LOOKING BACK: Vietnam 2012

I didn't know what to expect when I was going to Vietnam besides those triangular hats and rice paddy fields.  You can imagine my surprise when I arrived at the airport in Hanoi, when I was bombarded by insane taxi drivers all aggressively in my face wanting a fare.  I ended up sharing a cab with a guy I met on the plane who had initially negotiated our fare for the cab, but when the cab was dropping him off, it seems the fare switched on us that it was double the price for the two of us.  So, the situation became a bit hairy and let's just say that he threatened to call the police on us.  And that was just the beginning of the insanity that is Vietnam.  My time there would be filled with plenty of other aggressive locals in my face trying to sell me some thing. Days would be filled, literally filled with thousands of motorcycles crowding the streets while I played my own real-life version of the video game Frogger.

Most people who walk away from Vietnam will say that it's crazy, the people agressive, they sound like they're yelling at you, and it's just... well, different.  It's not anything like the rest of SE Asia and it's definitely not for everyone and that's ok.  I was blown away by how gorgeous Vietnam is, how a society was able to rebound and rebuild itself after a devastating war that was merely a few decades ago, and how incredible the food is all over the country... ok, and how cheap the beer is.  You know a country is on to something when the beer is cheaper than bottled water!

I went for three weeks and stayed for six.  It got a hold of me and then I was the one that didn't want to let go in the end.  I traveled with some incredible people there many of whom I still keep in touch with, have seen since, and will see again.  I even lost a friend there.  But just as life and the Vietnamese do, we move forward, rebuild, and remember those who were in our life for even the briefest of moments.

LOOKING BACK: Myanmar 2012

This was an impromptu trip.  I didn't think I would make it there with the time that I had.  I always wanted to go to Myanmar but was uncomfortable with traveling there on my own.  So it all started as I was leaving my hostel in BKK, I asked if anyone in my room wanted my Lonely Planet - SE Asia travel book.  One gal said she wanted it as she was going to travel to Myanmar.  After chatting a while about traveling there, I invited myself to travel with her and her friend that I had yet to meet.  So as we were exchanging information, she looked me up on Facebook and then asked me if I knew a particular person that I was once friends with in high school - my reply was yes.  Small world, she use to date him for several years when he moved to Seattle after graduating from high school.  After that, she and I were two peas in a pod while traveling through Myanmar.  She's one of my favorite people I've ever traveled with.  

Myanmar is the one country I can now say was one of the most foreign places I've ever traveled to.  Everywhere else is set up nicely for tourists.  At the time I went, Myanmar definitely was not.  VIP buses?  Nope.  AC in buses?  Definitely not.  Tour companies set up in every town on every corner?  Yeah, right.  A backpackers party route?  Thankfully, no.  Locals looking to rip off tourists?  Not at that time.  Locals speaking English with tourists?  Only in Yangon.  ATM's or the ability to use a credit card?  Hells no!  It was foreign, untouched, authentic, and beautiful.  The people are absolutely warm, curious, and incredible.  I can't believe that I didn't put it on my original list of places to go.  Should you ever decide to come to SE Asia, don't pass up the chance to go to this country before it becomes unrecognizable with an industrial age coming its way.  You won't regret seeing the truly amazing and stunning country.  

LOOKING BACK: Thailand 2012

This is where the crazy started...  right in the heart of Bangkok, good ol' BKK.  Upon arrival, I didn't know that BKK would become my travel hub and home away from home.  It's a busy, hot, polluted mess.  But it also became my respite after all of my travels.  I ceased to be a tourist/backpacker there and saw it as a place for me to restock my supplies, refuel my body with Western food, refuel my brain with new release films in shiny new movie theaters, buy clothing that could actually fit my Western body, function like I would in the US with it's great public transportation, and meet with friends and family for dinner and good, quality (imported) beers.  

Thailand is also where I reconnected with my mother - the reason for me even coming to Asia in the first place.  I'll be perfectly honest, I had zero desire to ever come to Asia.  But after considerable thought and too many odd and interestingly well-timed messages from the universe, I realized that it didn't make sense to travel around the world when I had always wanted to reconnect with my mother and meet my Thai family.  I had some emotional luggage I needed to deal with and what better time than (what was then) the present?  

Now that I've traveled and am now living here, I can't say that somehow it was all meant to be and everything fell into place here - life just doesn't work like that.  What it did was present more questions, more of life to consider in the long run, and more signs from the universe that I'm where I'm supposed to be for now until it's time to move again.  I fell in love with Thailand, and more specifically with Chiang Mai.  Between the incredible people whose culture I'm still trying to figure out daily, their unfaltering faith in Buddhism, their amazing resourcefulness, the crazy motorcycle drivers, the big green mountains covered in jungle, and the spicy Thai food is where I found a place I wanted to call home.