Welcome to my travel blog! You've probably stumbled onto here because you are someone near and dear to me, and soon we will be separated by a substantial chunk of land and sea for approximately 7 months. Maybe you're curious about whether I've gone crazy, or hopefully looking forward to seeing where I end up.
I am certainly not a pioneer with my planned travel; search for travel blogs and you will find countless accounts of people who have backpacked the world for much longer, or made the brave move of deciding to never come back home.
But here I am, finally ready to rectify my regret of never studying abroad in college. I've never even lived outside of my beautiful state, Washington. I've been talking about this dream for about 5 years, turn 30 in March and don't want to waste any more time.
I was first introduced to the idea of going to Thailand because of an old coworker. He only worked in the US in the winter so he could see family/friends and save up his money to live in Thailand for the rest of the year. I was (and still am) beyond envious of his lifestyle. His descriptions of the beautiful land, vibrant culture and people were so vivid that I could almost feel myself there.
Since then, I've known Thailand is WHERE I need to be as the starting point for this adventure. It's inexpensive, and also satisfies the requirement of the "uncomfortable" factor where (while people do speak limited English) I will be in the minority with my skin color, language, religion and cultural understanding.
Thailand is known as the "land of smiles," and even if some might be faking it to make an extra buck, it sounds like a truly genuine place. Yes, there is political unrest and questionable parts (where in the world aren't there?), but time and time again I hear that the people make it a wonderful experience.
So here I go.. for myself, to discover, to grow, to be uncomfortable, scared, anxious, excited.. the entire gamut of human emotions that make this experience called life worthwhile.
What does Darryl (my boyfriend) think? Well, first, thank God for Darryl. When we first got together, I swore I was leaving the country to join the Peace Corps and could not be in a relationship with him. I am extremely glad I broke that promise, because he is the best thing to ever happen to me. Throughout our relationship, he has been my personal "travel advocate" and insisted that I go on this trip. I couldn't do this without his support, or the endless support of my family and friends.
I told Darryl a few days ago that I wish he could just come with me, and that it would make everything a million times easier. This is completely true, but it also wouldn't give me the chance to explore the world on my own and come back to him a better person.
I finally set a date and have a one way ticket from Berlin to Bangkok. There is no going back from here, unless I run out of money or am completely miserable. But at least I will know I gave it a try.
DEPARTURE IN T-20 DAYS (to Munich/Prague/Berlin, then -->BKK-->HKT)
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