Aimless in Angkor
March 3, 2023
Happy Friday, travelers! This week, I took a stroll down memory lane courtesy of Kara and Nate. If you’re not already familiar with their online presence, they started a YouTube channel in 2016 documenting their one-year journey around the world. That year turned into five (maybe even six now) and they’re still traveling full-time.
Before they were flashpackers with stunning YouTube videos courtesy of very expensive camera gear, impressive editing skills, and a knack for telling a great story, they were backpackers with a point-and-shoot. Here lately, I’ve found that the old YouTube they emerged in was the glory days. At least in my personal opinion.1
The videos were raw and real. Edits were made but not focused upon. I can see my own experience through their lens, an experience that’s attainable for me, too.
I watched their Siem Reap videos this week from the beginning of their adventure in Southeast Asia, and was delightfully transported to my own journey right before the world shut down.
In the world of backpacking, there’s this thing called The Loop. It’s a well-trod path that adventurous budget backpackers have traveled for decades. The idea is it’s a circle that starts and ends in Bangkok, but the individual stops are completely up to you. Most journeys on The Loop include stops in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos.
There’s usually an extra stop in south Thailand to see the gorgeous Andaman islands,2 but that’s considered an extra to the loop. This map is the gist.
I’m so grateful today that I didn’t wait. That I took the leap to do this when I had the time, because I was about halfway through this path3 when the world shut down. I haven’t been back to Asia since.4
Out of all the amazing experiences that await a backpacker on The Loop, Angkor has to be one of the magnificent few, an experience so grand it makes almost every list.
Siem Reap, the Pearl of Cambodia, houses this ancient city that was the capital of the kingdom thousands of years ago. Before the country became Cambodia, the kingdom was Angkor. The royal city they left behind is still standing, vast and complex and regal.
What makes Siem Reap and Angkor even more special to me is that it was the first place I truly traveled solo. Val came with me to Thailand, but she had to fly back to Nashville for work after two weeks.
I didn’t. I had the MacBook I’m typing on right now, and that was enough.
The choice was easy—off to Angkor I went.
I have struggled since I first drafted this newsletter to describe what it was like to be there. I can still smell the cacophony of smoke, spices, and the exhaust of night markets. I can still hear the shouts of merchants, the rumble of motorbike tuk tuks. I can still see the sunsets as they bathed Angkor in gold. I can still feel that this was my journey just beginning, because even though I had already been gone from home for weeks. Angkor was a genesis.
Remembering this part of my solo travel in Asia brings so many warm feelings, deep gratitude, and excitement. Those were the days I truly believed I would go to every country in the world, before I even knew that would become one of my life goals.5
Aimless in Angkor, I knew I would always chase days like these. Every penny I make, every day I plan, every moment I sacrifice, every time I said "No" to expensive things at home, it was all for just one more country, just one more day on the road.
When I landed in Siem Reap, a local driver with a bright smile awaited me.6 What I didn't know is that my ride was a tuk tuk. As my hair blew in the night wind, Nicole perched comfortably in the tiny floorboard,7 I couldn't hold in my excitement. I was nervous about traveling solo for the foreseeable future,8 but Cambodia made it easy. On that tuk tuk ride in the dark, all my fears melted away.
Two leisurely days later, I was climbing up the stairs of Angkor Wat itself. If you’ve ever seen a photo of Cambodia on Google Images, it was probably this temple.
How humbling it is to walk on the same stones millions of people from all over the world have walked on. For thousands of years.
To the people that built this magnificent place, it is holy. And even though it hosts encounters with their gods, it is unlikely they imagined any of us would walk the same paths they did so many years later.
Part of traveling to faraway places is the shared experience. I was alone, but not fully. I was an atom within an organism, and Angkor was the source.
I know my experience cannot be replicated. At least, not exactly. There will never be the exact same people in the exact same place again. That’s what makes each experience so impactful—that snapshot in time is gone forever.
In this case, the constant is place. The place itself, beckoning, inviting, nurturing. Those that answer its call are in for the experience of a lifetime. How exactly that will look for each one of us is unknown. What Angkor holds for you, I cannot say.
There’s only one way to find out. And it involves your name on a boarding pass.
What’s On My Tray Table
When I last wrote you, I was reading The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. I have since finished the book and it fell flat for me.
It could have easily been at least 150 pages shorter. Where one metaphor would have sufficed, there were three or four every time. 100 pages from the end, I debated returning it to the library. The plot never really picked up. I couldn’t connect to or root for the protagonists. The whole thing just wasn’t for me.
I’m currently reading The Marriage Portrait, but didn’t finish before it was due back to the library. I’m not far enough to share a review yet, but the premise is fascinating.
New on the blog
My entire Cuba blog post series is live! I have three guides for those of you that want to know what we did and how we planned this trip:
12 Things You Must Do in Cuba
Cuba Pre-Departure Travel Checklist (Updated 2023)
Cuba Travel Guide for U.S. Citizens: What to Know Before You Go (Updated 2023)
Also! Val and I bought our tickets to Countries 27 and 28 yesterday. The destinations will be revealed in the next newsletter!
Be brave and stay that way,
Sarah
Don’t get me wrong—I think they do an amazing job on their newer videos, too. I just find myself rewatching the old ones and watching some of the new ones.
We chose Koh Phi Phi. Life-changing.
In Hoi An, which you can see in central Vietnam.
I would like to change that in 2023 and I’ve been looking at plane tickets. We’ll see!
The Journey to 197 was born shortly after this trip.
We also did this in Cuba, and I highly recommend arranging a taxi through your hotel if you’re staying in a place without lots of public transportation directly from the airport. Especially if the service isn’t expensive!
This is another reason to travel carry-on only. Every link in the chain of your trip will be easier without bulky checked luggage!
Val and I heavily rely on one another on our girls’ trips. I was used to having her with me after two weeks in Thailand.