As a reporter for The Star that covers topics on travel, tourism and hospitality, I’ve had the chance to visit many wonderful destinations over the years. The travel experiences – from touring the most active volcano in New Zealand to staying at a haunted hotel in Louisiana, in the United States – had certainly been surreal and exciting.
But beyond visiting exotic locales and staying at fancy hotels, it’s the human connections formed during these trips that have made the most lasting impressions on me.
Despite being introverted by nature, I found it easy to make new friends while travelling – many whom I still keep in touch with today.
Maybe it’s the temporary disassociation of our everyday identity at home that makes it easier to form connections (I’ve introduced myself as “Benjamin” on many taxi rides abroad). When we’re on the road, I’d like to believe we are often our most exciting selves.
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Or it could be that people are generally happier when they’re travelling, making them friendlier and more approachable. After all, psychologists agree that people are more likely to open up when they’re feeling at ease.
Personally, I think it boils down to being in unfamiliar situations and finding a friendly face who could help make the novelty of a foreign place a little less scary.
I was staying in a filthy backpacker hotel in Australia’s Gold Coast in Queensland when I met Hideaki in 2017. Just when I mulled checking out and forfeiting my payment, this friendly Japanese exchange student invited me to play a game of pool with him at the common room.
Meeting Hideaki definitely made the stay more bearable. We ended up touring Surfers Paradise (one of the more popular seaside tourist attractions in the Gold Coast) and getting meals together over the next few days.
Some years later, I would introduce Hideaki to durian and mamak restaurants when he visited me in Kuala Lumpur.
On another occasion, I had been completely overwhelmed by the crowd when I visited Hong Kong for the first time.
Fortunately, I was travelling with two other journalists – Lean Hooi and Jie Yin – who are seasoned visitors to the city.
Both of them had been kind enough to bring me on a quick tour around the city. And we immediately bonded over wanton noodles and milk tea.
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I also think friendships formed while travelling are extra special because of the shared experiences over a short period of time.
On group tours especially, you’re in the company of the same people throughout the day for the duration of the trip. In this intense setting, bonds are rapidly formed. And in the absence of daily work and life commitments, people become instant friends.
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Such was the case with the friends that I’ve made at the Asean Travel Journo Camp in Thailand, which involves journalists from around the region. Despite coming from different cultural backgrounds, all of us became buddies immediately.
I’m still in contact with Sui (from Thailand), Jessica (from Indonesia), TJ and Don (both from the Philippines). In fact, the Filipino boys are always urging me to visit them in Manila.
Granted, not all travel relationships last. Some of mine ended when we parted ways at the airport. As for those friendships that I’ve managed to keep, they had been some of my best highlights as a travel writer.
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