My first stop was Hanoi, a city I had been to a few times. But it’s always been a transition city to either Halong Bay or Cat Ba previously. This time was also the same as I’m trying to make my way to Phong Nha National Park. That being said, with a 9 hour layover during the day, it was my chance to finally explore the city.
It’s also my first time travelling solo.. officially. I did it once when I was in Vietnam last time and my friends were leaving early to go back home. I had 3 days to myself before needing to meet up with another friend in Cambodia, so I booked the perfect 3 day tour that ended in Siem Reap, exactly where I was meant to go. This time was different though. I knew that I wanted to travel for an extended period of time and (to my demise) wasn’t able to convince find anyone to travel with me for the same duration. My options quickly turned into either travelling solo, or not travelling at all with the only obvious choice being to challenge myself to do the thing I feared the most.
What if I’m bored? What if I’m lonely?
“You’ll meet people” they said.
What if they’re weird?? I don’t want to meet weirdos..
“The best part of travelling solo is getting to do whatever you want” they said.
But I already do get to do what I always want... 🤨 (perhaps the people who travel with me do not feel the same sentiment.. lol)
What if I’m lost? “You’re an experienced traveller, you’ll figure it out!” they said.
What if I hate it? “Then you can come back home” they said.
Ha! As if..
So far, I’m not too bored, not too lonely, and have stayed away from weirdos. I don’t hate it yet, but I’m not totally sold that I’d love it less with the company of a loved one.. especially when I encountered my first little hiccup..
Cut to the chase, I missed my next flight. Yes, I had 9 hours in the city, so it wasn’t a missed connection. And yes, I got back to the airport on time (2.5 hours early for a domestic flight) so, it wasn’t traffic. I even got through security and found the gate no problem with well over an hour to spare before boarding. This one was ALL me. I just wasn’t paying attention and after hearing the announcements that many flights were delayed, I thought mine was too. Unfortunately it was not and I didn’t think to confirm this until after boarding had closed.. needless to say, I missed my first connecting flight on my first day of travel so.... guess I had to learn to roll with the punches straight from day 1. Fortunately however I didn’t have anything planned for the next day and was able to re-book my flight easily. This was a wake up call for me though for travelling solo and needing to rely solely on myself to get things done. First lesson learned. Upwards and onwards..
