I've used this blog to catalogue a countless number of frustrations I've faced on this trip but I haven't really addressed my overall feelings about this trip. It's time to do that.
I'm a bit bummed, to be honest.
Travel is stressful. Moving around every few days is hard. I keep ending up in small towns (like Mae Hong Son) where there's very little to do so I end up doing nothing all day.
I think some of the frustration stems from a feeling of aimlessness. Working for DAA was hard but enjoyable because it made me feel like my travel had a purpose.
I've met some great people but the truth is that most of the backpackers I meet are people I wouldn't interact with were they not the only people around. Most backpackers in Thailand are party backpackers who just go from town to town and get wasted every night. They have no regard for the places they are or the people who live there. When I was in Pai a Canadian guy I met expressed shock that I would ever eat something at a street food stand. When I asked him what he would eat instead, he simply replied "Pad Thai." I have trouble understanding why someone would travel across the world and refuse to experience anything out of their comfort zone.
I'm not sure if it's Thailand or just travel in general but I'm burning out. I was planning on continuing on to Laos but I'm changing my plans. I've considered and researched a number of different options (visiting a friend in Japan, getting a work visa for Australia, trying my luck in Europe) but I've decided to head to Cambodia. I'm hoping that I can find something productive to do in Siem Reap or Phnom Penh.
To save myself the stress and discomfort of a 12-hour train ride, I bought a very cheap plane ticket from Chiang Mai to Bangkok. The plan is to hitch to Chiang Mai today, fly to Bangkok tomorrow, then take a train to the border the next day. Splitting it up into three days and spending a night in Chiang Mai and Bangkok seems like the best way to do it.
We'll see how it works out.
No comments:
Post a Comment