Solo Travel
But I need to create something when I solo travel. My why: experiencing what it is to be human.
Inpisration:
A month of travelling in Asia
From December 18th 2025 - January 8th 2026, I was in Asia, visiting South Korea, China, Macau and Hong Kong. I solo travelled in Hong Kong and I want to write a recap of my experiences so that I can remember and cherish these thoughts.
If you look at My Worldviews page, you’ll see that I talk about trying to fundamentally understand and experience what makes us human. Travelling and connecting with more cultures gives a much better glimpse into that reality, the many walks of life that I could have experienced.
Hong Kong
I arrived and wasn’t sure what to do. On one hand, I was hoping my friend would show up so I didn’t need to plan what to do (like what happens in Seoul when Zexi told me last minute to pullup to clubbing in seongsu), but another part of me wanted the challenge of actually trying solo travel, and living with myself and my feelings. I arrived satruday night, prime time for partying.
However, it was excruciatingly hard. I booked a hotel in central, close to Lan kwai fung.
I downloaded various apps, trying to meet people, but it was hard.
Saturday was a failure in many sense. I stayed in my hotel room and did not have the courage to go out. I was feeling really afraid and vulnerable. I spent 45 mins talking to ChatGPT about my thought process.
When you’re walking alone, your mind can spiral:
“Everyone is judging me.”
“If I say something, I’ll look weird.”
“I don’t belong here.”
https://photos.app.goo.gl/R7SCcASSThsrPaY59
You end up going down the rabbithole.
I recorded a video of how I felt in the moment, so I could look back on this.
I woke up Sunday with a refreshed mind. And I spoke to probably over 30 people.
Deliberately trying to talk to people. The thing about people is that you need read their energy. And it’s much easier to go up to them when they look approachable.
If they don’t, then it’s really hard to start off the conversation.
I started the morning by taking the train to tsim sha tsui. There were lots of tourists.
Where you put the hands.
I saw many girls alone pass by, but was always thinking about how to make the approach. In some sense, I do not want to seem like a creep.
I saw this cute girl taking a selfie by herself, and that is when the opportunity struck. I will offer to take a picture for her. This could be a nice conversation starter.
As the saying goes, greatness cannot be planned (or rushed). I mean here that timing matters when initiating conversations. You don’t want to take a girl by surprise when you approach her.
She also happened to be in Hong Kong alone that day. We spoke and talked.
We spent around 2 hours together touring the area. However, she had to leave early.
It is experiences like this that shapes you. If the outcome wasn’t so great, I probably would not have remembered this as much. But the fact that it did.
Just like a game of poker, you can make good decisions and still have bad outcomes, and make bad decisions but still have good outcomes. We are here to play the long game.
But also at night, when I went to the bar. I was oozing with confidence by that point. It was at that moment that I felt the most in the moment. I was in a really good mood.
When you feel like the whole world is staring at you. But you learn to just enjoy the present.
There was this african bar that was extremely fun.
For me, solo travelling is about pushing myself out of my comfort zone. And to me, going out of my comfort zone meant talking to strangers,especially cute girls in public (since that is the most intimidating thing for me).
Now, let’s make it clear that when I go up to a girl, it’s not too try and catch a 1-night stand (that’s not my style), but rather make a human and emotional connection.
At the same time, for me personally, be in touch with my senses, and how I’m feeling.
Courage is not the absence of fear. But choosing to do something in spite of it.
I met the dude at the bar while going to a bar alone. That was a first. When you open your heart, and open yourself to new connections, great things can happen.
Perhaps, you can get unlucky sometimes with the people, like the energy doesn’t match, but you can keep trying.
At the bar, there was this cute group of hongkongers. And though it didn’t work out, I struck up the courage to start a conversation with them. I think that says a lot about my ability to work up the courage to do something.
I greatly admire Eileen Gu for what she talks about in terms of courage.
I did talk to many locals, such as the beijiing couple that I met in the morning eating changfen. But the interactions that stood out were the ones where my heart was racing, where I pushed myself to do things that I usually wouldn’t do.
So what have I learned from my travels in my journey to what it means to be human?
- these new countries show that there is not much different. Perhaps taht’s because the countries I visited are relatively developped (southeast asia or africa might tell a different story). Human nature is the same. Cultures are different, and what people value is really different
In Korea especially, status matters a lot, so much that it is reflected in the grammar. There is a formal and informal tone (that is only used with friends).
koreans are hit or miss. They can be extremely rude or extremely nice. I had several bad encounters, but also several great encounters.
Hong kong had lower variance. Looking at the economy, Hong Kong seems to be donig worse now, and it was really expensive. And I don’t understand how people survieve there.
for the next solo trip
What can I do better for the next trip?
- Focus more on talking to even more strangers, and have even deeper conversations. I think most of the conversations ended up a bit shallow
- Write my thoughts down earlier. In fewer words since I think typing is the bottleneck
Traveling is not about where you are, and more about who you travel with and the kind of people you meet.