Their inability to return home for the New Year festivities does not mean that Indonesian students abroad are missing out on moments of celebration. In fact, the circumstances lead to their strengthened solidarity in foreign lands, including through taking vacations together.
Sarah Graciella, 18, has lived in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, for just three months. This year-end holiday season, the first-semester student at Malaysia’s Monash University said she could not return home as she was busy with college work. Many other Indonesian students shared Sarah’s experience.
Nevertheless, their busy college schedules do not mean that they cannot have fun once in a while. These Indonesian students in Malaysia plan to take a trip together to the mountains to refresh their minds.
For two weeks, Sarah and five of her friends have been planning a trip together to the famed Genting Highlands, located some 65 kilometers away from Petaling Jaya, where she lives in an apartment.
They will spend the New Year’s Eve in Genting. The location was chosen due to its calm atmosphere and cool air – perfect to recover from the exhaustion they feel from college work. “This strengthens our solidarity as Indonesian students,” said Sarah on Friday, who hails from Bandung.
For the sake of practicality, namely the ability to get picked up and dropped off right in front of their apartment, they decided to use the app-based taxi service.
For the trip to Genting Highlands, Sarah and her friends plan to use an app-based taxi service. The cost for a round-trip is around Rp 650,000 (US$48.1).
This is a bit more costly than using a bus, for which a round-trip will cost them Rp 100,000 per person. However, for the sake of practicality, namely the ability to get picked up and dropped off right in front of their apartment, they decided to use the app-based taxi service.
Apart from transportation costs, Sarah and her friends will need to rent two rooms for accommodation. They all pay their share to fund the trips, and they get the money from their savings.
“In Malaysia, we set aside our allowance for traveling. Even if we decided on the destination just two weeks ago, we had been planning to go on a trip for three months,” Sarah said.
Life experience
For many youths of the millennial generation, traveling – both domestically and abroad – is not about spending sprees. Instead, it is their way to obtain life experience and to strengthen their solidarity.
For many youths of the millennial generation, traveling – both domestically and abroad – is not about spending sprees.
It is this reason that makes Josephine Agnes, 30, a public relations officer at a Jakarta-based private company, love traveling. In one year, she said she can travel three or four times.
Teppy, as she is often called by her friends and family, said she would feel like something was missing if she spent all her time in her office. Through traveling, she said she could get valuable experiences that enriched her.
“I can learn from those around me about the values in friendship faster than reading books. It also makes me more relaxed with talking to strangers,” Teppy said.
She said she started to travel abroad after she had gotten a salary increase in 2011. Since then, Teppy has never stopped traveling. Apart from a tour in Europe, she has also visited the Maldives, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand. She has also visited a number of local destinations, including Labuan Bajo and Ende in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).
She puts forth great effort to quench her thirst for adventure, including hunting for cheap tickets, using her office assignments and participating in contests with tour package prizes. This year, she traveled to New Zealand for free after winning a contest.
Once, she went to Thailand on an office assignment. She said she only paid her own expenses once, during a trip to Japan. She shelled out almost Rp 25 million for transportation, meals and accommodation in her trip to the Land of the Rising Sun.
A survey by finance management company One-Shildt showed that millennials prioritize experience over ownership.
In order to secure the trip, Teppy set aside several of her needs, including shopping and investment. She routinely set aside 30 percent of her monthly salary to prepare for the trip.
“I used the rest of it to live month to month. I do not think about buying a house or other things. What’s important to me is getting as much experience as possible out there,” she said.
Neither is lack of funds a problem for Denpasar-based freelance writer Natalia Indah, 29, to fulfill her hobby of traveling. She said she often stared at her computer screen for hours in order to secure a heavily discounted airplane ticket. In certain months, like in the start of the year, a number of airlines such as AirAsia often offer discounted air fare.
Often, Natalia stays up late at night to hunt for cheap tickets. Eventually, she enjoys the fruit of her labor. She obtained a free airline ticket from Denpasar to Kuala Lumpur, needing only to pay Rp 100,000 in taxes. “My eyes are dead set on the computer screen. Therein [hunting for cheap tickets] lies the thrill,” Natalia said.
A survey by finance management company One-Shildt showed that millennials prioritize experience over ownership. Only 17 percent of millennials purchase homes, and especially those who are still single, set aside only 8 percent of their income for savings.
“We are only young once. We need to experience it with as many good memories as possible. Experience cannot be bought with money,” said Tyas Dwi Arini, 23, another avid traveler.
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