CURRENT MISSION

Life is an adventure! Don't be afraid to dream!

ABOUT ME

I started travelling solo at the age of 22. I've always love travelling but my family can never afford to fly out of the country all the time. Throughout my entire lifetime, I have only flew twice with my family to places like Australia and Indonesia. Other than that, it has always been road trips to Malaysia and Thailand for our family because it is much cheaper than flying. Mum died in 2005 and Dad relocated to the border city of Malaysia called Johor Bahru. My sister supports my education and also give me some allowance for my travel.

I was enlisted in the Singapore Civil Defence Force in 2009 for my 2 year National Service which is mandatory for all Singaporean boys above 18 years old. My vocation was Detention Barrack Guard. It is similar to working in a prison but not on a national level. My job requires me to work shift hours and because of that, I was able to apply for leave easily. I had 25 days of leave and off-in-lieu annually. I took the opportunity to travel. That's how my budget travel started. I looked up several budget airline websites and saw that I could buy an airline ticket without having to spend a bomb. Ever since then, I got addicted to it. The cheapest I paid was a ticket from Singapore to Jakarta return for only USD20.00. The rest was history.

The most memorable trip I had was my 5 weeks backpacking trip around Southeast Asia. It was a trip to reward myself after finishing 2 years of National service. I saved up some allowance I got during National Service and my sister chipped in some too. I enjoyed it so much. Like other travelers, I have stayed at different kinds of accommodation such as hostels and hotels and I think the most memorable place I've stayed is at a hostel in Penang, Malaysia.

I have made many travel plans in advance such as the Philippines (for the 2nd time) and South Korea for autumn 2013. I also have plans to go Europe but the accommodation prices are often the issue. So I decided to go to Eastern Europe to keep costs low. On top of that, I believe Eastern Europe do not receive many tourists unlike Western Europe so I think it'll be a good!

PHILOSOPHY

Traveling is life. Nothing else beats this.

Por qué estoy en Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Got to know this site from a friend and I'm open to try it!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Would love to fill in this blank section soon!

Intereses

Culture, history, music, beach, pub hopping and night markets!

• culture
• education
• drinking
• pub crawls
• flying
• traveling
• blogging
• music
• backpacking
• teaching
• history
• road trips
• budget travel
• beaches

Música, películas y libros

I never really like books. I love horror movies especially. Music? As long it is pleasant to the ears. Oh, I also play two instruments which are the trumpet and clarinet.

Algo increíble que he hecho

When I was in Siem Reap, Cambodia I sat down in a cafe for lunch. Came across 4 local kids whose lunch was paid by a nice western couple and left immediately after paying. They forgot to buy for them drinks but I think that was not intentional. So I decided to ask the owner if I could buy for them drinks. The owner went over to the table where the 4 kids were sitting. They said they wanted coke and coke it is. One by one, the kid queued up to thank and tell me how they appreciate my kindness. I didn't think they'd do that because it was just a few cans of coke! Such a small gesture made them appreciate other people's kindness so much. It left me wondering. When I was their age, I would be pestering my mum to buy me a new toy every 6 months. That incident really left a huge impact on me.

Enseña, aprende, comparte

Many people tell me I am a budget travel expert. I am not sure about that but what I know is I have not spent a fortune on my travels. I have also flown overseas with little money and the experience was rather enjoyable. I have a travel blog if you guys wanna see.

www.boykembara.wordpress.com

Países que he visitado

Australia, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Viet Nam

Países en los que he vivido

Singapore