by Farah "Fairy" Mahdzan (3 August 2008) | Readers' Comments

MyIndo.com Interviews Trinity,
zany author of The Naked Traveler
(9 April 2008)

'Mama Dolphin' in Negros

Tell us a bit about yourself
TRINITY: I am Trinity - it's not my real name as I'd like to keep it unknown and make people wonder as to who I really am (I'm just an ordinary woman, really). I am currently a masters student in the Philippines, majoring in management in Asian Institute of Management.

I am also single and used to work in a telecommunications company in Jakarta as a marketing communications staff.

Was your former job how you ended up travelling so much?
TRINITY: Not really. I've been traveling ever since I was a college student. At the time I was already earning money from part time jobs in Mcdonald's and other places.

What was your first travel destination?
TRINITY: When I was in high school, I started holidaying with friends, and we went to typical tourist places like Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, and Nias. The first time I went abroad was as a 16-year-old going to Singapore, alone - I actually had to go to the hospital there, so that wasn't really much fun.

My first backpacking trip abroad actually was when I was 20 - I went to Europe and visited countries like the UK, Benelux, Germany, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia and France.

What was the rupiah exchange rate like back in those days?
TRINITY: Probably 1 USD = less than Rp 2,000. Maybe Rp 1,600? I don't remember. Now it's around Rp 9,400 rite?

I think so. So, judging from what you remember of the rupiah exchange rate back in the day, is it then safe to say that you started seriously backpacking in the early 1980s?
TRINITY: Nope. It was in early ‘90s, I’m not that old-lah! I’m 35 now.

We now officially have Trinity’s age, ladies & gentlemen! Clap clap.
TRINITY: Yup! Back to school at the age of 35!

Hey, better at 35 than at 53 I always say.
Moving on: I thought your publisher did a great job putting The Naked Traveler together. I liked how the stories are neatly categorized based on topics – was that their idea?
TRINITY: That was my idea. The stories are just copied and pasted from my blog and are categorized it into 5 themes. Is it 5 or 6? The editing part I think only dealt with the tanda baca (punctuations).

I don’t know, it’s your book. :P
So, what attracted you to write about your travels?
TRINITY: I like writing and traveling, so why not combine them together. I used to write for my school publications since I was in primary school till my university days.

I found travel writing to be interesting because every time I came back from traveling, my friends would ask me to tell them about my trips. So instead of telling the same stories to each one of my friends, I wrote and sent them out via email.

Friends liked my stories very much, and eventually a guy named Togap from the milisbeasiswa.com mailing list helped me publish them online in a blog. I’m kind of "gaptek" (gagap teknologi – technologically challenged), so all I do is just post my story to the blog, the rest was made by him

Your amazing journey of going from blog to book format - how did that happen?
TRINITY: After my blog gained momentum and became popular, some publishers approached me to have it published as a book. I also learned from experienced friends on how to get that done so that I’d know what to do, such as how to choose a suitable publisher with whom I could have good chemistry, and avoid ones that offered ridiculously low royalties. When everything was setup, the book took 6 months from initiation to actually being available in book shops.

How many copies of The Naked Traveler have been sold?
TRINITY: Probably 3,000 copies (at the time of this writing).

Tell us about the book ban that hit The Naked Traveler.
TRINITY: The book first hit book stores in August of 2007 but was pulled off the shelves just a month later. Ironically it was the publisher’s decision as they said they needed to re-edit the contents. According to them I had some sexually explicit stories!

There are 3 stories which were taken out:

1. Planet Bugil – about a nude beach in Australia
2. Distrik Lampu Merah – about Amsterdam’s red light district and Patpong
3. Don’t Touch the (Female) Dancer – about strip bars

I don’t know what is so explicitly sexual about those! We need to recognize that such places exist on earth and by closing our eyes we can’t chose to ignore them. Besides, I wrote them in a funny way; it’s not my intention to create cheap publicity by writing/exploiting such happenings.

The book came back in January 2008 and of course I felt relieved and was glad that it was published again.

Playing Scuba 'Hide & Seek' in Anilao

Do you have a favorite book/author?
TRINITY: Bondan Winarno, the famous Indonesian journalist and founder of the culinary Jalan Sutra series. Bondan I like him because the way he describes someone or something is so detailed that I can imagine and feel it. He’s also a very knowledgeable and well-traveled - I always learn something from his writings.

I also like reading Indonesian literature written by Arswendo, Dewi Lestari, Ayu Utami and Andrea Hirata. But you know what; my most favorite book is “Lonely Planet” – especially ‘on a shoestring’ edition. I think that book is brilliant, maybe because I’m kind of pragmatic person. It’s very handy for a traveler like me who just travels without making too many plans.

What made you decide to go with a publisher rather than publishing your own book?
TRINITY: Because I’m not experienced in handling such thing, so it’s better to be handled by the expert: the publisher. The pro of self-publishing is the freedom to do anything on design, editing, size, promotion, etc. You will also get more profit, but money was not my objective to publish my book.

Why do you call your chronicle of stories The Naked Traveler?
TRINITY: As written in my blog, naked means ‘devoid of concealment or disguise’. So what I’m writing is an honest reflection of what I see and feel.

3 of your favourite stories from The Naked Traveler.
TRINITY: I like all, especially the 3 stories that already banned! Hehehe! But if I had to choose 3, they are: ‘Ayam Bakpau Bukan Bakpau Ayam’, ‘Pilipina, Filipina, atau Pilifina’ and ‘Main Fisik dan Main Ras’

Most favorite destination and why.
TRINITY: New Zealand. It’s soooo beautiful! It’s blessed with all that nature can give, like snow clad mountains, pristine beaches, multi-colored forests, lush green savanna, turquoise-colored lakes and rivers, etc. It is so clean and fresh. When you are driving in a car, every turn presents unique and breathtaking scenery.

Most despised destination and why.
TRINITY: None. I never consider place as a bad place, it’s just different – and I really like the differences. It is actually enriching your experience.

Weirdest food ever had during a trip?
TRINITY: I eat everything and I really don’t mind eating the weirdest food ever available cuz I take it as a challenge. Last time I ate ‘balut’ (popular Filipino street snack and is essentially a duck egg with a fetus inside). It’s weird but it actually tastes OK.

What is your next dream destination and why.
TRINITY: South American countries, like Brazil, Peru & Argentina. Because… I have never been there! Hehehe! No, since it’s far and expensive, plus it needs at least a month to go around, so I can only dream on now.

Trinity gazes away at a beach in Puerto Galera

A fiscal fee Rp1,000,000 is imposed on all Indonesians wanting to exit the country. Do you think it dampens people’s spirits to go out and travel? How would one overcome that ‘obstacle’?
TRINITY: Yes, of course. Especially now you can get cheap air fares to go abroad, but adding another Rp 1 million is not cheap at all. Actually you can reimburse that if you have NPWP (which is like individual permanent tax number) – government will repay you annually based on the fiscal you claim. If it’s a business trip, you can give it to your accounting/finance dept. in your office so that your company will be reimbursed.

In my case, since I’m a resident in Philippines (or any country abroad, as long as you are registered in Indonesian Embassy), I’m allowed to have free fiscal fee. Yihaaa!

What happened to Kumbang (your car) since you’ve been in the Philippines? Did you honestly lose a tyre which fell into a river the way that was comically described in the chapter?
TRINITY: I sold my lovely ‘Kumbang’ in 2004 then I bought ‘Xena’ (a Daihatsu Xenia, I named her Xena, in hoping my car would have been as strong as the princess warrior). But last year I sold her to a friend of mine because I moved to Philippines. Yep, I lost his (I consider Kumbang as a man) tire as described in the chapter. Until now I keep laughing myself when I remember that incident! It was like a slapstick movie but it happened to me in real.

What do you like most about my home country, Malaysia?
TRINITY: The fast economic development of Malaysia! But what I would love to see more in Malaysia is smiling people.

What did you wish Indonesia had more or less of, to make tourists’ stay in the country more pleasant and memorable?
TRINITY: I wish Indonesia, especially in the cities, has nice and wide pedestrian walk, without motorcycle parking and street sellers. I wish all Indonesians can speak English.

What’s Indonesia’s best well-kept secret destination? (you know, some place where it’s not crowded or mainstream like tourist-infested Bali but equally and absolutely fabulous)
TRINITY: A lot. Indonesian tourism is still like an embryo, there are a lot of beautiful places that have not been explored, especially in the eastern part of Indonesia. Some of best-well kept secret are even located in Java province, like Karimun Jawa islands (Central Java), Sempu island (East Java), Peucang island (West Java).

A shoutout message to all your fans, MyIndo.com fans and aspiring writers of travel.
TRINITY: If you want to be a travel writer, be a good observer and listener. It needs a high level of acceptance of other people and their culture.