Waktu masih kecil, saya suka main Lego. Sebenarnya sih punya abang saya, tapi kan suka ikut-ikutan main. Itu semacam batu bata pipih terbuat dari plastik kecil berjendol yang dibangun untuk membentuk sesuatu, seperti rumah, mobil, robot, dan lain lain. Tau nggak, mainan edukatif yang mendunia ini berasal dari Denmark sejak 1949! Setelah setua gini dan udah nggak main Lego, saya baru tahu bahwa ada Legoland Malaysia Resort yang dekat, yaitu di Johor Bahru, Malaysia – hanya 2 jam terbang direct naik Air Asia dari Jakarta! Harus saya akui, Malaysia memang oke banget bisa buka Legoland pertama di Asia, setelah ada di Denmark, AS, Inggris, dan Jerman.
“Where are you from?” is such a common question when you travel. It is also my favorite question to ask fellow travelers just to prove my guess is right by observing their languages or physical features. But when it comes to asking where I’m from, it becomes a lot more exciting.
Most Indonesians don’t travel. Most Indonesians who travel do so in tour groups. Most Indonesians who travel in a tour group will almost always go to Asia, Australia, USA or Europe. What about an Indonesian woman traveling in Latin America? 99% of the people I met said, “Wow, you are the first Indonesian I met in my whole life!” This is said not only by the locals, but also by the fellow travelers – mostly Europeans.
Kalau umumnya orang Indonesia jalan-jalan selama seminggu, Trinity jalan-jalan selama satu tahun penuh! Ia telah mencapai lebih dari 144.577 km dan berkunjung ke 22 negara di dunia. Bermula dari Rusia, naik kereta api ke negara-negara di Nordik dan Eropa Timur, lalu terbang ke Brazil dan naik bus umum keliling benua Amerika Selatan sampai Kolombia, lanjut ke negara-negara di Kepulauan Karibia,…
Jalan-jalan setahun keliling dunia (#TNTrtw) wajib memikirkan masak-masak bawa gadget apa aja. Masalahnya, hidup literally di jalan dengan modal satu tas berarti nggak boleh bawa barang yang berat. Padahal masih harus bawa lagi charger, power bank, plug adaptor, colokan T.
Berikut gadget yang saya bawa:
[] Tablet atau Laptop? Awalnya sempat bimbang, mending bawa tablet atau laptop. Tablet memang sangat praktis dan ringan, tapi buat ngetik nggak nyaman. Kalau dipakein keyboard tambahan, ya sama aja tebelnya. Lalu saya pikir, selama #TNTrtw ini saya traveling sembari kerja menulis, baik untuk blog maupun jadi kontributor di majalah. Oleh karena itu fungsinya lebih banyak ke kerja, bukan untuk entertainment, maka saya memutuskan untuk bawa laptop. Saya bawa Ultrabook merk Acer Aspire S3 karena saat itu merupakan laptop tertipis (13.3 mm) dan ringan (kurang dari 1,4 kg) – penting banget supaya nggak pegel kalo dibawa-bawa setahun. Layar yang gedenya 13.3” dan keyboard-nya luas bikin mata dan jari-jari nyaman kalau kerja, seperti kondisi biasa di rumah.
Trinity is Indonesia’s leading travel blogger and writer. Four volumes of “The Naked Traveler” have been published to date, and have quickly become Indonesia’s best-selling travel book. Her books tell of her adventures around the world in compilations of thoughtful, entertaining and often hysterical short stories. Through her blog, books, and appearances, Trinity has inspired a young generation of Indonesians to expand their horizons through travel. For the first time in English, this compilation focuses on Trinity’s adventures in and around Indonesia, providing travelers to the region an indispensable insight into the culture and sights of this multi-faceted archipelago.
(preview from page 51-53)
… From what you see of it on TV, the Komodo is truly terrifying – I will never erase the image of a goat being swallowed whole in a single huge gulp. For a whole month before we left, Yasmin, Jana and I (none of us spring chickens) were busy developing our komodo evasion techniques in case we were suddenly charged. Apparently, a komodo that is approximately three metres long and weighs 70kg (on an empty stomach) can run at 20km/h, climb trees, and swim underwater!
…
When the boat arrived in Komodo Island, a World Heritage Site, we were given a briefing by the guide. “There are 2,500 komodos in the park. Komodos like to eat meat, including human meat.”
One westerner was less than excited. “Can I just stay in the boat?”
But there was no backing out now. All the foreign tourists who had spent the boat ride wearing as little as possible were suddenly transformed into Indiana Jones attire, complete with hats, khaki shirts, pants and trekking boots. Of course, that left us three looking like total dorks. All we were worried about was making sure we had put on enough insect repellent.
And the dorkiness continued when the Komodo National Park ranger asked, “Who wants to go for a short trek?”
All three of us put our hands up at the same time.
“Medium trek?”
No response.
“Long trek?”
At this point the remaining 23 sets of hands shot up into the air. Damn westerners! It wasn’t all bad though as the three of us were given our own guide while the rest of the group shared the remaining two. Aside from not really wanting to go trekking, we were also glad we would not have to try to keep up with their long-legged strides.
…
