The Journey Is The Goal

So then, this should’ve been the first of many long, photo-filled posts about my 5 month sojourn in Thailand, but it isn’t. Depending on how much I write, it’ll be the only one or at most one of two.

Two years ago this month I lost two people who meant the world to me. Now I won’t claim that I was in the greatest shape before their deaths, but the loss of those two people within a week of each other tipped me over the edge emotionally. I looked at my life, with them gone there wasn’t a whole lot left to show really. Their untimely deaths made me acutely aware that we have no idea how long we have on the planet and so I wanted to do something positive with whatever time I had left. I also wanted to live my dreams and travel. 

Well you can’t say I haven’t done that! In the last 24 months I’ve visited more than 12 countries in all and pretty much crossed them from top to bottom. This current trip was a continuation of that journey. Then last week, as I was laying by the hotel pool in Ko Samui while my pals back home shoveled snow, I felt something I’ve never felt in my life - ever. I felt homesick. 

I’d only been in London for six weeks in between the previous SE Asian jaunt and this one, but in that time I’d made sure I did all the things I love in London. I had lunches with people I love, got right back into my gym and yoga routines, felt a passion for writing that I’d not had since I was 14 and put my ideas out there. I was actually saying to people that I didn’t feel the need to go away again, but I’d booked the ticket so why not go and see how I felt while I was away? 

So this trip - as regular readers will know - began on a near-impossible high. I still shiver when I think about bumping into Ryan Gosling in Chatuchak Market. I’d not been in Bangkok 12 hours when it happened. I did kinda wonder how I was gonna top that experience, but then I headed north up to Chiangs Mai and Rai where I saw the magnificent White Temple rising out of the semi-industrial landscape like a mirage. That came close to my RGoz experience I have to say, but not quite. My last couple of days in Chiang Mai saw me taking a break from endless shopping and a visit to the Tiger Kingdom in Mae Rim. 

As my new Portuguese pal took photos of me playing with a 2 month old tiger cub, he commented that my face was a portrait of happiness. When I look at the snaps I can see what he meant. Now if only I had a photo of me and Ryan to compare the two. Actually I don’t need it, I know that my all too brief tiger time was an all time high of my life, not just of the trip.  

There’s not that much going on here for me on Samui, taking dodgy drugs and drinking buckets of hooch don’t really float my boat these days. I am enjoying the sunshine, and the endless cheap massages and other beauty treatments but last week I just knew I wanted to be home. 

So it is. I’ve booked my ticket and on 1 March I will be back in Heathrow and on my way home. I feel a fire in my belly I’ve not felt in a long time, for yoga, writing, people and life in general. That’s the gift my Dad and my good and dear friend Jason gave me. Life is to be lived, and lived well. 

 Before then I’ll be seeing a couple of old mates in Phuket and having another go at stalking Ryan in Bangkok. I notice Eva flew in a few days ago, she must be worried about him falling for me!