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Ten Reasons to join a Hands on Journeys tour | Our Travellers Stories

Today Kate Strong, otherwise known as Strong Kate shares the ten things she loved about her Hands on Journeys experience.

Visiting Cambodia and Vietnam for the first time, I was curious what a two-week tour could offer my well-travelled self. Joining the tour, I arrived with an open mind and without sounding too dramatic, this tour has shifted my perception of travel.

How can this whistle-stop tour with a group of strangers have really impacted me so profoundly?

Kate Cambodia Vietnam Photos

I’ve lightened my experience with these ten reasons how the Hands On Journeys Tour positively impacted my life:

See the sights in comfort

Enjoying the comfort of someone else arranging a bus to arrive at dawn for a magical sunrise is a treat. It also allowed me to be more present – to enjoy every experience, rather than having to plan for the next part of the trip.

Kate Cambodia Vietnam Photos

Local tour guide

Travelling ‘en masse’ sometimes prevents you from experiencing the essence of where you are. Having a guide who is native to the country and town permitted a deeper level of appreciation for the sights we were visiting.

One such moment arrived on a visit to the ‘Killing Fields’ of Cambodia. Seeing first-hand the genocide that happened where I was standing and hearing numbers of hundreds and thousands of people murdered and affected from this act numbed me. Having Cham to share his personal story of his family who went to these camps personalised the story and gave me a glimpse of real life in what could be perceived as a horror story.

Kate Cambodia Vietnam Photos

Time to reflect and meditate

Usually travelling alone, I invariably have a complication along the way; either I miss a connecting bus, a hotel has lost my reservation or I confuse the opening hours for the temple I intended to visit. These hiccups slowly eat away at my time and my patience and, usually by the end of the day, my stress levels have risen.

Touring removes these complications and returns to me time and peace of mind. The reward is at the end of the day, I am comfortable and relaxed with time to stop, to reflect and enjoy the moment.

Kate Cambodia Vietnam Photos

Live like a child again

Wherever I am in the world, I am always mindful of staying safe. This is especially true when travelling alone in a foreign country where I don’t speak the local language. Having a tour where I can leave my possessions safely on a bus whilst visiting sights means I can let my hair down and release some worries that usually come whilst travelling solo.

Local knowledge also lets me visit parks and local attractions which might have otherwise been overlookedKate Cambodia Vietnam Photos.

 

Make new friends

The people who chose a Hands On Journeys tour have similar passions to me: to better understand the local culture whilst also empowering the communities we visit.

We are obviously going to get on! Having two intense weeks together, I have learnt a lot about myself and also made life-long friends with whom I will stay in contact, and travel with again for sure.

 

Discover the Cambodia & Vietnam tour that Kate joined us on

 

Install new positive habits

Two weeks visiting communities through Cambodia and Vietnam showed me how resourceful, how positive and how productive people are if you focus on what you have, and not focus on what you’re lacking.

Watching children play with fruit fallen from trees, adults creating a business with $5 and families bonding over herding their cows taught me to appreciate every small detail I might have overlooked previously.

These moments remind me to be grateful for what I have – every day – to never take for granted health, wealth and friendship and to make sure I put to good use everything I have in my life.

Kate Cambodia Vietnam Photos

Learn to cook delicious healthy food

Whilst travelling, I adore eating the local cuisine. Having a chef guiding me through the local market explaining what exotic fruit and vegetables I’m seeing was a treat. In addition, she showed how to cook these local delicacies and what health benefits they offer. In addition, the chef invite us back to her restaurant and cook with her a few local favourites tailored to every person’s dietary requirements was a delicious surprise and a skill I will definitely repeat back home.

Kate Cambodia Vietnam Photos

Put life in perspective

#FirstWorldProblem is thrown around when we are having a stumbling moment in our lives. Getting caught-up in the daily grind of life I sometimes forget to stop focusing on my to-do list and start looking around me.

Everywhere in life there is beauty, opportunity and abundance and it is our choice to see it. It is easy to start complaining about the small niggles we meet throughout our day. Try living without clean water for 24 hours and suddenly the problem of not finding a car parking space near our local café dissolves.

 

Empower, not depend

“Empty pockets never held anyone back.  Only empty heads and hearts can do that – Norman Vincent Peale”

This quote came to me as we visited our third community: We visited a group of women who lived, with their families, on floating boats. Due to limited work opportunities in the area, these ladies were forced to wait days and sometimes weeks to earn money to buy food for their children and extended family.

The limitation wasn’t their willingness to work, it was the lack of resources.

Hands On Journeys founder, Simla, had the idea to teach the women how to make bracelets to sell to tourists at local hotels and markets. Within one week, these ladies had produced over 600 bracelets ready for the markets.

They were empowered to make positive change in their own lives and created a sustainable business for themselves.

Kate Cambodia Vietnam Photos

Make a wish

Life is as we see it. I learned that most problems and challenges I face are generated in my mind – in a future that is yet to exist.

Whilst on this tour, I learned that Hands On Journeys company started with a wish – Simla wished to create a business that empowered communities in third world countries. After hundreds of hours of hard work and complete dedication to her dream, this is now a reality.

Simla taught me to make a wish – to wish for something big in my life, to wish for something that will inspire positive change for others. And then to commit to it.

 

I have a phrase I read every morning, a habit I started on this tour. It keeps me focused on my own dream and wish and helps me work through the more challenging moments in life:
“There comes a time in life, when you walk away from all the drama and people who create it. Surround yourself with people who make you laugh, forget the bad, and focus on the good. Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don’t. Life is too short to be anything but happy. Falling down is part of life, getting back up is living.”