Oslo, Norway

‘I don’t like this place.’

That was the first thought that popped into my mind when I sat down on the bed of my hostel in Oslo. I couldn’t really pinpoint the exact reason why I was not appealed to Oslo. Maybe it was because my hostel was located in a dodgy area that made me felt unsafe. Or maybe it was because I was tired of cities and the first things that I saw were huge shopping malls and cars everywhere. And there was also a possibility that since daytime was short in Oslo during winter, I just lost the interest and motivation to go out and explore. I remember feeling tired of constantly being alert, just so that I wouldn’t miss any trains or coaches that I had booked in advanced. There was even a moment when I found myself thinking, ‘Why on earth did I choose to travel alone to a foreign place during winter? Why didn’t I have someone traveling with me, who could help me plan what to do in this place?’ No matter how much I was enjoying traveling previously, all that had simply vanished when I arrived at Oslo. I was tired of traveling and of myself.

Things did change in the end and I had a wonderful time in Oslo. I met a very friendly American girl at my hostel, who reminded me the reason why I chose to travel alone. We weren’t sharing the same room together. She simply walked in and said she left her towel in the room. Since the other girls in my room were all traveling together and were talking to each other very rapidly in Mandarin, given that my Mandarin was totally not up to the standard, I ended up talking to that American girl while she searched for her towel. We somehow managed to turn her search for her towel into a 5-hour conversation.

She was traveling alone at that moment and had been traveling for 3 months already. I was surprised by that, considering I got tired of traveling after 3 weeks. After listening to all her travel stories, I realized her style of traveling was quite different from mine. She was more of a spontaneous traveler. She told me she never booked anything in advanced. Not transportation, not accommodation, nothing. She treasured the flexibility of traveling alone and by not having anything pre-booked, so she could easily extend or cut short her stay in a city and wouldn’t find herself being stuck in one place. She also reminded me the benefits of traveling solo as a girl. While many of friends and families worry about her, she told me that she ended up meeting really nice travelers who would look out for her just because she was traveling alone. A case in point, she once met a guy who gave her a pepper spray, just because he knew she never carried one. Our conversation that night reminded me of a quote:

“The traveler sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see.” – G.K. Chesterton

At that moment, I realized I had been planning too much. I never given myself time to truly enjoy the environment of a city. I was constantly visiting and checking out tourist spots. I was a tourist, not a traveler. Simply making it to those specific locations has made me tired and exhausted. While I believe visiting tourist spots is important, it is equally important for one to just wander around and feel the city. I guess different people have different styles of traveling and at the point, I found out my preferred way of traveling.  I decided for my upcoming trips, I would not book everything in advanced. I have to admit I wasn’t as brave as that girl. I still insisted on booking my next hostel before leaving the one that I was staying previously but one thing for sure is that I would not set a 100% fixed route to my travels. Because to me traveling solo is all about flexibility. It’s all about waking up in the morning, seeing what I feel like doing for that day and simply not to care about any plans.

    

I ended up discovering the beauty of Oslo. One of my favorite places is the Frognerparken & Vigeland Park. I had accidentally come across this sculpture park when I was walking around the city. Although I am not an artistic person nor am I particularly appealed to art, while I was walking through that park, I felt calm and contented. Perhaps it was that park was pretty empty, the footpaths were covered in snow and the sun was shinning above me, everything was just peaceful and perfect that day. After getting out of that park, I continued walking towards the direction of my hostel and I saw from afar a beautiful sunset. I decided to walk along the harbour and ended up witnessing a beautiful scene.

I managed to find some good places to hang out near my hostel, despite my initial negative impression of it. I stayed in this bookstore for a couple of hours, reading and just simply enjoying the environment of it. One seldom find unique and independent bookstores that sell English books like this in Hong Kong as most of them are located in shopping malls and most of them are chain-stores.

I also made it up to the ski jump arena because one of the girls that I’ve met at the hostel told me the view up there is gorgeous. Turns out she was right. I was surprised to find myself standing at one point that high above the city. Lesson learnt: DO talk to the people in your hostel because you could end up getting really good recommendations of what to do in the city.

One drawback of traveling in Norway (or maybe Scandinavia in general) is that everything there is freaking expensive. Since Norway was my second last stop in that trip, I was running out of money and for my 6-night stay there, all I had for each meal were these:

But then again, those meals included the very famous Norwegian brown cheese and Norwegian milk chocolate. So even though I wasn’t able to afford a nice meal of Norwegian salmon with hot spaghetti in a pretty little Norwegian restaurant, at least I had tried some local delicacies.

Rovaniemi, Finland

When I was small, my parents always told me stories about Santa Claus visiting and giving out presents to good kids on Christmas Eve. I remember preparing a glass of warm milk and some cookies before I went to bed and woke up on Christmas day, finding all the milk and cookies were gone and in exchange I got Christmas presents from Santa. Of course, later on I realize Santa Claus was actually my parents. There was not much of a disappointment in discovering the truth, considering it’s kind of difficult to believe that Santa Claus could secretly ride on a reindeer sleigh across the always-brightly-lit sky of Hong Kong. But still, knowing that Santa Claus Village does exist, it was one of my childhood dreams to visit it.

So when I decided to go to Finland, I wanted to pay a visit to Santa in Rovaniemi. Being very bad at reading maps and planning trips, I mistakenly thought it was possible to travel back and forth to Rovaniemi from Helsinki within a day. Turns out Rovaniemi was at least 9 hours away by train and slightly more than an hour away by flight. It was possible to do a day trip to Rovaniemi but being a backpacker on a tight budget, purchasing a return flight ticket to Rovaniemi wasn’t really an option for me. I struggled between rationally saving up money for the rest of my trip and stubbornly fulfilling this childhood dreams of mine. In the end, I chose the later.

I ended up taking an overnight train to Rovaniemi which was a very unique experience. I got the cheapest ticket that was available and found myself spending the night on a bed in the middle. So for the whole night, I was literally being stuck in between the two people sleeping in the beds above and below mine. Let’s just say I was glad to be out of the train by the end of the journey. Yet, I still managed to meet a very nice Finnish lady, who was going to Rovaniemi to visit her friends and spend Christmas there. Knowing that it was my first time in Finland, she told me a little bit about Rovaniemi and the buses running between the train station and Santa Claus Village. Even though we had quite a difficult time in communicating, her sincerity was one of the best things that I had experienced in Finland. Even after we parted at the train station, she saw that I was going towards the wrong direction and offered to drive me to the city centre despite she was going in the opposite way. I told her it was not necessary as I didn’t want to bother her but I did ask for directions and thanked her once again before we said goodbye. After walking for around 20 minutes in snow and cold, I finally found my way to the bus stop and successfully got onto the right bus. I was surprised to find many Asians on the bus. Guess we are quite obsessed with Santa Claus.

    

The Santa Claus Village was a really nice and cute place. When I entered, I felt like being a child again. It was also a very happy and joyous scene when I saw kids running around and screaming excitedly, telling their parents that they are meeting Santa Claus. Although I’m not a big fan of kids, that was quite a cute scene. So I did all the touristy stuff when I was there: filled in an application form for a letter from Santa Claus which is scheduled to arrive a year later, took a photo with Santa Claus, had a brief conversation with him, paid for my photo which in my opinion is pretty overpriced, got some postcards and mailed them there, just to get a stamp from the Arctic Circle.

And the best part of my short visit to Rovaniemi has definitely got to this icy slide. I had debated with myself for a long time on whether I should give this slide a try or not. It was definitely made for kids and if I were to go it, I would certainly look very silly. But at the same time, I thought how often do I come across an icy slide. There’s no such a thing in Hong Kong as far as I know. Besides, I was traveling at that moment. I would certainly not want to regret for not giving something a try just because I fear I might look silly or be embarrassed. In the end I gave it try and got a bruise of the size of my palm on my thigh just because I lost balance before standing up. Some kids around me saw that and laughed but at that moment I was like ‘Who cares! I did it and I don’t regret it at all. At least I don’t have to wonder what it feels like to go on an icy slide.’

Sometimes, it’s these kinds of trivial, insignificant and silly things that happened while traveling that just made you feel elated and satisfied. Till this day, I still remember how fun the slide was and how painful that last fall was.

Helsinki, Finland

I didn’t have much expectations before arriving at Helsinki. The reason for this is because whenever I met people who had been to Helsinki, when asked about the city, they all got the same reply: weird.

When asked to further elaborate on the weirdness of Helsinki, they would simply look at you blankly and say ‘There’s just something about it that makes it weird.’

So when I got off the cruise ride in Helsinki (which was quite a luxurious ride for a budget backpacker as I actually got a cabin! For the whole ride, I kept imagining myself to be a poor version of Rose from Titanic. Sadly, I never met my Jack from that ride), I was fully prepared to face the weirdness of Helsinki. Instead of finding Helsinki weird, I was utterly amazed by the snowy scene of the whole city.

To see the whole city covered in snow and parts of the sea that was frozen to ice, I was shocked, surprised and amazed. To those who are used to snowy winters, Helsinki might not be surprising but to me, walking around the city was as if I was walking through a winter wonderland.

Part of the reason why I chose to travel to Helsinki is just so that I could tell people I’ve been to Finland. When I was a kid, I thought Finland was the end of the world and that there is simply nothing beyond Finland (of course right now I know there are places beyond Finland). Therefore, Finland has always been a mysterious and freezing place to me and I was glad at least I got to see part of this country. While I’ve heard that Finns could be rude and emotionless, I’ve met some really nice Finnish people during my short stay in Helsinki. The most memorable experience of meeting Finns would definitely be how a man who was clearing up the snow on the pavement talked to me for 20 minutes in the cold, just because he saw I was walking on the street alone on New Year. He told me he was surprised to see an Asian girl traveling alone in Finland and decided to be nice to talk to me because it was New Year. (Although I must admit he did creep me out when he said he wanted to talk to me because I was alone…)

One of my favorite places in Helsinki is the Rock Church. This place was recommended by an Australian couple who I had met in the hostel. It was a really impressive structure. The Church is located entirely underground. The architects blasted out the walls from the inside to create the interior space of the Church that is made of solid rock. The acoustics of the Rock Church is fabulous. I spent half an hour sitting in there, simply admiring the architecture itself.

Having said that, I did experience the weirdness of Helsinki and it took me quite some time to figure out what exactly made me felt weird about this city. In short, I thought the Finns are too calm and that makes spending my New Year’s Eve there weird for me.

I was lucky to have met some friends from the hostel for New Year’s Eve celebration (although that night ended up pretty strangely, at least I was saved from having to spend that night all alone in my room). We all went out at around 10pm, trying to look for some fun place to hang around for the countdown. We ended up staying in the open area outside the Parliament House as there was a elaborated stage set up on the side with some Finnish music playing loudly in the background. We got some drinks and stood there, listening to whatever that was being played on the stage and occasionally talking amongst ourselves.

After quite sometime, I looked around and wondered how could the Finns be so tranquil and quiet despite each having a large glass of vodka in their hands at 11.30pm! I simply didn’t feel the excitement in the atmosphere. Nobody was drunk. Nobody was shouting. Everyone was having a fairly soft and calm conversation with each other. It just felt… weird.

The crowd finally grew a bit livelier when the countdown begins. The firework display behind the Parliament House was amazing and that has certainly created a lot of ‘oohhhhs’ and ‘wowwws’ in the crowd.

But right after the firework display ended, the crowd started to move. My friends and I thought the crowd must be heading to somewhere exciting for an after-party. But instead most of the people seem to head back to their own house and very soon we found ourselves heading back to our hostel. We got a couple drinks when we got back and that was how I ended my New Year celebration. Maybe we failed to locate where the New Year party was after the fireworks, but it was certainly a very weird New Year’s Even countdown for me!

Second Chance in Stockholm

I was given a chance to revisit Stockholm for a day after my short stay in Finland. What might seem to be a mistake at first because of my stupid choice of getting a return ticket for the cruise ride to Helsinki, Finland, I was glad that this mistake happened. Because it gave me another chance to explore this beautiful city and seeing it without too much snow.

As for this second stay in Stockholm, I had decided to try another hostel. I read about the Langholmen Hostel on Hostelworld and thought even though it was a bit of a walk from the city centre, it would be an experience to stay in a prison-turned-hostel for a night. Turns out the room that I’ve reserved in this hostel belonged to the museum part, which in a way is pretty cool…

Until I realized that part of the hostel was quite empty. Everything would have been fine if I hadn’t seen what was in the room opposite mine…

I’m the kind of person who gets scared easily. I totally didn’t expect living in a room that was part of the museum would mean living opposite that lifeless. I nearly screamed when I saw that for the first time. I guess I was right. Staying in that hostel was truly an experience and I was glad that I had only booked one night there.

Apart from this unique experience, I was glad to have found this cafe, which I adore and highly recommend.

I was totally attracted by this cafe because of its relaxed atmosphere underground. I ended up spending a couple of hours there, having a nice lunch, reading and writing for bit. Sometimes I like doing touristy things and hitting all the tourist spots in a city. But when you’ve got roughly a month of traveling to do, it’s always nice to have some quiet time, just to relax for a bit. Different people define relaxation differently and to me, all I need is a nice cup of coffee, a good book, my diary and a pleasant and quiet atmosphere. That simply made my day.

Although I seem to have spent more time in Stockholm than any other cities in Scandinavia, I still wish to go back in the summer, just to see this city in a different light.

Bravery VS Craziness

Fulfilling one of my childhood wishes – seeing this bridge and the amazingly clear blue water in Mostar

‘Why did you choose to travel by yourself?’

Although I always got asked about this, I never really given this question any real thoughts.

‘It’s fun’ is usually my answer. And that’s truly one of the most important and main reasons why I travel alone. I find it easier for me to meet people in hostels.  I get to meet travelers of different backgrounds from different countries. Although they all might be very different from myself, we are bind together by our passion for traveling. That’s what brought everyone together in a hostel. It’s very common to find yourself talking to a random stranger in the common area of the hostel about literally everything for hours.

Traveling alone is also fun because you can have all the flexibility that you want. You don’t need to worry about your travel partner’s feelings or have to keep an eye on little gestures which could eventually lead to a great argument. You are totally in control of your own schedule. So if you wanted a nice day in, by all means you could simply stay your room and just read a nice book. Or if you want a busy and active day, you could walk for all you want. The choice is all yours. I once chose to walk for the whole day instead of taking any transportation in Oslo and ended up walking by a perfect spot, where I witnessed one of the most beautiful sunsets that I’ve ever seen. I would have never got to that perfect spot unless I simply wandering around the city.

And yet, when a friend of mine asked me the very same question again, I realised I’ve always missed the keyword in the question (Thanks to my lecturer of my Shakespeare course, I’ve honestly paid way more attention on language and world.)

CHOICE.

While ‘choice’ did not really exist during my winter trip to Scandinavia, the subsequent trips in Easter and summer, and even for my upcoming Christmas trip to Vietnam (which is very likely to happen!), I’ve actually made an active choice to travel solo. I chose to work several part-time jobs, to earn enough money and to go through all the trouble to lie to my parents about traveling with a friend (and I still feel guilty about this!), just so that I could keep on traveling by myself. And the reason behind that? It’s fair to say it’s more than just having fun.

One of the most superficial yet true reasons is that I enjoy telling people that I travel alone. I love seeing that surprised look on my friends’ face whenever I tell them that all about my travels and naming all the places that I’ve been to. While deep in their hearts they could be thinking how weird and crazy I was (and to some extent that’s actually true), I didn’t really care for those looks on their faces are simply priceless.

Sunset in Prague, Czech Republic

‘I like to be challenged. I like people who do not believe in me. The more people doubt you, the bigger surprise is going to be when they are proven wrong in the long run. I respond very well to such pressure.’ – Maggie Q

For those people who knew me before my year of exchange, I was one of the least independent and most careless and forgetful person they’ve ever known. I was used to being waken up in the morning by my parents during school days. I had a habit of finding someone to go to the toilet with (I know this is a very usual thing among girls and trust me, lately I’ve always wondered why we do that). I had lost countless wallets, sweaters, pens etc. To me, visiting a country by myself, not getting lost in a foreign city, managing all my finances, being able to catch an early flight and learning how to enjoy the times when I’m alone are a few of the things that are the most challenging to me. And yet, being able to accomplish any of those and still be able to enjoy and admire what nature has to offer all by myself give me the most satisfying feeling in the world.

Scotland Highlands – one of my most favorite places in Europe

‘You’re never alone when you travel alone.’ I never believed in this saying until I’ve given it a try myself. Perhaps it’s because I’ve always chosen to stay in hostels where you ended up meeting all the awesome fellow backpackers who are just as eager to talk and make new friends as you are, I never felt alone. I’ve learnt so much more about a country, people and life in general that all my stays in hostels are like lessons to me (except they are way more fun than the ones I’ve got to attend in uni!) The best part of it is you always get a choice whether to socialise or not. Every new country you travel to is a new start. You can do whatever you want whenever you want and don’t need to worry about being judged by anyone. (Although in a way this world is sometimes so small that you ended up meeting the same person in an entirely different country. More on this later). So don’t worry about not having anyone to talk to nor not having any photos with yourself in them taken, because you’re truly never alone when you travel alone!

Who says it must be lonely to travel alone?

There’s a thin line between bravery and craziness. I’ve always told people that you don’t need to be brave to travel alone. All you need is to be insane enough to book your first ticket to a foreign country before finding a travel partner. Then, convince yourself that you’re not going to waste your money on that ticket despite of not having anyone to travel with you. Once you tried traveling solo, you’ll just be completely hooked on it. There’s just something addictive, compelling and captivating about being able to tick off another place on your bucket list all by yourself. At least that’s how I felt. Or perhaps I’m just a silly, foolish and crazy loner who just enjoy being alone from time to time.