R.E.S.P.E.C.T :Touring Thailand
Trip Start
Feb 2005
1
6
Trip End
Mar 2005
Bangkok,
Bangkok,
Thailand
Saturday, January 1, 2005
Etta James ( Let's Roll )
A month before I left for Thailand, I was crying into the phone, drinking too much wine at night, and whining to my best friend. I couldn't put a finger on the cause of my sadness : my life is good. But the questions that wake all of us up at three in the morning were waking me up way too often: "What the hell am I doing ?" "What does he/she think about that?" "Am I going to die alone?" ( That, of course, is a stupid question: we all die alone, everyone knows that. It's just hard to deal with at three in the morning. ) In times of stress, I have come to acknowledge that I hit the road. It's my way of dealing.
When I'm all by myself, walking down a street in some strange town, looking for a bathroom, suddenly (if I'm lucky ) the light bulb might go on. Maybe it's because I'm the only person there to answer the Clue Phone, I don't know. I do know that when I travel alone, there is not the distraction that comes with paired, or group, travel - there's no fighting over where to go next, what to eat, no bickering over which tourist attraction to hit after lunch. So, given my proclivity for traveling solo, the type of trip I booked myself on was a clue in itself: I booked myself on a group tour of Thailand, and got on a plane to Bangkok.
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I have never taken an organized tour, have never wanted to - I'm one of those people who sneers at tours, assuming they are not for the adventurous, the brave, the worldly. But it's what I needed: travel to a faraway place, surrounded by new experiences, and lots of people. Booked on the "18 Day Tour of Thailand and the Golden Triangle", each day of my trip is planned. I do not know a single soul on this trip. Going halfway around the world to cheer myself up is crazy - what if it doesn't work? Who gets on a plane to Bangkok by herself? But if I am doing it, there must be someone else who does it, right?
Who takes tours, anyway?
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