thumbs up!

on the bus ride from penang-nang to cameron highlands, i met a fellow traveler who is down to earth and just a lovely lovely person. her name is christina and at the butterworth bus terminal, while waiting for the bus to arrive, we shared friendly knowing looks at each other. our backpacks and sandals, a clear giveaway of our shared traveling styles.

christina and i endured a long 6 hour bus ride and along the way discovered that we like to experience adventures in similar styles: go with the flow. after a couple days in penang of being quiet and in sweet solitude, it was nice to be engaged in worthwhile conversations about life, travel, and everything in between. to be honest, sometimes, there's nothing better to pass the time on a bus ride than with good banter. fab.u.lous.

unlike penang, cameron highlands has a small town feel. it's a place where locals know the locals and as our hostel owner informed us, a safe place where even hitchhiking is not out of the norm. initially, we had wanted to catch the local bus to the tea plantation but since the buses were notoriously unreliable, we ditched the bus idea and opted instead to give our thumbs up a try! i was truly amazed at how effortlessly easy it was to find rides to the places we wanted to go. it reminded me of how much FUN and carefree it is to just allow life to happen, rather than try to force things to go the way you want them to. when you are open, life is open with you.