One Week in Fiji
With a Bonus Trip to Sumatra and Kuala Lumpur
This trip wasn’t just a unique stamp in the passport.
It was also a reunion of three good friends. The besties trip with Jasper and Natalie in Fiji not only took months of planning, it also required execution from all three of us.
Because we came from different parts of the world to make this happen: Madagascar, California, and Taiwan.
This was certainly a trip for the ages.
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Jasper + Natalie + Wilson - The Journey
Our trio friendship was born four years ago in Florianópolis through a Facebook group of expats during the The Experience in Brazil, Part 1.
The SaaS (ha), traveling the world, being multicultural, all things Brazil, relationships, and shouldering the responsibilities of thinking about the future have gradually become the shared themes we talk about on a weekly basis for the past four years.
After weeks of discussing (and negotiating ;)) in early February 2024, we decided to meet in Fiji in July 2024.
Fiji - The Thing Adjacent to Paradise
I would not have come to Fiji without Jasper and Natalie. But there were some things I noticed about Fiji —
The People, the Other Tourists
An overwhelming majority of people we met were from New Zealand. We also met people from Australia. Everybody else was from somewhere else and living in those two countries. I didn’t meet many people from the Americas.
It’s a 3 hour flight from New Zealand and roughly a 4 hour flight from the east side of Australia and 10 hours from San Francisco so that makes sense.
The locals were Indians / Native Americans. They have their own local language: Fijian. The second language in Fiji is obviously English.
The Nature
We visited three islands: Waya (Octopus Resort), Nanuya Balavu Island (Mantaray Island Resort), and Nacula Island (Oarsman’s/Blue Lagoon).
Fiji is known for bull shark diving. I didn’t do it due to… yes, lack of bravery 😂
However, Manta Rays - which was the highlight of the trip
Scuba diving was another great highlight. The visibility of the water was incredible and I had the privilege of seeing fish I had previously never seen in the world.
Other things we did: cave tour, stand-up paddleboard, kayaking, snorkeling.
The Bonus Trip - Orangutan Trekking and Kuala Lumpur
Before I took the flight from Singapore to Fiji, I spent 5 nights doing Orangutan Trekking in Sumatra in Indonesia and visiting Malaysia for the first time. A huge shoutout to Jasper for convincing me to do the “bonus” excursion to the main event of Fiji.
Venaka and Thank You, Fiji
This was an incredible 16 day trip, which featured three new passport stamps (Indonesia, Malaysia, Fiji) and a 2 in 1 situation - a reunion with Jasper/Natalie and traveling to three new countries - that simply worked out.
But I especially thank Jasper and Natalie for reaffirming that friendship and adventure are two of my most important values.
This trip has inspired me to continue on this journey that we call 2024 with the highest spirits possible, and I’m certainly taking that mindset back to Taipei with nothing but excitement.