Well, it's been a while since I blogged. It's not because I wasn't thinking about it, but just been busy with life. Isn't that always the excuse we give ourselves for everything we didn't do? Things we wanted to do, but just didn't seem to prioritize as important enough to get off the couch and do it?! Well, that must've been me for a few months. And why do we do that? Those things we want to do, are those child hood excitements that would keep us up for hours when we were younger, but as an adult, we just can't find the energy, nor the time, even though we know we would get so much enjoyment out of it. And that's what travel does for me. It rejuvenates me and centres me back to my SELF.
Work was crazy, lots of drama there, and then trying to plan a trip for Feb last minute didn't help. I'm usually quite organized, but this time I was under the gun. I was expecting a lovely holiday, because many of my friends have travelled to Thailand before, and had wonderful vacations and couldn't wait to go back. I have to say, that wasn't my experience at all.
In hindsight, it would seem that in all my years of traveling, I was somehow protected from the misfortune of typical traveler woes. This trip had so many things that went wrong it, I was taken off guard: The very first day, our luggage didn't transfer planes [we didn't buy baggage insurance], and I was stuck in my winter clothes in 35C heat for half a day. Then, we got food poisoning at a high end resort restaurant the day before flying to another city [we didn't bring antibiotics and were too sick to find the pharmacy before and after flying]. And finally we got a hotel ridden with bugs [spiders, flies and ants]. For those people who've already experienced Montezuma's revenge, or cockroaches in developing countries, you have no sympathy for us, but this was my first time! and it wasn't pleasant.
I was so used to travelling in a hostel network, and it had been clean most of the time, that I did not expect it for hotels. I was shocked, and disappointed. I have always been quite a frugal person, and budget travel has never gotten in the way of a good vacation, but this time it did. My boyfriend said "There are some things you don't need to save money on", and he's right. I've reached a point in my life, where I want a clean room, bug free, and I want to take taxis without being sold something.
However, the sun and sand, great beaches, canopy adventure, elephant trekking and bamboo rafting experiences made for a worthwhile visit to the Land of Smiles. I was so well rested when I got back, that I almost became a morning person [most people who know me, know I sleep in - a lot]. That is, until daylight savings time kicked in...but I'm back, and I feel great!
