Thailand: The North

In my life, there’s been a single, reliable constant: I want to travel. The only thing I want, to put it simply, is the world. “
Quote Source

Sometimes, it REALLY is that simple. If you’ve read my blog (or talked to me) at all, you know that my injury early last year rocked my world. But what you probably don’t know is that, contrary to the superficial veil of social media, I was swallowed up by depression for most of 2014. And I absolutely positively didn’t know how to shake it. We all have ups and downs and I can assure you… I know it’s all about your mindset and how you react. However, this was the first time I can say EVERYTHING that was normal in my life got flipped, slapped and thrown around. I didn’t know how to cope. I couldn’t walk, cook, live on my own, let alone workout to burn any sort of energy for almost 9 months. I just had time. Something I apparently fear. “Time to think? Analyze? No thank you.” I was typically spending 14 hours a day working (my full time job and photography). On top of that I was spending 3 hours a day commuting; which was slowly stealing my soul. I love, love, love what I do – but I lacked any sort of balance and it had taken its toll. So when everything just stopped? Ahhhhhh!!! I had nothing but time to really get to the core of what I wanted… or more specifically needed.

So I started with what I did want and what I could do to make them happen.

Restructure my photography business? CHECK.
Ask for time off? CHECK.
Move for the 2nd time in a year? CHECK.
Get healthy? CHECK.
Walk without a limp? CHECK.
Walk fast… then jog…then run? CHECK (although it took 10 months).
Plan and research the heck out of this trip? CHECK.
Let go and trust it’ll all workout? CHECK.

So with allllll of that? I can honestly tell you this trip is hands down one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself. I literally hit STOP on all the chaos and just LIVED. I found the answers I’ve been searching for, I found happiness in even in the smallest moments, I learned to love myself (every flaw) and mostly, I just learned to let go. I invite you to follow my journey below. Something to note: I did NOT bring my professional camera along. It was left behind at the last minute because I wanted this trip to be more about the moments and less about being behind a giant camera (and stressing about it along the way). I’ll be honest: During the first few days I regretted not having it. BIG time. But once figured out how to work my new location scouting camera (Fuji X100T) I was happy.

Northern Thailand

Where did we go?

Bangkok
Pattaya
Sukohthai
Lampang
Chang Rai
Golden Triangle
Laos
Chang Mai

Tour/Hotel

Mercure Bangkok (I was on my own for the first 5 days)
G-Adventures – Northern Thailand Discovery | Guide: Joey

Bangkok

Everyone told me that 5 days in Bangkok was probably going to more than enough. I had thought about hopping over to Cambodia or Vietnam for a few days, but I really was just in need of some sunshine and relaxation. As you can see from a few photos below, my wonderful hotel (which I splurged on for the first few solo days), was an excellent place to start. 🙂

Bangkok is fulllll of wonderful nooks and crannies and I began my travels there with a private tour guide ($50 US) that took me around the city in all forms of normal transit (basically anything the locals would take). Tuk tuks, trains, klong boats, canal tours… it was a wonderful introduction to the city.

After a few days, I was ready to meet my first group – G Adventures. Per usual, I had the normal jitters before a tour (what if no one is my age, what if I hate my roommate… etc). But yet again, as soon as I met the smiling faces at our little meetup – all stress went out the window. From there, began our journey to Northern Thailand. Some hotels were sketchier than others, some were lovely and some were what they were (Haley, can we talk about the air conditioning unit in Chang Rai?) Haha. As always, I’ll let the pictures do the talking – but please reach out if you have any questions on where I was and what I was doing! 🙂

Pattaya: Day Trip

Before I met up with the G Adventures group – I had taken my own little day trip to Pattaya because I wanted a little sunshine + beach combo before we headed North. I met some great people from all over (Bali, Oz, etc) and got some wonderful beach time in (PLUS I got to parasail for the 3rd time in my life). Beautiful spot… but I later found out it’s a hot spot for gay men. To each their own, but everyone laughed when I said I went there.

Sukothai

Beginnnnnn the temples, bowing and general respect for a country rooted in so much tradition and honor. I was absolutely fascinated by all the buddha’s and what they represented. Our group rented bikes for the day and strolled around the old capital city and got a wonderful lesson in Thai history.

Lampang

ELEPHANNNNNNTS!!! Obviously you can’t miss how ridiculously huge my smile is and how insanely pumped I am to see these guys. G Adventures took us to an elephant conservation hospital/grounds where we got to feed the elephants first hand and interact with them (knowing they were taken care of in the most humane ways possible). While my dream was to help partake in washing the elephants in the river, I was equally excited to feed these guys bananas and sugar cane. Such a cool experience.

Below is the White Temple – CLEARLY. Haha. This is essentially just a tourist stop as we learned. While its ornate and insanely detailed on the outside, it has some very modern designs on the inside (The Simpsons, Terminator… a lot of weird cultural references).

Chang Rai/Golden Triangle/Chang Mai

The Golden Triangle: the very northern part of Thailand – where Burma, Laos and Thailand all meet (and the sun finally was HOT). Night markets were amazing. Bartering is expected. Lady Boy shows are common (and accepted). I wish I had more to say about Chang Mai – but for the two days we were there it absolutely POURED. Some of our group (and myself) went off and waterfall hike (in the rain), elephant rides (which immediately just felt all sorts of wrong) and white-water rafted (which was freezing, but absolutely amazing). We took an overnight train back down to Bangkok and just as quickly as this tour began… it was over. The only thing that I disliked about my camera is that the focal range was difficult to take wide angle shots – aka shots with other people.