{"id":9499,"date":"2019-01-08T12:47:26","date_gmt":"2019-01-08T16:47:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/?p=9499"},"modified":"2019-01-08T12:47:29","modified_gmt":"2019-01-08T16:47:29","slug":"daisy-traveling-beyond-her-borders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/2019\/01\/daisy-traveling-beyond-her-borders\/","title":{"rendered":"Daisy: Traveling Beyond Her Borders"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As part of our continuing series of blog posts where we interview travelers, we asked Daisy Li all about her life and travels. She’s visited a number of interesting places, and her energy and desire to visit the world is an inspiration to everyone who meets her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Who are you, and where are you from?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nam Daisy, a solo backpacker that travels the world budget style. I\u2019m a Chinese\nCanadian that currently moves around between Houston, Calgary, and Toronto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What led you to start traveling? What motivated you to start exploring new places?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My\nfirst flight experience was at 3 months, and have been back and forth between\nChina and Canada since then. My parents were keen to have me perfect both Mandarin\nand English, and as a result, my pre-teen years were spent between 12 different\nschools in 5 cities within these two countries. Needless to say, traveling is\nin my blood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As\nsomeone fascinated by cultures, my desire to travel led to a four-month student\nexchange in Paris. The stay turned into an 8-month backpacking and Couchsurfing\ntrip across Europe and Turkey, and I haven\u2019t stopped since. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Where have you been recently?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was just in the Canadian Rockies and will be heading back shortly! I also began exploring my 5th<\/sup> continent- South America, with Colombia being the newest addition to my global list of 22!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are<\/g> the most interesting places you\u2019ve ever been?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

India\u2019s\nmystic, Colombia\u2019s nature, and Turkey\u2019s history continue to call me back for another\nvisit.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

India\nwas one of the most difficult yet enchanting places I\u2019ve lived in. I was\nfortunate enough to visit the highest Shiva temple in the world, which was set\nin the Himalayas. Waking up to the sunrise reflecting off snow-capped mountain\nranges was such a glorious experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Colombia\nhas some of the happiest people I\u2019ve met. Knowing the complicated past of this\nvibrant country, I was truly astonished by the resilience exhibited by its\npeople. Its nature is magnificent. Endless rolling hills, vast jungles, and the\ntallest palm trees in the world are some of the many beauties of this\nfascinating country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey\nremains one of my favorite places. I spent two months backpacked along the\nAntalya Coast towards Cappadoia (hot air balloons), into Denizli, and finished\nthe trip in Istanbul. Being the history nerd that I am, it was incredible to\nsee places mentioned in books come to life. The country kept much of its archaeological\nsites intact and it was extremely humbling to explore these areas. This trip\ninspired me so much that my senior thesis ended up being about the Ottoman\nEmpire! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What is the craziest travel story you have? Has anything weird or strange or chaotic happened to you during your travels?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since\nI am a solo backpacker\/couchsurfer, I often find myself in strange situations.\nFrom cracking my head open in Paris ($6000 paid by insurance) to being adopted\nby a modeling agency in Delhi, I\u2019ve gathered a handful of fun table-tales. One\nof the most chaotic situations however, was when I lost my passport in the\nHimalayas. My friend and I took a week-long biking trip through the mountains\nand were physically exhausted from the journey. It was devastating to find out\nthat I lost my entire purse somewhere along the way. Thinking of the cost and\ndifficulty of getting a new passport, several visas, and all my IDs, I was at a\ntotal loss. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While\nhaving dinner that night, I received a call from an unknown number. On the\nother end, a man told us that he found a purse by the side of the road, and\ncalled the number inside. (I completely forgot that I left my number in the\npurse!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So\nyes, I ended up retrieving my purse in the middle of nowhere, without a single\nthing missing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What inspired you to start blogging about your travels?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like\nmany bloggers, I started writing to assure my parents that I am alive and well.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My\nfocus gradually shifted from documenting journeys to noting the beauty and\ncharm of budget local travels. Couchsurfing and backpacking gave me the\nopportunity to interactive with those who live in the country. As such, I\nwanted to carry out guides, advice, and experiences that cater to those who\nwish to travel off the beaten path. If I can inspire one person to explore a\nbit more, or help someone along the way, I\u2019d call it a win! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How do you save money before and during a trip?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A\nnumber of my travels are funded through conferences and events I find online.\nOtherwise, I save up a bit before a trip, and try to find cash jobs while in\nthe country (e.g., hosting weddings in India). Since I\u2019ve eliminated most of my\naccommodation costs and don\u2019t indulge in expensive meals, my trips are usually\ndecently economically friendly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Do you have any travel tips or advice for others?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Body\nwallets come in handy when traveling alone. I keep needed change in a purse but\nstore larger bills in a wallet that goes under my shirt. I can easily access\nthe money if needed, and won’t have to worry about losing them when wandering\naround a new city. I also have a few hidden compartments on the inside of my\nbelongings. Whether it be a small pouch in my bag or a tiny pocket in my purse,\nI would have them prepared before traveling. When accessing the body wallet\nisn’t the most convenient thing to do, these concealed pockets are the best\nspots to store valuables without raising much attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What are your future plans, travel or otherwise?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nwill be exploring South American a bit more! I found out that with new airport\nopenings, flights to Turkey and China will be cheaper this year, so that may be\na possibility as well! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regardless, we shall see where the wind takes me :)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks, Daisy! If you want to learn more about her, you can follow Daisy’s blog at <\/em>Beyond My Border<\/em><\/a>, or on <\/em>Instagram<\/em><\/a> or <\/em>Facebook<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As part of our continuing series of blog posts where we interview travelers, we asked Daisy Li all about her life and travels. She’s visited a number of interesting places, and her energy and desire to visit the world is an inspiration to everyone who meets her.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9501,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_type":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[348,886,1091,15],"class_list":["post-9499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel-stories","tag-backpacker","tag-canada","tag-interview","tag-travel","entry","has-media"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-20 04:11:20","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9499"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9499\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9511,"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9499\/revisions\/9511"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}