Seattle Freeze meets Thai Heat

Yesterday I finally landed in Bangkok after sitting on a 15hr flight that proceeded to cramp up all the muscles in my legs and butt. Of course the very first thing I noticed when I walked out of the airport was the heat, and not just the kind of direct heat from the sun, but a surrounding humidity that instantly caused my hair to frizz. In the words of Nils it feels like the "goddamn rainforest at the zoo". I managed to get to my hostel, www.threeofakindhouse.com, and get my self in order. The city is huge and constantly moving, trains, cars, motorbikes, stalls, businesses, and people fill the streets. Buildings tower over everything, except that the buildings here seem to all be uniquely made, each with it's own character, where as in Seattle most of them seem to blend in with eachother. I joined Nils and some guys from the hostel to some kind of art installation, Diego from Italy, Eugene from Australia, and a French boy who has a very thick accent. The installation was in this huge mall that reminded me a lot of Japan, perfectly neat and clean. The whole top floor was filled with food that all looked too perfectly made that I didn't want to eat any of it. After we strolled through a park that was absolutely gorgeous, I am really enjoying the trees here. Later Nick met us at our hostel and is staying here, today we are going to go explore some temples and Chinatown, I haven't had much of an appetite but hopefully that will change today.

Overall arriving here has been overwhelming to say the least. Not only with the change of environment but with the realization of how long five months really is. And yes I know, the whole "five months out of your entire life is very little" thing, but for have never been away from home and my parents this long it's already been very hard. I hope that with more exploring and getting more comfortable with myself out here I will be able to accept the home sickness and move on. I also am trying very hard to stay away from all my electronics, having it been such a daily part of my life before I still find myself opening this simple little phone I have to check instagram or twitter and then realize, that I don't have it. But it's been nice not being wrapped up in those little things. Hopefully blogging doesn't become my new internet crack and I can manage to be away from it for a few days

Yesterday was hard but today will be better, and I hope things continue that way.

Very Calmly Freaking Out

Tomorrow night I proceed to the airport to get on a plane that will take me to a whole other country, city, and environment. I am so horribly nervous and excited at the same time that I seem to have just settled in the middle and am rather.. neutral about the whole thing. The trip seems so surreal that I think after I land I will have to take a few days, maybe even a few weeks to fully realize the extent of where I am and what I am doing. The hardest part about preparing for this journey has been packing since I am going to be in such a wide arrange of cultures and weather. I mean how am I supposed to pack clothes for 90+ degrees and humid all the way down to 40 degrees up in the mountains and then 60ish degrees while having to look rather presentable all into one bag?? But it must be done and i'll have to just figure things out the hard way.

What it really comes down to, all this planning and stressing, is that I get to go eat some amazing food. Food. FOOD. If you know me at all you know that 98% of the reason I am going on this trip is so that I can try amazing new cuisines and delicacies. The food stalls in Thailand. Austrian cake. Carbonara in Rome. Tea time in Ireland... I am speechless when I think about all the food I will be stuffing my face with.

Anyways if you'd like to talk to me while I am traveling I can be reached by email at blymeola@yahoo.com. Remember that I will be in different time zones and may not always have access to wifi, so give me a few days to reply!

Here's my itinerary:

February 26th - April 16th: Will be traveling with Nils in Thailand, Malaysia, and Laos. Meeting with Ben and Sydney in Bangkok on the 1st-2nd. We will all be in Bangkok during April 13th-15th for the Thai New Year's festival: Songkran.

April 16th - April 30th: Flying from Bangkok to Kathmandu, Nepal with Sydney to trek the Langtang Valley Trail.

April 30th- May 15th: Staying with Nina (Hailley's exchange student from last year) in Austria, an hour outside Vienna.

May 15th - May 20th: Flying to Rome, Italy. Staying in a hostel just a few minutes from Termini.

May 20th - July 9th: Will be flying to Dublin, Ireland and then taking the train to Carlow. In Carlow I will be wwoofing at Huntington Castle. www.huntingtoncastle.com

July 10th: HOME