A Shorty Explores

Travel and Self-growth

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    • Asia
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  • koko bay beach bars in Dubai
    Dubai,  United Arab Emirates

    Dubai Attraction| Koko Bay Dubai: Aesthetic Boho Style Beach Bar in Dubai for Vibe Seeker

    If you are looking for the most amazing, natural, aesthetic beach bar in Dubai where you can enjoy a truly relaxing vibe, both Asian and Western style of food, beautiful sunset, and Dubai Marina skyline, then Koko Bay beach bar…

  • La Brisa Bali
    Aesthetic travel destinations,  Indonesia

    La Brisa Bali Beach Club | a must-have aesthetic travel experience in Bali

    If you’re seeking an aesthetic, tropical vibe while traveling in Bali, don’t miss La Brisa Bali Beach Club! Discover why it’s quickly becoming one of Bali’s most popular hotspots. Read on to find out more! La Brisa Bali Beach Club…

About Author

solo travel girl

Hello! I’m Samantha, a Taiwanese shorty who unexpectedly took the first solo trip after finishing my summer job in the USA in 2012, and it greatly transformed my life and mindset. Since then, I have explored 21 countries, attained a Master’s degree in the UK, lived in Palau, Shanghai, and Dubai.

I believe that everything starts with an idea and one step. Therefore, I created this blog to share my journey and tips in exploring the world and self-growth. My hope is to connect with like-minded souls & aspiring solo travelers and provide a little help, inspirations for your next adventures.

As I’m crazy about ocean views, rooftop/outdoor bars/cafes, aesthetic vibes, and hidden gems recommended by locals. You’ll easily find information on all of these in my blog.

Let’s explore, grow and heal together! xx

Contact & Work With Me: [email protected]

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“The EARTH without ART is just EH” 😬😂 S “The EARTH without ART is just EH” 😬😂 So, here are 2 places in Dubai for people who enjoy artistic vibes👉Courtyard & Alserkal Avenue. Courtyard is small but it’s like a little garden, really cute and has cafe, stores, restaurants & galleries. The best part is, it is so close to Alserkal Avenue where you can find more art galleries, unique vendors, cafes, vintage car store & cinema. Loved walking around both places, and getting surprise by what I could encounter. 📍 @courtyarduae & @alserkalavenue 🧚🏻‍♀️ #streetphotography #arts #dubaitourism #courtyard #travelphotography #travelblogger #streetart #aesthetic #dubaitravel #passionpassport #spicollective #dreaminstreets #sheexplores
This is a shopping mall not museum🦕🦖🫣😂 This is a shopping mall not museum🦕🦖🫣😂 Thought I went to the wrong place🤣 📍 The second largest mall in the world👉Dubai Mall, Dubai, UAE 🇦🇪 #dubaimall #dubai #worldtraveler #travelphotography #uae #travelblogger #middleeast #travelgram #dubaipics
“Habibi come to Dubai” ever since I heard this “Habibi come to Dubai” ever since I heard this in Dubai, it stuck in my head forever 🤣 If you are planning to visit Dubai, don’t miss this Dubai desert safari activity🏜 it’s one of the most iconic and interesting things to do in Dubai! My favourite is for sure Sandboarding part! With the tour I choose I even got to do it multiple times (until I got tired climbing up from sand dunes 😅). Check my blog post to see how to choose a perfect tour for your holiday & which is my recommended tour for Dubai red dunes desert safari tour! ▶️My Blog: https://ashortyexplores.com/the-best-dubai-red-dunes-desert-safari-tour/ 🏜Download the tour booking app GetYourGuide https://gyg.me/samanthavoila ‼️And receive 10% discount by using my code: samanthavoila10 #dubai #dubaidesertsafari #desert #UAE #travelindubai Have you been to Dubai?
“Just wait 10 minutes, it will change, be positi “Just wait 10 minutes, it will change, be positive.”- that rainbow theory by our guide for Grampians. When we arrived at Boroka Lookout, a sudden storm hit and blocked what’s supposed to be one of the best views in the Grampians. 
 We were so disappointed and thought, “hmm ok, that’s it then, let’s go” But our guide Andrew said,“Let’s wait in the car for a bit. It shall pass soon.” So we waited for just 10 minutes, and VOILA!🤩
 The rain stopped, the sky opened up.
And slowly, double rainbows 🌈 appeared. It became one of our favourite moments from the Grampians & Great Ocean Road trip.
And it reminded me of a few life situations too. 🌈Words for us all- if we are going through a rough time or not getting the ideal result from things you’ve worked hard on? Don’t quit just yet. 
Be patient, stay positive, and keep working toward what you want 🤞 Keep analysing, keep testing, keep adjusting, just don’t quit. The sky will clear again ⛅️ 
And sometimes… you will even get rewarded with a rainbow or two 🌈 📍 Grampians National Park 🇦🇺 #grampians #grampiansnationalpark #borokalookout #visitaustralia #sonyalpha #sonyphotography
A reminder from my personal experience 👉Even if A reminder from my personal experience 👉Even if you are super busy, don’t forget to do something that makes you happy and helps you maintain good emotional/mental health.  Remember during months of busy event period in Dubai, there were more than a month I worked almost non-stop 14++ hrs per day and had no chance to take a day off or have a good night sleep without waking up in the middle of the night in shock while still had to be calm and smile the next day to manage and deal with people and things.  It was a crazy period of time and an interesting challenge, also interesting knowing how much more we can do and push our limits. But, was it healthy? Honestly, no. I had a nervous breakdown for the first time in my life(yes even me😑), and had unusual pimples.  Fortunately, I got to have 1 day off per week for months afterwards. And because that 1 day was so PRECIOUS, every time I had to debate with myself whether to have a proper rest at home to recover from exhaustion OR to go out and explore.  Always end up choosing the latter one because it is something that makes me feel I am living and happy. Also, to have work-life balance is good for mental/emotional health. Even if I needed to continually do computer work or get more sleep, I forced myself to get out and do it at beaches, cafes or massage places rather than at home.   💡🧞‍♂️That’s how I managed to visit a few places in Dubai/UAE with very limited time and energy 😬(had to say ❌NO plenty of times to alcohol,🍹parties in order to keep myself sober and have energy to explore the next day though).  Also that’s one of my ways to release stress, to control my emotions as well as not to bring negativity to people around me. It really helped ❤️‍🩹.  🫶Do something that makes you happy, and take care of your emotional/mental health, maybe the people around you will feel happier too. I believe when more individuals are healthier and happier, the environment and the world will too. What makes you happy❓ 📍 Koko Bay, West Beach, Dubai, UAE A Baliese-inspired beach bar and restaurant I loved going to relax in the city. #beachbar #travelgram #happysoul #emotionalhealth #wellnesstravel
If you are also overwhelmed by so many heartbreaki If you are also overwhelmed by so many heartbreaking news & images of what's going on in the world now, here are some calming vibes for you(I tried), from my favourite, peaceful island this year 🌊 I’ve lost my mood on writing normal lively travel contents, this week is especially tough🥲 If you also feel our normal daily life has become a little weird now, you are not alone.  If you feel sad, I'm with you. If you need a soothing music playlist, or good news, or talk, let me know. If you didn’t care, I hope you do now. Yes, we all have our concerns, life to live, and problems to solve. Yet, many people struggle with even being alive now. And no, it is not far away from us. We all live on the same earth 🌏, we are all linked together. 💙💚 📍 Koh Rong Island, Cambodia 🇰🇭 🗓 October, 2023
If you think the best years of your life have alre If you think the best years of your life have already passed, maybe this can cheer you up and give you hope a bit. It worked for me😆 While I was getting lost in the decision of what’s the best things to do next, and thinking if the best years of my life had already happened. Facebook popped up something I wrote in 2011, complaining how annoying 2011 was and how great the life was BEFORE 2011, and thought the best years of my life were all gone already, life was about to be normal and boring for the rest of my life. I didn’t know that everything actually changed in 2012 because of that solo travel experience in the 🇺🇸, which gave me hope and the spectacular 10 globetrotting years that are rich in unforgettable experiences, gaining friendships that make me want to keep growing, and finally tasted the fun of studying and obtained a master degree in a major I truly love. Of course there were also lots of changes, new starts, struggles, down times, as well as lost & found moments. Still, I love the past 10 years so much and it made me think recently that it might be it, the best ones are gone already, UNTIL I saw that Facebook post popped up. And now I have hope again. And I hope you are too 🧡 💫 There’s a quote saying something like “what happened now is the result of your behaviour in the past, if you are not satisfied with your situation at the moment, you can start to make a difference now”. Which means, we can all create better life if we want to and start to create and change NOW. I’m still learning to live and focus for the now(it’s hard lol), and to decide that one direction I am going further(it’s even harder), but first I’m trying to cut things that will not help taking me to the better self and ideal life(easier). Lastly, I want to thank all the amazing, inspiring, wild and supportive people I’ve encountered during this 10 year journey, thank you for being there with and for me, thank you for the meaningful talks, the help, the quality times and growing together🥰❤️ Looking forward to seeing what life can bring to us all the next 10 years, I hope it will be a blast one too AND with peace of mind. 🧧🥳Happy New Year！
Foggy, cloudy, moody and freezing outside but ful Foggy, cloudy, moody and freezing outside but full of joy inside 🎄🥨 🎅🏻 💗 It’s magical how the whole vibes and Xmas spirits can change the mood in this gloomy winter ❄️ Guess that’s why we love Christmas! Merry Christmas to you all, from my dream destination Colmar 🍄💫 Thanks for another year of meaningful connections & love🥰 📸 📍 Colmar, France 🇫🇷 🗓 December, 2024
Hundred of wishes lighting up the night sky 🏮✨
This is the annual Sky Lantern Festival in Taiwan. Pingxi is famous for its sky lantern. You can actually visit any day of the year to write your wishes on a lantern and release it. But if you want to witness a magical moment like this, when over a hundred lanterns rise into the sky together, you will need to go during the festival which held around the Lantern Festival 元宵節each year (date changes every year). It was my first time seeing it in person.
Honestly, I came partly because I’ve been watching a little too much news lately and needed something hopeful to look at. And this place really is full of hope. Besides the usual wishes for health and prosperity, I noticed many international visitors wrote the same wish: “world peace” this year. It’s certainly a wish that we all need, and somehow it’s emotional seeing many people do care about the world and others far away. At the same time, it also feels insane that world peace has became ordinary people’s regular wishes and prayers, while wars are often caused by world leaders. Still, wishing the world peace. No more war 🧚🏻‍♀️ And for world leaders to become wiser ＆ to care more about people than about their power, ego, profit and entertainment. 🙏🍀🙌 每次看到台灣明信片上的平溪天燈齊放奇景， 都想著哪一年我要去看，但沒有一年有真的特地去一趟。 今年不知哪裡來的勁，可能是看了太多世界負面新聞，覺得很需要看到一些希望和美麗的景吧。 元宵節當天忙完，抓了相機就出發，來回花了五小時 站著淋雨也淋了兩個小時，終於看到也拍到這感動的瞬間！ 一百多盞天燈同時升起那刻，像是希望佈滿了整片夜空，很驚艷感人啊，比起中東戰火滿天，我們真的是很幸運欸目前！ 可能是多數人都感受到全球的動盪， 願望部分，看到除了大家最常寫的身體健康和發財以外， 今年很多盞天燈上面都寫著「世界和平」，根本超級需要！ 看到還是有很多人為世界祝福，以及關心世界上的人，就覺得莫名的很感動哈！ 雖然不懂為何世界和平居然變成普通百姓需要常常來祈求的事，而各種戰爭紛亂卻都由世界領導挑起。 但還是要祈求，世界趕快和平啊，不要再有戰爭了！ 祈求世界領導都很有智慧、關心人民多過於自己的權力、自我、利益和娛樂。 📸 📍 Shifen Square, Pingxi, New Taipei City, Taiwan 新北市平溪十分廣場
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