2 nugs of advice noone asked for - Make great friends and keep them. Collect yolo Skills.
I have lived a very lucky and charmed life. And if I had to break it all down into two things, this would be it:
Make great friends and keep them. More importantly, be a great friend.
Learn as many random skills as possible.
I am writing this after spending a week in South Lombok surfing every day, doing yoga, getting cheap massages, and eating delicious healthy meals at the total cost of SG$200, followed up by another week on Nusa Penida doing yoga, drinking a lot of coconuts, eating healthy meals, and exploring this beautiful island again, for the total cost of SG$200.
Most importantly, I spent good quality time with two of my closest friends, who live in South Lombok and Nusa Penida and whom I had not seen since before the pandemic. I write all of this to emphasise how important it is to speak to strangers, make good friends, and make the effort to stay connected.
ONE - CONNECTION
I have to divide my friends into two categories: the ones I work with (locals) and the ones I don’t work with (expats).
Since I started backpacking, if I really enjoyed the experience, I would collect the contact details of the guides. So when Simon and I wanted to start Chickenfeet Travels, I pulled out my journals from 2010, 2011, and 2012, flipped through them, and compiled a list of destinations to travel to and the emails of the guides.
Since then, as I continued exploring the region to build more adventures, I have done the same thing. Thank Buddha for the tech growth around 2014 because once it became affordable for everyone to have smart phones, keeping in contact with everyone was just so much easier.
Chickenfeet Travels stands out from other travel companies because we are invested in the individuals we work with, their families, the future of their children, and the environment and wildlife they work with. It all comes down to human connection. Truly caring for others like they are your family, even if you do not share the same blood, and doing as much as you can, when you can, to help each other.
My connection to the guides who work with Chickenfeet runs deep, and it is the one thing that keeps me going. When you book with Chickenfeet Travels, you drop into these connections. We take out the hardest part of turning a holiday into an adventure: finding the guides committed to your best experience with them.
When it comes to my city friends, I have the best friends anyone can ask for. I would not be able to have lived the lifestyle I have if it were not for the great friends that I have met along the way. As much as I am able to, I provide food and shelter to anyone who passes through Singapore or travelling in Southeast Asia. The expat friends who I know go out of the way to meet each other; even if it means flying into the same airport to have a coffee while in transit. I can’t tell you how to make good friends, but I have a strong feeling that it comes down to self-awareness and being the friend that you would want in your own life. If you have great friends in your life, protect that connection as much as you can.
This is fundamental to Chickenfeet Travels business as we have met and work with the best tour guides and drivers in Southeast Asia who also have a deep curiosity for their history and heritage, want to ensure best customer service, and want to lower their impact on the environment and conserve as much as they can.
TWO - SKILLS
My educational background is in science and a foofy one at that: marine biology. But I made it a point to learn as many things as possible since my university days. I call these YOLO skills because if we only had one life to live, none of us would choose a stressful 9-5 desk job in a city full of strangers. When we strip away societal, familial, and financial pressures and expectations, we would only be doing the things we truly love, that we are very good at, which bring ourselves and everyone around us joy. So after decades of travel and solo-preneurship, I have acquired all the skills to fall back on:
Making websites through SquareSpace
Graphic design with Canva
Listening to books and learning at 3x speeds which has also improved my writing
Making a half-decent latte and pouring a perfect beer
Basic kitchen skills
Decent photography skills with post-editing through VSCO and throwing presets on photos to create a vibe.
Dive Instructing
Knitting, crocheting, and sewing
COMMUNICATION - making new friends and asking deep questions
