WanderLust : I Want to See The World

When I was at school, I did not have many chances to go on a trip. Almost all my spare time was filled with reading books. I like reading fiction books especially those with adventure themes. There was an old book which really fascinated me. The title was "Around the World in 80 Days." This book has made my naive mind to think that, "I should travel around the world too!"

Then I decided that: I wanted to see the world! I kept repeating that sentence to myself. Despite my parents' wish for me to graduate uni and become a teacher, I chose to be a tour guide. I thought this would give me the opportunity to travel.

Being a tour guide enabled me to visit places in my island and beyond which I would never probably have done if I had become a teacher. Well, don't get me wrong, a teacher is a good profession since they help many students to learn and become better versions of themselves. But I chose to be a tour guide because it allowed me to travel more.

Looking back at those days, it is understandable that I had a strong desire to go out to see the world since I never really "go anywhere" except home and school when I was younger. And so after graduated from university, I joined a tour guide training and finally worked as one. Being an introvert (never-go-anywhere person) was quite a challenge at the beginning to work in the hospitality industry. But after years, I thought I could get myself to be better at tour guiding and meeting people. And most importantly, I had my chances to travel to new places.

I love visiting those new places. It's like a new page is written in my brain, filled up with new experiences. I feel excited and high spirited. I feel richer. Being a tour guide has enabled me to see the sunrise in Borobudur temple (middle Java), cruising the river in the tropical jungle of Kalimantan, trekking into the forest to see orangutan, sailing to Komodo island, or hiking Mount Batur in Bali.

I still feel excited remembering cruising with Klotok or traditional boat along the river in tropical jungle of Kalimantan.

It was a great experience visiting those places. But then, I probably would not be able to visit many places in the world like Phileas Fogg (the guy from the book I read), but I would not lose my hope and desire.😅 When I have the resources and time, I would like to see more places next time.