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EXPERIENCE >> TRAVELING WITHOUT TECHNOLOGY
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s national capital and largest city, provides a unique mixture of historic and modern buildings and a population of over 1.7 million people. This was our first stop along our journey after departing from Singapore. The city is surrounded by lush greenery, with vegetation laced throughout the town and buildings everywhere blanketed with thick vines.
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OUR TOWN MAGAZINE
JULY/AUGUST 2017
calls and texts for over a week was rejuvenating. It really opened my eyes to how reliant we are when it comes to holding a presence online, and it felt nice to take some space and rediscover living in the moment. So other than occasionally bringing the GoPro along, we immersed ourselves in the wonderful (wireless-less) world around us. Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand all proved to be absolutely lovely in their own ways, and there’s nothing comparable to what’s captured when counting on your good ole trusted five senses. We roamed bustling streets and explored thick, green jungles with our minds fully engaged in our escapades. Our focus was to cover as much territory as possible and our plan was nothing more than the placement of one foot in front of the other. Exhilarating doesn’t even begin to fully describe the experience. On the cruise’s final day, the ship docked in Singapore early morning, and since our flight didn’t depart until almost 24 hours later, it provided some extra time to see more of the country. The pros of traveling (nearly) technology free were seemingly endless, however, as with all things of life, it wasn’t without a con — and this was a pretty big one. The stipulation that comes with traveling internationally is you need a passport to leave the U.S. and enter somewhere new. That being said, the same rule applies when exiting your place of visit. Prior to leaving the U.S. for my trip, I verified that my passport was on my person at least 30 times. However, apparently, adult responsibilities weren’t nearly as important while traveling when I noticed the pocket of my bag housing my passport was unzipped. And empty. After a day of touring the downtown streets of Singapore. And the gardens. And a fort. And the mall. And about eight different taxis. We didn’t have time to retrace our steps, as I was not optimistic that our plane’s crew would be so patient as to wait for us. With it now approaching midnight and our flight merely an hour away, I’d be spending some additional time in Singapore — solo. Being a place where caning is still a legal form of punishment and a stick of chewing gum could land you in jail, this wasn’t a place I felt comfortable navigating unaccompanied. “Don’t stress. I’m sure you just left it in another bag,” my brother was quick to say hoping to prevent me from panicking. Too late.