The Land Of Smiles

Visiting the USA after just three months on the road wasn’t in my initial plan, and for good reason. You can’t just come back to everyone and everything familiar for 10 days and expect not to feel a little twinge of sadness when leaving again… especially when the next stop is somewhere so completely foreign. (I was prepared for the gross food on the China Eastern this time. I had so much candy in my carry-on, you could hear me walking down the tarmac!)

After another long (but far more productive – I got a PR job from the nice guy next to me!) flight from JFK, and another layover in drab Shanghai, I made it to Bangkok at 3 a.m. with bleary eyes and absolutely no clue what day it was. I was so wiped out and dehydrated from the journey that I mistakenly forked over 600 baht for a Gatorade at the Bangkok airport. Yeah, that’s $20. (Oh well. Go Gators!)

Unlike my pleasant time in mysterious New Zealand or the roller coaster ride in magical Bali, Thailand (with a week in Laos, too) was a series of hiccups and misadventures, so I hope you’re ready to read all about it. First stop, Bangkok!

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3 thoughts on “The Land Of Smiles”

  1. Clifford in Jax

    Thailand! I’m jealous and can’t wait to get back there someday. Enjoy discovering a magical place, an amazing culture, and the wonderful people of that country! Check out Thai massage while you there!

    I just learned about you and your adventures in your article in today’s Times-Union. The article inspired me to share these lyrics from “Foreign Affair” by Tom Waits:

    “And though you’ll find your itinerary’s a blessing and a curse
    Your wanderlust won’t let you settle down
    And you’ll wonder how you ever fathomed that you’d be content
    To stay within the city limits of a small Midwestern town

    Most vagabonds I knowed don’t ever want to find the culprit
    That remains the object of their long relentless quest
    The obsession’s in the chasing and not the apprehending
    The pursuit you see and never the arrest”

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