You know what happens when you mix “not being able to sleep on planes” with “having a 22-hour layover in a country you’ve always wanted to visit”?

Sleep deprivation 🤣

Flew from Bali at 3am, spent the day dragging my suitcase through Singapore, and somehow even managed to squeeze in lunch with a client. (“Yes, I’m totally awake and professional right now!")

Then hopped on another flight to Manila just after midnight the next day.

Was I exhausted?

Absolutely.

Worth it?

Also, absolutely.

(🇸🇬 Singapore)

I don’t like to be normal.

When faced with two options, I’ve always been drawn to the “crazy” one over the “practical” one.

My 22-hour ferry ride from Cebu to Manila, Philippines was no exception.

The choice was simple:

1. A convenient 1-hour flight
2. A day-long ferry ride across the Philippine Sea

It wasn’t even a tough decision.

So there I was, the only Westerner on a massive ship, ready for an adventure.

(📸 Philippine Sea)

Money is fascinating.

Especially currencies with wild exchange rates compared to the US dollar.

Take the Vietnamese Dong, for example.

You walk up to an ATM, casually withdraw $40, and suddenly…

BAM! You’re holding nearly a million dong in your hands!

The math if you’re curious: 1 USD = roughly 24,000 dong. So yeah, you’re basically living that millionaire life… until you convert it back haha

(📸 Hoi An, Vietnam)

What’s the first thing you think of when I say the word “Vietnam”?

You’d probably think of war.

Or at least, that’s the first thing that came to my mind before visiting the country. Just fragments of history from high school textbooks.

But you know what?

Vietnam is so much more than its past. It’s actually a beautiful country with incredibly friendly people, amazing food, rich culture, and modern buildings.

The biggest surprise?

Learning how to cross the street!

With so many motorbikes on the roads, getting to the other side is an art form in itself lol (Pro tip: Just walk slow and steady — you’ll make it!)

(📸 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)

I never knew how aggressive monkeys could be until visiting Batu Caves, Malaysia.

There were monkeys everywhere.

Literally, everywhere.

Not your friendly zoo monkeys either. These were street-smart temple monkeys. While I’m not typically someone who gets nervous, it was honestly a bit terrifying.

I think mostly because of the rabies.

Everything was mostly okay…

Until I walked out.

All of a sudden, three monkeys started running around me and fighting with each other. I stood there frozen – what do you even do in that situation?

Luckily, they eventually ran away.

Beware of the monkeys.

(📸 Batu Caves, Malaysia)

I had just hopped in a taxi heading towards Vientiane, Laos.

My taxi driver didn’t speak much English (though he certainly tried!), but we managed to have an interesting conversation - mostly about American politics.

“Do you like wahhhh?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I replied automatically.

“HUH???”

I have to admit: I actually had NO idea what he’d said.

“Wait, what do you mean?” I asked.

“Do you like wahhh? Like, pew pew pew!”

He made finger guns, and suddenly it clicked. GUNS?!

“Ohhhhhh. No, I don’t like war,” I clarified.

Moral of the story: Don’t assume you understand - especially when someone’s asking if you like war!

(📸 Vientiane, Laos)

I just got off my 13-hour flight from Chicago - only 1 hour before my next flight.

“Delayed?”

That’s what I thought the monitor said.

But it turns out there was ANOTHER flight to Bangkok on the SAME airline, 30 minutes later.

My flight was already boarding!

So I ran to my gate…

Boarded the plane…

And they closed the door behind me lol.

(📸 Doha, Qatar)

…is what somebody told me.

To a typical American, beans and corn floating in coconut milk might sound like a terrible dessert.

But the Malaysians make it work!

Cendol (chen-dole) is one of my favorite foods I’ve tried so far in SE Asia. I’d love to go back and try it again someday.

(📸 Penang, MY)

“Wait!”

I looked behind me and realized the boat was already sailing away.

“Over here!”

We were snorkeling near a remote island in the Philippines… and my tour group FORGOT me lol.

Imagine that.

Fortunately someone spotted me in time and everything turned out okay.

Scary stuff though!

(📸 Palawan, PH)