Up, Up, And Away

Introduce yourself!
I’m from Austria, and I’m currently travelling around Asia with my friend Marie. She’s been doing this since November, but I’ve only recently joined her after quitting my job. She was my roommate back in Austria, and she asked me if I wanted to come visit her in Asia. I didn’t really like my job as an optician in an eye surgery laser clinic anyway, so I said okay, quit my job, and here I am (laughs)!

Wow, we love the spontaneity! So after Singapore, where are you two headed next?
We’ll be going to Malaysia—Malacca, Kuala Lumpur. We’ll be taking a bus there and just be travelling up, up, up, to Thailand, Cambodia, and maybe Vietnam.

How fun! What do you think of Asia thus far?
It’s really nice, and very different from Europe. In Singapore, we’ve seen light shows and went to places like Chinatown and Little India—we really like Indian food because we’re vegetarian, and it’s so hard to find vegetarian food apart from Indian cuisine.

Apart from travelling, what else do you enjoy doing in your free time?
I really like crocheting. I didn’t bring any of my materials along with me, but they’re really easy to find anyway. My favourite thing that I’ve made for myself is this beanie in a checkerboard pattern, but I can’t wear it in the Asian summer because it’s too thick.

Speaking of the Asian summer, how are you adapting to the weather here?
I thought it would be worse, but honestly, it’s not too bad. In Vienna where I’m from, it gets really hot in the summer, about 34 degrees, but it’s really dry, unlike in Singapore, so I’m okay with the heat, just that I sweat a lot more here (laughs).

Oh yes, we can’t deal with the humidity here either. One last thing—tell us about your tattoos.
They’re all kind of nature-inspired, which I like, but now I want to go a little trashier (laughs). Marie and I have thought about getting new tattoos in Asia, but we also want to swim a lot, so we’re still considering it. Maybe we’ll just use some aftercare and still do it anyway, we’ll see!