6 Things I Learned During the 4-day Island Hopping Experience
It’s been almost 6 years since I experience this 4-day Island hopping. Until now, it is one of my best travel memories to look back on. I think it’s because this trip was when I rediscover my love of travel and meeting new people. It helped me widen my perspective and experience new things out of my comfort zone.
It made such a huge impact on me and I want to share some of the things I learned during that trip.
P.S. The lessons below were written almost 5 years ago. These were all my reflections after the trip.
1. No one cares about your look.
I’m not saying that I put all of my effort into my everyday looks, and after this adventure, I realize I was just wasting my time looking like a doll. No!
What I’m saying is, looking presentable still needs effort, right? And it’s not bad to look good.
Anyway, my point is…..during the trip, it was all about the adventure. No one cared how everyone looked. The most important thing is we were enjoying what we’re doing.
Fun Fact: The truth is, I only comb my hair once during the entire 4 days. Now, please don’t judge me.
2. Cooking skill is a must.
Now, this is embarrassing. I know that being a girl, I should know how to cook. I’m sorry I did not meet your expectations. Anyway, I feel bad because I never contributed to this part during the trip. At least I helped wash the dishes. 😛 Let me say this. I’m pretty impressed with how my group mates still manage to cook every morning, even if they were up all night getting drunk.
3. Stereotyping is not good.
Admit it. All of us do this. And this is absolutely wrong. I met a lot of amazing people and I hate myself for judging them on how they do things. I learned that self-awareness is important in identifying this kind of tendency.
4. It’s okay to unplug.
During the entire trip, I ought to disconnect from social media. Knowing that it is part of my daily routine. I realize that it is okay to unplug for a while. I mean not just okay. It was the best decision I made. I enjoyed it more and appreciated my surroundings even better. You should try it!
5. Planning is good, but spontaneity is better.
In every travel, planning is a good idea. Listing the places where to go, and looking forward to what activities to do. However, it is always better to make it flexible and be spontaneous.
We can’t control everything and the best way to enjoy traveling is to be with the present. Being spontaneous is not really a problem for me. I’m mostly spontaneous, but I relearned it again during the island hopping experience that it is always a better idea.
We were 28 during the trip and some want to stick to the itinerary even though we don’t have much time. We didn’t go to specific falls, but we went to another island. For me, it was better than the original itinerary.
6. Being friends with strangers is easy.
The island hopping was an event in a Facebook group called Outdoorsman’s Hub. In the description, there’s a sentence “ALWAYS Remember – Good Friends were once STRANGERS.” I learned a lot of things from them. They shared their own stories and perspective in life. It was amazing how everyone came from different places, work from different jobs, with different backgrounds.
After the activity, we met and hang out as friends do. I’m glad I met these incredible people with the same passion that I have. Traveling.
Traveling is one of the best ways to learn new things. You’ll discover more about yourself. So what did you learn from your past travels?
jojisilia
Before the pandemic, I used to travel a lot. I do agree with you that looking good doesn’t really matter since you are not trying to impress anyone. Spontaneity is important when you travel because not everything goes as planned. Talking to strangers can also be fun because that’s where you discover interesting stories.
Jullian
I couldn’t imagine doing a 4-day island hopping trip! It wouldn’t be viable for me since I would wanna do some creative work while being inspired by the beach or something. 🙂
GJ Perino
Just Like me I really love travelling it helps me to boost my self-awareness in every human characters. Travelling is my stress reliever
Reck Adventures
“Being friends with strangers is easy.” I agree with this especially when you are trekking. I met a lot of people with the different personality, different culture and different interests but it turn out we are on the same vibe. Trekking and travelling brought me a lot of self-awareness and satisfaction in life. It made me realized things that I couldn’t possibly think of while at home.
deercharisma
Traveling feeds the soul! I totally agree that spontaneity is the mother of all that is good and wonderful! ahhhh the place looks stunning!
armiegarde
I couldn’t agree more on this, Roneth, even if item number 2 made me laugh hard (because I don’t have that skill at all, hahaha). I miss traveling so much!
Anjville - Travel Blogs and More
Indeed, I agree to all of these learning especially the last part! I love spontaneity which I usually do when I was out to travel in a longer period of time (ranges from one month to two years). Hahah! I always look forward to learn how the locals do their daily living. I also do the same thing – once I tried being a waitress in Brunei for 5 hours, and a travel guide in Malaysia to a group of Malaysian students. I miss doing all these stuff!