be rubbing off bit by bit, leaving me with sticky residue on my hand every time I reach in to get something). I've been meaning to get a newer, lighter one , which will probably happen after this trip. My Evercase side messenger bag, which I got just days before my trip in order to house my new camera, has been somewhat awkward but functional. For the most part, it's good enough for the job. And my shoes, for I do a LOT of walking when I travel, was "mostly" comfortable in the Converse Chuck Taylor II that my brother got me. It's light and squish-able, so it's backpack-friendly. Finally, my D500 has been simply amazing. I got a barely used unit (together with the 16-80mm F2.8-4 VR Nikkor AF-D Dx that I wanted) off a Facebook buyer just days before my trip. I've been able to do things that my old D80 (which I've had or more than a decade now) could never accomplish. The ISO capabilities is simply stunning, and the imaging processing and lens sharpness together with the image stabilization powers of the VR is unmatched. The wifi / Bluetooth connection to my phone, although somewhat fidgety at times, was a great convenience, for I chose to travel simply with my iPhone and iPad Mini this time and no computer. I'm looking forward to many years of use with this baby. It's a hell of a camera.

And a word about travelling alone. I love it. It's not like I don't like travelling with others. I've had numerous amazing bonding experiences with good friends in many wonderful places. Cycling the Great Wall with Kenny and eating questionable meat skewers in Xian is something we still talk about to this day. My medical school graduation trip backpacking through SE Asia with Lawrence, Queenie, and BK was a friendship defining moment. A few years ago, our road trips with Doris and Olly has always stood among one of the most fun, goofy trips I've taken. The key is obviously a good travel buddy. Someone who is equally adaptive, laid back, goofy, silly, soulful, and equally importantly, cheap and likes to walk or bike everywhere. But perfect buddy or not, it is a completely different experience to travel alone, and in my opinion, everyone should try it. In fact, if you are not careful, it can become quite addictive. My friends always look at my funny when I tell them I'm going somewhere alone. They look at me with pity eyes as if I have no friends willing to go with me. But I told them it's not. It's because I love it. Travelling alone is when you can really get back in touch with yourself a little bit, and in the busy lives that we all live in our day to day work, that isn't such a bad thing. You have plenty of time to think, to reflect, and in some cases, to just tune out. You do not have to entertain, to be overly social when you wish not to be. And when you see something beautiful, yes there is that naturally inclination to want to share, but you quickly realizes it's just you, and it's up to you to make sense of what you are seeing before your eyes. When you are on your own, there are the naturally highs and lows of travel. There are days when you feel lonely, or isolated, because you wanted to share (social media, thankfully, has largely allowed us to overcome this a little bit more). But that's when you gradually allow yourself to come out of the shell a little bit, to say hi to strangers, to smile, to make eye contact, and to just talk and most importantly, listen to their stories. I've met loads of wonderful and inspiring people that way. People from all walks of life (this trip alone I've med fellow backpackers in the form of students, lawyers, doctors, people in IT, an ICU pharmacist, retired teachers, and a German girl who's been travelling for over a year on her little converted moped) whom for their own little reasons, taken to travel either among just few friends or by themselves. That I why I love hostels so much. In an hostel, you are just among other liked minded individuals. You share, you connect, and there is no obligation to carry on unless you thoroughly enjoy their company. It can be a bit unsettling, because sometimes you spend days developing a beautiful connection only to walk away with a wave of the hand or a nod of the head, mutually acknowledging, that you may never see each other again. Some I've missed dearly ever since and still think about from time to time. In the past I've kept up with them somewhat on Facebook, but more and more I feel there is little point. When normal life moves back in, we seldom felt able to maintain these connections any longer. Perhaps I could try a little better job at that. But for the most part, they just live in little spots I've made for them within my heart. I wish all of them well, my fellow travellers. And I hope I never lose this drive to venture out on my own, or perhaps one day with a very similarly liked mind individual. And if one day, somebody looks at you funny and question why you are travelling by yourself, please don't let that dismay you, and go anyway. You will be glad you did, and you may never be the same.

Thank you to those who have been reading up on my travel adventures. Hope you enjoyed them. They are mainly for me to self reflect on my journeys, and to share some thoughts I have acquired during my trips. Can't way to process all my photos when I get home. Will keep you posted. See some of you on the other side of the globe.

Logistics:

Day 1: fly into Liubljana, Slovenia.
Day 2: Stay in Liubljana (Hostel Tresor, ~$33cdn/night, central location, small but clean enough, lacked an inspiring common area and kitchen to socialize, simple beds, but met my favourite roommate there. :) ).
Day 3: Tour Liubljana
Day 4: Day trip to Piran. Local long distance bus, brought online before, 3 hrs each way, an afternoon is enough for Piran.
Day 5: Travel to Budapest. Flixbus, brought online, about 6 hrs with several stops, comfortable ride (Wombat's City Hostel, ~$30cdn/night, great central location in Pest, close to night life but also city core, large chain, clean enough, party atmosphere with large social room and kitchen, poor internet connection).
Day 6 and 7: See Budapest. Highly recommends various yellow umbrella "free" walking ours.
Day 8: Travel to Bratislava. Bus with RegioJet, brought online, about 3 hrs, great comfortable bus with attendant service. (Dream Hostel Bratislava, ~$20cdn/night, chain hostel, close to TRAIN station, but 15-20 min walk to old town, very new, VERY CLEAN and superior bed to most, very comfortable common area, smaller scale).
Day 9: Travel to Kraków by train (you already read about this). (Ginger ApartHostel, ~22cdn/night, about 15 min walk to old town but still close enough as other big hotels like Novotel or Ibis is right here as well, very new, VERY CLEAN with amazing showers / bathrooms, offers full nice breakfast, only has larger dorm rooms (8 to 10 ppl)).
Day 10, 11, 12: Play Krawkow, highly recommend the Jewish Quarter walking tour. Also took day trip to Wroclaw (see associated post). Long day, 3 hr bus ride each way, via PolskiBus, booked online with reserved seating).
Day 13: Travel to Warsaw. Train 3 hrs, booked online because it's an inter-city train. (Warsaw Downtown Hostel, ~$20cdn/night, about 30 minutes walk to old town, maybe 20 minutes to main train station, small, a little cramped, clean but slightly older, but nice social atmosphere with nightly events to bring people together).
Day 14: Fly back home!