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It is about 12 years ago when I finally had the opportunity to have an opportunity to travel to Europe for the very first time and alone. Being a first-timer, I was very excited and ambitious to see as much as I can. For over a month, I went from Istanbul, Cappadocia, Budapest, Vienna, Berlin, Paris and Toulouse, hopping in-between plane trips and train rides. Most of these destinations were memorable and fun, but Paris was a total disaster! People were rude, racist; didn’t speak English at all, plus I got my wallet stolen. I was so miserable in Paris and swore will never touch foot again in this city or the country. As time goes by, my face always cringes when people mention Paris or France. I don’t hate them, but at the same time, I am not interested to go back there. I will never forget the feeling of sitting by the marble staircase of Pantheon in Paris while eating a sandwich and looking at the beautiful city view while thinking, ‘why I am feeling so miserable in the most beautiful city in the world…’ Unfortunately, bad experience in travelling kind giving me a bitter aftertaste and a sort of trauma to a certain degree. Things changed in May last year when I was in one of the international travel conferences in Singapore and met with Atout France (the French Tourism Board). They were very kind enough to ask me to do a media trip to France, which immediately I said no to. Fortunately, my best friend Alexander Thian was with me and told me that he has been to Paris for the last 5 times and the city with the people are changing. I look at him suspiciously and still have my consideration on the destination. But then, a mind bug comes to me and if the universe is kind enough to give us, human, the second chance in life, then why not I give Paris and France and a second chance? So, Alex and I went to France last December where we explored the beautiful Cote d’Azur region to the enchanting ski village called Val d’Isere and finally to Paris. I have to say that Alex is completely right! France is changing and the people are nice! Most of them can speak English, they have a friendly attitude with a smile, and the whole experience is simply a memorable one. Going to Paris for the second time, I did have my doubts as the city is currently having a situation with the yellow jacket demonstration every Saturday. However, many of my friends in Paris convinced me that everything is okay and life is continuing in a normal way. So I leapt faith to go there, and guess what? This time, I am completely in love with Paris and all its beauty. I learn from this last trip that giving a second chance is not only what we do to another human, but we can also give it to experience, in this case, is a destination. Based on this learning lesson, I am quite curious to give some other destination that I feel not so good a second chance. Believe it or not, Tokyo, Kyoto and Beijing are some of the cities that I feel no necessity to re-visit after my last experience there. Nevertheless, with this newfound experience, I might give these cities another opportunity to visit and see how much they change in time. We are indeed living in a world that is constantly on a change. Some changes are good and some changes could be quite a dramatic one. Based on my personal experience, I am just glad that I gave Paris and France a second chance. I really can hardly wait now to return to the country and explore all the other region. Do you have experience of visiting a destination that gives you a bad memory? You might want to revisit and see. The new experience of the same destination could be quite fascinating. I think this is the beauty of travelling and becoming the world’s citizen.