Note: this is a “mood of the moment” note. Our regular programme will resume after this. 🙂

August 31, 2024. I am writing this note in my flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Sydney, Australia. Yesterday was a special day, as Dimitri took his flight back home and onboarded for a 24-hour journey back to Germany where our friends were waiting for him (shout out to Maité, Jess, Quentin and Yoann ❤️). We spent the last 6 months of our lives 24/24 together and coming back to our hotel room in Kuala Lumpur without him felt utterly odd.

This concludes the first part of our trip: 6 months travelling in Asia, as a couple.

The past 6 months flew by. I had been dreaming about this world travel for 10 years and I am bewildered about how fast this first part went. There have been many “first” for me. Hence this personal wrap-up, to see how far I have come and to come back to it in 4 months from now to witness my further growth. Seasoned travelers might find it silly but we all have to start somewhere, right? 😉

First time travelling outside of the Western world

I mentioned it in my early articles: before this trip, I had never traveled outside of the Western world. I knew my home country, I had explored some parts of Europe, enjoyed the magnificent Guadeloupe (Dimitri, this is for you) and spent a summer in Canada (hello Marc and Christine 👋). Compared to some, it was already a lot; compared to many Europeans my age, I felt anything but adventurous.

I am fully conscious that traveling has been turning more and more into a rush for experience over the past 50 years and the very notion of travel should be reshaped into a more sustainable approach. Still. I was aware that I knew nothing about the world, that I was heavily biased by my upbringing in France and that there were wonders to discover outside of my comfort zone.

India was the first country where we landed. I truly believe that we were right to do so, as I couldn’t picture a better way to discard our prejudices and to open our mindsets. I was useless when we ordered a rickshaw / tuktuk the first time, in fear of scamming, and just followed Dimitri’s lead. I still remember the night before taking my first night bus: I was paralyzed with fear after hearing some comments from local friends and reading some more online. I was wary of unsanitary food and always wondered how clean everything was.

You should have seen me after one month! Negotiating with drivers and stopping them firmly if they ever were trying to trick us; traveling through the country with train and bus and enjoying the experience; exploring the depths of the wonderful Indian cuisine – and, yes, getting sick at times.

I wrote at the time in my diary that “fear” was a word that I used a lot; now that I think about it, I don’t recall using it once in the past months.

I have been busy living instead. 🤸🏻‍♀️

First time experiencing Asian cultures

Two years ago, I had had very little contact with the Asian continent, outside from work. I had never spent time learning about the different cultures, I knew some basics but that was it. It was not Dimitri’s case and he was so right when he pushed for us to start our trip in Asia instead of Latin America – that was my initial intent, as the Latin world was closer to my culture. Getting a glimpse of Asia over these 6 months has left me hungry for more.

Once I got rid of my first wall of prejudices, I kept my eyes and my ears wide open. Wanting to learn was by the way the reason why we significantly overspent in India, where we hired many guides. It forced us to be much more careful with our money after, but it was worth it. We had a slow traveling rhythm and our days were dramatically less packed than “short term” travelers’; I have seen and learnt so much though, that I feel that my sense of beauty has expanded over the months.

We watched documentaries before our trip. During our trip, I read a lot. Books, articles, even Reddit and Quora threads have given me highly valuable tools to understand a bit more the core values of  the religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism or even Islam, the behaviors considered normal such as the (in)famous Indian stare, the challenges faced by the country like Thailand and its war on drugs or acceptance of sex work.

I don’t want to enter into the uneasy rambling of “the privileged white person discovers the world”. Let’s just say that I am leaving Asia with my eyes full of stunning temples and dramatic landscapes we admired, my heart full of the friendliness of the people we met, my belly full of the delicious food we tasted… and my back sore of buildings and means of transportation made for people usually half my height. 📏

First time backpacking for a long time with a partner

Traveling with your loved one can be an unfortunate experience. We met two women who had started their trips with their partners and had split up mid way, which shadowed their once-in-a-life-time traveling adventure. I am very fortunate to testify that it has not been our case. At all. Traveling together for 6 months has been delightful, and I would do it again any time.

As a couple, you are a team. We could share our joy in front of natural wonders and fine monuments. We stuck together in the sometimes weird situations and gave each other strength to keep on “trusting the process”. As a woman, it also meant that Dimitri protected me against unwanted attention. We had each other backs in the low moments. We took care of the other when they were sick. We have had time to talk about our hopes, dreams and projects for the future. All in all, this trip has strengthened our bond.

I read a rather funny article before the beginning of our trip, which mentioned that couples traveling together should brace themselves for the most gruesome situations and conversations. 100% true. Traveling is tough on the body and regular check-ins with your partner are essential. This includes talking about digestion and poo, which is a topic that was new to us even after years of living together. Building your day itinerary based on the quality of your toilets moments is a skill that you develop as you go.

Having your life belongings fitting in one backpack is also a great reminder that the goods don’t matter, only the relations that you build along the way do. I try not to be too materialistic but the consumption society we live in makes it hard. Sticking to our beloved 45-L and 50-L backpacks for months has been so refreshing. Within one month, Dimitri and I only needed 10 minutes to be fully packed and to be on our merry way. Yes, most of our clothes ended up ruined because of stains and the likes; yes, we had to top up with a few buys but overall, we were not stylish and it was OK. That’s fine: nobody believes Instagram anymore anyway. 📸

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I am posting this article from Sydney, Australia. I will be posting soon the last articles on Malaysia and then we move to the part 2 of our world trip: Elise in Oceania and in Latin America!🎒A whole new way to travel and whole new worlds to discover…