Thailand, Thailand, Thailand

Oh what a beautiful county and oh what odd fears I had going to this country for some reason.  Now, let me say upfront, I am a ball of anxiety in general on the most odd things, and obviously if I could control them, I would.  But I can’t…and the few days leading up to this trip I genuinely was terrified to go oddly.  I wanted to see the boys, and spend time with the boys, and I knew once I was there I would be totally fine (which I was) but I until I got there I was having tears flow I just couldn’t control.

I additionally want to say, as I am aging, I am getting soft for some reason.  I cry easily. I have a very soft heart for humanity and things like that most certainly brings tears to my eyes.  I’m not sure why, and I can’t say that I like that very much, but I am certainly in touch with my emotions in that regard, and if there is a video or something emotional to me, you can certainly expect tears from me now.  So days building up to this trip I was a bundle of nerves of tears.  And then that morning as I was checking in there were multiple families checking their dogs, which requires them to put them under the plane which then makes me feel bad and cry worse.

The reason I’m sharing these things is because often I think people assume I have zero anxiety about traveling and just face those travel days like any other and I don’t.  I don’t know that anyone per se thinks the getting from point a to point b is fun, but it is just part of the what has to happen.  And I know what is on the other end when it comes to traveling. A beautiful new location to explore, new core memories created that I will cherish forever, time with my besties that I will love every moment I have and oh so much more.  So I focused on that, put on my big black pantalonés, and dried my tears as I made my way to Bangkok.  Once I made it my longest leg to Tokyo I knew I would be fine and most all anxiety slipped away, I was just ready to be there and and get our adventure started.

Sidenote, on thing that also helps me tremendously, especially because I had such anxiety of what if’s is traveling with someone else that I feel extremely comfortable with.   Having a friend to count on and be there to communicate with and process things thru always helps me. And one of the best things for me traveling with Yasiel is we are so different and opposite.  So something I may have worries on he doesn’t bat an eye on and I can follow his lead or vice versa. I’m not sure who leads more, but with navigating airports, driving, adventures and more Yasiel and I somehow do really good!  We also both realize when traveling we have nothing but time and all things can be solved so we just figure out how to solve them and fortunately in Thailand they were all solved with laughter, no arguments.

For example, one struggle in Thailand is nothing is ever at as seems. From assuming you pay one price to additional money needed for this and that, to Airbnbs not remotely as expected size or proportion.  Each time we arrived somewhere it was totally a surprise and certainly an adventure.  Especially when we came back to the car and had our tire chained and padlocked and a fine needed to be paid at the police station before we could move.  So we took our tuktuk to the police station and laughed and learned the entire way. So much that they boys had to do another time also! 🤣 Granted, I don’t think Benito feels quite the same in this situations (if you are reading this Benito I know my shady areas scare you…) but he is learning to embrace the good and the bad with travel and learning to find the fun in the “shady and seedy” areas too.  And those happen to be some of my favorite.  

I should elaborate on my fondness of shady areas.  Most countries and then their major city will have an area that many might avoid.  In Amsterdam it is the red light district where you can find ladies, lady boys and more all lined up in little rooms for you to pay to spend some time with the ladies behind the doors.  They have live sex shows, banana bars with the ladies doing all kinds of things with bananas and more, dance clubs, pubs, peep shows, drag shows, anything you can imagine is within this area of these parts of town.  I personally feel if you go to a country that has these areas it is imperative that you visit these areas.  You don’t need to participate or do anything other than walk thru, but if that is all you do, it shows you how some people live their life on the daily, and what they choose to do to feed themselves and that is simply how I look at these things.  I think we all should see outside our very small bubble to see how others live.  We may start to not have as much judgement on others if see other parts of the world.  Just my two cents.  

So of course we hit those areas in Bangkok, Phuket and also in Krabi.  I am always down for some crazy nightlife as long as I am not alone.  In Mexico I was completely solo, so I didn’t adventure anything like this, but usually I have Shannon or Yasiel and they are both down for about anything at least once or twice.  In Thailand they are famous for their lady boy shows and also their ping pong shows.  The lady boy shows are amazing.  I went after the boys left with another friend I met while doing the elephant rescue.   While with Benito and Yasiel we never came across a show that looked worth checking out.  Otherwise we would have.  Now the ping pong shows…those are something.  You are not allowed to take any pictures or video obviously, so I have zero record of what goes on, but let me give you a window into one of our evenings.  It involved a bird, fish, eggs, razors, sex, whipping, screaming women at Yasiel wanting him to do a show, 50 yards of ribbon, pool noodles, coca cola and more.  Now tell me with a list like that you couldn’t have a good evening!  

Thailand is know for its temples and its beautiful beaches and coastline.  We saw some of the most incredible temples, some that were planned and some that we literally found while driving around exploring. (I love to rent a car because the things that you will stumble upon is crazy!) We had two days of small boat trips planned but I have to admit, my anxiety kicked in and I did not go those two days.  Granted, after the first day when Benito had his life flash before his eyes, he didn’t go the second day either so we just explored while Yasiel did boating without us.  I know he saw some amazing sites, was able to get off on monkey island and James Bond island, but the thought of me falling in off a moving dock and Yasiel and Benito trying to drag my big ass back in didn’t sound like a fun adventure.  This isn’t like a dock at Rock Creek Marina.  Many are floating and waving, you don’t have stairs getting in and out.  I’m genuinely not fit to do shit like that.  

I have rambled on enough today to share a bit more into our Thailand trip and I hope to get a couple more out about some escapades and most importantly rescuing an elephant. But, if any of this sounds interesting to you, or you have an interest to travel with Yasiel and I on an upcoming adventure, let one of us know!  We are in the planning stages now.  

Until next time, 

Jenny