If you ever want to figure out exactly what kind of a person you are, I highly recommend traveling alone to Asia. You can’t hide from yourself when you are completely out of your comfort zone.
Luckily for me, being out of my comfort zone has been extremely comfortable during this trip to Thailand, thanks to the generosity of two very good friends of mine, and also American Express. For the past week, I’ve been staying at some of the most extravagant hotels and resorts I’ve ever been to in my life.
It all started at Le Meridien, a sophisticated highrise hotel for worldly traveler types in the Silom district of downtown Bangkok, where the retro-chic rooms have both day and night blinds, operated with the touch of a button. I’m a big fan of blackout shades, especially when dealing with epic jet lag, so I got “my” money’s worth out of these shades.
After this first day in Bangkok (affectionately referred to as “the day that lasted a thousand hours” by my jet lag), M and D and I took a car down to the coast to a lovely little seaside town called Hua Hin. Sadly for me, I made the mistake of popping a Dramamine for the ride and was in a drooly lobotomized state for the duration, able to lift my head just barely once we pulled through the gates of the Hyatt Regency. After that, I was forbidden from taking Dramamine again. M referred to it as “drama!-mean” and said that it was strictly off limits. Boo.
The Hyatt was amazeballs. Pictures, a thousand words, etcetera on my Tumblr page if you are interested.
I’ve never been a great traveler. I get really homesick. Homesickness, for me, often takes me the form of fainting. It’s a quirky panic attack symptom I honed very early in life. When I travel to overwhelmingly far away places, there is always at least one moment when I faint or almost faint. I fainted in Bradley Intl airport once while waiting to board a plane to Mexico City, and another time I actually fainted on a plane, a red-eye from SFO to Miami. That was one of my more dramatic faints. I nearly fainted in Cuzco, Peru, although I blame the extreme altitude for that one. And true to form, I almost fainted here in Thailand, but good news: I kept it together. I can sometimes psych myself out of fainting.
But I can’t psych myself out of feeling completely adrift. It’s so strange to be on the other side of the planet, while everyone I know and love is not just around the other side of the world, but actually a whole half a day away, so that while I am here, sitting on the beach in the bright sunshine on Friday, you all are sleeping your way through Thursday night. I look out over the perfect celadon sea and wonder if my life in California is a real thing or just a construct of my imagination.
But quickly my life here in Thailand — now I am on the Shangri La island of Samui — is becoming the new normal. Days of sunshine, icy lemongrass water, decadent massages on breezy open-air platforms, brilliant Thai food dumbed down just a wee bit for wussy Western-girl stomachs. I could get used to this. The only thing missing is you guys.
Because here is who I am, it turns out: a major introvert who doesn’t like to sit at the community table or talk to strangers. I’m still the same shy 5-year-old. But lucky for me, I’ve somehow managed to accumulate the most righteous group of friends in the world, and I can’t wait to connect with you all again.
But first, I have a massage to get to. Lates.
