Victoria Peak, Hong Kong

I wrote this as a contemplation for class in March 2017.

I've been out of town for a couple weeks for work. But at the end of the work trip, I decided to add on a short vacation for a few days.

When I go on vacation, I usually have  a vague idea of what I'm going to do, but I try not to schedule out every moment of the day. It leaves space for spontaneity and it's rarely that all things go according to my plan anyway.

On one day of my vacation, I wanted to take this tram to the top of this nearby mountain as it's supposed to provide an amazing view of the city. I made my way towards the tram stop, but was starting to get a little worried because it was getting close to sunset. I had hoped to see the view before and after the sun went down.

Just getting to the tram stop was a trek; it involved a bus, subway, ferry, and a lot of walking. When I finally got there, I discovered the line for the tram was 2 hours long! So at this point I had to figure out what I was going to do. I really wanted to see the view, so I decided to walk. There was a paved path up the mountain and the walk was an hour, compared to the 2 hour tram line.

While I walked up the path, there were a few others that seemed to also have the same idea. As we were all walking up this path at the same time, more or less, we started to chat and I ended up making friends with a couple from the UK and someone from Sweden.

It was neat, I got a hike in and also made new friends, learning about other people's lives and experiences. Just hearing the stories about what brought them here this day was fascinating. The conversation made the walk more enjoyable and the hour seemed to go by quickly. We made it up the path and were even in time to see the view before and after sunset.

This was a nice reminder for me. Sometimes you end up having a better time when life throws some obstacles at you. When I saw the 2 hour long line for the tram, I initially thought I was going to miss out. But instead, by making some adjustments, I feel like I had a much more memorable experience, making new friends along the way.