"I really feel like I need to wash my hands and I don't know why."

The long awaited vacation to Thailand finally came...and went.

Its always strange to me to see how time passes. For months the carrot dangling at the end of the stick has been this trip, and when I finally got it, I found that it was just another carrot.

Being in Thailand was a wonderful experience, and something I'm not sure I'll get to do again. There are so many places in the world that I want to see! Arriving on Koh Samui was a moment that had you asked me a year ago if I thought were possible, I would have laughed. I've come a long way in a short amount of time.

Upon landing, I went to the bungalow that I had researched and booked months prior. I soon realized that when something is advertised as "rustic" what it really means to say is "dilapidated." It was like they took the pictures of the place immediately after building it and then said "thats it!" I went into my "rustic" cabin to realize that the shower drain was simply a hole drilled into the bottom of the wall, and that the beds were a wooden plank with a thin padding and some sheets. This is vacation???

It was time for a drink. Many of them.

I immediately went to the outdoor restaurant and upon sitting down, was greeted by a wonderful English couple that had been traveling the globe for a year. We had a great time swapping stories and drinking the powerful yet cheap Thai beer. We concluded the evening with my favorite tradition of skinny dipping, which may have been one of the highlights of the trip.

A few days later, my friends arrived to complete the 4 Musketeers. Sadly for them, they arrived to me being one gigantic, miserable mosquito bite. The "rustic" cabin had no Air-Con so sleeping with the windows open was totally necessary, and despite the mosquito net's best intentions, it really fell short. This trip was NOT off to a good start for me.

The first few days were a glorious respite from Korea, simply resting on the beach, swimming to my heart's content, and eating the amazing local foods. After months of adjustment and stress of an overloaded schedule, my blood pressure needed to come down a bit, and Thailand was just the thing to do it.

After only being there a short time, I couldn't help but notice some startling differences between the two countries. First, Thailand clearly is more impoverished than Korea, and couldn't possibly have the budget that Korea does for learning English. BUT, where it lacks in budget it makes up for in outgoing personalities and willingness to communicate. I couldn't believe the difference it made in communication! You could speak to anyone, from the hospitality business to the small-town boat captain, and they could communicate in English--or at least tried. This is NOT to say that I think the world should cater to English speakers, but it was nice to be in a place that wasn't ashamed when trying to speak another language.

The second difference was that of overall friendliness and positive attitudes. After being in Korea for 6 months, I'd fallen into the trap of what my good friend Lachlan calls "the Insula' Peninsula." Everything in Korea is viewed as very insular and self-serving, even though the country as a whole takes on the "group think" mentality. But, this kind of juxtaposition is the very essence of Korea. I found myself walking around as in the Korean way of being in my own bubble, and expecting every interaction to be abrasive and rough around the edges. It took me a few days to come out of my Korean haze and realize that I could be myself again. What a freeing feeling to be away from the shackles of an oppressive society.

Finally being able to tap into myself again made all the difference in making the rest of the trip incredible, even though there were other frustrations that came with it. I was thrilled to go out on the water one day, as we found a long-boat driver to take us to a small, remote beach. It was remarkable to see that such places still exist!

Another highlight was going to Ang Thong Marine Preserve; a cluster of 40 very small islands that only allows small amounts of people. It was such a different sea-scape than I grew up seeing. It made me rather emotional when I saw a sailboat much like the one I grew up on, with a family aboard, tacking its way between the islands. What an adventure. It was at Ang Thong that we did some snorkeling (but not enough) and walked into one of the islands to see an inland lake formed by an underground cave to the sea. It was all a little unreal.

While we had these adventures by day, Lachlan and I had our own adventures by night. As it turns out, we were staying in the "red light district" of Koh Samui and the girly bars were a mere walk across the street. This was too good to pass up! So, Lachlan and I found one bar in particular to call home, "Its Up 2 U." While it was a Brothel, I've never met such nice prostitutes! And, their owner, Ruut, was really sweet too!

These people may have been employed doing something that Westerners deem as "wrong" but they didn't seem to mind one bit. I made friends with one of the girls and asked her many questions about her job, life and opinion on the world. She was eloquent, emotionally present and very realistic. It was a refreshing conversation to have in comparison to Korea's "everything is fine" attitude.

One night, Lachlan and I were at the bar and one of the girls was celebrating her "23rd" birthday. I put this in quotes because she was very obviously much younger. It was just him, me, the 3 girls and the Ruut. It was probably one of the best nights I've had in a long time, sharing birthday cake with prostitutes, and drinking whiskey. We whooped it up until the wee hours, then Lachlan and I headed back to our "rustic" bungalow.

Upon walking in, slightly tipsy, I was overwhelmed with one feeling and had to express it:

"I really feel like I need to wash my hands, and I don't know why."