Where there is travel, there HAS to be food. Sabah, Malaysia that won our heart!

Where there is travel & Travel.earth, there HAS to be food! This trip to Sabah turned out to be one of the most fun trips ever. One that left us with lifetime memories, so much laughter that we split our sides, new experiences, new friends too.

I won an #Earthys2019 in Sabah, Malaysia for the best food photograph which made things even more worthwhile! Malaysia, Truly Asia, you overwhelmed us!

Have you heard of Sabah? I hadn’t, and I’m grateful that Travel.earth decided to take me along. This was my first trip to Malaysia, and fortunately it was to the almost unheard & very scenic Kota Kinabalu.

Barely had I flown in from Switzerland {previous posts}, that it was time to leave again for another influencer convention just a day later.

This time to relatively unknown, and dare I say, quite unexplored Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia. From a slightly cooler Europe to warm tropical east Asia, you can’t but help wonder at how much beauty the earth has on offer!

The name Kota Kinabalu, quite a tongue twister, is a spot on the globe that is fascinating in every way. Natural landscapes can’t get prettier than this very offbeat destination, one that we headed for last week.

The reason special, to participate in the Earthy’s 2019, the first edition of the Digital Influencers Convention co hosted by Travel.earth & Malaysia Tourism in Sabah, Malaysia. It brought together content creators, industry stalwarts, and renowned speakers under one roof to gather at Kota Kinabalu.

Sabah Tourism opened their beautiful country to 53 influencers from India, primarily from the travel genre, and with Travel.earth, flew us down to Kota Kinabalu, a 2 hour flight from Kuala Lumpur.

While there are no direct flights to Kota Kinabalu, a quick transit through Kl gets you there pretty easily. We flew Malaysia Airlines which was quite seamless & comfortable.

There’s so much you can do in Sabah, and we barely touched the tip of the iceberg. Spent the first 2 days exploring the rich cultural heritage and breathtaking scenic beauty of this amazing region.

It has something to offer for everyone from beaches, sea walks, snorkeling, mountains, rainforests, homestays, dairy farming, fish spas, loads of local cuisine, adventure sports, sunrises to knock your breath away & sunsets to make you want to stay there forever!

The warmth, large heartedness & hospitality of our Malay guide Chris from SeaMaui Borneo made our entire stay feel like home. What a great, charming, fun guy!

He was patient, friendly, always smiling, gentle & soon became part of our group.

That we were at the Shangrila Ras Ria Resort, an extensive property with private beaches, peaceful & away from the city, loads of open spaces made it even better.

The bunch of us spent nights on the beach staring at the crystal clear milky way with waves lapping up, just the sound of the sea {& our nonsensical endless banter of course}! We spent the day chasing waves, droning, just walking along the edge, soaking up everything nature has to offer. It was so peaceful & powerful!

The next 2 days saw interactions with industry stalwarts that included Bobby Joshii, Dinesh Krishnan, Jessie Paul, and other content creators, youtubers etc. Also interactions with our hosts from Sabah Tourism , SeaMaui Borneo , Malaysia Tourism, Malaysia Airlines at the luxurious Shangrila Ras Ria Resort .

The event culminated in an awards ceremony, the first of its kind based on objective criteria & performance-driven metrics. It was a really well put together cultural event that showcased some of the best of what Malaysia has to offer. It was engaging, colourful, gripping at times, and very very enjoyable.

Love how beautiful the trophy is, how well the event went off, and how crazily we bonded with each other! Thank you Travel.earth for this fabulous experience!

Words aren’t enough to describe the experience. Hopefully the pictures will tell the story, and this brilliant drone video by @WanderWithSky should complete it!

Travel.earth aims to develop an eco travel system that aims to share experiences and enrich lives, an online travel publication that curates travel content spanning across all spectrum of travel. The travel.earth website features user-generated travel content, personal travel stories, tourism, leisure travel, social travel, travel guides and tips, and more. The written content is curated via a large network of professional bloggers, aspiring travel writers, and in-house writers.