The Traveller's Magazine
After our interview with Amelie: an organised travellers who loves to improvise we bring you Dani, our “data analyst” at liligo.com who have a passion for travel that takes him all over the world. He tells us about his latest trip to southeast Asia where he met an elephant or two.
Hi Dani, can you introduce yourself a bit before we dive into the details of your latest trip?
I work as liligo.com as the data analyst but I’m also an amateur guitarist, a big fan of basketball and I love to travel! I have friends all over the world and I try to visit them as much as possible in my time off. That’s how I started to love travelling.
Last summer you spent 10 days in Southeast Asia. Tell us a little more about your trip.
I wanted to visit a friend that is currently working in Jakarta so I took a flight to Singapore where we met up. From there we went to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia before visiting the Island of Lombok in Indonesia. After that we travelled to Bali before returning to Singapore for my return flight.
How did you organise your trip?
Before going it was important to make sure we had all our flights booked, hotel rooms reserved and a good list of things we wanted to see and do in each place. It wasn’t a real “backpacking” trip because we tried to find semi-decent hotels while taking advance of the local low cost airlines, like AirAsia.
Generally though I’m not usually someone who likes to plan everything out, from waking up to going to bed, but I like to go knowing that my flights and hotel stays are already taken care of. This is mostly because I don’t travel with a smartphone to get on the internet.
So you don’t like to over-plan but don’t like to totally wing it…
Exactly. I consider myself a pretty practical traveller. I like to plan and book the activities that I definitely want to do but also make sure there’s free time to do things that come up spontaneously or just spend time relaxing.
What’s your favourite memory from this trip?
Meeting the elephants in Bali, without a doubt! We were in a park with 31 Sumatra elephants, each with their own mahout. On top of visiting the park and going to the museum we also took a ride on the back of an elephant. That was the most expensive activity on the trip but totally worth it!
What else do you recommend our readers to see and do in this area?
The view from the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore is very impressive. From the top you can see the entire city in front of you, with all the modern skyscrapers. In Kuala Lumpur, don’t miss the Petronas Towers.
How about souvenirs?
I really like “batik” Indonesian shirts. They’re bright and colourful but also very light to wear on hot days. The best souvenirs are authentic and unique.
What destinations do you have in mind for your next trip?
I would like to go back to the United States but this time to the West Coast. A friend of mine is planning to go to Los Angeles and San Francisco next summer and I’m really thinking to join him.
I’ve also always wanted to go to the Caribbean. What more could you ask for than great beaches, sunny days and mojitos?
Have you also made a trip to Southeast Asia like Dani?
