Welcome to week twenty-one of the backpacking diaries. I’ll be updating you weekly on where I’ve been, what I’ve been getting up to, and most importantly, how I’m really feeling about this insane decision I’ve made.
As you probably know, I’m currently backpacking through Asia after quitting my job and leaving London for good.
I want to remember every moment of this experience, and document as much of it as I can, just like I’ve documented everything else in my life post-18 on this website.
You can keep up to date with my travels on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube but for now, enjoy week twenty of the travel diaries!
If you missed the first twenty weeks of backpacking diaries, you can catch up here.
Top tip: for mobile data around Asia, we used the Airalo eSim which was super handy and easily installed onto our phones as soon as we arrived in Hong Kong!
Day 141: Monday 5th August 2024
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
Dear travel diary,
I had a very relaxed start to the week today with a lie-in until 9am or so. Steff went to our local coffee shop to grab us coffees while I read from bed and finished my book. You can read my monthly book reviews here.
Around 10am I started to work on some Instagram Reels that I’m working on with a brand and then spent the afternoon working on blog posts and more Instagram content.
We changed things up and ordered Indian takeout for dinner, watching the House of the Dragon finale which was rather disappointing.
Day 142: Tuesday 6th August 2024
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
Dear travel diary,
We headed into Central Embassy first thing this morning as I was getting my hair done – finally!
My greys are out of control but I wanted to wait to as close to Hong Kong as possible as I’ll be travelling for the next six weeks and want to get the most out of my roots.
I booked into a hairdressers in Central Embassy called MOGA. Even though I knew it would be on the more expensive side, I’ve been having issues with my hair lately so wanted it done properly.
My hair has been falling out in clumps when I wash it and the ends are so broken and thin. My hair is usually unnaturally thick, so this has definitely been a huge change for me. And it’s been upsetting me quite a bit, I won’t lie.
My hair has been thinning and I’ve seen the patches around my temples getting sparser and sparser.
But, I went in and let the hairdresser work her magic. So now my hair is rid of greys, the same colour all over (for a change) and sitting just below my shoulders.
Yep, I got a huge whack cut off but it’s looking the healthiest it’s looked in a very long time. And I intend to keep it looking and feeling healthy. So I’ll be making sure to get regular trims from now on to keep it looking thick and the ends less dead.
After this, it was straight to our coffee shop to set up shop on our laptops and work for the day.
For dinner, we headed to Terminal 21 for the final time, seeing how much food we could get for 250 baht. It turns out, quite a lot!
Day 143: Wednesday 7th August 2024
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
Dear travel diary,
This morning didn’t start off too well. I woke up around 8am and read my Kindle. Then around 9am I started to have severe stomach pains.
For the next two hours, I didn’t leave the bathroom. After four months of travelling around Asia, something finally didn’t agree with my stomach.
Thankfully, it only lasted for two hours before I started to feel better and could eat something and also have a coffee.
I spent the rest of the day trying to rehydrate and watching YouTube from bed, as well as working on some partnerships.
Day 144: Thursday 8th August 2024
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
Dear travel diary,
Our final full day in Bangkok which is crazy! I can’t believe we’ve been here for four weeks already.
Today was spent tying up all loose ends, packing, cleaning, and getting my YouTube video live before we head off on the next leg of our travels.
It was a full laptop day before getting ready for our flight to Hong Kong tomorrow!
Day 145: Friday 9th August 2024
Location: Bangkok, Thailand & Hong Kong
Dear travel diary,
Today is a travel day! We’re taking our first flight since we flew into Laos around 8 weeks or so ago.
We checked out and said goodbye to our AirBnB apartment and took a Grab to the airport.
Our flight to Hong Kong was with Emirates Airlines, and this was my first time every flying with Emirates, so I had very high expectations.
The plane was a double-decker, and we were actually the very back row of the bottom floor. The very last row. Row 87 to be exact.
Maybe someday in the future I’ll be flying first class. I’m writing it here as a way of manifesting it.
Our flight to Hong Kong was only two hours long, but there were TV screens in the backs of the chairs and we were even served a full in-flight meal halfway through!
We watched The Iron Claw together which was heartbreaking and unbelievably based on a true story. I also had a glass of wine with my meal because it was free and also because I’m on my holidays.
Overall, an excellent flight and I wish every short-haul flight could be with Emirates.
We landed in Hong Kong around 7pm and I had a work call at 9.30pm. By the time we got through immigration, grabbed our bags and were on the metro, we arrived at the hotel at 9.15pm.
Only to find out that we were at the wrong address. Same hotel, different location.
So we quickly hopped in an Uber, made it to our actual hotel and I logged onto my laptop at 9.30pm exactly just in time for a very exciting call with a dream brand.
Afterwards it was around 10pm and we hadn’t eaten since our flight meal so we ordered in some dumplings and noodle soup to the hotel for our first Hong Kong meal.
Day 146: Saturday 10th August 2024
Location: Hong Kong
Dear travel diary,
Our first day in a brand new city!! We are back to exploring-mode again and I couldn’t be more excited.
Plus we’re in the home of dim sum, so life couldn’t be better right now.
We headed out bright and early and headed out for some dim sum breakfast. Yes, breakfast. I’ll be eating dim sum for breakfast, lunch and dinner while I’m here. Just wait.
We sampled dim sum from Tim HoWan before moving on to One Dim Sum for lunch to sample some more. I also had my first ever custard bun and realised I’ve been missing out this entire time. It’s safe to say I’ll be eating custard buns every day until I leave Hong Kong.
We walked and walked around the city for hours, taking so many photos and videos of the crazy apartment buildings that loomed overhead.
I’m used to New York skyscrapers but these buildings are a different level. There are apartments absolutely everywhere, all with air-conditioning units hanging outside.
The city is a photographer’s dream.
For dinner, we headed to a dai pai dong. It’s where they cook on the street using jet fuel which is now illegal, but they continue to do it since it’s what they’ve always been doing. We ordered some beef strips with sautéed potatoes and oh my word they were the best thing I’ve tasted in a long time. Incredible.
We went to bed very full after a great day of eating.
Day 147: Sunday 11th August 2024
Location: Hong Kong
Dear travel diary,
We had a more relaxed approach to the city today after exploring so much of it yesterday. We had a little lie in and then headed to the ‘Monster Building’, a photo spot in the outskirts of the city.
It’s basically three apartment buildings built into a U-shape which looks incredibly daunting from below. But, a great spot to take a photo.
I grabbed a custard bun from a bakery nearby before hopping back on the Metro and heading to Sister Wah for lunch. This little diner makes the Michelin Guide every year and we queued for about half an hour before being seated at a table with strangers.
We were noticeably the only Westerners in the diner, and basically in all of Hong Kong too. The language barrier has been a little difficult in some instances, but we’ve been able to mostly communicate easily.
After this, we headed over the water for the first time to see the Financial area of the city, where all of the big banks and offices are located.
I was surprised by how many hills there are here, and they even have escalators going up and down the streets so you don’t have to walk up the steep hills.
We wandered around and headed to Elephant Grounds coffee shop to sit on our laptops for a few hours.
The famous nightlife area is in this part of the city, called Lan Kwai Fong, so we headed here and had a cocktail – like I said, we’re on holiday, right?
I had a long overdue Aperol Spritz that went down an absolute treat.
For dinner then, we headed nearby to Ding Dim 1968. This was a more local spot that didn’t have too many people inside but the dumplings were incredible.
We finally had some soup dumplings and I ate so many dumplings that I felt sick afterwards. Happily sick on too many dumplings.
Make sure to check back next week as we leave Hong Kong and head to Japan!!
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