As a budget traveller, I found it extremely difficult catch a few winks while on the move, in subpar hostels or on overnight buses. It’s not an ideal environment for enjoying a deep, restful sleep, which is why I always travel with a eye mask. Other than blocking out light, I’ve conditioned my body to be ready for sleep when I put on an eye mask so I can fall asleep easily anywhere!

I used to travel with my $2 Daiso eye mask because I didn’t think price point was important... Until SleepWiz sent me their eye masks. Made of 100% mulberry silk, Luxiere Silk Eye Mask retains natural oils in your skin skin and it’s impenetrable to light, making it perfect for frequent travellers like me. I’m not even exaggertating when I say Luxiere Silk Eye Mask is the fluffiest, softest eye mask I’ve ever set my hands on!

Hi. You may have stumbled upon my blog when you searched for my name or came across my now-private Instagram account. You’re wondering why I travelled frequently if I stay in a two-room rental flat. Fair enough. Let me break it down for you.

1. Gap year

In 2016, after graduation, I took a gap year to save up for my degree and worked full time for 10 months. During that time, I was blessed to be sent on work trips. Expenses and flights were fully paid for. Sometimes I extend my trip by clearing my leaves.

2. Budgeting

Friends know that I live frugally. My shirts are around $5-7 (yay to being petite because I shop in the kids' section a lot), my meals not above $4. I don’t order drinks with my food either. My phone plan is the cheapest one with minimal data. I never ever take taxis or Grab. If my destination is less than five bus stops or three MRT stops, I walk. I walked 3-4 MRT stations from my internship office to school in the blazing hot 1pm sun to save a few cents.

With those rules, after paying my own bills and giving my mom money, I still saved more than 70% of my take-home pay in 2016.

3. More budgeting


If you realise, a section of my blog is dedicated to budget travelling. Travelling is an extremely budget affair for me when it’s not a work trip. I slept in the cheapest hostels I could find, and walked up to 50 minutes instead of taking public transport. I brought snacks from home and only ate one meal a day there. I don’t visit attractions like the Eiffel Tower or Louvre either. Attractions that I ended up going to were largely discounted because of student price.

Digressing a little, I know it’s a matter of time before people discuss me flying SQ to Hong Kong in 2016. I can almost feel the suspicions rising up your throats as you question, “SQ budget meh?” No it’s not a budget airline, but I explained why I took SQ in my first Hong Kong blog post. TLDR: I paid for the tickets first, my ex lied to me that he’d pay me back, didn’t pay. Tickets and accommodation were already booked, what would you have done? Lesson learnt: don’t be dumb when it comes to money.

4. Social media is a lie!!!

I specialised in advertising, then later also majored in public relations. Putting what I learned about branding into use, my social media accounts are curated to build my personal branding as a travel blogger. I also plan to branch into freelance photography in the near future so Instagram is a platform for me to showcase my work.

While I spend the majority of my time in Singapore, my Instagram shows otherwise because I take my time to edit and post photos. In fact, I still haven’t finished posting photos from my work trip in 2016 LOL. Most of the photos I take in Singapore are posted not posted on my Instagram account. Expectations VS reality yo.

(I have since privatised my main Instagram account because my boyfriend and mom are very private people and I don’t think it's fair for them to be exposed to whoever that’s searching my name.)

5. Miles

You’ll be surprised at how many miles you can earn from paying school fees and necessities. Following news of the latest promotions helps a lot too. Shoutout to Milelion telegram group lmao this is not an ad I swear.

6. Savings plan

CAN I HAVE FIVE MINUTES OF YOUR TIME? Just kidding, I’m not an insurance agent LOL. The savings plan I have with my bank yields a relatively high interest rate, which eventually adds up.

7. Part-time jobs

I have been earning my own money since I was 15. I do freelance designing and digital marketing. My blog also allows me to earn, albeit minimally. Freelance jobs, part-time jobs, event jobs — I take up everything that comes my way and I’ve been financially independent since secondary school. Even when I’m travelling, I wake up at 4am to complete freelance work.


***


In conclusion, it’s not magic. It’s some sprinkles of luck, a lot of careful planning, sacrifices and hard work. I don’t share this part of me online because it always feels like humble brag to me.

The amount I spent during my trip, or even ten times of, was definitely not enough for me to buy a flat, even the cheapest one, somewhere. Anyhow, there are other private reasons my mom is not planning to buy a flat and I’m not getting married anytime soon, so that allows me to stretch my wallet a little more.

I think people are forgetting the real issue at hand. Even if I don’t travel at all, it’ll take me years to save up before I can buy a flat. What do I do then? Continue living under such conditions in those years?

Pardon me for any typos. Wrote this on my phone at 2am with three hours of sleep the previous two nights. Ok said my piece, bye.

P.S. I wrote that my mom is a hawker. I don’t know how people misunderstood it as my mom owns a hawker centre/hawker stall. Oh well *shrugs*

It took me a long time to put this into words. Oh Europe, where do I start?

It began as an amusing thought to visit my friend, Cheryl, in Europe while she's on exchange. For the unaware, local uni students typically go on an exchange programme during their third year in university so long as they hit a minimum GPA. Back then, I was working full time and Cheryl was my intern, which made that thought on a verge of being ludicrous — we weren't even proper friends friends!

Months went by, I left my job while Cheryl stayed in school, and we continued being close friends. I might even add that she's one of the closest friends I have. Suddenly, flying >10 hours to find her didn't sound that laughable at all. After all, I had KrisFlyer miles that were expiring. After three months of looking at plane tickets and contemplating my options, I bit the bullet one night in December and booked my ticket.

The decision wasn't an easy one. Despite travelling solo in Japan and Taiwan, I wasn't all confident about leaving the safety blanket Asia provided me. There was a neverending stream of worries about my first time in Europe, but it has been that way for every solo trip. And I knew if I didn't book my tickets there and then, I would never find the courage, or reason, to in the near future.

I had to change my air tickets thrice too, because my travel period clashed with the time Cheryl's family was going to visit her, and my own school holidays. Thankfully, I managed to booked a cheap flight from Singapore to London (review of flight here) and change my miles for a SQ flight from Amsterdam to Singapore.

Fast forward to April, there I was, alone in London Gatwick Airport.


Trouble began way back in Singapore. Upon boarding the plane, I realised that I was essentially screwed — I did not bring my iPhone sim card tray ejector. Because I travel frequently, so I usually leave my ejector in my wallet. However, I stupidly forgot that changed my wallet (didn't want to bring a branded wallet to avoid pickpockets) and carelessly left the ejector in my old wallet.