Exploring Kazakhstan: From Solo Traveller, to Living the ‘Squad Goals!’ Dream
Meet Hillary, a Singaporean traveller who's explored destinations like Mauritius, London, Cambodia, and now, Kazakhstan! In a world where solo female travellers are a rare find, Hillary's journey is truly inspirational.
Hillary, against the stunning backdrop of Lake Kaindy, Kazakhstan. Also famously known as ‘The Sunken Forest’.
I'm personally on my way to becoming a solo traveller too (I recently had my first solo adventure in Seoul!). So, when I found out about another Singaporean woman exploring the world independently, I couldn't contain my excitement. Picture this: I was in a hostel's lift lobby in DongDaeMun, Seoul, engrossed in a text exchange with Hillary when she casually mentioned her solo traveller status. I literally bolted up straight with anticipation.
Join us in a captivating conversation as we explore the world of female solo travel, Hillary's honest take on Beyond Expeditions' tours as a solo traveller, the unbelievable chemistry she found with this Kazakhstan expedition group, and how this experience challenged her perceptions of group tours, and Kazakhstan.
A photo of the nine ladies during their recent expedition to Kazakhstan! Can you spot Hillary?
I like to know my interviewees a little more first, before going further into the conversation to hear their thoughts and insights. I feel it’s important for you too, to understand more of this unique mind and heart you’ll be reading about.
“What is an animal that best represents your personality, and why?”
Hillary laughed, before sharing that she struggled with this question when she first read it. (I send over a list of questions prior to the interview, to mentally prepare them for the conversation).
“But after thinking about it, I’d say my personality is like a dolphin.”
She continued to describe how dolphins are very playful, carefree, and sociable creatures. “When you place me in a social setting, I’ll be a little awkward at the start but once I get to know you better, I think I’m quite a sociable person as I’ll talk to you. I also have a strong playful side as well, where I’m like ‘YOLO! Bye mom, I’m travelling!’”
This was Hillary rock climbing in Kampot, before abseiling down into a cave!
“My carefree spirit shows through the way I just go wherever I feel I want to go. I won’t think too much about it, because I realise that life is short. So I don’t want to be too rigid about things.
Oh also, I’m also like a dolphin in the way where if you constrict me in one place, I’ll be depressed. Keep me in a cage, or at home and I’ll be like, ‘Get me out!’ ”
I couldn’t help but burst out laughing throughout her sharing here. At the end of it, I shook my head, my body still shaking in laughter.
“Got you, Hillary. You’re a dolphin, indeed.”
“What got you to first begin travelling solo, and what made you continue doing so?”
Hillary launched straight into her answer. “When I was (studying) in poly(technic), I did my internship overseas in Mauritius. I went with a few people, but most of the time, I was alone and had to learn to be independent, since our days off are usually not the same.” Hillary had to experience being all on her own during her free time, and this experience sparked something within her.
“It made me realise that, hey, I can actually do things alone.
And I actually enjoy doing things alone.”
During her six-month internship in Mauritius, Hillary ended up spending most of her time exploring Mauritius on her own. She shared that Mauritius is not exactly the easiest place to move around, and it forced her to figure things out on her own, and even learn some of the language so that she can communicate with the locals.
Hillary taking on stand-up paddling in Kampot, Cambodia!
“Afterwards, I realise I actually enjoy doing this! I actually enjoy solo travel, because I'm not restricted to what other people want to do. I can do whatever I want, I can go wherever I want. I can work wherever I want. So later on, during my university vacation breaks, I would find places to travel to. My first official solo travel was to London, where I have a friend who studies there.
The second solo trip was to Cambodia. I actually booked the trip with Anywhr; it's like a platform where you don't know where you're going right until the day at the airport, you open up an envelope and oh, congrats, you’re going to this place! I had to learn how to ride a scooter on my own because that's how we get around in Cambodia.”
She paused for a moment. “I really love solo travel.”
I smiled at her.
“I can tell.”
Like I mentioned at the start of the article, I had my own fears and worries around solo travelling, and I was curious to hear about Hillary’s experience.
“Being in a different country on your own…
What would you say were the greatest fears that you had to overcome, as a solo female traveller?
Hillary pondered for a bit. “There're so many articles about incidences that happen to female travellers. When I was in Europe, backpacking, sometimes the streets are empty at night and it's not like Singapore, where everywhere is so brightly lit. In Europe, some areas are like pitch dark. There are no streetlights, and I was really scared.
I guess it’s all about the safety of a female traveller especially when people see you're alone.
Hillary, staring out into Altyn Emel National Park, Kazakhstan. This park is impressive, given its diverse range of landscapes that include vast steppes, sand dunes, desert terrain, and stunning mountain ranges.
I think it helps to remember that these kinds of incidences can happen anywhere. We just got to be smart about the way we travel.
When I travel solo, I am very cautious of my surroundings. I do not just gullibly follow people and stuff like that. I feel you just got to be smart about it.”
“So given that you have had your own experience of solo travelling,
what do you feel stood out in this particular experience with Beyond Expeditions?”
Hillary answered. “It’s my first time joining a tour as a solo traveller. I’ve always travelled without people, but now with this tour, I do not exactly know who are the people who's gonna travel with me. So initially, I was just like YOLO! I'm just going to enjoy myself!
Then it hit me that, I'll be travelling with people. I don't know if they'd be my kind of people, I don't know if they would bring the unbearable Singapore characteristics onto the trip, like always complaining and constantly comparing to what we have in Singapore.
I'd done tours before with family and I didn't like it. I just didn't like the very rigid schedule, having to wait for people to get things done, and then wait for them in the tour bus and stuff like that.
But I think after joining this tour, I'm super thankful that the ladies that were travelling with me are super like-minded. Super fun people. We had so much fun! All of us bonded really quickly. And that fear I had quickly dispersed when I met them and spoke to them.
On the first day I found myself going, “Yeah, I think I'm gonna have a good time with them for the next 10 days.”
And turns out, they did have a lot of fun and good times together.
At this point, I was intrigued. For nine strangers to come together and hit it off so well right from the start, seemed too good to be true. I spoke my mind to Hillary.
“This sounds so crazy. I’m curious to know what you think about this…
… What worked, such that all nine of you had this magical chemistry when you came together?
Hillary chuckled. “Yeah, I know right?
It's very, it's very rare, especially if you're travelling in a group, you can have like one or two ‘Karen's complaining about weather, complaining about food.”
She continued to explain. “I really like to travel with people who embrace what's around them, like the culture and the food. I like people who are spontaneous about things and just curious of the culture and the country that they're in. In this group, somehow not a single one of us was like, ‘Oh, can we not do this? Can we not do that?’ Everyone was just ‘Okay, let’s do it!’ all the time.”
There is an admirable open-mindedness in this group of ladies.
Hillary went on to quote some examples of what she meant. “So, the weather in Kazakhstan was kind of erratic. It could be raining a lot one moment, and then suddenly it's super hot and sunny. We had to do a lot of trekking and hiking, and sometimes the terrain gets a bit muddy and dirty so we have to make a detour or maybe take a longer route to reach the destination. There were many times when our guide told us we had to change plans. For example, there was once where we couldn’t proceed with horseback riding because it rained the previous night and the floor was really slippery, so it wouldn’t be safe. He proposed that instead, we hike for about 5-6 km.” Hillary was surprised at how all the girls willingly agreed to it, because it turns out that they’d already did a 16km trek the day before.
Smiling at the memory of that moment, Hillary continued to share about how the girls were so spontaneous and eager despite the change in plans. “Everyone was so spontaneous and eager, ‘Okay, let's do this!’ ‘What time should we meet; 8am? 7am?’” Hillary was so thankful because it's very rare to find this kind of chemistry in a large group of travellers.
“It’s like somehow, nine stars are aligned.”
“Exactly! It felt like some sisterhood movie.”
The nine ‘sisters’ at Lake Kaindy, Kazakhstan.
I then asked a question that has been on my mind for a while, and is always something I want to ask every Beyond Expeditions client I interview.
“So Hillary, I've interviewed quite a few people. And whenever I ask people about what they enjoyed most about their trip, or what surprised them most, their answers tend to go along the lines of ‘like-minded people’.
I'm curious to hear from you.
What do you feel is the factor that draws all these people, like you, into Beyond Expeditions’ tours?
Hillary shared that she’d been following Beyond Expeditions’ social media since the beginning, when they first started. She was very certain that when she had saved enough money, she would go on one of their tours.
“I’d always felt that Beyond Expeditions is not just a normal tour agency. They bring us on expeditions to places more unique, less travelled. Places where tourism isn’t very huge yet.
Hillary, and the Ili River that flows from China to Kazakhstan.
These countries do not have the typical shopping places to go, with aesthetic cafes to visit and all that. So what BE offers, would appeal more to people who are a bit more ready to rough it out of their comfort zones, people who are open and adaptable to changing situations. I guess that's how BE kind of attracts the same kind of people.”
If this sounds like you, or who you want to explore becoming, then maybe it’s time for you to take on one of Beyond Expeditions’ upcoming tours.
Just a suggestion.
But if you’re not yet convinced, then maybe what Hillary continued to explain about what BE offers would help you make a decision.
“BE also doesn't dilute the tour or the culture of the country just to suit our Singapore taste.
That is the one thing that drew me to BE.
The group has not more than 15 each time, so it keeps to a small group of like-minded people. Everything is authentic, like the food they serve, the locals we interact with, the places we go to. Even the places we stay in, like the homestays, are not like perfectly curated hotels. Sometimes we have to change accommodation, we have to stay with the host. BE is just so different from many travel agents who glorify a country in order to cater to Singaporeans’ taste, like fixating on the best restaurants to go to etc.”
A photo of Hillary and the ladies, with their guides throughout the 10 days!
I believe we each have our own learned set of beliefs for each country. So, since we're talking about Kazakhstan…
were there any prior beliefs you had about Kazakhstan that were eventually challenged in this trip?
Turns out, Hillary had already formed an impression about Kazakhstan when she was working overseas. “During my internship in Mauritius, there were interns from Kazakhstan as well. So that was where I got the idea that Kazakhstan is probably a very expensive place, because the interns were pretty rich. So back then, I guessed that the cost of living in Kazakhstan is probably very expensive, and the people would be really spoilt and stuck-up.”
“But when I went there, the locals were so nice. We had a lot of free time to roam in the city, and some of them would come up to us and to strike up conversations with us. You can see that they clearly want to interact with us and the language barrier is the only thing standing in the way. But even then, we could feel that they are very warm and nice people.”
A photo the nine ladies in this Beyond Expeditions Kazakhstan tour group took with the locals there!
Hillary continued. “And when it comes to buying food and everything, it's pretty affordable. The streets are generally very clean, their transportation is efficient and convenient, and the people really embrace who they are and their culture.” Hillary couldn’t stop commenting about how friendly the Kazakhs are. She shared about how they would smile at them warmly, and these interactions with the locals greatly changed her beliefs of Kazakhstan.
We ended off our conversation with one of the most important questions I feel readers like you would want to know.
Why should anyone go to Kazakhstan?
Hillary going all out to help two Kazakhs take a photo.
Hillary said that this was what she told all her friends who asked her what’s there to even see in Kazakhstan. “When you go to a country very consumed by tourism, your experience is very tailored to tourists’ preferences. I’d say, if you want to visit a place thats very raw and authentic, where there’s beautiful nature that’s greatly untouched by tourism, Kazakhstan is the place to go. Everywhere we went, we felt like locals because we don’t see tourists much at all except when we were in homestays.
I then requested for Hillary to give me 1-3 words that will best describe her experience in Kazakstan, and here’s what she replied with.
“SUPER FUN!”
I expressed my gratitude to Hillary for granting me the opportunity to get to know her. During our conversation, she passionately shared her perspective on the authenticity of Kazakh people, and I couldn't help but admire the genuine authenticity that she herself exuded. Her vibrant ‘dolphin’-like personality and her honest, unfiltered opinions permeated every part of this interview, and this article beautifully reflects her charismatic and candid nature.
My parting message to you, as we end this article, is for you to ask yourself what stood out most to you as you read this article.
Did Hillary's experiences as a female solo traveler strike a chord with you?
Perhaps you found yourself nodding in agreement with her thoughts on traditional group tours.
Or maybe your heart skipped a beat at the idea of exploring unconventional destinations with kindred spirits.
I hope you take time to observe the way your mind and heart engaged with different parts of this article, for within these reactions lie valuable insights into your identity as a traveler.
And who knows, the offerings of Beyond Expeditions might just be the key to unlocking your next travel adventure.
I also interviewed two other female travellers from this group of nine that Hillary was part of; this article is a detailed account of their entire experience! Get ready to discover Kazakhstan through their eyes, as they share all about their adventures!
And if you want to read about other solo female travellers’ experiences of different travel destinations with Beyond Expeditions, here are some other interviews I’d done too.
Lishan is a seasoned traveller of Beyond Expeditions; come read about her four trips to different regions of Mongolia with us.
May their stories inspire you to create your next adventure.
ARTICLE WRITTEN BY: VALERIE
Valerie, a freelance writer with a quirky infatuation with steamed buns and slightly bizarre food combinations.
(“Try soft-boiled eggs and hot milo!”)
She wishes to keep writing stories that bypass typical food reviews and appreciation of scenery, stories that inspire readers to pursue curious conversations about the unique cultures and lifestyles of every country.
