A good place to start - Old Quarter, Hanoi

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24 hours ago I was standing outside Harrison's departure gate in Auckland International airport wondering to myself, why and what the hell am I doing?

Unfortunately the waves of being homesick hit hard, and right now, I don't understand what made me want to fly to S.E Asia all by myself.

I'm hoping that a decent nights sleep and some local street food (I know, I know) will ease my anxiety.

Little things that I have come to realise so far - I packed WAY TOO MUCH - Walking around isn't as scary as people say, condensed milk in coffee is amazing.

My first personal motto is 'This is my trip and I can do what I want'.
Let me explain;
After dropping my outrageously big bag in my hostel locker, I put on my brave face and headed out in search of a Pho restaurant I discovered on Instagram.
It wasn't too far and I picked up the pedestrian vibe pretty quick - walk with purpose!
Pho is nice, not too different from noodles we have at home. I paid US$2 and there was so much I couldn't finish it.
I didn't really have an agenda after food so I headed towards Hoan Kiem Lake AKA the place where the tourists go.
Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed sitting by the lake, listening to the sounds of local buskers and looking at my surroundings without being concerned of being hit by a passing scooter.
What got to me was the thoughts going through my mind - What should I be doing? Where should I be going? Is it too late to go back to the hostel? Should I take a selfie?
I quickly googled for tourists sights around the lake and made my way to Ngoc Son Temple. It was quite busy and there was a small entrance fee so I decided to look from afar.
This was when it dawned on me - I'm just doing this because I think this is what I'm suppose to be doing.
I really just wanted to go back to my hostel and have a nap - well deserved after 16 hours in transit.

So, I walked back to my hostel, and WHAM, another wave of home sickness that I'm going to blame on being tired.

This isn't easy and the thought of another 8 weeks is, honestly, overwhelming.

Let's see what tomorrow brings.

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Comments

[Caroline]

You can do this!
Think of all the accomplishments you will have made at the end of 8 weeks. Yes, you are tired. Hoped the pills work. Just remember Hawaii....Have a blast!