It was a life-changing decision. A decision which changed my mindset from an introvert to a dreamer hoping to explore the  world. 

Maybe I wanted to escape life, or maybe all I wanted was to make full use of my 9 months-long holiday. I couldn’t remember that well now. I’ve never been outside of Malaysia by myself, let alone solo traveling for 6 months. 

In January 2016, I was blessed enough to secure myself a seat for New Zealand Working Holiday Visa 2016 Batch. There’s only 1150 slots for Malaysians, but I got out from the fierce competition. I arrived in Auckland on 14th February 2016, Valentine’s Day. I didn’t knew back then, until my friend told me. They said, “You’re obviously single,” 

I thought getting a horticulture job was easy in New Zealand so I flew straight to Motueka, but life’s hard. I was jobless for a month before landing myself an apple-picking job. That was followed by kiwifruit packing in factory and apple tree pruning, totaling 4 months of hard work. 

But those are worth it. I saved enough cash to buy a pre-owned car and embarked on a month-long road trip in South Island of New Zealand. Life had never been so eye-opening and adventurous. Waking up and looking forward for the day is probably the best thing in life. 

It was this 6-months long experience that I first experienced solo traveling. It was less scarier than I thought. And much more flexible and exciting. 

I enrolled into a university in Malaysia after I returned from the dreamland. My mind remained there for much longer.

I was sure that time. I caught my travel bug.