BACKPACKERS | Solo Female Traveller's Tips and Stories | Connect

Hello, my name is Dieske.
I’m 22 years old.

I’ve been travelling for almost 8 months
now

and for sure, I will continue travelling for,
I dont know…for indefinite time.

Out of your comfort zone.
I can tell one story when I was 15 years old.

I wanted to go to Africa and do some
volunteer work.

So I told my parents
and they said well you cannot do that,

because it’s so expensive to go there
and we’re not gonna pay that for you.

But I said no, I can do that and managed
to raise more than €3000 in a few

months by doing all kinds of crowdfunding
actions and selling things and it was

really cool. And then I actually went there
and

yeah that was, at that moment in life
at that age, I was out of my comfort zone.

It was completely new to me and also
it introduced me to other sides of this

world we’re living in and motivated me to
travel more.

Ok, next question.
What do you think about society.

Interesting questions. I do have an
opinion about western society.

I dont want to be too negative, but I think
that are some things that can be better.

Like for example, I feel that in Western Society
people put lots of pressure on you when

it comes to study, a career, making money,
status and wealth and things like that.

For me that’s not what is important in life,
I think that there are other things like

connecting with people and helping each
other and love, and things like that are

way more important than what car you’re
driving for example.

How do you afford to travel.
I don’t have too much money to spend

to be honest. You know, I just finished my
studies, I never had a full time job.

I had some part time jobs that give me
money and I sold a lot of stuff I had

just before I left.
So I live on my savings now actually and

I think that the most important thing is
that I just don’t spend so much, I’m

very minimalistic.
I don’t carry so much with me, I don’t

need so much.
If I have food and a place to sleep, even

if I don’t have a place to sleep,
I sleep outside like last week.

What’s the best thing a local has ever
done for you.

Locals do so many nice things, like
last week was a really intense week.

I was stuck with my motorbike and so
many people helped me out with

offering me a place to sleep and
giving me food and everything.

But I think the most funny thing
and maybe also the best thing

I dont know, was in Indonesia.
There was this one guy, he was

driving a scooter and he was
following me and he just kept following

me and he was shouting at me, like
‘Hey Mr, Mr stop stop’

It was so annoying, usually I just
ignore or I just say Hi and then continue.

So at some point I was like OK, if he’s
going on for longer, I will turn around

and say he has to go away, because
everywhere I was going he was

following me. It sacared me a little bit.
So then I wanted to turn around and

wanted to get really angry and then I
saw him. He was carrying a big

water bottle and also some fruits.
It was really hot and he thought maybe

she can use some water and some fruits.
I felt so ashamed of myself because

I was going to get angry at him and he
just wanted to help. That was really,

really nice, so I stopped my training
and we were sitting down on the road

and we were sharing the fruits and yeah,
it’s a very small thing but it was really,

really cool.

Solo travel or group.
I think i prefer solo travel, there are pro’s

and con’s about both.
A few months ago, I decided to travel

separate with my boyfriend.
We travelled together for like five and a

half months and now I’m travelling on
my own again. It’s really interesting to

see the difference.

For example I had a week where I had
to go to the hospital like 5 times and

then I was really happy that there was
somebody with me to share these

things, but in other moment I’m like
it’s really nice to be free or to go wherever

you want.
Like I want to stay longer in this place or

I feel like moving.

I always recommend that people go at
least once in their life, travelling

by their self because it’s really good for
your personal growth and it’s makes you

independent and it’s just a really good
experience.

It makes you mature and you get to know
yourself and you will face some challenges

and I think that’s really good life experience
to have.