Bits and Pieces from overseas trip

So I went for a really long trip with my friends and what did I learnt from it?

Plenty.

I have so many things I want to leash it out especially during the trip but just couldn't as I don't want to sour the relationship. In fact, based on my observation, it is not even advisable to say out my view.

As a aspiring traveller, I have read countless of blogs about travels and their recount of things happening and this trip just reminded me of one particular post.

In that particular post, the blogger talked about the different types of travellers and his experience there when he was travelling around the autonomous regions of China and towards the Nepal side .

Apparently at one part of the leg, some incident happened with the tour guide and his clique had to come into the decision whether to proceed to their planned destination using other means or hop on to the next available train back to China, Beijing.

He and his friends were more keen to go forward with their original plans but the other team mates have their own contrasting plans. The blogger then decided they should disseminate the group and head to their own location since they couldn't arrive on an agreeable conclusion. One particular team mate was very against the idea. She wanted to head back to China which was fine but she doesn't want to team to break up. I kind of understand the reason behind it yet at the same time I think it is selfish of her.

She was insecure.

By breaking up the group it means that they are now travelling in smaller size. In a backward region whereby you have language barrier and inaccessible transport, a large group stands to gain a better advantage on having each other to depend on.

I guess she wasn't confident or independent enough which was strange because travellers who usually travel to this kind of regions were mostly self-reliant.

And then she went on to psycho other team mates into staying together and how the blogger was selfish into wanting to travel separately (subtlety). Then the other team mates were like giving the blogger the disapproval look but he remained firm in his stand. He managed to reason out why he wants to go individually during small breaks and interactions and somehow some of the team mates understood.

In the end, all of them went on their own way. Even the person whom stood by the opposing mate's on her view on sticking together, went on his own way.

And that was what happened to me, contrasting view, likes, personality and pressure from the team except on a smaller scale and less serious.

Unlike the blogger, I wasn't the winner. I didn't get to do everything in my way.

From my decipher, the blogger was the type that has this way of thinking that since he was already there, he wants to get the most experience and head on to where he was supposed to go/planned even in the expense of souring friendship or cause displeasure. He will still go on ahead, on his own. 

My one month plus in Korea and Japan didn't go as what I had in mind but it wasn't that bad either.

We were a group of three, going there for a short exchange and had decided to do some sight seeing after school.

Apparently, the places that I wanted to go had already been visited by my friends countless time and one of them didn't really want to go back there which I can completely understand. What for waste time going to places you have already been?

And some of the places that they wanted to go wasn't really of an interest to me, like Cafes but I still went with them. Once or twice was good enough but we went to around eight.

Like how did we managed to do that?

Initially ,  I didn't want it to hurt our relationship by saying that I don't want to join them but after I had enough and clearly this wasn't how I want to spend my holidays.

Not that they didn't accompany to the places I wanted to visit but they just unconsciously gave a displeased expression, like it was a chore. Of course they didn't say that but it was just.... all written on their faces.

It was supposed to be a joyous trip for all of us and I really don't like forcing people to go to places that they don't enjoy.

And like the example, one of our friend isn't that keen on separating. Which was understandable. Her reason was, since we come in a group, we should have fun as a group and if each of us go to our own separate ways, What is the meaning of this trip.

Nonetheless, I still suggested going on separate ways but not for an entire period, maybe one/two days and that's where things got a bit complicated. As we also have other common places that we want to go, it is hard to figure out the timing when I join in when we stick. And here's another problem, personality and style.

I am a planner. I like having to arrange and schedule my trips in advance and calculate things like the time taken to travel to the price. Therefore, once I am there, I don't stress too much on the hows. My friend on the other hand likes to take it easy. Or so the public like the categorize these people as. She likes to plan on the point of arrival.

That's when I think we lost a lot of precious time. Because we didn't do prior research, we kept going to the same area to visit a different place at different day whereby we could have planned and arranged to visit all of them at once in one day.

And well, they were complaining that time isn't insufficient.

I wonder why...

We learnt our lessons in Japan, for not planning. When we were travelling form Maihama (Disneysea) to Asakusa. I have countlessly request them that we should do research and they just .. well you know. And I had warned that Japanese are not really keen on the idea of speaking English, they tend to avoid if you do. Until we reached Japan, where I had to read and communicate in Japanese with the train station master that we were able to reach our hostel in Asakusa.

They tried to help by asking the locals but the Japanese just shrugged off giving blank looks when my friends asked in English. I did my research, and well, it wasn't really that reliable. My Japanese wasn't that fantastic either, I only took 27 lessons. What do you expect from me?

I should have insisted we do planning before we fly which we didn't, because well again, I don't want to spoil the relationship.

I guess the moral of the story is that you have to really pick your travelling mates when you are going to certain places. Like the blogger had warned about, because you may end up in an unhappy trip. The reason being , we are all very different person with different preferences and personality.\

My intention of writing this post was to just to unleash what I had bottled down. I need some place to let it go.

And I hope, I don't repeat history again.

I will still go with them,just maybe take a few precautions and well depending on places too.