I was born in Indonesia, and by the time I was two years old, I had traveled to three countries: Singapore, Japan, and the U.S. I caught the travel bug early, and it has never left me.

But my genuine love for travel wasn’t realized until I left for Panama when I was 23 years old, following a devastating end to a 3-year relationship I had thought would last a lifetime. I look back now, and though the emotions were real, it was shrouded in naiveté.

If it weren’t for that heartbreak that I so desperately wanted to escape from however, I would have never fallen in love with travel, adventure, nature, local culture, and being okay with simply being momentarily lost.

Panama was not only the first country I traveled to alone without knowing anyone for the purpose of improving upon my Spanish-speaking skills, but it was the catalyst for self-dependence, inner strength, hope, joy, and finding comfort with being alone. It was empowering and I came back a changed woman.

Travel forces you to embrace the present, to encounter different people and their different ways of thinking, living, and eating; it engages you to think and challenges you to ask questions.

It humbles you, inspires you, teaches you, and opens you. You learn to be grateful. It’s not always beautiful, but there’s beauty to be found even in melancholy.

Travel is energizing, soul-cleansing, and downright addictive. It is all of these things that I continue to travel again and again.

 | Originally from Indonesia | 35 | Currently in Los Angeles, USA |

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