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Welcome to the Truly Expat Travel Podcast, where I chat with expats about their favorite holiday destination. Let's be honest, expats are some of the best travelers around, always planning the next adventure, exploring hidden gems, and finding the best spots wherever they go. So who better to ask for travel inspiration? Today's episode is a little extra special. I'm joined by my daughter, Kiara, as we sit down to reminisce about a trip we took together to the stunning Maldives. From turquoise waters and white sand beaches unforgettable moments. She'll be sharing the highs, the unexpected bits and why the Maldives is more than just a honeymoon destination. So grab a coffee or maybe a mocktail and join us as we take you along to this island escape. Welcome. Welcome, Kiara. Thank you. So Kiara's been, I guess, an expat for a very long time off and on as she grew up, am I right, in Asia? Yes. Yes. So she's lived in quite a few countries and she's traveled extensively. So let's get started. So what kind of traveler do you think you are? I think I'm definitely dabbling a bit of all of them, to be honest, because I do like a little getaway relaxing, but I also like the historical aspects of some locations in the world. And do you think that depends on what kind of person that you travel with or do you travel solo? I do a lot of, or to be honest, I am in my 20s now. So my goal in life is to do a trip a year with my friends. So it really depends on what we're looking for and where we want to go to. So it depends. Like last year, I went to Canada and America. So we did a bit of both, but not really like the beachy kind of destinations because America, we didn't go to Hawaii or anything. I'm going to Europe this year with my best friend. So we're definitely looking for more of that laid back lifestyle. Nice. Okay, so what's the one travel destination that completely stole your heart and what first drew you? I think it does come down to the top two locations in mind, Hawaii and Maldives, but Maldives definitely took my heart because it was just a spectacular location. It's definitely not just for a honeymoon destination. I went with my mom, so it was definitely not the honeymoon destination that we're looking for, but it definitely was something that everyone needs to experience. And traveling with your mom was fantastic, right? Yeah. I mean, we did grow up in Asia, so there wasn't many beaches around in Hong Kong and things like that. But living in the eastern suburbs for so long and going on these destinations to the beaches, a lot of snorkeling involved, especially with my father, which was always good. And my mom does love the beach. So I think our family are very driven to the beach as well as historical aspects. So when you say the eastern suburbs, where are you referring to? So in Sydney, the eastern suburbs area, that's where I have lived since boarding school. Okay. And so how easy was it to get to the Maldives? Was it kind of like a spontaneous trip or was it a planned trip? So my parents were very... Fantastic and generous. It was after I graduated from uni, so I went straight from... high school to university and so it was my graduation holiday. So my dad and my mom planned this whole trip to the Maldives. So I came to Singapore to visit them and then we went from the Maldives. I would say definitely you can't really go straight from Sydney. It is a bit harder. Yep. I think most people fly from Singapore, right? Unless you're coming from the northern countries, I think you can fly there direct to Dubai as well. But you flew from Singapore? Yeah, I flew from Singapore straight to the Malay, which is the main island of Maldives. And it was like four and a half hours? Yeah. There's 14 flights that go out from Singapore each day. Oh, wow. Okay. I didn't know that. Obviously, that's worth a surprise. So how hard was it to get to actually where you stayed? And where did you stay? Tell me a little bit about Maldives. So essentially, the main island is Malay. So everyone flies in from there. That's where the international airport is. And then you take a seaplane. You can take a boat or seaplane to your destination because each little island off of Malé is owned by a hotel, which I would definitely recommend staying on one of those islands. We stayed at the W Hotel one. So we took a seaplane there, which was about an hour, an hour and a half. And it was, I think for us, we went in the morning, right? We stayed overnight so that we could actually see what was going on like below in a day. So what was your itinerary look like? So you can do a lot on these islands, which being an island that's owned by a hotel, there's so much stuff to do. But essentially my mum and I were going for that relaxation type of vibe. So we essentially woke up, we had an all-inclusion breakfast, food and drinks. We went to breakfast each morning, had a couple of mimosas and then we enjoyed the day by the beach and exploring the island. There was a couple of like of the swings that you see on those Pinterest photos. We went to the same destination for lunch, the same restaurant that was really good. We had the same meal every day. And then at dinner, we would just try a couple of different places. Because there was a few restaurants, right? Yeah, and bars as well. So I don't know how many people do it, but we, I think we were the only people that weren't a couple though, right? Well, we did go in the quieter season. So it was really good for our part because it wasn't too busy, but there's so many workout classes. Heaps of people were doing the aerobic class in the water, which was quite popular. Yoga wasn't as popular, but I also do think it was quite a period and it's also a honeymoon destination usually. Yeah, because it was like a sunrise or a sunset kind of yoga, which was good. When is the best time to travel to the Maldives? So the Maldives is very similar to a couple of the Asian countries. So They have a wet and dry season. They're hot all year round, but their dry season is from around November to April. So I would definitely recommend going around there. We went during the wet season and we were very fortunate that we had like little to no rain. You're more likely to have no rain in that dry season. I think the only real benefit of going in the wet season is that the prices are so much less. So was there a standout experience or moment that made the trip unforgettable? I think definitely one of the nights we went for a sunset dinner, which was quite beautiful watching the sunset. And we were also directly on the water. So it was a very stunning view. And even all of the staff on the island was so lovely and so generous that it just made the whole experience so much better. It was beautiful, right? Yeah. Do you remember when that waiter came up to you and showed you photos of he went diving or snorkeling the night before? Can you remember that? Yeah, a lot of the staff would do night diving and he had like a big octopus. He took a video and showed up like an octopus like directly in his hand, like a humongous one. So that was definitely an experience. And there were heaps of sharks too. He's like, you should go at night. And you're going, yeah, yeah. And you turn around and go, never will I do that. Yeah, no. I'm terrified of sharks. I would never be drugged up. But it was huge. The octopus was massive. So I think that alone would freak me out if I grabbed an octopus just in my bed. Even like, I remember, I think it was the same place we were walking and it was like a little deck that you walk to the restaurant and there were heaps of sharks, like small, like they were miniature sharks. I remember the waiter came over and he was like, oh yeah, like they won't injure you. And I was like, any shark will bite you. Just the look on her face, just with price levels. What was something unexpected you discovered about the place? I think two points. I think I touched on it just before, how there's so much to do on each island. Like you can go snorkeling, you can do day trips. There's heaps of restaurants, heaps of bars. There's even some clubs. Heaps of workout classes. So you didn't want to go with your mum? Yeah, no. It's just a little bit strange. It's weird. Keep going. And there's heaps of workout classes and stuff. And then another point is that it's a Muslim country, so they don't really allow drinking on main parts of the islands. But... When you're on the island that's owned by a hotel, they do serve alcohol there. Yeah. I think Malé itself is pretty dry, but I remember I brought in a bottle of gin with me and they confiscated it. Do you remember that? They confiscated it when I flew in, but they gave it back to me when I was leaving. That was just very nice of them because it was a whole bottle of gin that I was going to drink a whole bottle of gin on the island for me, but I was doing it for a friend for some photos. But anyway. Another story. So what's your must-try local dish? I don't know if it's a local dish, but I had it, like, every day for lunch. It was a tuna steak. I would recommend the seafood. It's so fresh there, the seafood. I think because they, like, as we were talking about before, the waitstaff just, like, dive the night before and get the seafood. And it was, like, so fresh. It was so amazing. I remember at lunch we would have a burrata salad tuna steak. You would have the salmon and I would have the ceviche every single day. They knew our water body and tuna. Yeah. Oh, that's tuna. That's right. You don't accept it. Yeah, we had the same thing. So I guess you're saying go for the seafood. Definitely would recommend the seafood. I mean, try the local cuisine, but I think a part of their local cuisine would definitely be seafood because it's so good there. It was delicious. What is one thing you wish you had known before going? Was there a challenge or a travel hack or you figured out along the way? I think definitely travel hack for people who do get seasick like myself. On the seaplanes, they do get quite rocky, but I would definitely recommend having the seaplane over going by boat because you can see the stunning views and all the water from above. It's a much better view and a much better experience. But I would definitely recommend getting some slack travel sickness tablets before you go on the seaplanes. I'd also suggest putting some earplugs in as well. Yeah, very loud. Yeah, because they're very small. There's like probably like eight seats on the plane. Kiara sat right before the pilots and the doors opened. Do you remember that? You looked at me in shock, horror. That was an experience. Yeah. And we did drop people off on the way to other islands. Do you remember that? Yeah. Yeah. So the other thing that I would say is that remember that you have to pack light because there was a limit on the seaplane. There might not be on the plane going over, but the seaplane I think is 10k limit. Luckily, mum and I just took our, we just took a carry on, I'm pretty sure. Yes, because we only went for a few days, right? How many days did we go? Four days, I think. Maybe it was four nights and five days. Yeah, because the other thing is, is I guess the seaplanes come at strange hours. So we Flew back to Malé, stayed in like a day hotel that you pay for the hour because our flight was so late at night. That's actually something I would recommend because a hotel organized that for us because they knew that otherwise the airport itself is tiny, right? And there's nothing there. It's just like a little conveyor belt that you're like throwing coals or woolies in. Woolies is worse, by the way. It's a grocery store in Australia and so is Coles. If you could give anyone one tip or a bit of advice about the destination, what would it be? I would definitely recommend going. I know people are opposed to going until their honeymoon with their partner or whatever, but I definitely wouldn't let that stop you to travel there with your friends or even your family. I think that's a bit of a myth I know it's a very honeymoon destination but I don't think that should oppose anyone from traveling there and also to make sure that you book a hotel that's on an island because although staying in Malé we did stay overnight I wouldn't recommend staying there the whole time just because you have to take those day trips out anyways the beautiful water is on those islands so you don't get the full experience unless you're staying on one of the islands like I would recommend the W Hotel it was very it was an amazing experience It's beautiful. So my understanding is that you can do the Maldives pretty affordable and you can stay in local hotels on these islands or you can go with the big name ones like W and Sheraton and stuff like that. So thank you, Chiara. I know I had to drag you on here to be part of it. So thank you so much for coming on and hopefully I'll get you back on again soon after your big trip to Europe. Yeah, hopefully my best friend and I will come on here and talk about our highs and lows of traveling Europe as 24-year-olds. And you're not properly backpacking either. Look, I'm definitely not doing that. That's not for me. I am a hotel girl. I'm not the bougie ones, what we can afford. But at the same time, I will not be. Well, actually, to be fair. Stay tuned because we'll probably talk about it, but we're staying in a hotel in Mykonos, so I'll let you know how that goes. That's right. You are staying in a hostel. Yeah. Before this episode ends, I've got to shout out something special for you all, especially if the Maldives is on your bucket list or if you're just dreaming about the perfect escape. I have a full review of the W Maldives on the Truly Expat Travel website, and trust me, it's packed with everything you want to know from overwater villa vibes to dining, service, and all the little details that make or break a luxury stay. But I didn't stop there. I went deep into the other atolls too. Not just the usual tourist spots, but some of the lesser known gems that are totally worth exploring. If you're planning a trip or just love travel inspo, don't forget to check it out. This article, or these articles, are up now. So give it a read after the episode. You'll definitely want to book. Or bookmark it for later. Join us again next time on Truly Expat Travel Podcast, where I have another exciting destination in a world that's too big to be left unexplored. Ciao for now.