My Backpacking Travels Are Over
May 30th, 2011 | Categories: Travel | 6 CommentsWell, I arrived in Hong Kong last night and will be spending the next two weeks or so with family before heading back to mainland China to wrap up the last part of my summer. As much as I love Hong Kong, I am a little sad to be here. It’s hard to imagine that my backpacking trip is over. Six weeks of swapping hotels for hostels, buses and trains for flights, hauling around a backpack that was getting progressively more and more full with dirty laundry… it was, to be sure, a once in a lifetime experience. And if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a single thing.
These are the places I went to, as I feel like I never clarified where, exactly, I was at:
- Yunnan (province in southwestern China): Kunming, Lijiang, Shangri-la, Jinghong
- Laos: Luang Namtha, Luang Prabang, Phonsavanh
- Vietnam: Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hue, Hoi An, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)
- Cambodia: Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Angkor
- Thailand: Bangkok, Phuket
I miss my friends that I was traveling with, I miss the spontaneity of our traveling lifestyle, and I miss the independence that comes with traveling. It’s typical post-travel nostalgia, I guess. But I’ll get over it. After all, I am in Hong Kong, the greatest city in the world. And I get to see my mom and brother in a week! I haven’t seen them since I left the US last August, so I’m really excited!
(I will be posting a much more in depth travel recap for each country with photos, but that won’t be till… well, probably at some point in the very distant future. My track record with these travel recaps leaves a lot to be desired with the rate at which I post them!)
Tags: southeast asia
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Hi, I'm Manda. I'm a college student studying communications and languages. I like to read, shop, bake, and travel. I have a tendency to listen to my favorite songs on repeat for hours on end. Sometimes I catch myself thinking in a language other than English. 
Sounds like an amazing trip! I haven’t ever done a proper backpacking trip, I guess I’m too much of a planner. And I just have too much stuff to fit in a backpack! lol, fail.
But I just wanted to say, I love following your Tumblr :) And I hope you enjoy Hong Kong and being with your family, primarily because being reunited with family is always good, but also because Hong Kong is amazing (my fav city in Asia, can you tell? haha)!
Btw who is the boy you mentioned in Thailand? Your boyfriend?
He’s one of my best friends and was my travel companion for my SE Asia trip (and all of my trips in the past year, actually). Things are a little complicated… :X
Wow, sounds like a fantastic journey :D I’ve always wanted to go on a long backpacking trip like that, but never had the chance. Glad you had a good time and got back in one piece :D
I’ve never tried backpacking before, it must seem like a cool experience! I’m not that daring to try it out at this point coz I’m not THAT adventurous but I guess if there’s an opportunity, i’ll probably give it a try :p Enjoy your stay at Hong Kong! I hope you could catch up with your family <3
[...] the nomadic lifestyle of a traveling backpacker. Ah, well, all good things must come to an end, [...]
I can’t wait to see your posts! That sounds like a really really exciting time, and I certainly don’t blame you for missing it. Enjoy Hong Kong! My Cantonese friends recommend eating a lot of food and putting on some weight while you’re there. :P