Virgin Backpacker Pt. 01

At the onset of young adult life, we each seem to have a lapse in judgment and make some questionable decisions. We drink too much alcohol, wake up next to the wrong person, get swayed by peer pressure, ignore parental advice and often do the exact opposite. We might be having fun, living life the way we want to, but deep down we know it can't last forever. Lexie was no different from any other eighteen year old. The year after graduating from school, she decided to travel the world, making some interesting choices that led to the onset of her sexual awakening.

Standing 5'8" with shoulder-length, scraggly blonde hair and an athletic mesomorphic build, Lexie was not stereotypically pretty. Her grey eyes could not be described as piercing, nor her demeanor ladylike, but there was a certain je ne sais quoi about her. She was open and honest, spoke her mind and was fiercely stubborn. Lexie was curious and eager to learn, open to new experiences and always wondering what lay ahead. It was one of the factors that led to her decision to travel the world alone at eighteen.

Lexie was a virgin before she decided to go travelling. She was a good girl, always doing what she was told, and very loyal to her friends. She lived life by the rules set by parents and teachers, preferring to obey than rebel - it was easier to get along than have to fight for your stance. Every decision she had made since she entered adolescence had been a battle with her Dad, and she was tired of fighting for what she believed in.

When she was 16, she decided that she would take a year out after finishing school to travel. Lexie wanted to see the world, to experience new cultures, to find out who she was as a person and to gain her independence. She had grown up in an environment where academia was encouraged and social relationships discouraged. Despite her bookish tendencies, she was anything but naïve and Lexie's mind liked to process and embellish the relationships and their accompanying dramas she saw unfold around her.

She struggled through the last 2 years of school, ignorant of the advances of male attention due to her focus on her studies. Lexie worked hard, finishing school with a place at university, and enough money to go on her trip that winter. However, she also finished school without ever having a boyfriend, and with a very low perception of her self-worth due to the ever-present battles with her father and perceived lack of male attention. She had experienced plenty of life through her friends' relationships but was ready to experience it herself.

As her winter departure date neared, Lexie began packing her bags for what she knew would be the adventure of her lifetime. There were so many choices for clothing, and she felt excited at the prospect of living the next year in bikinis and flip-flops. Her entire life was going to fit into one 50L backpack and a carry-on bag! She was going to meet a whole host of new people, with their own exciting stories to tell. There was no apprehension, only excitement at the realm of possibilities awaiting her in Singapore, Australia and beyond.

Lexie did not question her decision to go until she had said goodbye to her parents at the airport. Walking around Heathrow, worst-case scenarios kept materializing in her mind. They ranged from pirates, hostages and terrorists to natural disasters and not making any friends. The one that was most dominant in her mind was being taken advantage of sexually. She knew logically that the chances of that happening were very low in the countries she was visiting, provided she took precautions, but she also didn't want to lose her virginity unwillingly. She tried to ignore the thought and look forward to beginning her 8 months of independence by distracting herself with a beautiful pair of sparkling shoes. Airport shopping really did make her feel better.

After an eleven-hour flight, Lexie stepped foot in Singapore - the first stop on her trip. She stepped out of the airport into a sweltering heat and humidity - it felt like she was walking into a steam room. She looked for the prearranged air-conditioned bus that would take her to that night's accommodation but couldn't see it anywhere. She had also managed to separate herself from the standard crowd of tourists, realizing that she must have taken a wrong turn. Starting to panic, Lexie checked her travel notes to see if there was any extra information to help her. Looking for a sign to get back to the main thoroughfare, she realized she was on the service level of the car park, which explained the sleazy looks she was receiving from some of the male workers. Rectifying her mistake, she went up a level to the tourist car park and Lexie was relieved to see the bus directly opposite the exit, waiting for her.

Arriving outside the hostel she would be staying at that evening, Lexie paid the driver and stepped out of the air-conditioned bus. She could immediately feel her navy singlet sticking to her back as she made the short hop into the reception area. The hostel şişli escort looked slightly run down, with shabby-chic décor and a large open-plan common area on the entry level. The walls were covered with pictures depicting the rapid development of the surrounding area. A kitchen was visible to one side of the reception desk, while a storage room could be seen on the other. Towards the back of the room a plethora of seating options were available, ranging from black leather sofas to bean-bags to an oversized mattress covered in floor cushions.

There was a group of twenty-something men hanging around the kitchen area as Lexie entered the hostel. They were having breakfast, but looked up with interest at the new arrival. The air-conditioning was on full blast, and Lexie was happy to be wearing a padded bra to hide her erect nipples from the unsuspecting onlookers. She approached the reception desk, and promptly found out she could not have access to her dorm room until later that day. Lexie accepted this begrudgingly, as she was tired and sticky from her flight and wanted to freshen up. However, she stored her backpack in the luggage store and sat down with her book to pass the time.

Within a minute of sitting down, a very tanned man with hazelnut eyes and toned arms approached Lexie. He was 6 foot tall, and his fake Oakley sunglasses were perched atop his mop of jet-black hair. "Hi, I'm Scott. I noticed you have just arrived, and was wondering if you wanted to join my two Canadian friends and me? We're going to explore Singapore" he explained to her in an accent she couldn't quite place. It sounded like a confluence of English, American, and Australian with a hint of some Irish mixed in there too.

Lexie looked up at Scott, slightly stunned at his appearance. He was how she imagined the boys she would meet travelling, and she was surprised that she would meet someone this quickly who interested her in this way. She couldn't turn down the opportunity to spend time with this handsome stranger, and it was a great way to see the city too.

"Give me two minutes to find some money and my camera - I'll meet you by reception?" she replied. "Oh and I'm Lexie" she hastened to add, feeling slightly flustered. She had surprised herself. She hadn't a clue who this tanned stranger was, or who his two friends were, and here she was agreeing to spend the day with them. "I guess it's all part of the adventure of travelling" Lexie thought to herself as she rummaged through her bag in the luggage store to find her camera and purse.

A few minutes later and Lexie stumbled out of the storage room, straightening out her sunglasses on top of her tousled airplane-mussed hair. She hurried over to the reception desk where she spied Scott standing with an amorous couple. He was tall, at least 6'4", and looked like he belonged in the mountains surrounded by snow rather than in the humidity of an Asian summer. His partner looked equally uncomfortable in the heat (Lexie was sure her dreadlocks were not helping with temperature moderation) but they offered a friendly smile as Scott made introductions - the tall guy was called Kenton, his partner Jo. They knew Scott from a volunteer project they had completed together in Cambodia, and had decided to travel to Singapore before returning back to Canada.

Niceties done with, they stepped out of the hostel's air-conditioning and struggled to breathe the thick, muggy air. Armed with a free map, the group found their way to the Little India MRT station. Expecting the MRT to be a less modern version of the London Underground, Lexie was taken aback to see advanced touch-and-go tickets and an easy-to-understand routing. Singapore's reputation of cleanliness was not exaggerated and she was pleasantly surprised with the modern design and sleek layout of the station and trains. Having figured out the ticket machine, the group of 4 squeezed onto a train to the downtown area called Marina Bay.

Marina Bay was a very affluent area of Singapore (although the entire city does not give an impoverished impression), with big expensive hotels, flashy boats in the marina and Oceanside boardwalks. The walk from the MRT station to the marina was draining, due to ever-oppressive humidity. The group decided they needed a cold drink and some air-conditioning before continuing their tour. They forked out on a local delicacy - durian flavored special chendol.

Durian is a fruit indigenous to Southeast Asia, and well known for its controversial smell. Some think it has a saccharine aroma, while others describe it akin to raw sewage. The odor is so persistent that it is banned on public transport in the city. Lexie took a sip of the specialty drink; initially thinking it was not too bad, took another and spat it back into the cup! The milky looking drink contained green worm-shaped jelly slime, with yellow durian pulp and a creamy substance that gave the overall impression of soured, clumpy milk.

"What on earth possessed me to try this?" Lexie wondered aloud. Scott was equally disgusted with the local delicacy so the pair went on a search for a safer option to try to remove the taste. They stumbled across a small store that sold Coca-Cola, for which they were entirely grateful. The durian flavor was remarkably stubborn and Scott was teasing Lexie about her inability to keep foul tasting things in her mouth. She didn't know how to respond, knowing he was not-so-subtly hinting to her supposed oral performance. All she could do was stutter over a rebuttal and blush. Scott was ignorant to her lack of experience, something she was happy to not educate him on.

After rectifying the rotting taste in their mouths, Scott, and Lexie returned to the Canadians. Together they decided to move on from the opulence of Marina Bay and headed to Orchard Road. They got a respite from the humidity on one of the cool MRT trains before becoming drenched again as soon as they left the station. Lexie looked around, she could see Prada and Bvlgari and Louis Vuitton and Versace and Dolce