Ciao ragazzi!!
I am writing this, 6 hours before my flight to Italy.
I told only a friend of mine when I was planning it. Many of my friends did not know about me going on a backpacking trip… not until 2 or 3 weeks (or even few days) before my departure.
I have no idea what is waiting for me. I have no idea what to expect. I am feeling nervous and I don’t know how I can calm myself down – except writing my thoughts out.
I don’t know if I just made the greatest decision of my entire life, or the dumbest one.
When I told my mum and dad that I wanted to travel alone to Italy, they were okay with it… until I told them I’m going for 3 months.
“三个月？太久了吧！”
But I insisted. God knows what kind of gut I was born with.
My mom has been telling her friends that I am traveling to Italy. And here’s what she heard:
“My luggage got stolen there!”
“My friend’s branded bags were all stolen in a blink of an eye!”
“I lost my passport there.”
“There are many mafias in Italy. They will hunt you down. Be careful.”
“Why did you let your daughter do this? Aren’t you afraid that she will be taken advantage of? Getting raped?”
“She’s young and pretty… are you sure you are going to let her travel alone?”
My mum asked me to find a friend to travel with me. I didn’t want to, because… it’s just different. I want to be on my own. I want to discover me myself, without letting anybody project his or her knowledge about me on me. (Probably weird English here but… I hope you get the idea) I want to push myself to my limits and grow from them.
I will be lying to say that I am not scared at all. However, I would rather feel nervous than regret for not taking risks.
“You’re so brave to make this decision.”
“Wow! Are you sure? How are you gonna survive?”
“What makes you think that you can make it?”
I don’t know. What makes you think I can’t?
Some people asked me why Italy… out of all the countries in the world.
Honestly, I can’t give you an exact answer. I’ve been thinking about visiting Italy for a long time. First thing was because I wanted to meet my Italian bestie and I have many international friends who come from Italy. (It’s crazy how many Italian exchange students there are!) So it kinda felt like a welcoming place to me. I am curious about their cultures, their lifestyles… and most importantly, their food!! HAHAHA. Pasta, pizza, cheese, gnocchi…
I am so ready to gain 10 kilos when I come back to Malaysia!
Jumpa lagi.
Lots of love,
En Qi
P/s: If anything bad happened to me, please note that I am willing to take the risk voluntarily. Please do not blame my family for letting me do this. This is what I want to do. No matter what the consequences are, it’s all on me.
The Dancing Wildfire 