The past three months after graduation have been spectacular. It was definitely a very different three months that I have ever experienced and one that I will hold the memories of dearly. I think this whole year seemed to have prepared me for the three months of travelling; by taking the cultural intelligence elective, it has opened a whole new world of travelling to me. While travelling in America, I was told the difference between ‘holidaying’ and ‘travelling’, something that I never really used to draw a distinct line to separate, to me, it was the same – as long as I was on a plane to another country, I was on a holiday. But now I realised that I am more of a traveller than a holiday-er (or maybe it’s too soon to say this since I have yet to experience the stressful life of work and therefore do not appreciate lazing around a resort). I enjoy seeing and learning the culture of different countries, it’s something that I find extremely interesting and unique. I remember just a few months ago, I was complaining to my friends that this world is too small and that there is nowhere on this planet earth that I want to visit anymore. Oh my was I naive, I admit I was superficial and acted like a typical Singaporean; the main aims of visiting a country were to go shopping and get my passport stamped. I have been to most of Asia, but have I really travelled to these places? Maybe. Maybe not. I think my mindset has changed, and I am glad it has while I’m still young and still have the chance to travel to these places once again with a new perspective and aim. I’m glad I did that this summer, and it really been travelling very special.

During the cultural intelligence class, the professor stressed the four dimensions of CQ – motivation, knowledge, strategy and action. At first I thought it was fluff and I couldn’t really draw it to my travel experiences because I went for all the tourist traps and spent my time in malls. But as the class proceeded and I interacted with my Canadian and European group mates, I started to appreciate the CQ dimensions better. I admit, my CQ motivation was pretty low at first, I figured out that I was such an experienced traveller that I knew how most cultures worked and why bother getting to know them. But when I started my travelling in Europe, I realised that my knowledge of Europe was pathetic. For me, I think my CQ motivation starting kicking in when I started living and interacting in a community of Europeans. Seeing the way they led their lives and socialise was very eye-opening, something that I had yet to see for myself firsthand and probably hardly ever saw a Singaporean doing the same. After pacing outside one of the Amsterdam pubs for a long while, we finally mustered the courage and joined the pub crawl. At first, we acted like typical Singaporeans and sat to ourselves, drinking our Coronas while everyone else mingled around and talked as if they were best friends from their previous lives. Pam and I thought to ourselves that they were so weird and how could they talk so openly to strangers. In Singapore, in a social setting like this, firstly, most Singaporeans would never join a pub crawl with strangers, secondly, even if they do, they would just sit with their friends in a corner and ignore the rest of the world. Yes that’s us, typical Singaporeans. But being ever so adventurous, Pam dragged me to socialise with the ang mohs. It was really weird for me because I don’t usually talk to strangers at pubs and making small talk was well, tiring. But it didn’t turn out that bad because we befriended this Aussie guy we met earlier in the day tour, and he introduced us to different people in the crawl. That was my first experience talking to random strangers in a pub. My second experience followed soon that very night. Moving on to the next pub, Pam and I decided to grab some fries, so we squeezed into some seats where some IT guys started talking to us. I was a little worried at first because my impression of a random guy chatting you up at a pub usually doesn’t lead to anywhere good. But those guys were really nice and were there just to have a decent chat. They probably had as little knowledge of Singapore as we had of Europe, so talking about cultural differences was a good conversation starter. At least I learnt something that night – the capital of Poland is also called Russia.

Travelling in Europe was really a test of endurance and strength. Most people I know backpacked in Europe. I thought that was insane – backpack?? Well, but after travelling there, maybe it’s not that bad an idea after all even though I still prefer my trolley bag. I am proud to say that I travelled around Europe with my luggage bag, lived in hostels, navigated my way around nine cities and experienced some of the craziest flight/train schedules a traveller could have. Travelling and going on a tour package is very different, and even though travelling is very tiring, I think it’s worth because you get the full experience. Previously, I have made short trips to Hong Kong and Australia free and easy, so I thought I was experienced enough to handle Europe – how different could it be? Well, very. Europeans are very good walkers and very independent people. You can see Swedish parents pushing their gigantic prams up and down trams all by themselves – what about Singaporeans? Taxi or car. I don’t think I have ever seen a pram on a SBS bus before. Well since taxis were exorbitantly priced in Europe, Pam and I lived the way Europeans did. We took public transport, took budget flights, trains and walked. On my last day, I was proud to say that I lugged 30kg of luggage, took a tram to Gothenburg train station, then a train to Copenhagen airport, flew to Bangkok to transit, then finally back to Singapore. Yes all by myself! In Singapore, if we’re lazy, there would always be some mode of vehicle we could take, but not in Europe – we had to walk (my poor calf muscles!). And it really didn’t help much that we aren’t very fast walkers. Whenever we asked for directions, we had to multiply the predicted time taken to reach the destination by the magic number three. The same number applied in America. San Francisco was the craziest! I was told that on average, they walk for about 45 minutes a day!!! That’s like the time I take to drive to NTU, go to the toilet, and stroll to the classroom! So in short, I’m just really glad I live in Singapore, experiencing walking is interesting, but I still prefer my pampered vehicle lifestyle here in this little country.

Another lesson that I picked up from this holiday is to never say never, I know this sounds cheesy since it sounds like the Adidas slogan ‘Impossible is nothing’, but in my travels, it was something that was constantly reinforced in me. In Europe, I never thought I would stay in a hostel, which I did and enjoyed. I never thought I would go to a club, let alone a gay club, which I did and liked. I never expected myself to be in three cities in a day (Frankfurt – Prague – Berlin), which was exhausting, but a feat I will remember! I never thought I would go on a pub crawl and talk to ang moh strangers. I never thought I would have to run like it was an Amazing Race Competition to catch my flight in Brussels. I never thought I would ever miss a flight and be stranded at an airport. In America, I never thought I would travel with ang mohs on a tour group and actually make good friends with them. I never expected myself to go clubbing in Vegas. I never expected myself to get a bad sun tan in Vegas. And lastly, I have never expected myself to become a traveller and visit cultural places and forgo shopping. Everything is this world is changing constantly and life is too long to predict anything in the long run.

I think one of the reasons I was able to enjoy the full travelling experience was because I travelled with only one other friend each time. I realised that being Singaporeans, our collective nature makes us stay together instinctively, and this somehow hinders our interaction with other nationals. If I had gone to America with a bunch of friends, it’s highly likely that we would have chosen to go on a road trip over a Contiki tour. I wouldn’t say travelling with just another female made lugging the luggage any easier, but I would say it was a valuable experience, and it definitely made me fitter and stronger, both mentally and physically. Somehow I knew I would make it in the end, it was just a matter of time. I knew that there could always be a plan B, and not to fret in times of emergency. When Pam and I caught the wrong train and realised that we were going to miss our flight to Prague, I didn’t feel as nervous as I should have been, I knew there would be a way out. So when we arrived at the airport, and realised that we were stranded in Brussels, I just laughed it off and added it to my collection of valuable experiences.

I think I am very fortunate in the sense that, not many people have the experience of travelling to three continents in three months, so I reckon it should be a feat I am proud of. I admit it did burst a big hole in a pocket, but it was definitely something that I would still have done given a second choice. Once I start work, which is in less than 24 hours, it will probably be extremely difficult for me to take a long stretch of holiday and travel as I did in the past three months. Although I missed the World Cup this time due to my travels, I plan to visit Brazil in four years to watch the Brazilians win the World Cup in their home country! So visiting South America is on my next itinerary, and I’m so excited just by the thought of it! Travelling to South America! Imagine that!

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