I was reading The Magic by Rhona Byrne for the second or third time, Day 1 is all about counting blessings. And while writing it down, I figured out that I am blessed to have traveled to Kuala Lumpur.
I started as a features writer for the Telegraph, way back in like 2005 when I just finished my standard 10th, and then started writing for the Deccan Chronicle in Mumbai 2009 onwards, later Feme Fashions and FashionFad (this gave great exposure to the diverse and glitzy fashion world in Mumbai, the city of dreams).
I started this blog when I first traveled to Aamby Valley and when I decided to do a one-year diploma in fashion communications from National Institute of Fashion Technology which is the most reputed one in India for fashion studies. I lived in Dubai in 2014, and then Abu Dhabi in 2015 and worked in content marketing and communications.
I worked and lived in Hong Kong in 2016 in a fashion house and briefly in a fashion magazine. My first solo trip overseas was in Kuala Lumpur. However, I traveled on a business trip to Indonesia and Singapore in 2018 while I was handling corp communications for a British machinery brand who was expanding in South-east Asia.
Once I finished this six months branding and communications project with this UK company in November, I had some time in my hand (like a month) before taking a brief fashion project in Delhi for 6 weeks in Jan 2019. I had like $1800 USD in my travel card and without thinking twice I booked a two-way Malindo Airways ticket to Kuala Lumpur to spend my 2019 new year there. It was my first solo trip overseas in South-east Asia!
In 2016, I did travel solo to Macau during Easter holidays for two days to explore the city as I was handling communications of a fashion project based out of Hong Kong therein. I had taken a ferry to Macau to see some great sea view from the boat, travel, etc.
So, I was joined by my old friend Tiyas from Bali, whom I met in Hong Kong CS meet up, and Robin who is my CS dutch friend from the Netherlands (lives in Singapore now), and few friends from Couchsurfing who were traveling in Kuala Lumpur during new year or staying there short term for any internships, project, work, and studies. KL is very interesting!
Kuala Lumpur is pretty cosmopolitan I must say. I got a cheap sim card from the airport for the week I was to stay there and went to my hostel. I kept my luggage, took a nap, woke up in the evening, showered and headed to meet Tiyas and Robin in Robin’s hostel where he had organized a Dutch pancake meetup which was massive.
Over 100 Couchsurfers and travelers had joined in there and I was super happy to meet Tiyas. We hugged each other for like 10 minutes and it was exciting, we met after almost a year or something. The whole world is a family, we travel to know more about our own self since traveling makes us realize how big and beautiful the world is…
To travel is to live. I love my Couchsurfing family.
One love, endless adventures. Carpe Diam! Stay tuned! ❤ ❤ ❤
– Sou