Laura Bazile from England
Traveling to Asia for work, I experienced my last trip in a different way, for 5 main reasons:
/As a woman
Traveling goes with being yourself in a different place; as far as I am concerned, the dasher version came like that: a “woman/project exec/in Asia/for 1 week & more” eg. training people, mentoring staff in a fast-paced environment, chasing suppliers, building trustful (pro) relationships, welcoming clients, discovering … What I relied on as a stepping stone is that I took profit immediately from the way I network online. Steps you skip online when networking leave space for creating efficiently a contact. In other words, 3 things are set very fast A-uttering clearly who you are B-what are you here for C-let’s connect! … or not.
/As a Black woman
Staying in a country where people can notice your presence from far away, in a crowd, is fun and eventually not a thing to care about when you love traveling. The only thing I consider carefully is what is an absolute “no-no” as a woman according to local culture and religion.
I have to admit that in Asian countries I have been traveling to (including my last trip), when you fly to mainland, you may bump into people who never came across a Black person … except on TV! Reactions are quite different as it might be “not” noticing your presence at all (or) staring at you …. (or) touching you! Once recovered from that surprise, you realise that technology will definitely never ever replace face-to-face contacts, the essence of human relationship. You may be connected to the “entire world” if I may say, (Asia is far ahead in terms of technologies), the ultimate step remains “creating a bridge to” who is standing right here, in front of you.
/As a professional
Technology is everywhere. Good news or bad news? Not my point here … Being honest, I just loved a stressless environment where you work online from your hostel room, set up a network with supplier meeting requirements as tools and solutions are countless, taking notes at the airport while waiting… Being connected here means a bond with the outside world.
/As a traveler
I am not prima facie a huge fan of Asia (as a world traveler), I have to admit. I took professional trips as an opportunity to discover countries I wouldn’t have planned to travel to. All in one, if you are a traveler, you grasp every little tiny situation to simply nurture yourself.
/As a (woman) backpacker
My only fear lied in getting accurate visas. I have got friends who traveled in Asia/live in India: they gave me useful tips and advice, accordingly to “how” I travel. I managed to book decent hostels, struggled a little bit to find cheap flight deals. Although, my experience here is restricted, I would add that traveling across Asia can be quite tricky on a short trip as stopovers might be very long. Keep that in mind if you wish to visit.
What about you? Any feeling of travel you would like to share?
Laura
Laura Bazile is an events professional, loves travelling, meeting & helping people, and is passionate about social media, live & virtual arts, and design.
