It’s currently 2pm on my second day in Ho Chi Minh. I sit here writing in the common room of my hostel, located in a little side alley off Phạm Ngũ Lão, the backpacker area of Ho Chi Minh. I am actually feeling a bit sick, but don’t worry, it’s no longer because of the emotional turmoil brought on my leaving my loved ones, I am pretty sure its because I am a bloody idiot and I brushed my teeth with tap water.

As most of you know, I am in no way a religious person, but, sometimes I feel like there is something out there in the universe that makes sure that when it’s really important we all have the experiences we need to keep us going. Yesterday was a tough day for me. I have literally been planning this trip for 3 years so you would think I would have been emotionally prepared for it, but you would have been wrong. As I hugged and kissed my family goodbye the tears started the fall and once I had cleared customs it really took a while for me to relax my face from an ugly Kim Kardashian crying look to one that was maybe a bit puffy, but at least semi-normal for a human.

We boarded the plane and I had just managed to completely stop the tears when I got to my row and saw that I was not going to have the free seats next to me that I had hoped for. What I actually got was way better though. Sitting next to me were a lovely little (and I really mean little) Vietnamese couple who started chatting to me right away. They were lovely, so so lovely and exactly what I needed in that moment. From our conversation I found out that they were from Ho Chi Minh City but had been living in Australia, specifically Burwood, for the last 20 years and that they owned a nail salon (it’s called Channail – thats right, a nail pun) that I have actually been to several times. They were on their way to Phuket for a big group holiday with friends coming from all over the world. They asked me all about my plans and gave me tips and suggestions of things to do. Several times throughout the flight they checked in on me again and kept asking me more about my life in general as well as the trip I have planned.

The last time I was befriended and treated so warmly  by the people sitting next to me on a plane was when I was just 18 and I was on my way to London, when I was also travelling alone and having just left my family and friends behind for an unknown amount of time. I needed it that day and I needed it again yesterday. The lovely interaction not only made me feel much less emotional it also completely distracted me from the fact that I was hurtling through the air 30,000 feet above the earth and for the first time in well over 2 years I had no feelings of anxiety related to flying – another thing that had been playing on my mind as the trip got closer.

All in all, the day was a success and I am here now and have already had a bunch of cool experiences, just from walking down/across the street, and feel I confident that I can do this now. For the last few months people have been telling me how brave what I am doing is and I felt like a total fraud as I didn’t feel brave at all but I do now and I am so ready to have a bunch of adventures and hopefully yesterday will be the most (irrationally) emotional I will be … I probably shouldn’t have said that … don’t get me wrong, I know I will get home sick and miss people a whole heap but for the first time I really think I can do this now.

I will hopefully post again soon, just need to do something interesting enough to write about!