Last updated on March 4th, 2021 at 12:04 am

The night before arriving in Kuala Lumpur, I was robbed in Vietnam. And just my luck that I was solo and headed to a new country. At this point, I wasn’t excited at all to go to Malaysia—the whole situation shook me up.

How the heck was I going to get around and be able to survive in a new country alone and phoneless?

My momentum was gone, and I wasn’t empowered at all. I barely wanted to go and was afraid. My emotions were getting the best of me, and looking back, it totally made sense why.

When I arrived in KL, I stayed the entire day locked in my Airbnb. I didn’t have the energy to do anything but order food and watch Netflix. Somehow the fear made me forget how blessed I was to be visiting my 11th country.

So what changed?

My amazing support system reminded me of who the heck I was, and what a blessing it was to be abroad. I snapped out of my funk with the quickness and came up with a plan to take in as much of Kuala Lumpur as possible.

I did a quick search Pinterest to find some budget-friendly places to visit while in Kuala Lumpur, and yummy vegetarian restaurants to check out. My fearlessness slowly but surely came back, I started jotting down places down in my journal and even wrote the directions.

The second day I found this AMAZING vegetarian spot called Camelon’s Vegetarian Restaurant.

I took it upon myself to visit the famous Batu Caves, which thankfully is train accessible. It’s full of Hindu shrines and various caves. The cool thing is it’s also free and there are many sights to see while there.

Batu Caves is full of vibrant colors and people trying to walk 272 steps. Once you get to the top, you can enter another temple. Coming here allowed me to step outside my comfort zone, I had no choice but to be fully present.

I’m actually thankful I didn’t have my phone, because I ended up connecting more with strangers, which brought me a lifelong friend.

What I enjoyed most about Batu Caves was being able to walk up all those steps and getting a view of Kuala Lumpur. If you’re ever in town, this should be on your bucket list.

Oh, and did I mention it’s free?

By my third day here, I started feeling more confident getting around KL. I devised a plan to visit 5 different places, which involved me getting lost about 6 different times.

And no matter how many times I got lost, I kept meeting people who helped me out along the way.

The first place I went was Merdeka square, because it was Malaysia’s independence day. But somehow I ended up at the wrong location.  

And it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Besides the beautiful scenery, I ended up meeting this pretty cool guy from Sudan! He ended up showing me around Kuala Lumpur and now is one of my friends. 

Exploring more, I visited sites in Chinatown, the Islamic Arts Museum, and getting lost in the Botanical Garden. But the most important part was taking this all in without distraction and being able to have authentic exchanges with people along the way.

After exploring, I met up with some people and they showed me a magnificent time! I would have never thought I could be solo and phoneless in an unfamiliar place. But it was actually a wonderful experience. Moments like this make me thoroughly enjoy life.

I really survived Malaysia by the grace of God! Although it sucked not having a phone, I can’t even complain—it ended up being so magical.

Sometimes when things seem like they’re crappy, you have to make the best of it! If I didn’t explore, I would have robbed myself of the beautiful scenery and the bonds I created with people.

I survived by trusting in myself, the most high, and knowing that everything would work its way out! Sometimes (most of the time) things in life do not go as planned, but if you go with the flow—you’ll end up having the time of your life!