But there are also a few unexpected things to be aware of before your first visit. If you’re getting ready for your first adventure there, here are five ways to make the most of your trip:

1. Get ready to negotiate

If you plan to do some shopping while you’re there—or even take part in excursions—be prepared to negotiate.

Haggling is common—and even expected—in most parts of Thailand. This is especially true in the markets, so don’t take the first price you’re offered if you want to come home with some souvenirs.

The same applies to transport too. It’s a good idea to agree a fixed price with a taxi driver or a tuk-tuk before you get in—unless you’re certain they’re using a meter.

2. Spend a few days in Bangkok

Whilst it’s likely the lure of the islands—and the golden sands of their beaches—that have lured you in, plan to spend a few days in the capital.

This is a place like no other.

And there’s something for everyone, so it’s perfect if you’re heading to Thailand in a group too. You can check out the Buddhist temples, eat some delicious food—and check out the famous Khao San Road.

We recommend scheduling this for the start of your trip, so you can spend the rest of your time recovering from the craziness on the beach.

3. Beware of scams

Thailand is a relatively safe country. But it’s built on tourism—and that always carries a risk.

Keep your wits about you, and be aware of people trying to scam you. Trust your gut. If something seems a bit dodgy, it probably is.

One scam involves two people. The first will find out information about you—such as your name and when you arrived. They will then pass this information onto a colleague, who will try to trick you into thinking you’ve already met, before trying to get money from you in one way or another.

Make sure you have adequate travel insurance—which is essential in Thailand—and can help you out if you get into a tricky situation.

4. Take appropriate clothing with you

If you want to visit cultural sites—such as the many temples and Buddhist monuments around the company—make sure you take appropriate clothing with you.

These landmarks will expect you to dress modestly, with your legs, arms and chest covered. Although this is a matter of respect, you may be also be denied entry if your clothing is deemed inappropriate. Don’t risk it!

5. Stay wary of animal tourism

There are still a number of excursions available that involve elephant rides or tiger temples.

The sad truth is, the majority of these ‘attractions’ do not have the animals’ best interests at heart. Respect the wildlife, and don’t contribute to this unfair industry.

There are plenty more attractions to keep you busy!

So, what do you think? Are you read to go to Thailand??

***All images are taken from Unsplash.com.

***Disclaimer: This is a collaborative post. 

The post Five Ways to Make the Most of a Holiday in Thailand appeared first on Amy and the Great World.

In addition, despite the fact that I try to find something positive about every place I visit, there are a lot of places I just didn’t connect with for whatever reason, or didn’t have enough time to visit. I think everywhere deserves more than once chance–so here are ten places I need to visit again!

Cambodia

Some real talk here: I kind of, um, hated most of my time in Cambodia (except for moments at Angkor Wat and in the Ratanakiri Province). Awful, right? After an amazing, action-packed month exploring Thailand, my cousin and I went to Cambodia and so many things went wrong. We were both really sick; we’d left our friends behind in Thailand and missed them (and their traveling skills); the endless heat and oppressive humidity was getting to me; we were there over Thanksgiving and the homesickness was out of control; and honestly, the locals seemed to harass us, hate us, lecture us, or be annoyed that we weren’t acting the way they wanted. I feel like all of these things combined together to make me hate it, and I couldn’t wait to leave. When we crossed to border into Vietnam–via a boat on the Mekong, on a visa that our couch surfing host had done incorrectly which would make us get detained later (but that’s a different story)–I let out a breath of relief. I know Cambodia is a beautiful, complicated, impoverished country, and I think I need to give it another chance.

Read more about Cambodia here. 

China

China is one of those places that, while I was there, I didn’t love it–but now that I look back, I think “WOW! What a great country!” China, partially because of the situation I was in while there (an internship working with earthquake survivors in Sichuan province) pushed my boundaries like no other, and therefore wasn’t exactly a comfortable experience. I witnessed tragedy, heartbreak, corruption, illness, confusing cultural norms–and was struck by the resilience and joy of the people, and the country itself. Oh yeah, I need to go back.

Read more about China here. 

Thailand

Unlike the Cambodia saga above, I just adored Thailand. The smiling people! The food. The diverse, gorgeous landscape. The sweaty, chaotic cities. The idyllic islands. Thailand pretty much has everything, and even though I spent a month there, I have so much left to see! Plus, E has never been, which is reason enough to return.

Read more about Thailand here. 

South America

Is it cheating to put an entire continent on here? I haven’t been to South America since I studied abroad in Peru and Ecuador in 2009. That study abroad trip was my first real time away from home, and my first solo travel, which means that a lot of my memories are overshadowed by my homesickness, my parasite (yep), my idiocy (even more yep), the reasons I left in the first place (struggles in school and relationships), and my sky-high expectations slowly crumbling beneath me. That being said, now that I’m more comfortable traveling–and (slightly) more comfortable in my skin–I would love to go back to South America. I mean, there is so much more of that giant continent to explore.

Read more about Peru here and more about Ecuador here. 

Panama

We spent only three days there on our honeymoon in 2015, on the island chain of Bocas del Toro. I…did not like it. I don’t know why. I found it overcrowded, dirty, and rather stressful. So maybe I do know why–but I have been to a lot of places that fit those criteria, and that didn’t necessarily bother me. I think the Bocas are exploding with tourism and are not equipped to handle it, and the environment is starting to suffer. It really is a beautiful corner of the world, though!

Read more about Panama here. 

Iceland

Two 17-hour layovers were not enough! Iceland has simply exploded onto the international travel scene, for good reason. I’d love to spend more time there!

Read more about Iceland here. 

Vietnam

Although I would go back to every country I visited during my tour of Southeast Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, South Korea & Vietnam) the one that pulls me the most is probably Vietnam. I can’t quite put my finger on the why. It stands out in my mind as the most beautiful, but it’s also the place where, as we were traveling so quickly, my cousin and I missed a lot of gems, or just stayed for a day or two. It’s funny, because we had some visa issues and did not leave the country on good terms–but I’m still dying to go back. Or maybe that’s why, and I’m just contrary.

Read more about Vietnam here. 

Italy

Okay, I know Italy is on everyone’s bucket list or return-to list. There’s a reason Italy is one of the most visited spots in the world–and I’ve only seen a few little corners! I haven’t even been to Rome or Florence. I think I haven’t been in a rush because a) Italy is expensive; b) Italy is crowded; c) I will always want to go to Italy and d) Italy is a place I can travel to when I’m older, too. Now, this is usually the opposite of my travel philosophy–I always want to see it now, rather than later, because you just never know if you’ll get another chance, do you? Italy has been creeping higher up my list after our visit to Venice, and the fact that we have friends living all over the country. Not that Italy needs a reason to creep up anyone’s list–it is Italy, after all.

Read more about Italy here. 

Greece

I’ve told you (maybe too much) how even though it was a crazy trip, I completely loved Greece. And I’ve only been to Santorini and Athens–there is so much more to see! The combination of relaxed (sometimes too relaxed, admittedly) attitude, delicious food, ancient history, and beautiful scenery just hooks me in.

Read more about Greece here. 

France

I’ve been to Paris, and Lille, but I would love to get out of the cities and explore more of France. I’m particularly intrigued by Normandy. Truthfully, I didn’t “fall in love” with either Lille or Paris, and I think France deserves another chance! And I didn’t just choose it because it rhymed with chance! I also am part French, and like any true American, I’m eager to learn more about one of my self-assigned homelands.

Read more about France here. 

Do you have places you need to give another chance?

Linking up with Wanderful Wednesday and Faraway Files. 

The post Ten Places I Need to Visit Again appeared first on Amy and the Great World.

From the minute I stepped off the plane in Bangkok, the culture shock of Thailand hit me like a sweaty fist. Literally and figuratively, because that humidity is no joke! I quickly realized that Thailand is a rich, varied culture that is at times incredibly different from my own. I love to “collect” small and big cultural customs when I travel, so I have complied a list of some that I noticed during my travels in Thailand. I am no expert on the culture, history or country, I only have my experience to guide me!

Without further ado, I give you my ABCs of Thailand (minus a few letters, because ain’t nobody got time for X!), all of which I gathered during my two-month long travels there. During these travels I stayed in the south on an island, staying in a village in the north (where we taught English briefly), and visited cities, temples and vistas everywhere in between!

Birthdays, bucket showers, and “bai nai.”  I was surprised to find that in Thailand, the day you were born is much more important than the date, i.e. they celebrate on the day of the week you were born at that particular time of year, such as the second Tuesday in November.

We experienced the infamous bucket showers (where you put water in a bucket and dump it over your head in lieu of a tub or shower) while staying with our friend in the Peace Corps who lived in a tiny village. I didn’t mind them so much on those hot, humid days, but never learned to stop giving an involuntary squeal upon dumping the first bucket over my head!

As a greeting, Thais will say, “Bai nai?” meaning, “where are you going?” It’s kind of like our, “what’s up?” It always made me feel like I was in-the-know.

Color-codes.  Every day of the week has a different color. At the schools we visited, the childrens’ uniform shirt must match the day of the week that color happens to be!

Diving, dragonflies and dancing. Thailand was the first country I went diving in (I was certified there!) and I was pretty spoiled because it is certainly first class.

The dragonflies we saw in Thailand are RED. And huge! Almost the size of hummingbirds, sometimes, and jewel-toned.

During my stay in the village, we learned some traditional Thai dancing. The dancing mostly consists of dancing lightly while moving in a circle or line (and much more complicated than my explanation!) while bending the hands back at the wrist–and mine do certainly not bend that far! When the girls are babies, they will have their hands soaked in warm water and pushed back to increase flexibility of muscle and bone. Then, when they are older and in lessons, their hands are actually taped back to achieve the most beautiful curve.

Elephants and eggs. I was unbelievably excited to see elephants in Thailand and I was not disappointed when I finally saw some! We rode elephants in the hippie town of Pai, and went to an elephant sanctuary in Chiang Mai where the elephants actually paint pictures. I also met a baby elephant there, that was maybe a little too friendly.

In Thailand, if someone hands you an entire egg, it means they never want to see you again. This was unknown by Christian missionaries in the village, who handed out a variety of eggs on Easter. It was a huge faux pas and it took them quite awhile to establish relationships again afterwards.

Generosity and geeks. The Thais are some of the most generous people on the planet. It is known as the “Land of Smiles” for a good reason. I cannot think of one person who was rude, in fact, most of the people we met ended up feeding us, giving us a refreshing drink, giving us contacts in another city, giving us rides, or offering us a place to stay! The only “rudeness” we experienced was either in huge crowds, in the bus station, or on the border. And those situations are prone to rudeness in any country!

One custom in Thailand that completely flummoxed me was their tendency to have “geeks,” or mistresses. A majority of married men have a geek on the side that is well-known about the village or town. It is perfectly acceptable, although I never heard of woman having geeks themselves.

Hitchhiking, hair and humidity. Hitchhiking, while not encouraged when you’re alone, is fun in a group; and as previously discussed, the generous nature of the Thais always had them rearranging their truck for us and refusing any sort of compensation!

My hair, as you can imagine, went wild in the humidity. However, I’m not sure it’s ever been healthier, and the same goes for my skin. I still never adjusted to that dampness, though, and am not sure I could ever live someplace like that for a long period of time.

King, khanoms and karaoke. Everyone in Thailand loves their king, or at least appears to. Every day, in public places, his anthem is played, and every house has a least one picture of the king inside, if not multiple. Even the empty house my friend in the village ended up renting had no furniture, but a picture of the king on the wall! When you go to the movies, you’ll watch a short film and hear the anthem prior.

Khanoms are any kind of snack, usually something sweet, that is customarily brought when you visit anyone, like a hostess gift. I love this tradition and I always loved the khanoms, whatever they were! I loved them so much one of the villagers nicknamed me “khanom” briefly. Luckily that name didn’t stick!

Karaoke is a huge pastime and you will do it everywhere: parties, camping, at dinner, etc! I do love karaoke and they have a plethora of 80’s songs wherever you go.

Languages and “la.” Within Thailand, they have several dialects of Thai. My Thai name was in the northern dialect, which made me many friends since it is such a rare dialect, especially for foreigners. Everyone in the north speaks this dialect, as well as the national version of Thai.

“La” means handsome, and I used it all the time as it’s accompanied with a fun hand gesture. I’m fairly certain it’s only used for men but don’t hold me to that one!

Monks, milking out, massages, moles and “mai ben rai.” Monks, wearing their customary bright orange outfits, are everywhere and I loved seeing them. Women are not allowed to touch them, and everyone is required to give up the front bus seats when a monk steps on. Boats have little areas that are sectioned off, as well. We saw monks of all ages, from little boys to very old men. Some boys will enter monkhood to honor their family or if their family is impoverished. It is my understanding that it is not a lifelong commitment, although it can be if so desired.

Breasts in Thailand are called “mountains of milk,” I got told often that I was “milking out.” When you have big mountains it’s just inevitable sometimes…

Traditional Thai massage involves a lot of bending, moving, tiger balm (a soothing, mint-like cream…like natural Icy Hot) and the pressing of blood vessels. While the first massage was a little terrifying (and I accidentally took my shirt off…Thai massage includes clothes!!), the second one was amazing when I knew what to expect. It wasn’t as relaxing as a typical massage, but my body felt relaxed afterwards!

Moles, especially with long, nasty hair growing out of them, are a status symbol and a sign of wisdom, so the old men especially prize them. A custom I found particularly, well, gross (to sound completely culturally incompetent. But, ew).

Finally, “mai ben rai” is the Thai equivalent of “no worries!” and can be an answer to anything. I relate it to “hakuna matata!”

Night markets and nicknames. Night markets in Thailand are the best! The best stuff, the best haggling, the best atmosphere. Everyone has a nickname in Thailand that usually sounds nothing like their five-syllable-long given name, at least to an outsider like me. For example, we met one young girl who’s full name was Haittaratt, but was called Lyette. I don’t see the connection there, but Lyette IS much cuter!

Ovaltine.  Iced. It’s the best.

Pants, pad thai, paying and pomegranates: Fisherman pants (the ones with really low crotches), which I always thought were weird, are ubiquitous and quite comfy. I may have bought a few too many pairs because there were so many cute varieties!

Pad thai is AMAZING, and I love that it never tastes quite the same.

The oldest person at the table is generally required to pay.

Pomegranates rock here: they’re white-pink on the outside and sweet on the inside. The taste similar to the ones I’ve had in the states, but I found them much better!

Rice. SO MANY KINDS OF RICE!!! Sticky rice, purple rice, plain white rice, dessert rice…the list goes on. I’m not always a huge fan of rice (especially for breakfast), but sticky rice is pretty good! Especially when mixed with coconut milk.

Sugar, spirit houses, and “suwai.” Even my sweet tooth could not handle the excessive sweetness present in many Thai dishes and snacks.

Spirit houses are one of my favorite Buddhist traditions. You build someone a spirit house when they die, and every day for a year you light the incense on the house and give them offerings, to ease their transition between lives. Whatever your religion is, I found this a beautiful tribute.

“Suwai” means beautiful, and it was definitely one of my ten go-to Thai words (and really only ten words). However, I figured out near the end of our trip that using it in a different tone means something along the lines of disgustingly ugly…nice. Don’t you just love tonal languages?

Tuk-tuks, traffic and “Thai-napping.” Tuk-tuks, or bike taxis, are all over. They can be fun and easy (or necessary), but those drivers can be persistent. I know it’s necessary as it’s how they make their living, but sometimes a girl just wants to walk!

Traffic in Asia is a WHOLE different organism than traffic anywhere else. I thought South America was crazy, but Asia was a whole different ball game. Unlike in the states, it’s better to NOT look both ways. Never let ’em see you sweat!

One term we coined was “Thai-napping,” when your projected plans for an hour meeting turn into a several hour, day-long, or even night-long event. The Thais (and much of Asia) have a very different concept of time. Often, we would make a plan for lunch, and would end up eating dinner or going on an impromptu camping trip. Sometimes I struggled with this custom as I like to stick to my plans (Asia had fun with my plans a lot), but in the end, all of the Thai-napping experiences were just too much fun.

Wats, whiteness and “wai-ing.” Wats, or temples, are everywhere and seemed really decadent to me (although to be fair, many religious monuments are!). All the wats I saw were curly-cued and gold-tinged and some seem waaaay over the top. They were all certainly beautiful, though!

Whiteness is sort of like the opposite of tanning here. While everyone wants to be darker here, in Thailand, everyone wants to be paler, and they have tons of whitening products (even for the armpits, as I made the mistake of buying whitening deoderant…). The key chemical in their whitening products, for the most part, is bleach. So if you use them continually, like for years, as many of the older woman do, you end up a funny grey color. Definitely an example of different cultural standards of beautiful. There, everyone called me beautiful, due to my really pale skin (although it was very scandalous when I accidentally was sunburnt and suddenly a lobster). Here in the Western world, I always feel much more beautiful when I’ve had a touch of sun (although I really am super pale so I mostly just turn pink).

By far my favorite Thai custom is wai-ing, where you fold your hands like you’re praying and bow your head to others. Different placement of the hands is required for monks or elders (and woman) but I pretty much wai-ed everyone like a monk just in case, as the placements were about an inch apart.

Years. The Thais go by the Buddhist timeline, beginning with the year that Buddha achieved enlightenment (from my understanding) and therefore the year is 2553.

Do you “collect” customs when you travel? What are some of the ones you’ve found most fascinating? 

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“As we push away we pray
We will see a better day.”
(last two lines of the Loi Krathong song)

The festival of Loi Krathong finally came! Ever since my brother went to this festival when he was in Thailand I was looking forward to this event. And what a weekend it was…
We got into the Loi Krathong spirit pretty quickly as the Loi Krathong song was playing over and over at the bus station en route to Chiang Mai. It’s a nice song, but imagine hearing ‘Jingle Bells’ over and over…you get the picture.
Our pilgrimage to Chiang Mai, reputedly the best city in Thailand to see the festival, went well, although the 4 hour bus ride seemed much longer as my bladder was threatening to explode. Then, after dropping our stuff off at the Green Tulip–by far, the cleanest and nicest hostel we’ve seen in Southeast Asia–we wandered off to see the town.

Chiang Mai is such a NICE city. I wasn’t expecting it! While Bangkok had nice areas, it mostly felt overwhelming to me. But, Chiang Mai was so charming. Rivers and moats, malls and markets, parks and wats. And so many bookstores!

Our first day in Chiang Mai, the highlight (for me) was some Western food in the form of Pizza Hut and HARRY POTTER 7! Part One. It was fun to go to a movie in Thailand–there is a little video/song at the beginning dedicated to the king, and everyone stands up in respect.

On Saturday, Loi Krathong truly began! The day included bagels, a seriously incredible Thai massage, and our own little Thanksgiving feast. The little Thanksgiving included a whole host of homey food, such as falafel, burritos, Subway, salsa, Coke, and salad. Not much traditional Thanksgiving food, but the sandwiches were turkey, and remains one of the best Thanksgivings on my record, anyway (despite the fact that we almost burned down the hostel with our “mood lighting” candles…at least we were on the roof and caught it quickly, eh?). The rooftop of Green Tulip was also the perfect place to get our first glimpse of the amazing lanterns lighting up the sky as part of the festival.

Loi Krathong, in my (limited) understanding, traditionally began as a festival honoring the river goddess. Basically, you make a little banana boat (the krathong) and fill it with flowers and candles and bits of yourself, i.e. fingernails and hair, to send away the bad spirits that may be plaguing you. Then you light the candle and send it down the river! The rest of the festival evolved in the places that don’t have a river: giant lanterns lit up and send into the sky with wishes for the next year.

After our lovely little Thanksgiving celebration, we headed out onto the town to see the festival and send up a lantern of our own! The festival, we soon discovered, is like 4th of July on crack, mixed with a street festival and Valentine’s Day (you’re supposed to send your boat down the river with your lover). The 4th of July part was the insane fireworks that were exploding everywhere, and as Thailand is a little lax on who can light the fireworks (although they were especially on guard when a foreigner had a firework in their hand, I noticed) and where they can be lit, it was slightly terrifying, with them shooting in all directions! There was a lot of ducking and dodging that night.

After traversing the crowd, getting caught in the middle of a parade, we made it down to the river, the center of festivities. After fighting our way through, and taking pictures of the many lanterns and the crowds and the fireworks, we bought our own lantern and headed onto a rickety dock to light it off.

It was harder than we thought-it took awhile to get it lit (of course, a friendly Thai person produced his extra lighter and gave us a hand) and after you light it, you have to hold it for awhile so it gets sufficient heat to prevent crashing and burning (we saw a lot of those, and some that got stuck in trees, or on houses…makes you wonder how many fires happen during that weekend!!). As we were new at this, we didn’t quite hold it long enough–it got too hot to hold, so it seemed like it would float easily to us!–and it careened through the crowd, causing a few men to grab their women and dive out of harms way. But it went up! Nobody got hit! And we watched it go waaaaay up into the sky, holding our wishes for a better day.

We spent the rest of the weekend exploring Chiang Mai (which has an amazing night weekend market) and enjoying the festival.
That Monday after was apparently the biggest day for Loi Krathong. We heard this about every day during the festival, but Monday certainly seemed the biggest.  The streets were all closed off, the parade was somehow still continuing at around midnight when we finally headed home, and the crowds were a little suffocating.

The rest of our friends had left at this point, so it was just me and my lovely cousin, Courtney. We bought our own little boat for the river on Monday night and put a bit of hair in it, and braved the fiery shores (Court literally got her hair caught on fire from a firework–scariest moment of my life possibly–and we both narrowly avoided several close calls to our faces and other precious parts) to send it down the river! Our candle didn’t really stay lit all that long…but I still like to pretend that the river goddess is blessing us anyway.

That evening, we watched the plethora of lanterns from our peaceful (well, peaceful except for the occasional dynamite blasts) rooftop and imagined all of the wishes, thought of our own wishes, and sat there in awe. From a distance, the lanterns looked like fireflies, or the enchanted ceiling in Hogwarts, or aliens taking over the planet. But no, just millions of wishes being sent up into the sky.

Linking up with Bonnie, Cynthia, Courtney and Yalanda for Travel Tuesday!

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I’ve always loved them, and we were lucky enough to visit them twice in Thailand, once in Pai (the hippie haven of Thailand), and once outside of Chiang Mai.

While I’ll address the issues with elephant treatment in Thailand at a later date, because it’s a serious issue and deserves an entire post, plus it’s not a light, Saturday topic (please do your research first!), for now I thought I would share some photos with you.

I enjoyed riding the elephants through the hills around Pai, and it was fun to swim with them, but I was NOT prepared to be sitting like that! Ouch.

It was especially incredible to see rescued elephants paint pictures at the camp near Chiang Mai. They were really good, especially the older ones! Plus, there was a baby there, which was pretty much a dream come true to see. The baby and I were either fast friends or he didn’t care much for me, but it was really fun and only half-terrifying.

(However, they were in chains, which the trainers assured us was only briefly, for the show, but I still didn’t love it).

I hope you enjoy the pictures! I personally can’t wait to see elephants again, in different places all over the world. Have you seen elephants? Would you ride them? 

This post is letter E for the A to Z Challenge. Click the image below for more information and the check out the other bloggers

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“Into the Sweaty Fist”

To begin…

WHEW!

Thailand truly has been an adventure so far. After an epic (ahem, not so much) 32-hour long trip, including 13 hours in the Seoul airport and one brief, fuzzy trip to a Buddhist temple in Seoul, we arrived in Bangkok at around 10 p.m. on Friday, October 22nd. And into the sweaty fist indeed…it was a lovely 85 degrees when we landed, with more humidity than I have ever felt. My hair has been one wild ride and I don’t anticipate that changing.

The first night was rather terrifying, landing among 8 million people, about 4 million of them partying in the tourist district of Bangkok, but we found a decent hostel (with A/C–and we proceeded to shiver all night) and got about 4 hours of rest thanks to jet lag.

The next day…we were off! We ran errands, got a bus ticket to get out of the city–a joint ticket, including a boat to the island Ko Tao–and began to discover how FRIENDLY everyone is here. A kid on the street led us to the tourist office, everyone wanted to discuss Schwarzenegger’s impact on California with my cousin (who hails from that state), and a random teacher put us on a tuk-tuk to see the reclining Buddha, and, inexplicably, a sapphire export company. The Buddha was completely incredible, and we caught our first sights of the Thai Buddhist monks in their head-to-toe orange outfits. We also learned that they are not allowed to touch women…I’m not exactly clear what happens if they are to accidentally brush against one, but they even have spots on buses and boats to avoid this situation.

The next day, after a loooooooong overnight bus ride and a morning ferry ride (which included a stop over in Chumphon and the viewing of a truly terrifying horror movie–Orphan) we arrived at the paradise of Ko Tao Island, in the Gulf of Thailand.

For all of you lucky enough to get postcards, prepare to get realllllly jealous!

We have a perfect little bungalow overlooking the beach, and it is perfect I can almost forgive the toilet, the bucket-flush kind (which is the norm here!). The jet lag is slowly beginning to recede and I get to dive soon, so stay tuned for THAT!

note: I still have nightmares from that movie “Orphan.” It was apparently the most traumatizing part of that trip!

**All photos courtesy of me or my lovely cousin Courtney. The better ones are generally hers.**

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During our (by “our” I mean me & my cousin Courtney) tour of Southeast Asia, we had two Thanksgivings: a lonely one with the Angkor ruins in Cambodia, and a Friendsgiving on the roof of our hostel in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

These two celebrations encapsulate traveling for me: overcoming homesickness with the reminder of the beauty surrounding us, and celebrating something in common with new friends. In addition, these two celebrations were good reminders for me to be thankful: thankful for the ability to follow my dreams and travel, and thankful that I have loved ones back where I came from, too.

Our Friendsgiving in Chiang Mai started on the first day of the Loi Krathong festival (more on this later). We spread a blanket on the roof of our hostel, the Green Tulip–the best hostel in Thailand, I’m sure of this fact–and filled it with quite an array of dishes. Superb salad, chips and salsa, Subway sandwiches, falafel, burritos and Coca-Cola. All of the American things we’d yet to find in Thailand. Despite the fact that our attempts to make Thanksgiving ambience caused a small fire (our blanket was not the best tablecloth for tiny tea lights) it was the perfect Thanksgiving abroad, especially as the roof was the perfect starting off point to enjoy the lanterns in the sky for the festival.

The real date of Thanksgiving was full of Skyping family, eating ice cream, nursing our travel illnesses and feeling homesick. It was the first time it had been just the two of us without friends to guide us, and it was lonely. It was hard to Skype with our families and see my parents and especially our little dog, searching around at the sound of my voice, confused that I didn’t seem to be there in person. The next morning, though, we watched the sunrise over Angkor Wat, and I remembered why I was on this journey.

Traveling isn’t always the easiest path. You don’t always get to be with all of your loved ones on the holidays, and you’ll miss them.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t beautiful things to see and new loved ones to meet.

{Photos: the view from our roof / Thanksgiving spread before the fire / our co-celebrators / Angkor Wat ruins at sunrise}

p.s. excuse my hair. While I would blame the humidity, the heat, traveling, lack of a decent shower, and all of that is true, my hair kind of always looks unruly.

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