Travel has always been a part of me. My international traveling debut came at the tender age of 3. Since then, I have had the opportunity to travel to over 20 countries (including over a dozen times to Malaysia, which I consider my second home!) through different opportunities – music, diving, volunteering, and hopefully my new career as a public health professional.

I could sit here and write post after post about my travel adventures, but I won’t [for now]. What I do want to do is to encourage YOU to go travel.

Napoleon Hill once said, “Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.” So, go. Whether or not your travels are purely for self-discovery (because, I can assure you it happens, especially freelancing in Malaysia as a divemaster for 8 months) or to better the world by volunteering at a daycare for kids from the slums, just go. Backpacking up the hills of northern Thailand and staying in a rural village with no electricity or running water will change you. Giving a pair of reading glasses to that elderly woman so that she can sew again will make you appreciate your senses. Your worldview will expand when you get to talk to that person from Germany. You will appreciate what you have when you walk along the streets of the Philippines. It will blow your mind when you see the sunrise from the tiny Pacific island of Tonga. Your taste buds will thank you when you eat street food in Vietnam. I promise you will come back a different person after riding on the back of a motorcycle in the mountains of Colombia (even if your whole body is sore from the horribly rocky roads). And don’t just go once to Bali. Go twice. Go three times (still working on the third trip to Bali) – heck, go every year if you can (even if you’re a poor college student with loans up the wazoo – where there’s a will, there’s a way, so stop your whining and making excuses)! But, do yourself a favor and get out there and explore what this world has to offer you. You can’t exchange your experiences for anything else. (But, you can thank me later.) 😉

You will change for the better, learning so many things along the way – about life, the world, and more importantly, yourself. Go on adventures, laugh more, serve others, make memories, and learn to forgive.

Just a little taste of my travels in Malaysia! (Captured by Stephen Ryan Lim on his DJI Inspire)