To the Land of Smiles

I’m sure all the thousands of my regular blog readers have been dying in anticipation for me to disclose the location of my planned one month adventure to be taken between Thanksgiving and Christmas. As the suspense has undoubtedly increased your heart rate and blood pressure exponentially since I first hinted at my plans 3 days ago, I will spare you all and announce that this cubicle-imprisoned accountant is traveling half way across the world all by my lonesome to visit the land of Smiles, Thailand.

I chose Thailand after little deliberation and not much thought of other possible destinations. As soon as I began researching Thailand and the many activities and adventures that the country possesses, I became nearly obsessed; purchasing a Lonely Planet guidebook, reading online blogs and trip reports, researching airfare, hotel, and restaurant options and certainly spoiling some of the surprises that certainly await, while meanwhile and simultaneously ignoring all my responsibilities in the office.

At this point, I can already make a laundry-list of all the things that I would like to accomplish during my month-long adventure. As much as I desire, especially as a solo traveler, to just go with the flow for a month and let my adventures take me from destination to destination, the more I read about different things to do, the more inclined I become to map out everything to a T as to not miss out on any locations or activities I would like to experience. Though, at this point, all I have done is research many of the different locations throughout Thailand and the activities that can be done there. I haven’t begun to plan an itinerary or determine the best route.

Here is my list of things to do in Thailand:

-Obtain PADI Scuba Diving Certification in Ko Tao
-Attend Full Moon Party on Ko Pha Ngan on Christmas Eve
-Go on an overnight Mountain Trek in Pai to meet Local Thais
-Learn Yoga and other meditation techniques from Buddhist monks
-Ride an elephant through the Jungle
-Pet a Tiger
-Purchase a tailored made suit
-Get a Thai massage at least every other day
-Go to the Bridge over the River Kwai Festival
-Explore the caves in Chiang Dao
-Take a Thai cooking course
-Take a break from hostels and spoil myself in a luxury resort in Phuket
-Watch seedy old men abuse the huge sex tourism industry in Pattaya
-See millions of Buddhist temples in Bangkok and Chai Mai and throughout Thailand
-Experience backpacking culture on Kao San Road in Bangkok
-Doing an overnight Whitewater rafting trip down the Pai River
-Meet tons of interesting people from all over the world and make new friends
-Find my own private deserted beach in Kao Samui
-Take pictures and Blog about my adventures

So, there you have it. Writing that list is motivation enough to put the rest of the world on hold for a month and become a backpacking money spending bum in a country half-way around the world for a month. Its amazing how just weeks ago, I gave no thought to adventure and was happily going about my ordinary business as an accountant completing audits of non-profit, real estate, and commercial entities.

And at this point, I suppose its time to give props to the motivation behind my recent revelation that I should take a break from conformity and explore mysterious and unknown parts of the earth: a phone conversation that I had 3 weeks ago with my (at the time) soon-to-be college graduate sister Allison in which she expressed to me her desires to forgo entering the working world because she wanted to travel and explore the world before she began the rest of her life as some type of undecided working professional. Of course, my response to her was that perhaps its best to grow up and become financially independent, get a job even if you don’t love it or see yourself with that job for a long period of time, and basically to conform to the immense pressures and wills of the American norm. I then explained that working almost changes you, strips you of your motivation and freedom that you obtained throughout college, and makes you feel almost as if you are losing yourself as you experience the pressures of advancement, bills, balancing work and play, and becoming a responsible hard-work, contributing to society, adult.

Since that conversation, I began considering my life and what I am doing. I have considered my success to date, and the fact that I have only taken a single week off from work to travel once in the three years that I have been part of the working world. I began considering where I am in my life and what experiences I would like to obtain prior to officially giving into the grind and dullness of the American way, and I began to dream about where I want to go and what I want to do if I did quit my job or took some time off – Which of course leads me to writing this blog. And meanwhile, its as if I have almost switched places with my sister. It is now I who have taken it upon myself to make time to travel, and it is her who has now forgone the item of teaching English for a year in a foreign unknown exotic country and is instead planning her future as an HR assistance in New York City.

And one last thing before I end this entry; I have officially received permission to take an entire month of paid time off from my boss between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The scheduling calendar has been updated and my temporary exit from the highway has been officially approved by Corporate America. Its actually almost scary how easy it was to obtain approval… makes me think why I haven’t attempted this sooner..