Beautiful Ha Long Bay in Vietnam at dusk
Traveling really clears one’s head and allows them to think deeply into their thoughts. Unfortunately, I’ve been engulfed with the stressors and checklists of moving to a new area and starting a new job rotation immediately after returning abroad, so most of my clear thoughts from abroad have since been muddled. Fortunately, I took some notes. Here goes July’s special edition from my trip to Japan, China, Vietnam, and Cambodia:
1. Why do I enjoy traveling? my friend Jessica asked me this and here’s my response: It’s not just because I can eat great ethnic food, take pictures of famous destinations, and recount memorable stories from abroad, though I quite enjoy doing those. Rather, it’s about the personal growth experiences along the journey, the increase in awareness of issues and cultures, the refinement of concepts and perspectives, the sense of global community with your newfound friends, and the opportunity to reflect on how all of the above fits into your beliefs, values, and life that makes traveling such an enriching and empowering experience. I believe traveling is an integral part of living a full and exciting life.
2. Pursue fulfilling opportunities. We met a Mexican lawyer who recently quit her job to do non-profit work in Thailand because she felt that her lawyer job was unfulfilling. Personally, the trip reignited some desires to do development work abroad that I’ve ignored since pursuing a business career. I would like to include into my itinerary some volunteer project, research, or learning opportunity next time I travel abroad.
3. English is still the future. As much as people hype learning Chinese or other foreign languages, from talking to professionals in Asia it seems that your best bet is still to be executive-level fluent English if you want to work in a multinational. I love learning languages and recognize their intrinsic and professional values, but I think there are many factors that will keep English as the lingua franca in global business and international affairs for quite a while. (For efficiency freaks like me, you should 80/20 it to English/Chinese respectively). Nevertheless, Anthony and my ears perked every time we heard Chinese spoken; we concluded this shows our competitive advantage.
4. Globalization is awesome to experience. Case in point: a Chinese-American (me) speaking in a combination of English, Spanish, and Chinese with an Equatorial Guinean-Spaniard studying abroad in China while we were both in a bar in Beijing. I got to use five languages during this trip and in addition to the guy above, I met people from the following backgrounds: Korean, Mexican, Malaysian, Polish, English, Welsh, Dutch, Israeli, Swede, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Thai, Canadian, Caribbean-Canadian, Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, HK Chinese, Guangzhou Chinese, American, French, Filipino, Australian, Spanish, Indian, expats from everywhere, and the list goes on…
5. It’s humbling learning about other people’s dreams and goals and very interesting to reflect on how their definition of success leads to happiness. Thank you Chhorpoan, Quynh Anh, and the little boy at the Pre Sup Temple for sharing your dreams with me.
6. You dream outrageous ideas when your mind is free from limits from back home. I asked so many stream of consciousness “what if?” questions to Anthony and jotted in my notepad corresponding notes of big ideas, like what if California had a bullet train system… what if I got into a top MBA… what about opening a dessert lounge similar to Blue Pumpkin in Siem Reap… how can I start my own business… how can I help out worthy causes like the landmine issue in Bosnia and Cambodia, etc.
7. I prefer moderation and being content over extremity and the never-ending pursuit. This is reflected in my travel style where I just want a sampler of each place rather than try to knock out an ambitious itinerary. Decompressing from the incessant checklists is a great feeling. If I missed anything from the trip, it was being able to just chill in Cambodia without any worries. (By the way, if anyone is going to Siem Reap, you should stay at Happy Guesthouse run by my friend Chhorpoan!!)
8. Study abroad teaches us how to live life and travel. Really, the study abroad experience can never be reproduced again, but it does open our eyes to the world in front of us and all the opportunities to be pursued. I always tell people this (and Sandy can vouch for it): you can always travel, live, or work abroad, but you can never study abroad again.
9. It’s not time for me to work abroad yet. After talking to Sandy, Gary, Michelle, Patrick, Anthony, and Kenny, I’ve decided that I think it’s best for me to develop professionally in the USA and then go abroad when I can provide valuable strategic leadership rather than jump abroad now and get in the entry-level and first-level manager trenches.
10. Young professionals are the anomaly in traveler circles. Most of the travelers I meet are either partying backpackers or teachers; rarely do you get a backpacker/traveler who also has to balance their global pursuits with an ambitious climb up the career or status ladder. Then again, I know like 4 world travelers from AT&T alone, so maybe they exist but it’s just harder to find them since they have limited vacation dates to spend abroad.
11. Think in terms of frameworks or formulas. It makes your argument more bullet-proof. Of course, you probably won’t have a more ideal situation to shape and test your thesis than walking around randomly in a foreign city trying to find the place you want to get to. (Btw Anthony, remember this? Sum(Ypresent)/[Xhistoricaltrend*Sum(Yhistorical)] = Zseverity )
12. It’s interesting how you draw comparisons, contrasts, and analogies after traveling a while. I came up with several analogies — Beijing:Shanghai::Hanoi:Saigon as a socio-economic comparison, and Chinese:Taiwanese::Vietnamese:Vietnamese-American as a socio-political comparison. It’s interesting to contrast the graceful chaos of Japan with the loud, dirty, steamy, crowded, yet determined, transforming, and curiously aromatic senses of China and Vietnam with the peaceful friendliness of Cambodia. Also, I think Siem Reap’s chill bar scene reminds me of Austin and Sarajevo. Anthony also pointed out that Vietnam reminds him of China 10 years ago in terms of development.
13. Talk on a macro-level can affect future decisions even though there are no short-term actions taken. I learned this from Anthony during the trip. Sometimes, debating about big issues where you cannot immediately affect change is not wasted time.
14. Be ready to represent your identity. For a hyphenated person, I have to be ready to be Chinese and American, because you’re either or to most people in the world when they ask you what you are.
15. Life is random. You never know who you might meet or run into.
