Finding a new path in Myanmar

Near Inle Lake, Myanmar

Traveling to Myanmar changed the way I think about travel.

I have traveled many ways: with friends, to visit friends, and by myself. This partly reflects how I prefer to, even while going to a place I have never been before and know little about, stick with what I know. I am either with people I know and trust, or if I am alone, I have myself, the person who I know and who knows me best. 

I was invited to join someone on a trip to Myanmar; it wasn't a trip I had been planning for myself. At the time, I was more interested in returning home, to see my friends and family who I had missed after a year abroad. However, this trip had a great impact on me, and I cannot imagine where I would be had I not gone to this beautiful country. 

Being the slightly closed-off-emotionally person that I can be, I was intimidated at first by the hostel experience we met in Myanmar. I like to socialize, but I am naturally more at ease with my friends, or with strangers who are at a gathering of my friends. I know we already have something in common. What I failed to realize at first, but quickly got wise to, is that by traveling in Myanmar, everyone in this hostel already had something in common. 

All I had to do was sit down outside and say hello to someone to begin a connection. Traveling in Myanmar is a special experience, because everyone there has that unique predilection to explore a country so recently opened to tourism, and therefore not as developed and lacking some Western comforts. I never felt deprived though. On a three-day trek from Kalaw to Inle Lake, there was no phone service or electricity. While the thought of being without a connection for so long was initially stressful, once I let myself be immersed in nature and wonder at the incredible beauty of my surroundings, I was able to let go of all the stresses and just be. We had the most amazing and fresh food, ate our dinners by candlelight, and were totally in the moment. It was especially wonderful to be part of such a fantastic group of people, who although we all met at the beginning of the trek, I was sad to say goodbye to only 72 hours later. It is incredible the type of bonding and sense of community you can develop in a short time, especially with no option but to participate, as there were no screens to retreat into.

Myanmar has many well-known destinations, and most people follow a path around the country one way or the other, so you are constantly criss-crossing and meeting up with people. We were sitting in a boat on Inle Lake with some people from our trekking group, when who rows by next to us but our roommates from our hostel in Bagan from a week before? And after trekking for three days, we exhaustedly collapsed into our room to find another friend from Bagan, who had helped me sort through a little personal crisis I was having there. She invited us to dinner with someone she had met that day, who I ended up being able to see again when I visited Amsterdam, the city where she lives. And on my last day in Yangon, as I was in a taxi to the airport, the girl who I was sharing it with told me about how she likes to volunteer abroad. I decided to check out the website she used, which lead me to six months later being on a one-way flight to Casablanca.  

This trip opened my mind to a different way of thinking. This, and other experiences I have had recently, helped me to realize that I so enjoy traveling when I am with friends and family or going to visit them. It is about making memories together, not just visiting somewhere for the sake of it. When I choose new destinations, I am thinking about the value that experience can add to my life. Even if there is no one to join me, I will still travel somewhere alone if it is important to me. I know that someone will be waiting for me there who thought the same thing. 

love,

greer