By June Ramli
What a strange time we are living in. These days travel is considered a real luxury that needs to be done with extra caution. Gone were the days where we could just travel on a whim.
Being a migrant living in Australia, an overseas trip to my home country Malaysia has always been a part of my DNA. I am not the only migrant that does this, most who are in my shoes, return to their home countries once a year to do everything from visiting friends and making a trip to their trusted dentist.
But, all that has changed now, especially with the pandemic still in full force. I’ve regretted all the times when I had a chance to travel pre-COVID days but didn’t because I thought that there would always be a next time.
That is what procrastination does to you. Well, long story short. I haven’t been on a plane, felt turbulence since 2019. I was close to visiting Perth earlier this year but had to cancel at the 11th hour due to unforeseen circumstances.
In other words, I’ve been ‘stuck in Sydney for the past one and half years, and that is why I could finish writing my novel.
Anyway, back to the subject at hand.
I recently went on a road trip to the Gold Coast Queensland to celebrate my birthday early this month. We decided to drive to Surfers Paradise instead of taking a flight there fearing getting COVID-19 while on air.
The initial plan was to go somewhere grand like New Zealand, Lord Howe Island or Tasmania but the fear of getting on a plane and sudden lockdowns stopped me from doing so.
Gold Coast is a great place to visit. It a very polished version of Waikiki, Hawaii. I have been there a couple of times in the past but this is the first time I landed on Surfers Paradise. It was so surreal. There wasn’t a large crowd while I was there because Melbourne was under lockdown and it was at the start of winter.
I just stayed in the hotel, walked to the beach, went to Noosa, and had the mandatory pit stop at Byron Bay for the gram and drove back.
For me, I like Gold Coast way better than Byron Bay. I love the skyscrapers, the Pacific Fair Shopping centre and just the all-around vibe that the place gives to tourists.
I’ve never visited the other tourist attractions that are associated with Gold Coast because just walking around the area and people-watching is already enough for me.
Back to my Gold Coast trip, I came back feeling refreshed and wanting more and I am waiting for my next travelling adventure.
For the next one, I hope it is an overseas trip and the travel mode is none other than a plane.
Anyway, enough with my rambling, as we slowly open up for business with more people getting vaccinated, I wanted to advertise the fact that we do reviews on travel spots.
We are also open to receiving articles from anyone who’d like to write a first person’s account on a place that they have visited in the past. This is just to give us all a nostalgic feeling of what it felt like to be able to travel anywhere in the past.
We accept both review requests or articles from contributors. Our email is editor@dailystraits.com.
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