insight

growing up, travelling was never an option.
it feels strange back then to even think of flying.
the only time we got to go somewhere was when we are going back to my mom's or my dad's hometown.
all ten of us in our battered old van.
the van cannot accomodate us all,
so mom put some mattress on the leg room to make space for some of us
some day we are luckier, dad got posted somewhere for conference so we got to stay in a hotel
i remember going to melaka and staying at a hotel and was so fascinated that i can eat at a hotel. it was a luxury even thinking of going to one
or that one time we went to seremban and my brother and i went to a free concert at nearby lake.

then, my sister got married and her husband works at kelantan. one day she asked if we want to go there for a holiday with her, since her husband cannot bring her for a walk because of work. so my other sister and i went with her. that was the first time i experience the infamous long road trip to kelantan. funny thing was, we wanted to go back home by bus but my dad was worried so he paid for our flight, my first ever flight!

after school, my second time on a flight is our trip to langkawi. this was the first trip i went with my friends. and eversince then we always do one trip per year (except this year since every one is busy).

then come my first ever trip to overseas, melbourne! a trip where i save up for almost a year, cutting all my spending habits just so that i can finally finally go on a trip that i used to long to go when i was a kid (as a kid i was jealous when its school holiday and all my friends are going somewhere while i usually just stayed at home).

and this year i was blessed again with the opportunity to go to europe for 3 weeks. tbh i dont really have that much money and this time around i dont have that much time to save up so it was hard trying to spend as little as possible during the trip. but i was a good experience. i mourned the loss of my money but i gained a new insight of the world. where i realised, at the end of the day, despite how bad our country seems to be to other people, i feel that i will never not be proud to be this land's citizen.