Feb 27
Made it to Thailand! Hot dang! I’m fucking stoked, elated, proud and impressed. Stoked to be here, it’s everything I remembered and more. I’m not sure if it’s the buds but I just find it so beautiful here. The chaos, the colour, the openness. Already this morning I’ve seen a peacock and a man try to fit himself and his scooter betwixed a bus and a Ute. I didn’t think he was gonna make it, low and behold, he didn’t make it! Just wedged himself in and then waited for the Ute to move forward. Hilarious.
Elated as I am an international traveler again, this world that yearns to be adventured is mine for the taking. Look, I never really stop adventuring and many adventures were had and will be had in Oz, but when you don’t speak the same language, you can’t read what chip flavour you are getting and everyone looks quite different to you, that’s for sure and adventure.
Proud that I got myself here, proud that I am who I am, proud that I put life first and work second. Proud that I am a decent enough human for someone to allow me to housesit for a month. Proud of the energy I bring to life.
Impressed that I do this shit and I do it pretty well. I just packed my whole life into the back of a car (again), packed a backpack and carry sack for my decks, spent 10 hours in transit without a hiccup and cruised my way to a gorgeous treehouse for the night. All with relative ease and confidence. Like some motherfuckers still live with their parents, not that my journey has anything to do with theirs but dang dude, I’m impressed.
Grateful.
I say all without a hiccup, there were a few hiccups that’s almost turned into gut clearing hiccups. Note to self, just prebook the plane food. Musli bars for 5+ hours ain’t gonna crack it. Oh and drink water you dork. I mean it doesn’t help when air Asia makes you pay for water.
By the end of flight 1 arriving in KL my back was cooked from the chairs, my stomach was uncomfortable from not moving, not hydrating and not eating. Who woulda thunked it.
Eagerly I moved through the maze that is KLIA2 to find some kind of Asian deliciousness, which didn’t exist, in a food court, that also didn’t exist. Left with the option of Maccas or Burger King I succumbed to a Big Mac which did not go down smooth at all. Note to reader, they don’t give you straws as they have sippy lids, they are not bad at restocking the straw dispenser, they just don’t have them!
How to explain Kuala Lumpur airport. To steal a bit from Taylor Tomlinson, you know when you’re driving in traffic and you see the fast lane moving whilst your stopped, so you move across. Only to have the fast lane then stop, with the lane you were previously in begin to move. And then you move back again, and the fast lane speeds up! This is when you think to yourself, I must be the problem!
Well it’s like that, until you realise someone must have been watching ‘the labrynth” when designing KL airport.
What’s the point of having travellators on both sides of the walkway and both running in the same direction!
Who decided it would be a good idea to put a water bottle refill in the middle of the walkway to the toilets?
Anywho i digress, by the time the second flight came around I was feeling extra queezy. Stuck between two lads with enough leg room for mini me, looked in the seat pocket, emergency vom bag at the ready. But no one wants to be that guy! So I breathed through it, closed my eyes and tried to get distracted. Which prevailed, till the plane food came along. It’s quite amazing how much power our minds have, it wanted to win this one, but I wasn’t going to let it. Yes I hate the smell of plane food, yes I have flash backs of vomiting for 14 hours on a plane to canada. But I’ve lied to myself before and by golly I’ll most likely do it again. “You like that smell”, “just breathe through your mouth boy”. Turns out taste buds also pick up plane food in that proximity! Alas, Jamie 1, mind 0. No plane spews this time round.
I was nervous for the few days leading upto this journey, in a good way. It’s been years since I left Oz. Travelling around Australia had lots of times of discomfort and challenges, but there’s always a level of understood safety I find when traveling Aus. I speak the language, I understand the body language, I know how to get by. In Thailand this is all so foreign, pick pockets are a thing, it’s easy to get run over. And this is what excites me. I was thinking about this concept today, of being nervous before a trip, trying to recall if this happened for my other trips. Initially I didn’t think so but I realised I just didn’t allow those thoughts to exist. Just glossed over the fear. Now I understand it’s and important and healthy part of my life, I sit with fear more. Allow myself to feel it, experience it but also try not to attach to it, just witness it’s existence.
Then something settled, a day or 2 before departure it all settled. I settled. Felt centered, felt ready. Not sure if it was working fringe and meeting lots of new people that reinstated my ability to adapt into new environments?
Once I got of the plane into Bangkok I resettled. The transit was done now time for the real journey. (I’m working on this, need to find enjoyment from transit as it’s part of the journey)
I got in a cab and we managed to agree on where my air bnb was. Along the road the driver asks “why are you travelling alone, where is your girlfriend”. I chuckled hard, mainly because I found it so humorous the importance he placed on having a girlfriend, but also, why wouldn’t you travel alone? I guess I’m not the norm. (I guess, hahaha, no Jamie, you are definitely not the norm).
“I’m still looking” I said. “Why just one?”
The lovely man got me to my treehouse. A must stay if you’re solo travelling in Bangkok. Basic amenities and anything but basic scenery. Trees, bungalows, treetop benches, peacock, dog, birds, loud geckos and I think that was a rooster at 5am this morning.
Turns out Cannabis is legal in Thailand now, and pretty strong too! I found myself only a 4 minute walk away in a dispensary on the main road, smoking a $2.50 joint. It felt strange and awesome. Last time I was hear you could get the death sentence for this!
Oh did I say it was pretty strong? Well… as I walked through the night market which was closing down and I read (or didn’t read) all the signs in Thai and didn’t make out the food on the pictures. I swiftly decided that yes that weed was strong and I’m moving to safety of 7/11. Came all this way to get out of my comfort zone and couldn’t even order dinner. What a dork!
As I entered 7/11 bright lights, Thai written everywhere, everything looked so foreign and exciting. I chuckled out loud, trying to compose myself and figure out kettle dinner. You’ll be pleased to know I bought Thai snacks…
Turns out crab curry flavour chips actually SLAP.
Off to Hua Hin now, the lovely Chaiwat has picked me up from Bangkok for the few hour journey to my new home for the month. Holy smokes I’m going to have to take it easy on the motorbike. We thought Perth folk were bad at indicating!
















