Remy went to SE Asia.

South East Asia is a back-packers paradise, and almost a rite of passage for many gap-year students; we caught up with Remy about his time over there exploring.

[read time: 6mins]

What made you take the leap of faith and book that ticket?

I had just completed my degree in film production and was making a living freelancing and working in hospitality but I felt like I was living each week on repeat. The numb feeling of routine started to get to me. I felt like I was searching for something but I didn’t know what. I knew I needed to change things up and see something new. The only thing that kept me sane were the adventures with you guys, but I needed something different. I wanted to run somewhere drastically far away from anything I ever knew, so I did. I dropped everything, bought a flight and a Lot pass with a company called Stray Asia, and headed out on my own.

Okay cool, so if you had to pick one, what was the highlight…aside from cross-dressing! After I travelled off the beaten track through Thailand, Loas, Cambodia and Vietnam. I got my self a cheap motor bike in Hanoi and decided to ride back down to Saigon. The whole trip was not easy. Filled with break downs in the middle of no where late at night, sometimes in the rain. Busses and trucks speeding past with murderous intent. Also I had never used a manual bike before, so learning in Hanoi was liking throwing myself in the deep end, with rocks tied to my arms and legs. But every day I would find myself in a long stretch of quiet road; surrounded by rice paddies and mountains. With the wind on my back and sun on my face, words of Bon Iver drowning out the rumble of the bike. I felt like I was truly alive.

Is there anything you maybe regret, or some advice you would give yourself before the trip? Laugh louder and cherish my time around the people I was with. I miss them now. I look at photos and wonder if I’ll ever see them again, I hope so. I can’t talk much about my tales from travelling with my friends back home because they weren’t there. There's no shared frame of reference. These memories were with complete strangers that grew to become my friends. I might not see them again but I know I’ll remember them for the rest of my life.