A little bit...

It is my last night in Pai. I will be in Portland in four days. I am feeling sad to leave Thailand, particularly tonight. I am feeling mostly ready to move on, but this is the first night it is really sinking in that I will be going home.

Quick Update: Fun is Being Had.

I have had absolutely no time to sit down and write about all the stuff Dave and I have been up to, but I wanted to quickly share the photos we have taken for those of you who haven't already seen them on Facebook. The link to the photos is below. It's been about 9 days and we have already seen Bangkok, Krabi, Koh Lanta, Au Nang, Phuket, and Chiang Mai.

Tomorrow we will add Chiang Rai to that list for an overnight adventure to get my visa stamped (allowing me 14 more days in Thailand) and to see the White Temple. After that, we will be returning to Chiang Mai for two nights to celebrate Songkran, which is the Thai new year. This is also referred to as "the water festival", and involves everyone soaking each other with water in the streets for 5 days straight. The idea is that we are all washing each other of the past year to bring in a clean, new one filled with good luck.

Methods include everything from super-soaker water guns (which have been sold in the streets all week, even 7-11 has them for sale) to huge buckets of water, and even hoses dragged out to street corners. It's only the 11th, and already we have been shot at many times walking down the street today. It's all in good fun, and we even purchased a couple plastic water-proof money/camera/phone holders today just to play it safe.

The actual new year day is the 14th, and we have been warned that all hell breaks loose in the city by that time. Nobody is safe, and we will be soaked. Today we had to make the decision of spending the new year outside the city square (where all the fun is) in a fancy air-conditioned room, or spend the same money for a less fancy fan-room in the middle of all the Sangkran action. We decided a nicer room wasn't as important and booked the room in the middle of the city. We were sold once we saw the balcony overlooking the street below, because we will have full access to shoot all pedestrians (only the ones participating in the festival of course- no elderly) with water as they walk unsuspecting down the street. YES.

Here is a link to our pictures thus far: Thailand: Dave Edition

Dave Ate a Scorpion.

My days as a lone traveler officially ended yesterday evening. I am no longer on a journey by myself. While this makes me feel a little bit strange- seeing as how much I have come to enjoy my own company for the first time in my life- you really can't understand the amount of joy I feel having my best friend back within arms reach.

I met Dave at the airport last night, walking around the arrivals floor for two hours. I was there about 40 mins early just to make sure I didn't miss him. I paced around nervously, realizing we didn't set a meeting place because neither of us would know where to meet- it's literally a foreign airport to us. I realized, as I began to feel pulsing in my head, that it had been quite some time- maybe weeks- since panic and stress had been in my blood system. Dislike.

I had been walking around for so long that I thought I might not find him, and what if he missed his flight in South Korea like he thought he might?? I was staring into the screen that filmed the passengers exiting the baggage areas, searching for his face, when he came up beside me and wrapped his arm around me. I had planned a big show of a reunion, but the shock of him being beside me for the first time in three months left me speechless and sobbing into his shirt. Don't tell him I told you but we both cried. We were quite happy to see each other.

We made our way back to the hotel after an hour long taxi ride, Dave as wide-eyed as I was my first day in Bangkok. Today we walked around all day, seeing temples and eating street food. He is having a wonderful time and I am so happy to see him enjoying being here with me. We leave Bangkok tomorrow evening to head to Kho Lanta, an Island in the south on the Andaman Sea side of Thailand. It will be a 14 hour bus ride, and then an unknown-amount-of-time boat ride to the island from Krabi. We are both really looking forward to some beach time.

We realized that this will be our first real vacation just the two of us, outside of some smallish road trips within the US. We will also be taking our first flight together from Phuket to Chiang Mai on the 10th. How do two travel loving people date for almost 6 years and not check those things off the list? Not sure, but very happy to be doing it now :)

First day in Thailand

Covered up before going into the temple.

Beautiful picture by Dave

Also by Dave. Love this one

Oh yeah, and Dave ate a scorpion.

The Final Countdown

Three weeks my friends. Three weeks...

This is the amount of time I have left in my big, beautiful Thailand. Last year, three weeks would have been a long and decent time to be in a foreign country for me. A long and sweet vacation, a good time away from work and life at home, and the perfect amount of time away. However, today marking my 11th week away, three just doesn't seem like enough time.

 But I know that it is enough time, and my teensy bit of panic is the normal reaction to the commitment one makes when clicking the "confirm purchase" button on an airline website. Yes, I have actually bought my ticket home. Dave flies home to Portland on the 21st, and I will be trailing right behind him on a flight to Portland on the 22nd. I will stay in Portland for a couple of weeks before making my way to the big I.F. (That's Idaho Falls for any of you who are cool enough to not know the abbreviation for my teensy home town/city).

 I am quite surprised at my own excitement to return home. Lets just be honest, I never thought I would see the day that I would be moving back in with my parents, let alone being excited about it. I suppose the fact that I know it's for two or three months makes it comforting, and summer is easily the most beautiful time of year back home. Most of all, I am ready for a new challenge, and if I know anything about living in Idaho Falls, I know it will be a challenge. Good thing I have the best cheerleading squad a girl could ask for. <3