Off to Malaysia, part 1

Before to leave

When you read this I will be landing in Kuala Lumpur, so in this post, I want to explain what I will be doing and why I am here.

Because now I have the opportunity, I’m finishing my PhD and just finalizing the dissertation, I wanted to have a long volunteering experience outside Europe again, the last time I did it was in Kyrgyzstan in 2021.

I found an interesting website, worldpackers, where, paying a yearly fee, you can find several volunteer opportunities around the world, the general concept is that you will get accommodation and maybe food in exchange for your work, but in some cases you have to pay also a fee.

I chose to exchange working hours for accommodation and food in Asia, and from the several opportunities, the one that impressed me immediately was to help as a handyman for Sarang Cookery in Kuala Lumpur. I loved their profile, they look very friendly and welcoming, and, of course, I can't wait to taste their food and learn how to cook Malaysian food.

I found other interesting opportunities, like one in the Wadi Run in Jordan, where I should have been a social media manager of a company that organised excursions in the desert, but this one in Malaysia inspired me right away, I think I will be more involved in a local community and I will learn more about their culture.

I will work for 25 hours a week in exchange for accommodation and 3 meals a day, I will have 3 free days a week that I will use to visit Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Singapore. I don’t have real plans, at the moment, I will see on the spot what I can do and how, at the moment I enjoy the wait.

On the way to Kuala Lumpur, I will stop by one of my favourite cities: Istanbul. I have to transfer there so I decided to spend half a day in the city doing a tour organised by Turkish Airlines, the company offer free city tours to the ones that have a long transfer, and I chose a long transfer on purpose. I wouldn’t have chosen these types of tours in the first place, but sometimes I think you have to use the opportunity. I love Istanbul and I want to see it again even if it is only for a few hours.

I plan to write four other posts, a weekly diary where I will describe my volunteer and travelling experiences, I will try to bring you with me on this adventure, hoping you will be an active part of it!

see you soon

Flavio