Kicking off 2019 with a new adventure!
Each time I travel or tour on a motorcycle, I try to visit places or countries I've never been before to expose myself to new environments, collect different experiences that never fails to broaden my perspectives and stretch that learning curve.
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| pc: indochina junk |
Having ridden in quite a number of countries across Southeast Asia; from Singapore, to Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Indonesia, Cambodia, I realized I've never ridden in Vietnam before!
I briefly visited Ho Chi Minh city just once about a decade ago, and that's about it.
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| pc: thannien news |
One thing I vividly remember though was how impossible it felt crossing the roads there. Traffic was non-stop, and they came in all sorts of direction. It seems like there isn't even a little pocket of time to cross the road without getting hit.
If crossing the roads already feel impossible, how about riding a motorcycle there?
So YEAP. That's what I'm gonna do! #RIDEVIETNAM.
#cuzlifeisaboutembracingchallengeshaha
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| pc: reddit |
I began doing my usual travel research, and multiple other beautiful sights across Vietnam slowly started to unfold.
Only then did I realize how underrated this country is, which further motivated me to explore Southern Vietnam all the way to the North, on two wheels! Not just until Hanoi, but all the way to Sapa, Lao Cai, which is literally right next to China ;)
Motorcycles are not allowed on highways in Vietnam, and I've no idea how I'm going to survive the city traffic there.
Which makes it...more exciting right? 😂
You know, there was once I bumped into someone who told me he follows my travel blog posts and as much as he enjoys reading them, he told me how each epic trip I take on reminds him to treasure his life even more by NOT going on all the adventures that I've done. LOL.
I was hoping it'll inspire people to get out of their comfort zones hahaha not the other way round. We're now friends and I'm still waiting for him to get on his own adventure.
Ok now back to the ride.
"People may not remember your name, or what you did, but they'll never forget how you made them feel"
Through all these years I've spent traveling around the world, I count my blessings upon having witnessed interesting sights and breathtaking sceneries that sometimes just feel out of this world.
More often than not too, it's the people I meet along the way, that human touch, which makes every trip much more memorable.
With every place that you visit, what you take in when you are physically there, somehow becomes a part of you no matter where you go from thereon.
To add more meaning to this trip which I was going to do alone, instead of just taking in all the beauty that Vietnam will unravel, I decided to give back too, by collecting approx 150KG worth of donated clothes from different households across Singapore, and deliver it to an orphanage in Ho Chi Minh.
It's not much, but it's something I've personally always wanted to do for the less-privileged children.
I had my itinerary all planned out, motorcycle rental booked, reached out to the chosen orphanage that I came across online during my research, made a booking for my visit, and was just randomly sharing with my girlfriend, named Mel :
"Hey babe, I'm going to ride in Vietnam"
"Wah really? When and with who?"
"Hmm in Jan 2019. Alone lor as usual. #foreveralone hahaha"
"Really! Wa... I don't mind joining leh!"
"Serious? The ride will be tiring though"
"Can one la. I just follow you. Woot!"
So Mel decided to spontaneously join me for this trip, not having a single clue what she just signed up for.
Two weekends prior to the trip, we went around Singapore together, collecting over 150KG worth of donated children clothes and toys.
Even though the items were donated, we combed through every one of it to ensure clothes were clean, not torn or stained, and toys not broken.
To our delight, most of the items were in extremely good condition, some were even new!
Thank you so much, to each and every one of you who were part of this mini donation drive, really. It means a lot!
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| pc: todayonline |
How Are We Bringing All These To The Orphanage in Vietnam?
"Do first then figure out how" Mentality 😂
After collecting all the donations, we found out that the freight cost was just way too expensive, it didn't make sense to spend over a thousand bucks to air freight it over. So the most economical method was to purchase maximum check in baggage and check them in, onto our flight.
So yeah, we basically brought all the stuff with us onto the plane - which we're clearly going to exceed the weight limit LOL.
Preparations For The Ride
After having all the donation items neatly packed in place, next!
Packed the necessary items for the motorcycling touring trip... you know, the usual la.. Dresses, make-up, bikinis, multiple GoPro Hero 7 Black cameras to record every unglam moment, and my DJI Mavik Pro drone... basically nothing that would save us if we encounter any problems when we're on the motorcycle 😂
(Of course, we had the necessary protective riding gears, all weather gloves, tyre-repair kit, first aid kit etc)
Been using my waterproof Cardo Freecom 4 and Packtalk Bold bluetooth comm set for 2 years now and I absolutely love it!
Since this time me and my girlfriend are gonna be riding alongside each other, I had another set installed on her helmet too cuz we'd definitely need it for communication on the go.
Apart from enjoying some music while riding and other safety aspects where we can notify each other of things to look out for when we're on the roads, how awesome is it to be able to exchange words and emotions the minute we encounter something out of the norm while on the move!
No need to wait until the next rest point then talk. Can communicate across immediately!
Packed along a whole set of different GoPro mounts too to get footages in different angles during the trip even as I'm riding, cuz I will be doing a vlog for this journey too!
All prepped for #RIDEVIETNAM, with not knowing what to expect (which excites) but when adventure calls, off we go!