Spontaneous Trip to Borneo

I usually plan my trips months in advance. I’m a reader of travel blogs and it is through them I get an idea of the best places to visit.

Thailand is among the most favorite destinations of travel bloggers and for good reason. It is my favorite country to visit and I’ve been there more times than any other country. This year Bangkok rated #1 in the world in google travel searches.

But on occasion an inspiration for travel is found in other places. One such time I was sitting at home when I received a text from a friend telling me the late Anthony Bourdain was doing a show on the island of Borneo. I knew nothing of the place so I tuned in the channel.

I was fascinated by the culture on this 3rd largest island in the world (Greenland and New Guinea are bigger in size). Without much prompting from Anthony I was booking my flight as the show was still airing. This is certainly the most spontaneous travel I’ve done.

Borneo is unique as there are actually 3 countries on the island. The northern part is part of Malaysia, the southern is part of Indonesia, and the small country of Brunei is located on this large island.

I have visited 2 of these 3 countries but I never ventured to Brunei, even though I was less than an hour drive from the country. Brunei is unique in that you can actually stand in a long cue to meet the king if you’re inclined.

I have since visited the island a second time but to a different area. Both times I’ve visited the  Malaysian side. These two trips were very different as the first trip included visiting a very remote area of Borneo that can only be accessed by small plane. The second trip I ventured to the far northern end of the island. This was a self-drive tour which I am fond of doing in countries.

I’ll post on the actual trip reports at a later time.