Bangkok Cont.

Overall I ended up enjoying Bangkok a lot more than I expected to. The hostel I stayed at was in an authentic Thai neighborhood and there weren’t tourists everywhere. I met a ton of people in just a few days and may one day visit some of them in Europe! Unfortunately, I did not make it to any of the Temples in Bangkok yet I did make it to quite a few shopping centers and markets and an awesome park. Besides the new friends the park was probably the coolest thing about Bangkok. I went there twice; once with two girls from Denmark and then again the next day when I was waiting for my train to Chiang Mai. It’s a huge park in the middle of the city. People are out jogging, working out, playing sports, relaxing and everything that you’d expect in a park. They even do a huge Zumba class in the park every day! When I went the second day is when I got to explore the park a lot more and see the beautiful trees, sculptures, and buildings within. It was a 2.5 KM walk around the park and with my wanderings I probably did about 3.5 at least. That’s just over 2 miles for us Americans. There were giant lizards, turtles, and birds everywhere. I couldn’t get over the lizards; they were like baby Godzillas it was awesome. Overall I had a good time in Bangkok and the welcoming hostel and the other travelers within made me feel right at home. It gave me a little more confidence in traveling alone.

Day 1 Bangkok

Well I’m finally here. It was definitely a journey; 3 flights and about 20 hours of total travel time. Luckily there were no baggage issues this time around. I would not want to be stuck here in Bangkok with nothing but the clothes and bag on my back! I arrived VERY early and got through customs around 3 AM. Since I’m being frugal I waited to catch the train to my hostel instead of a taxi. The taxi is 10x as much as the train! Either way it’s cheap to US rates but I got to make my money last as long as possible.

It fully sunk in that this is my life now on the train ride into the city. I was staring out the window taking in all the building, giant billboards, foliage, and whatever else caught my eye. It was weird to fully admit to myself that this is it. It’s just me and it’s time to explore.

The humidity hit HARD! I could feel it as soon as I got off the plane but that’s nothing to how it is now and its only 8AM, I’m worried about how it’s going to be around noonish. Everything is wet and even papers (my map) get soggy. The walk to the hostel from the train station was short but hot. My water bottle kept sweating onto my leg and confusing me since there’s no clouds in the sky. I walked past my hostel twice when trying to find it but once I did there was a chill Frenchie at the desk who took my bags and gave me some directions towards food.

I hate to admit it but I went to Starbucks right away. I walked around and saw some food stands but I have no idea what anything is and decided to stick with something I know for the first meal off the plane. So here I am now. Sitting here typing, drinking my iced coffee (no way I’m drinking anything hot). I have some time still until the check in at the hostel and I may just go get lost. Or maybe I should wait another day for that.

Two Sweaty Hours Later...

I got lost. Multiple times. This city is crazy and confusing. And HOT! I was walking around in 90+ degree heat for over two hours and it ended up being for no reason, though I did get to explore. I went to the Vietnamese Embassy in order to get my Visa and they're closed for another 3 days! Guess I'll be extending my stay in Bangkok like a day or so now. We'll see. 

My shirt was drenched when I came back to the hostel. I had to give up searching and caught a tuk-tuk (3 wheeled taxi carts). That was pretty interesting and the roads here are insane. 

Once back I talked with some people. There's one american and everyone else seems to be French or Asian. I was told I should get pretty used to that. I got some food with them from a street vendor and that was pretty good. Only $1 US too! After getting food in my belly I could not stay awake any longer. I took a nap and woke up at 10 PM. That wasn't planned at all and unfortunately I was not able to join in any of the New Year festivities. 

The Adventure Begins: First Stop LA

It seems traditional now that whenever I’m in LA for travel I have to stop and see my bros out at CSUN (Cal State Northridge). For those that don’t know on my first journey abroad I experienced many challenges while getting to New Zealand; one being my flight was late into LAX and I was unable to catch a flight until the next day. Luckily my fraternity was founded at USC and I have family all over the LA area. Stranded at LAX I put out a notice on the fraternity Facebook page and within minutes one of my pledge bros, that I had never met before, was on his way to pick me up. I love family, thanks Chuy. Then, on my way back from New Zealand when I landed at LAX my flight was canceled for two days! I don’t even remember why. With this news I once again hit up my brothers and was soon hanging out with them all once again.

I figured that this time around I better take matters into my own hands and not leave it up to fate. I booked a flight to LA for one day and the flight to Bangkok the next. It seemed only right to keep the tradition going and felt a lot better with it being planned. I had a great time hanging out with them all and even watched my first soccer game fully though. It’s always nice getting to see friends that are far away and was definitely a great way to begin my journey. Thanks to Kevin and Elvis for hosting me and Chuy and Miguelito for getting me from and to the airport. Thank you Jamal for putting out the extra effort to come say what’s up and I’m excited about the fact that I have put travel on your mind. That’s what I aim to do. Finally, it was great to be on Mount BG with many newly met brothers by my side. I wish we had a dope spot to chill at CSU. Though I could not stay long it was a great first stop for my adventure. But it’s time to go!

Thank you Cali, it’s been fun, but now it’s time for the real adventure to begin. Off to Thailand I go!

Adventure Preparation

Excitement, Fear, Nervousness and Excitement. These are the emotions and feeling I’ve had over the past few weeks.  I have been planning this trip to Asia for months now and it had all finally come together. My plans were made, my tickets were purchased and all my gear was bought. The full excitement hit me as I received the final item for my journey from Amazon. I had received my passport wallet and was ready to go. I went to go grab my passport to put it in my new wallet. It was at this point in time that everything changed; the fear hit in. 

The week before I had ordered a passport holder which I also had purchased form Amazon. I did exactly what I did when I received the wallet and went to try it out and put my passport inside. Unfortunately, I was not a fan of the item and ended sending it back and getting the wallet in its place. This is when I had a dumb ass moment (I get those from time to time). When I went to grab my passport to put into the wallet I discovered that I never took it out of the holder I had returned to Amazon! Without my passport I was screwed and all my plans were ruined. I had no idea what to do except for call Amazon and hope for the best.

Amazon was pretty unhelpful even though they tried to help. Whose ever idea it was to not have a direct phone number to an entire returns facility is a dumb ass too. After putting in requests to search the package and many many phone calls over a week’s time I finally gave up hope on Amazon and decided it was finally time to go and get a new passport and pay even extra for it to be expedited. I was on my way to the passport office when a miracle happened.

About 25 minutes into my drive down to Denver I received a wonderful phone call from my mother. Someone in Vegas received my passport in the mail and with the emergency contact info inside gave her a call and offered to mail it back. Once he learned that my trip was only in a few days he sent it via priority mail. Hearing my mother’s voice saying those words made me the happiest guy in the world and the excitement began to return. It was crazy to get called while on the way to get a new passport. I love when miracles happen! This only proved that I really am supposed to take this journey and it is what I should be doing for my next step in life.  

Though the passport was shipped I was still nervous. It was supposed to arrive only a day before my departure! What if it got lost? What if its somehow delayed and delivered Tuesday? What then? At 2:53 PM the only 15 hours before my departure to California I received the passport in the mail. Once again the excitement fully returned! It was crazy to get called while on the way to get a new passport and I still can’t believe it. I love when miracles happen! This only continued to prove to me that I really am supposed to take this journey and it is what I should be doing for my next step in life. The last time I went abroad I was running away and returned a changed man. This time I’m running towards and can’t wait to see what life has in store for me.

Cheers