The Shy Traveller

Before I began my adventure I was a shy person with not a lot of confidence and suffered from social anxiety. I had always dreamed of travelling the world, unfortunately I was afraid to pursue it, I had lacked self confidence, courage, social and organisation skills.

My uncle would always tell the stories of his journey through Africa, South East Asia and Australia. I used to visualise his stories and began dreaming of doing it myself someday, although unlike me he was a very confident and chatty person. I always talked to my friends about it and they said that they would like to do it to, time passed and they had jobs they were not willing to leave, I was unhappy in my job and in a low point of my life so I saved up enough money and built up the courage to book it alone, which at the time felt like just throwing myself under a bridge. I booked an adventure tour for a month to Africa and 4 months of travelling alone in South East Asia, I had worked and saved working as a chef, it was a struggle but It eventually became time to pack my bags, people would judge me and say I wouldn't last a week I was willing to prove them wrong.

I arrived at Heathrow airport, checked in and said goodbye to my family. Once I got through customs I became overwhelmed with fear, within 2 minutes I left my passport and camera at the X-ray for one of the staff to call me back to tell me, I was pretty much a nervous wreck so I decided to find my gate and just wait there until my flight arrived, the plane arrives and throughout the journey I just worry that hardly anyone would be on the tour and if I forgot to do something like a pay a visa or anything. I arrived at my stop over in Doha and see a bunch of young backpackers walking around, a girl asked my if I was going Bangkok I replied with "no, I'm going Kenya" to which she had an expression of surprise and confusion, I got to my gate and did not see any other young traveller which added to the anxiety of being the only one on this trip as it is not a popular backpacking destination as South East Asia was.

I finally arrive at Kenya to find a busy atmosphere with people walking around with AK47's and my transfer nowhere to be found. after 10 minutes of searching and panicking my driver arrived. there were three people with me on the transfer but they all knew each other and spoke German amongst themselves so I was too shy to engage in conversation. I got to the hotel and went to my room wondering what the hell I was doing here.

On top of everything I had a bad stomach and suffered from constipation, I called my mum and she knew something was off with me which got her worried. the group meeting began and to my surprise was a full house of 24 people all from different countries, I felt less afraid at the time and a had few small conversations with people but as the days went on throughout the trip, people started getting along with each other while I was too shy to speak to anyone began going into my shell and started to become isolated within the group. I was also still constipated so I built up the courage to ask one girl I had previously spoke to on the bus, who was a medical student from Australia if she had anything for my stomach, being too nervous to get into detail and just explained I had a bad stomach she gave me tablets for it.

A few days went on and I am still constipated so I explained it wasn't working so she doubled the dosage and as I took them she said "that should block anything coming out", I then realised that she thought I had thought that I was suffering from diarrhoea and was giving my Imodium. the story passed around the dinner table and everyone found it hilarious so I then felt less isolated and started socialising a bit more, I would force myself to speak up and communicate knowing that if i didn't it would ruin the experience and I would regret it for the rest of my life.

As the trip went on it became the best experience of my life, Africa was such a beautiful country! driving through the Serengeti and witnessing wild animals in their natural habitat, camping in the Serengeti with animals around like Elephants, Hyenas, Lions, Buffalos, zebras and more, BBQ's in the middle of nowhere under a blanket of stars, snorkelling the paradise island of Zanzibar, lying on top and bungee jumping off the biggest waterfall in the world, playing with the kids in the village of Malawi, drinking in the bars of Africa, Campfires on the beach and finally coming out of my shell it was the best time of my life and advise everyone to travel Africa because the rest of the trip did not compare.

Saying my goodbyes I left Africa to set out for a stop over in Dubai for a couple days, I arrived at Abu Dhabi airport a lot more confident this time. Although I knew the rest of the rest of the trip would consist of me being alone without a group or set out Itinerary, I was also stressed because my phone had shutdown and I had lost some of the videos and photos on there, I also had a problem withdrawing any money because my bank did not know that I was in Dubai until the day after.

I was stuck in the airport without money and a phone to contact from, on top of all things my bag was lost and not arrived on the conveyer belt, I was worried it may have been left in Johannesburg airport.

Instead of panicking and stressing myself out I told the staff and they had found my bag in the luggage section and then I tried another cashpoint and my money was coming out, I got to my hotel in Dubai and charged my phone in the computer and it came back on, things were looking up.

I enjoyed Dubai and did not expect to meet anyone, but met a girl from Germany and travelled my short period of time there with her.

I was more confident and socially improved, that all changed when I arrived in Bangkok. Hearing all the stories of people getting ripped off I thought I would be prepared but I instantly did by getting a luxury car from the airport which I thought was a taxi and paying a lot of money because I didn't understand the currency, once I checked my travel guide I realised that I had been ripped off by paying 10x as much as I should of.

I got to Koh San Road, to my hotel, I got harassed by people trying to sell my suits or people trying to give me lifts in tuk-tuks, it was overwhelming and the anxiety came back, I felt less confident again.

My friends had booked a couple weeks to meet me in Thailand so I travelled away from the hustle and bustle of Bangkok and booked a train to Koh Samui, I should note that I booked an economy class train to avoid being ripped off again which was a bad idea because I was on a hot, sweaty train with one fan slowly turning around and an old woman next to me sprawled out digging her elbows into me, it wasn't the best way I've spent Christmas eve.

I arrived at my hostel and met people in my room, if you are travelling alone I highly recommend staying in a hostel, its the best way to meet people and learn information on where to go and what to do. I hired a scooter and struggled to ride it because I was so nervous, the owner of the hostel helped me. I met a guy from Switzerland who I went to the full moon party with and a great time with, I met two Canadians who I drove my scooter with to the street food night market, I met a guy from Brazil who I did a boat tour with and kayaked with, Its safe to say I had no social problems anymore.

By the time I met my friends from back home, I was more confident and they noticed that, I had an amazing time in Thailand with them from scuba diving, jungle parties, boat tours around the beauty of Koh Phi Phi, climbing canyons, cleaning elephants, snorkelling with sharks and turtles, visiting ancient temples and watching sunsets from a bar on top of a mountain. I then said my goodbyes to them and started my adventure around the rest of South East Asia.

I started my travels alone for the 3 months remaining of my journey, although I never once was alone.

I instantly met a few people which formed into a group of us travelling throughout Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Philippines and experienced things such as tubing, blue lagoons, war museums, temples, amazing beaches, boat tours, camyoning, kayaking, ziplining, caving, snorkelling with aluminous planktons, Cu Chi tunnels, Waterparks, Seeing the views of all the beautiful rice fields, exploring Angkor wat, learning of the tragic killing fields, River Safaris, watching baby sea turtles hatch, jungle treks, homestays, eating street food, swimming with whale sharks, waterfalls and sunsets and meeting more people everyday.

Its a different life and it changes your perspective on life, by the time I experienced all that and got to Bangkok a second time I was completely different and way more confident.

If you suffer from social anxiety I cant stress enough how much travelling will help you and make you happier in life. It takes a lot of courage and a bit of saving but once you do it you will see the improvements and benefits.

If I can do it I'm sure any of you can!