World travel in modern times inevitably involves taking airplane flights to cross continents and oceans. However, one alumnus of Mahidol University International College (MUIC) begs to differ.
Mr. Theerat “Touch” Wattanakijrungroj, who graduated with a degree in Communication Design in 2016, is travelling “from Thailand to Mexico without flying.”
His project, dubbed “Unless You Try,” which is also the name of his Facebook page where he chronicles his travels using photos and short narratives, aims to show to his audience his attempts to try something new which he hopes would lead to his own self-discovery.
It was during his senior year that he came up with that title for his thesis. “After I graduated, I decided to take a gap year and start traveling from Thailand to Nepal by myself without flying and that’s when I started to share the stories of my journey on my page,” he said.
During that trip, he passed through Myanmar and India before reaching Nepal. “I spent a week in Myanmar, 40 days in India traveling from its southern tip up to the north before crossing the border to Nepal and reach Annapurna Base Camp. The whole journey took exactly 70 days and covered over 10 cities,” he said.
His current project expands that earlier endeavor by designating Mexico as his ultimate destination, half a world away and separated from Asia by an ocean. Why Mexico? It turns out to be a memorable place because Touch spent time there as an exchange student under the AFS exchange program in 2010. He became so attached with his host family there and now, the 30-year-old Touch wants to see them again after all these years. “I hope this trip can inspire someone to travel and experience the world too,” he said.
This journey involves going through four continents and more than 20 countries. “I’ve worked hard as a graphic designer using skills I’ve learned from MUIC to save money for my life’s dream of traveling around the world. Now I’m ready to go out and explore the world again.”
One benefit of travelling only by land and sea is the opportunity to explore. “I wanted to explore and learn so many things through many cultures as much as possible in this trip,” he said. “Traveling on land and sea might take longer but there will also be a lot of experiences and stories along the way too, so that’s why I don’t want to fly on this trip.”
He left Thailand on August 10 this year for his first stop: Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Tragedy struck, however, when on his third day in the city, his bag containing his passport and other documents were stolen. He has since returned to Thailand to apply for a new passport and process the necessary visas for the countries he plan to visit.
Ever the optimist, he refused to be discouraged by the setback and instead sees the silver lining of the dark clouds. “The experience was both happy and sad. With the help of the local police, I was able to track down my AirTag in my bag. When we found the bag, however, all my valuables were already gone. However, during that time, I met many nice people and I had memorable experiences.”
Looking forward to his ultimate destination, what would be the first thing he would do once he reaches Mexico? “Of course I will go straight to meet my host family. I haven’t seen them for 14 years! They took good care of me for the entire year I stayed with them. I will return their house key back to them after I accidentally brought it back with me after my exchange year LOL!”
After Mexico, what’s next?
“Mexico is my destination for this trip,” Touch said. “But it might not be the end of the journey. If by then I still have the passion and enough budget to go on, I might extend my travels to South America, and maybe, just maybe, I might continue my journey—without flying—by visiting countries in the Pacific Ocean. So, I hope you will keep following my journey till the end. And I hope it could inspire you in some way!”
One of MUIC’s main strengths is its international character. With its world-class curriculum, use of English as official language of instruction, faculty members from various countries, international full-time and exchange students, among others, MUIC truly has a diverse campus life where learning happens in both inside and outside the classrooms. The third round of application period will be on October 1-11, 2024. Click this link to learn more about the application procedure: https://muic.mahidol.ac.th/eng/admissions/undergraduate-admission/thai-students-and-foreign-residents/
