From overnight buses, 12-person dorm rooms, and aggressively packed itineraries to trains, planes, private hotel rooms, and slower mornings — I’ve had my fair share of travel successes… and very educational failures.

One thing I can’t deny: my travel style has changed.
And honestly? I’m okay with that.

(Also, for transparency: not all of these souvenirs — or questionable decisions — happened on solo trips.)

How my travel style has evolved 

In My 20s: Maximum Adventure, Minimum Comfort

I started travelling in my early 20s with a friend, which is how I was introduced to the world of hostel dorms — cheap, practical, and filled with complete strangers who somehow become part of your travel memories forever.

Naturally, when I took my first solo trip, hostels felt like the obvious choice.

Some were great.

There was a hostel in Shanghai with a surprisingly comfortable bed and — luxury of luxuries — a curtain for privacy. The bathroom cleanliness, however, remained… open to interpretation.

Then there was Thailand, where I somehow spent five glorious days alone in a dorm with a private bathroom. Absolute perfection. Peak hostel experience. I thought I had cracked the system.

And then reality balanced things out.

Like the hostel in Hong Kong where I was the only woman sharing a room with three men, a very old squeaky bed, and exactly zero privacy — though ironically, the bathroom was immaculate.

Or the Beijing hostel with questionable cleanliness and no window… yet where I met a great friend. Proof that travel experiences rarely fit neatly into “good” or “bad” categories.

As for communal hostel areas?
As a professional introvert, you would not find me there voluntarily. Mixing with random strangers required more social energy than I possessed. Thankfully, modern apps and travel communities later solved that problem.

Back then, I also packed my itineraries to the limit. Multiple cities per trip, early mornings, late nights — the goal was simple: see everything, waste no time.

Transportation Lessons (Learned the Hard Way)

In my 20s, buses were often the cheapest option. I took them willingly… until Vietnam.

The overnight bus from Hanoi to Sapa remains one of life’s great mysteries:
How did I survive? No idea. Luck, possibly denial.

Between motion sickness and mild emotional trauma, I happily retired from long bus journeys after that (unless absolutely unavoidable).

There was also the overnight train between Xi’an and Chengdu. The station was an hour outside the city, which we discovered slightly too late, resulting in a very expensive taxi ride.

The cabin was shared with three strangers, hygiene was optional, and every rail connection sounded like the train was reconsidering its life choices. Sleep did not happen.

In contrast, the train between Guangzhou and Hong Kong felt like entering the future: smooth, clean, spacious — a reminder that not all transport experiences are created equal.

In My 30s: Comfort Enters the Chat

Somewhere along the way, my hostel dorm era quietly ended.

I upgraded to private hotel rooms, occasional Airbnbs, and perhaps the biggest change was choosing convenience over endurance.

I now happily:

  • Take trains and planes over buses

  • Book taxis for early flights or late dinners

  • Prioritise ease when carrying shopping bags that somehow multiply overnight

These upgrades aren’t always glamorous though.

There were two hotels in Japan with zero insulation, windows facing a wall, and rooms so small sitting on the floor required strategic planning.

The Thai Airbnb that looked nothing like its photos.
The budget bungalow where I spent several sick days questioning my life choices.

But there were also wins:

  • The controversial APA hotels in Japan — tiny but incredibly comfortable

  • A beautifully decorated boutique hotel in Thailand tucked away from busy streets

  • Train rides across Japan that consistently delivered comfort and stunning views

And despite evolving habits, I still love public transport in places like Bangkok, Japan, and China: punctual, clean, quiet. Truly the dream.

What I’ve Learned

Travelling cheaply in my 20s gave me incredible experiences, resilience, and stories I’ll probably tell forever.

But in my 30s, I’ve learned that travel doesn’t need to be exhausting to be meaningful.

Now I travel:

  • Slower

  • More comfortably

  • With quieter days built in

And yet, I still won’t say no to an adventure when it appears unexpectedly.

Because the goal was never to travel a certain way, it was simply to keep travelling