Next Exit to Adventure

One Month Later - It's all Figured Out

2008-01-28T15:18:00.000-08:00

It has been one month since I have returned to the US and I don’t know if there is anybody that is still out that and checking this blog. Afterall, the adventure is over – I have returned from my month-long odyssey in Thailand and I am back doing what I know how to do – accounting. And blogging about accounting is certainly not nearly as exciting for me to write or for you to read, as blogging about backpacking throughout parts of South-East asia- site-seeing in Bangkok; seeing the Bridge over the River Kwai and petting tigers in Kanchanaburi; exploring Angkor Wat in Siem Reap Cambodia; cooking and chilling with the locals in Chiang Mai; motorbiking, riding elephants and relaxing in Pai; trekking and caving in Sappong; beaching in Phuket, boat rides around Ko Phi Phi; Diving in Ko Lanta; and climbing and kayaking at Railey Beach.

But, if you go back and read the entries I wrote prior to my departure, you know that I contemplated Thailand being a trial-run for a proper adventure – an adventure without time constraints or schedules; itineraries or reservations. And Thailand changed me. It has realigned my goals and what I want to accomplish from now until forever. Could I continue on with my current path? I suppose so – I could work my way through the accounting world one promotion at a time until I obtain partnership –– earning money and spending money on mortgage and car payments, finding happiness and love with a relationship, raising a family and putting kids through college – living the typical American path – the rat-race which requires earning money so you can spend it on things that you don’t need, and accomplishing nothing that really makes a difference in my career – simply providing a service that is required only in the capitalistic enterprise of money, investments, and corporate. I’ll audit your financial statements to provide assurance to your stakeholders that the money they invest in your corporation is going to come back to them in and then some. What does this accomplish? How does this make a difference? Where is the good?

Things that I have changed
1. Not Motivated by Money – I don’t need to be rich to be happy – in fact, I think the cost of getting rich (no free time due to constant salving away in an office) precludes happiness. What’s the point of being rich if you don’t have the time to enjoy it?

2. Lack of Materialistic Strive – Fancy cars, a big house, tons of electronic toys and gadgets, expensive clothes, a luxury apartment, a big TV, modern furniture, gold jewelry – I absolutely used to want all of this – but I think the only consumer goods that I really desire anymore are the ones that could fit in a backpack as I travel around the world (which, of course, still includes my IPOD :)

3. Desire to Make a Difference – The only problem with becoming a travel bum (well, besides figuring out a way to pay for it), is not really making a difference – sure, you can travel, see, experience, do – you can even volunteer – but you can’t do that without making money too. I want to find something that I am passionate about – something I love doing – and something that truly makes a difference – and something that I can get paid to do.

So over the past 4 weeks since I have returned, I have brainstormed ways to truly escape from the path that I am on – and not just temporarily, but permanently– Why don’t I just become a scuba instructor/dive-master and travel from reef to reef around the world earning just enough to sustain a budget lifestyle – and I have contemplated starting my own business that would allow travelers to write reviews and descriptions of their journeys, and ultimately create a detailed online guide to everywhere – that would make a profit through ad revenue and book sales to be contributed back to the authors in equal percentage to the quality and quantity of their contributions.

The problem with these options is the first could only be temporary – after several years of diving, I would eventually have to return to reality and then what? The second, while I still insist is a brilliant idea – is unfortunately, already being done by travellerspoint.com. Besides, despite my desire for more travel and adventure, I am a realist and quite honestly, I’m too smart and too educated to widdle my life away working the odd job only long enough to save money for travel, travel until the money runs out, wash, rinse, repeat.

Anyway, like they say – third time is the charm. I have figured it out. My third idea is best idea – that will help me accomplish all my of my life goals – both short and long-term. I now know exactly what I want to do with my life and how to get there. I have a plan on where I want to be and what I want to be doing next week, next month, next year and beyond. I know what I need to do to get there, and I have already taken the first several steps. Doesn’t it feel great to have it all figured out?

As it has always been planned, I am getting my MBA. However, what wasn’t exactly planned is what I wanted to study when obtaining my MBA, and what exactly I wanted to do as a career once I obtained said MBA. Now, I have figured that important piece out. I am getting my MBA concentrating in “Business and Sustainability” and “Environmental Economics. Sustainability defined - Sustainability is a characteristic of a process or state that can be maintained at a certain level indefinitely. The term, in its environmental usage, refers to the potential longevity of vital human ecological support systems, such as the planet's climatic system, systems of agriculture, industry, forestry, and fisheries, and human communities in general and the various systems on which they depend in balance with the impacts of our unsustainable or sustainable design. Environmental Economics defined - theoretical or empirical studies of the economic effects of national or local environmental policies around the world [...]. Particular issues include the costs and benefits of alternative environmental policies to deal with air pollution, water quality, toxic substances, solid waste, and global warming.

Basically, I want to work with businesses to help solve the environmental issues that are facing our world; Reducing CO2 emissions, using alternative sources of energy, dealing with rising oceans, falling water tables, melting glaciers, destruction of habitats, extinction of species, and all the rest of that Al Gore mumbo-gumbo. Economic models need to change in order to properly factor in the environment and social costs of measuring the world’s production and waste. Accounting measures need to change to force companies to disclose their impact on the environmental through quantative measures. The tax structure needs to change to force people and especially corporations to reduce their environmental footprint and the world needs to work together now to correct our civilitions misgivings before more and more nations fail, cities are flooded, the o-zone layer is destroyed, electricity goes black, and food becomes scarce.

No, I’m not a tree-hugging crazy environmentalists – but the writing is on the wall and there is no doubt that there are many environment problems that need to be addressed now. People are now aware and action is beginning. The table is set and opportunity knocks. But from a personal standpoint, this is a career that I can get involved with to really make a difference in the world – while helping to protect the environment, nature, and wildlife that I grew up loving as a child – and still do – as evident by my adventures in Thailand being characterized by tigers, elephants, and sharks.

So, the plan is to start an MBA program full-time in the Fall of 2009, approximately 20 months from now, with the primary school under consideration being Schulich School of Business in Toronto, which ranks #3 for their Business and Sustainability Program on the list of top Sustainability Programs according to the Aspen Insitute’s 2005 Rankings entitled Beyond Gray Pinstripes.

So, What happens in the next 20 months? That’s easy – 8 months of work and 12 months of travel.

End of the Road

2007-12-26T00:23:00.000-08:00

I had time for 3 more adventures in Railey Beach, Krabi and the surrounding area, and now I am just an hour away from heading to the Krabi airport for a short flight to Bangkok followed shortly thereafter by a 17 hour trek across the globe back to New York City.

After getting dropped off by the ferry from Ko Lanta at Railey Beach, I had an apparently short hike (probably 100 meters) to Ton Sai Beach where I was staying, which is right next to Railey, but separated by an ominous cliff that either requires a tough climb or a longtail boat during high tide, or a wade through the ocean during low tide. Luckily it was low tide, so with my large backpack and all, I was able to wade through the sea, over a bunch of rocks, and arrived safely at Ton Sai - mission accomplished - this trek back and forth was made several times (and I always refused to take the long tail) over the last several days, and was especially difficult during the darkness of night when the tide was high. Dark free climbing - gotta love it.

On my first day in Railey, I signed up for a half day Kayak trip, and what a trip it was. Just imagine kayaking on the North Fork of Long Island - except you are now surrounded by gigantic cliffs, mangrove forests, caves, and many many narrow passageways that required near perfect kayak navigation skills. Throw in the occasional monitor lizard, cobra (yes, those scary poisonous snakes, Kingfisher birds, tons of spider crabs, and upon further contemplation, the only thing this trip has in common with rowing through Long Island was the kayak itself. Oh, and I didn't even mention the monkeys - which were everywhere and quite aggressive. These monkeys took full advantage of he ability to laziness transport through the jungle by hopping onto the front of your kayak for a free lift. When I first saw a large group of them upon first entering the Mangroves, I opened my waterproof Oceansack bag that was provided for my use and removed my can of cashews in order to get my camera. As it turned out, taking out cashews in front of a group of monkeys is apparently not too bright of an idea, as I immediately had 3 monkeys jump onto my kayak and begin reaching for my nuts. I quickly put my camera and nuts back in my sack, and a monkey hand instantly reached his hand into my sack going right after my nuts! I was able to close the bag, and savage my nuts and camera - only to have a group of monkeys bear their teeth at me! Luckily, I was able to scare off the monkeys by waving my paddle in the air above their heads (a trick the kayak guide told us prior to departing). So, I avoided that crisis rabies-free with my nuts safely back in their sack where they stayed for the remainder of the expedition.

That night was Christmas Eve and parties were planned all throughout the beach. Xmas eve coincided with the Full Moon - which is typically enough of a reason to party in Thailand, so now we had 2 reasons - reason enough to party twice as hard as any other ordinary night in Thailand, which if you are in Thailand, you already have reason to celebrate. My resort had all sorts of activities planned - banquet buffet dinner, fireworks, fire shows, one of those ridiculous Thai cover bands that I love so much that sing American rock songs with the wrong words in Thai accents, and even a magic show. The magic show was doubly entertaining, with a bunch of fairly tame slight of hand trips, until it was time for the grand finale! - which required a volunteer from the audience. Obviously, I raised my hand (while jumping up and down on my chair), and was chosen. I was escorted onto stage by the superhotThai assistant dressed in a sexy Christmas eve outfit, and I was instructed to tie myself to the assistance with rope, chain, lock and key. Of course, I embellished this act by acting like a dirty old man who couldn't be happier about be tied to a hot girl, and got lots of laughs from the audience. After we were suitably attached to one another, we were placed under a curtain out of view, and the Thai assistance somehow untangled, untied, and unlocked herself from me (boo!), asked me to take off my shirt, which she then put on, and we were reviewed to the audience to much laughter and applause! After this, I danced and partied the night away, and slept to 2 PM the next day, and then got some more sun.

Which leads us to today - my last and final in Thailand, and my last and final adventure - rock climbing! Railey Beach is world renowned as one of the top places in the world to climb due to the great abundance of climbs, beautiful scenery, and lively beach scene. Many famous rock climbers often come to this area of Thailand. So, I tried my hands at climbing, and made it to the top of the three medium ranked climbs that we attempted with only minor cuts and bruises! It was all in good fun, and a great concluding adventure.
So, there we have it, I have successful completed my journey and now only the long travel home awaits me. I managed to do this pretty much exactly as I had planned, completing all my objectives, without injury, sickness, major delays or unplanned detours, or the lose of any personal artifacts - which is actually pretty rare considering the amount of stories I have heard about food poisoning, motorbike accidents, and other travel horror stories. Mission accomplished - case closed. I'll have more time to reflect on the journey home, but for now, I am happy and content and actually ready to get back to reality. I'm craving a juicy steak (the beef in Thailand is rough, chewy, and always overcooked), real coffee (powdered Instant Coffee is the typical standard here), and some NBA action (Soccer is the only sport I could find on TV) , so I would much appreciate it if these things can be arranged for me upon my return. Love you all and thanks for reading. While I don't promise it, I may post another entry or so with reflections upon my return to America.

The Underwater Adventures Continue

2007-12-22T04:10:00.000-08:00

SCUBA SCUBA SCUBA - Hooked! I am now officially certified as an ADVANCED Open Water Diver. Imagine this if you will. You take a scuba boat out about 2.5 hours from the Ko Lanta and stop - you look around, and there is no sight of land in any and all directions - yet you climb down to the boat's lower level - gear up - and jump into the turbulent oceanic waters. You inflate your BCD to stay on the surface despite the large waves that attempt to carry you away - you plunge your mask into the water to orientate yourself with your surroundings, but see nothing but deep blue color surrounding you. You look around to your fellow divers and buddy and signal to begin your descend. Luckily there is a reference line in the water that is anchored to the ocean floor that you hold onto so you aren't carried away. For the first 5 to 10 meters, the current is so strong that you literally are holding onto the line with your hands as the rest of your body is carried horizontally with the waves. You think to yourself - what have I gotten myself into - let's just stretch this scuba idea and ascend to the safety of the boat - afterall, this is only my 7th time diving ever. Yet, you gather your composure and continue onwards - at about 12 meters the current begins to die down and you no longer need to hold onto the line to control your descend - you look down and you see it - hazy at first - but there certainly is a large sunken mass about about 16 meters below you - as you continue to sink - the mass becomes clearer and clearer - its a ship wreck. Now the current is practically non-existent and the visibility clears up as you lower yourself to the stern of the ship. There is 100 feet of water separating you and the breathable air that is somewhere above you.

This is the Kickcruiser wreck - its a vehicle ferry boat that sank in 1997 transporting people from Phuket to Phi Phi - while everybody was saved after the ship hit a rock, the ship slowly sank and settled about 2 kilometers and several hours later. The ship is huge - at least 250 feet long and 80 feet wide - its covered in developing coral and surrounded by fish - and not just the typical small reef fish that live in the traditionally reef - but large schooling tuna and barracuda (with shimmering big teeth). There is a big eyed Travelly that is just floating there, motionless, about 5 feet in front of you. This thing is the size of a large car tire - with an eye starring at you that is about the size of a silver dollar coin. A nurse shark, about 4 feet long, swims by along the ocean floor.

Your divemaster signals to begin perimetering the boat and you follow - the entire wooden side is absolutely covered in coral and surrounded by thousands of tiny yellow fish - you see a window in the boat and peer in - it takes your eyes a minute to adjust to the darkness, but you see more fish swimming around inside. As you continue your journey, you notice that the entire back haul of the ship has caved in, creating dangerous caves and other hazards. You follow your divemaster through one of these entry-ways, navigating through several large beams of wood, ensuring not to disturb the beautiful, yet poisoness Lionfish. The reality of what you are doing hits you, as you continue exploring the beauty of what mankind lost and nature has taken over. The wreck is now the playground to millions of fish - and you realize the power of nature.

Your final stop is the exposed toilets in the ship - even 100 feet underwater, you still maintain your sense of humor as you take turns hovering over the toilets pretending to crap. After you have disposed of your mock waste, you begin your ascend, and 8 minutes later (including another safety stop at 5 meters where you once again hang onto the rope for your life), the dive is over just 40 minutes after it has begun.

So, that is my poetic description of a dive. And today, was just as remarkable - diving at Hin Duang and Hin Maung, which both are giant sea walls that descend over 70 meters into the sea, and are frequent homes to Manta Rays and Whale Sharks. After dive 1, dispute all the beauty of the coral and reef fish, we were disappointed not to have encounter any rays or sharks - but just after I got out of the sea, there is a frantic as other divers just breaking surface signal that there is a manta in the water - you see it from the boat about 2 meters deep - since your dive is complete, you can't descend again, so you strip off your tank, BCD, regulator, and wet suit, but keep your mask, snorkel, and fins, jump back in and watch the ray, with a 10 foot wingspan for several minutes. And that's just dive one. The second dive (2 hours later after lunch) contained more and more fish, and several leopard sharks! It's amazing to think that a week ago, I was learning how to breathe underwater for the first time ever in a swimming pool, and now I have dove at the one of the best sites in the world that is reserved only for advanced open water divers, like myself!

And now my adventures are nearly over, I have one last destination - Railey Beach in Krabi for 4 days/3 nights for some rock climbing, kayaking, relaxation, and partying prior to getting a quick flight back to Bangkok in time for my nighttime flight on the 27th. I'll keep you all posted. But, now its time to relish my last night in Ko Lanta with all the friends I have made here diving and otherwise before heading out tomorrow.

PADI Open Water Diver

2007-12-18T04:27:00.000-08:00

Hooked - SCUBA SCUBA SCUBA - I am now officially certified as a PADI Open Water Diver. I can dive anywhere in the world up to 18 meters. I passed the course, taking a final exam at the end which was similar though much easier than the CPA exam - (broken into 5 sections where you get instruction, watch the official PADI video, and then take a test) - also, I completed 4 Open Water Dives over the past 2 days at a reef (Ko Haa) about an hour boatride from Ko Lanta, which were all amazing. Diving in a range from 6 to 16 meters (20 to 60 feet) coral reefs are incredible - there is so much colorful life swimming and sationary around you - we saw all sorts of crazy reef fish, huge corals, eels, etc. It's so amazing to look around at the underwater world around you - but the diving is amazing. You learn how to remain completely neutral in teh water - just suspended there - only controlled by your breathe - breathe in - you slowly begin to rise due to air in your lungs - breathe out - and you slowly descend now that the air is gone. Perfect bouyancy. And moving underwater is crazy - you learn to control your breathe so you rise when you want to just hoovering over the reef and descending when you want to. There is so much that goes into it - the science of breathing, bouyancy, movement, the physiology of the pressure, volume, density of your body as you dive, the nature of all the amazing marine life around you, and even the math involved of calculating and planning your dive to ensure that the amount of nitrogen in your body is always within an acccepable limit based on how deep you dive, how long you dive, and how much surface time elapses between dives. I am totally hooked and can't wait to get in the water again. I also purchased an incredible DVD that has both above ground action shots from the boat preparing for our dives today, and underwater shots of us in the water with all the amazing things around us. You'll all have to check it out in another 9 days.

So, the diving continues after a one day break tomorrow - as I begin the 3 day advanced course where I can dive at deeper depths, do more adventure dives, and learn skills like underwater photography and fish identification. I'll get to dive the sites with the potential for whale shark, leopard shark, and manta ray sitings like Hin Dueng and Hin Muang, and also go wreck diving at the King-cruiser site - I also get to learn to do deeper dives and get certified to go up to 30 meters (100 feet!)

So the plan is this - chill out on Lanta tomorrow, then do the 3 day advanced course followed by 3 days in Railey Beach, Krabi, then head back to Bangkok for my evening flight on the 26th. Time is such a strange concept - on one hand, I can't believe my trip is coming to an end as when I look back, everything has gone so quickly, but on the other hand, it feels so long ago that I was back home. I have done so many amazing things and gone to some unbelievable places - and really, everything has gone down smoothly and even somewhat on schedule. But I still got 9 days to go - so who knows what is still left in store for me.

Island Life

2007-12-16T04:25:00.000-08:00

I am now on Koh Lanta and just completed a grueling 5 hours in the classroom and 4 hours in the pool during Day 1 of my 3 day PADI Open Water dive course. But as is now customary, let's back up a few days in order to ensure that all my adventures have been properly documented complete with visuals.

Here are my pictures of me posing with ladyboys after the Simon Cabaret show on Phuket.

And here I am doing my best arms spread ladyboy impression. Don't I look feminine?

My half-day adventure tour around Ko Phi Phi ROCKED!

We spedboat all around the island and surrounding islands to all the bays, alcoves, cliffs, and beaches stopping for the occasional snorkeling opportunity or cliff-jumping site. I did a few cliff jumps from 8 meters (roughly 25 feet) and then 15 m (about 48 feet). You had to do a bit of climbing to get up to the jump sites, and unfortunately, I was so pumped up with adrenaline prior to leaping off the boat that I forgot to pass my camera on to get them taped. I also could not bring my camera with me in the water because as you may or may not know, bringing an electronic device into a body of water may cause irreversible damage. But, let me assure you all that what lay below the surface of Ko Phi Phi was coral and fish. I saw these species with my own eyes and you will just have to take my word for it that they were colorful and swam using their own efforts without the use of any electronic currents or batteries. The best was when the tour guide tossed some pieces of white bread into the water around you and you were suddenly swimming amidst a school (that is the proper nomenclature) of clown, angel, trigger, dragon, sprout, devil, hydrangea, infinity, pine, spore, robin and rainbow fish. I am unsure if all of those aforementioned specie names are the proper nomenclature as I am no longer the reef fish expert that I may or may not have been during the adolescent years.

After these adventures, we provided to monkey beach - which contains exactly what the name implies - a beach full of MONKEYS (I'm sure Hilary is getting more and more excited as she reads this). The jungle comes right up to the beach, and monkeys are everywhere. There is a stand that sells bananas, so these monkeys are certainly used to human interaction. In fact, you will soon be approached by several monkeys as they spot the bright yellow goodness in your hand, and I had my first banana stolen out of my hand within seconds. Being a monkey myself, I put my second purchased banana in my backpack out of view, and sat down on a large rock to enjoy it myself. But wouldn't you know - monkeys aren't very good at sharing and soon I had a primate companion join me on my perch, who literally ripped half the banana out of my hand. I still had some left, so we were able to enjoy together - just monkey and me sitting on a rock eating banana in the sun.

After monkey beach, we continued around the island finding all sorts of giant rock formations extruding from the turquoise depths, eventually finding ourselves at Ko Phi Phi Ley, which is a smaller uninhabited island that is only accessible by day trips, and also happens to be the spot where in The Beach (starring one Leandro Barbosa - I mean DiCaprio) was filmed, in a location called Maya Bay - which is a beautiful little beach in which words do not do justice - so I won't even try. Imagine crystal clear topaz waters peacefully spilling onto a white sand beach surrounded by jagged cliffs backed up onto a jungle background - that's Maya Bay - the perfect imagination of anybody's beachside daydreams that happen when sitting in a windowless office cube doing the 9 to 5 - it's what desktop wallpaper is made for. After our visit, we watched the sunset prior to continuing back to Phi Phi Don (the main island).

The next morning, I awoke to climb up hundreds of stairs and hundreds of meters of uphill sidewalk in order to get up to Phi Phi viewpoint in order to look down from above and take in the island. The island is shaped like a giant H, and was absolutely devastated by the tsunami 3 years ago - the majority of the development is on the crossbar of the H, which is probably only 100 meters in width and all at sea-level, so its easy to imagine just how bad the waves destroyed the island as they came from both sides. Still, seeing the island now, you never would have noticed that all the buildings had been rebuilt in the past couple years.

After descending, I hopped on a fairy and headed off to Lanta, where I arrived last night, promptly signed up for my scuba course, and began that today. Practicing in the pool with a hot Swedish instructor who just happened to spend 4 years in DC as a real estate agent prior to beginning her travels and settling as a dive master in Lanta, I learned the basics of breathing underwater, and navigating weightlessly throughout the water. Remember to always keep breathing with long deep breathes and to always watch out for your buddy - which is certainly easier when your buddy is a hot Swedish girl. The best way to describe it is it is like sky-diving with the floating sensation. Tomorrow, we take our lessons into the ocean for 2 dives - Can't wait - so with that, I now grab some more delicious Thai cuisine and head off to bed exhausted and excited for more adventure!

Phuck It

2007-12-13T21:30:00.000-08:00

I arrived at the Chiang Mai airport on Tuesday about 25 minutes prior to my scheduled flight departure to Phuket, after spending the past hour driving all throughout the city to drop off other people on my minibus from Pai, despite the pleas of the other passengers and myself to the laid-back deaf-eared driver that I had a flight to catch and I should be dropped off first. Thankfully, the airport was empty and I was literally sitting at my gate - through security and with ticket in hand about 3 minutes after walking into the airport - about 10 minutes before the start of boarding - enough time to grab a snack and use the facilities.

After spending the past several weeks amongst the backpacking community, arriving at a huge resort complete with 4 pools (including pool bars/waterfalls/waterslides), about 10 bars, 5 restaurants, tennis course, putting greens, a luxurious spa, and who knows what else was a bit of culture shock. The place probably had over 1000 rooms amongst the 4 different stories of the resort. Being a Silver Hilton member, I was given the grand treatment - even a free update to a better room - and treated like a King. The place was probably at 10% capacity and there was literally more hotel employees wandering the campus than all the non-english speaking couples and families, and myself. The place was relaxing, and I just chilled, read, and relaxed, but I didn't find anybody of interest to chat up, so I decided to leave after only 2 days, instead of the planned 3.

Phuket is a giant mess of concrete with no real character - even worse - Patong beach is the ubercenter for old fat balding man to pick up and pay for 20 year old Thai prostitutes. It's disgusting to watch these womanizers with a silly grin on their face peacock around with their arm candy. Still, I did have fun messing around with some of the bar girls when I went out one night by leading them that I was interested only to walk away when they thought they had won me over to pay for them. I just finished reading "The Game" which is a hilarious story about PUAs (pick-up artists) and I practiced running some of the silly routines on these girls in the bar. Good times. I also went to Simon Cabaret, which was probably one of the most hilarious experiences of my life. Its a transvestite show with probably 50 actors?/actresses? (lets just call them performers) wearing elaborate costumes with huge feathery hats and tails, with crazy sets like jungle, china, the streets of NYC, etc, lip-singing (poorly) and dancing to Broadway songs and other pop hits. This thing was hilarious and I literally just sat there with my jaw open in shocked disbelief at the hilarity that lay before me.

So that was Phuket, it had some cheesy fun, but was not particularly the scene that I was looking for. So, I said Phuck it, and moved on to Ko Phi Phi island. I arrived here yesterday, and the place is absolutely stunning and also thankfully dominated by young travelers looking to party and have a good time. The drink of choice are buckets (literally buckets that children would fill with sand on a beach) - which contains a mixture of hang-over inducing Thai Whiskey (which is basically rum), red bull (there red bull is much more sugary and without carbonation), and coke. These things keep you going all night - and I hang out with a Canadian couple, a fun two-set of UK girls, and an Aussie girl. Good times. Now, I am leaving in approximately 12 minutes for an afternoon on Phi Phi of snorkeling and cliff jumping. Sound be fun, and I'll keep you all posted of my adventures and misadventures.

Pictures to follow.

The Adventures Continue in the North of Thailand

2007-12-10T03:50:00.000-08:00

Hello friends, family, and other readers of the blog which details my famous adventures throughout Southeast Asia. I have just returned back to Pai after a 2 day trekking adventure into the northern Thai wilderness. More on that later, but first lasts back up a few days so I can properly detail all of my prior, yet undocumented adventures. Going back on a daily basis, I can't think of a single day that I have gotten here that I haven't done something new or different and exciting. It's like a daily smorgasbord of new experiences. Having slightly lost track of days (I know today is Monday), I believe that it was Friday in which I rode an elephant bareback in a river. Between getting sprayed with water, thrown off bucking bronco style, and being lifted into the air via the trunk, it was certainly a worthwhile, though sore (you think that riding a horse is bad, just imagine how your anus feels after 2 hours on an elephant! - I can now relate to prison inmates more intimately) experience. Here are some of the photo evidence.

I go from dry to wet after a millisecond after this picture was taken

The elephant (Noh - the 48 year old beast) is helping to cool me off

Yeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaahhhhh-Hahhhhh! Now I got the hang of this!

So, that was elephant riding. Saturday was a well deserved lazy day - I signed up for my trek - hang out in a hammock for 3 straight hours in the afternoon, went to the Pai Hot Springs and Spa, ate an actual hamburger from an actual American restaurateur, and got an early night sleep.

And Sunday morning the trek began. Drove an hour north to Sappong with a group of 2 UK girls, a Canadian guy, a young Austrian couple, and an older German gentleman. Our guide Somesack (at least that is how it is spelt phonetically) took us trekking 18 kilometers over mountains, through rivers (not over them - literally wading through them), inside deep jungle bush, past farmland, and finally up and down another mountain or three over the course of 6 hours on Day 1. We were graciously welcomed by a kindly Lua hill tribe village who cooked for us, and gave us a cold hard floor to sleep on in an electricity-less hut surrounded by dogs, pigs, and chickens outside - of both the adult and baby variety. It was all in good fun, and thank god that I am physically fit - the same couldn't be said about our older German gentleman who clearly did not know what he was getting himself into. On day two (which coincidentally also happens to be today) we trekked all the way back to our starting location using a different route - which coincidentally also happened to be probably half the distance as day 1 and minus the mountain routes - hmmm - why didn't we just go that way yesterday I thought.

Upon arriving back in Sappong, a giant cave, complete with all the cavely essentials that you require a cave to have - hidden passageways, those dangly rock formulas which have a proper scientific name which currently escapes me, bats, Buddhist monks, abandoned coffins, about a hundred vacationing Thais, ancient drawings, and an underground river awaited us - in which we took Bamboo rafts all the way through. While the trek was fun, the cave at the end was clearly the highlight of trek.

Trailside View
Walking past girl herding water buffalo

Outside where I slept last night

On a raft approaching the exit to the cave

Playing dead next to a cave coffin alongside two Thai girls

Now, I have just returned to Pai - completely filthy, smelly, dirty, gross, and in desperate need of a hot shower but without a guesthouse at around 6 PM. In the 2.5 weeks that I have been here, I would say that I have quickly adapted to the backpacker culture. Despite the state that I am in, the first place, a lovely little village of bungalows surrounding a garden asked 1200 baht for a room. Considering that many of the places in Pai are around 200 to 400 baht, I walked away to seek cheaper shelter elsewhere... only to find that the next three less expensive, though also lovely, places were already full. Then realizing that I needed a shower and place to unload my pack, I realized that turning down a super-nice place to stay because it cost a whooping $36/night was insane. So, I turned around and checked back in.

So, now I have one last night in Pai - prior to taking an early morning minibus tomorrow back to Chiang Mai - where I have a 1 PM flight all the way down south to Phuket to spend the final 2 weeks of my travels island hopping around the Andaman Sea. I have a 5 star Hilton, booked using points, waiting for me - I half-way considered waiting to shower until I arrived there - walking in past startled couples and hotel employees - only to go to my room to shower and shave to return to the lobby to thankful individuals - but I figured another night sans shower was not worth 3 minutes of glee.

Till next time...

Pai Not

2007-12-06T20:28:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday morning in Chiang Mai, I visited Wat Doi Surthep, or the temple of the hill, its a bit of a trek to get up there (though I spurgled and hired a private driver for $5 roundtrip instead of taking the $2 roundtrip bus), but has an amazing view of Chiang Mai from behind the temple after driving up a mountain for 8 kilometers than ascending 312 stairs. Inside the temple, I was blessed by a monk as he splashed me with water and tied a string around my wrist. I took a 2pm bus to Pai, which entails 3 hours of zig-zagging through mountains and valleys passing ever so closely to the edge of cliffs. The views are stunning and you never how what lies around the next bend (is it a truck or a view) - the drive to Pai is a fitting precursor to what awaits you at your destination.

After rushing from A to B to C, and not staying in the same place for more than 2 nights, I have finally found a place to settle and relax for more than a quick in and out visit. There are many cliches to describe my current locale - Pai, Thailand - Paiadise, Pai in the Sky, A little slice of Pai, etc. The scenery here is absolutely stunning - its like being in the middle of a fairytale. Pictures don't do this place justice, but they will at least give you a sense of what I am dealing with as I look around in every which direction.

The place is quint, but rapidly growing with the sort of places that would attract any earthly hippie-type - art galleries, cofffee shops, vintage clothing stores, raggae and jazz clubs, etc - with of course the obligatory internet cafes, massage parlors, and 7-11s - which are staples of anything that you would find in Thailand. Even long-haired hipped out Thais come here for holiday.

When I got here on Wednesday night, the town was slightly dead - you see, unlike holidays in the states which are more or less an excuse to party, holidays in Thailand are the opposite, people stay are home, all stores are closed, and alcohol is not sold anywhere. So, my first experience walking through the one main stretch in Pai was slightly misleading. But yesterday the adventures began - my bamboo hut (pictured below), is at a placed called Family Hut, which just happens to have a great group of travelers staying for days or weeks on end mixing it up in the common area each night before heading into town.

I got to meet many of these fine folk in the morning, who advised me to rent a motorbike and explore the surrounding areas a bit. I biked past hot springs, elephants (I stopped to feed them bananas and to arrange an elephant ride for this afternoon), waterfalls, and through all the stunning landscapes.

In the evenning, I chilled on the patio with the people from my guesthouse swapping travel stories and listening to guitar prior to heading out to a Reggae bar and then to the afterhours bar.

Travelling is a way of life for so many of these people. They work to save money to travel, and then travel until they need to save up again. When they find a place they like, they stay for as long as they want without worry that they have someplace else they need to get to or see. It's such a fabulous and laid-back lifestyle that it certainly makes me question my own motivations in the rat race of America. In the two weeks of my trip thus far, I have spent time questioning just what I am trying to accomplish by sitting in a cubicle for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year. Travellers are so happy, full of life, and laid back, and while everybody welcomes anybody and everybody without the slighest reservation or hestitation, I personally feel that I am an outsider as can't afford many of the luxuries (despite having a higher budget) that they can afford with the ability to stay longer, leave whenever, and go anywhere in the world that tickles their fancy. The more I contemplate, the more the question changes from "Why would I leave such a great situation and career in America to take to the road?" to "Pai shouldn't I?"

Thai Cooking

2007-12-04T04:03:00.000-08:00

Today I did a full-day Thai cooking course in Chiang Mai. It was good fun all around, and was truly an international crowd with people from Brazil, Italy, Canada, Israel, Ireland, Spain, US (me!), Venezuela, France, and New Zealand all mincing, chopping, frying, flipping, mashing, and eating everything in sight. I made Pad Thai, Spring Rolls, Red Curry Chicken, Morning Glory stir-fry, Tom Yum Soup, and Mango Sticky Rice throughout the day and it was great. We first stopped at the local market to pick up all the many many ingredients (so many spices!), and head to our kitchen equipped with personal work stations and Woks for all! I am now an expert Thai chef as my graduate certificate indicates. And don't worry, I have my recipe book, so I shall cook Thai for whomever is interested upon my return stateside.

Last night I went over to Chiang Mai University and mixed it up with the local University students at this chilled out bar/lounge with a live Thai band. I played pool and bought drinks for my new friends and was the life of the party. Chiang Mai is a fairly laid back city and my guesthouse (which costs $5/night is awesome with a very cool sitting area to lounge and swap tales with fellow travelers). There are so many people that just travel for months on end without a job, but also without a care or worry in the world. These are the type of people that I admire most.

Tomorrow is a very important day. It is the King's birthday and everybody should wear yellow in honor of his eightieth. So, I plan on hanging around Chiang Mai in the morning to take it all in, and then hop a bus to get out to Pai, about 3 hours west for some laid back relaxation followed by some hardcore trekking involving elephant rides, bamboo rafts, and an overnight in a hilltribe village.

Just letting the good times roll...

Vegetables in the market

Moments after tossing my stir-fry into the Wok. The flames weren't captured in this photo by the video is much better!

Behind the driver's seat of a tuk-tuk just moments ago right outside this internet cafe!

Cambodia Picture Samplings

2007-12-04T03:38:00.000-08:00

Here are only a small sample of the many excellent pictures from Cambodia.

Little girl holding up a snake inside a metal bowl with a wooden paddle on a river in Cambodia.
Demon carving in Angkor.

Little girl looking at me from behind a basket and scarf stand.

Carvings on the wall inside Angkor Wat.

Monks hanging out in front of Angkor Wat.

One of the hundreds of smiling faces looking down at Angkor Thom.

Kids playing marbles in a little market by Angkor Thom.

Fig Tree suffocating a temple

AMAZING ANGKOR

2007-12-02T23:59:00.000-08:00

Jeremy has survived Cambodia, and is now back in Thailand. Or should I say, Cambodia has survived Jeremy.

One of the most thrilling aspects of travelling that I have found is changing plans last minute - on the busride back to Bangkok from Kanchuriburi, our obnoxious driver made a 30 minute stop to load all sorts of boxes of who-knows-what onto the top of our minibus, pulled over to investigate what we orginally thought was a flat tire, and ended up getting stuck in the horrendous Bangkok traffic, and thereby arriving too late in Bangkok for Erik and I to make our Friday night flight to Cambodia - but, I don't stress, I just call up the airline and get our flights easily changed to Saturday morning, giving us one more night in Bangkok in which we preceded to tear apart the city starting with Indian food by our guesthouse, Jager bombs on Khao San Road followed by an all-night disco club experience at a club in which Sam, our hilarious British tag-along and Laura, another Brit who we made friends with on the minibus (who just finished 2 months teaching in Cambodia) found ourselves amongst a throng of hardcore partying Thais.

Anyway, we stayed up all night and left immediately for the airport without a wink of sleep arriving in a foreign country with no guidebook, no hotel booked, and not having read or researched a single lick about Cambodia. STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND! Still, we arranged for a private driver Mr. Dara for $25 a day to graciously show us around the eye-opening, inspirational, awe-inspiring Khmer temples of Camodia, built over a thousand years ago in mostly limestone with some extremely detailed stone carvings. Within a 20 square meter area, there are so many magnificent temples, that you almost obtain a been-there done-that attitude towards one of the new seven wonders of the world after seeing 4 or 5 of them. The craziest thing about the temples is that there are no boundaries, you literally can climb, explore, sit, stand, run, walk through and all over all of them. The whole time I'm thinking that these temples can make for one hell of a setting for a game of hide and seek with all the hidden rooms, dark passageways, huge rooms, and steep inclines. Angkor Wat is the most famous and largest temple, but Angkor Thom with over 200 eerily smiling faces staring down at you from all angles, and "the jungle temple" which is overrun by the forest, complete with a huge fig tree literally tearing the temple apart as it grows through, up, over, and around the masonry were my favorites. That temple was made famous when Angela Jolie filmed Tomb Raider there.

But besides the temple, the people of Cambodia really intrigued me. Just an hour plane hop from Bangkok, it is amazing how different the scenery, way of life, and most of all the people of Cambodia are from their former enemies and current friends of Thailand. The poverty level is so high and the area of Siem Reap, where Angkor Wat is located has source of income is from tourism - so walking by the temples, you get swarmed by children and other people looking for hand-outs and trying to hawk scarfs, books, and other merchandise. Its heart-wrenching, especially driving through the country and seeing the structures and living conditions, but at the same time, everybody seems happy as they go about their every-day routine. Apart from the temples, we did a boat ride through a village of people who live directly on the lake, and I had my camera snapping away as I took it all in.

Unfortunately, I left my memory stick in my guesthouse here in Chiang Mai, so I will have to wait until later to post them, but I got some real keepers for sure. To add insult to injury though, I completely and utterly spoiled myself last night at this super ridiculously nice hotel in Cambodia. We heard how nice this hotel was, so went there for a few drinks from one of the nicest and most interesting drink menus I have ever seen, then to go get an amazing hour massage from this ultra ritzy spa, only to return to the same hotel for an 8 course tasting menu meal complete with wine pairings where we sat on this swinging chair/table sofa-thing. Upon finishing the meal around midnight, both Erik and I literally fell asleep on the swing and had to woken up by the waiter probably 20 minutes later. The whole evening cost about $70, which probably is enough to feed an entire Cambodia family for a month, which is both disgusting yet makes me realize just how lucky I have it. I most have done something truly deserving in a past life.

It was great travelling with Erik as we got along well, and he is so laid back, but I am also happy to be on my own again (Erik jumped on a flight to Phuket at the Bangkok airport this morning upon returning from Siem Reap and I took a flight to Chiang Mai, after a week of travelling with a companion. I have a week up North now before I head down to the islands, which is right on track with my planned itinerary. Between Bangkok, Kanchaniburi, and Siem Reap, I just can't believe I have only been here a week - I have done more amazing things in a single week than I have done in the past 3 years. Travelling is absolutely incredible and thought of having to go back to slaving away in an office is pretty hard to think about right now, but luckily, I don't have to as my trip is only 25% in, and there surely are so so many more adventures that await me. Though, I can only envision returning home at the end of December to immediately begin planning the next exit.

Bless you all and thanks for reading. Pictures to come later.

Kanchanaburi

2007-11-29T20:25:00.000-08:00

Wow - I don't even know where to begin - the past few days have been completely out of this world. This country is absolutely amazing. Too many story-telling moments have happened over the past couple days that it would take me nearly the entire day to describe them all - so, let me just describe the highlights.

Bicycling through a HUGE Thai festival/carnival - There was this huge Thai carnival right by the River Kwai that bigger than any festival that i have ever seen - it must have covered at least one square mile with 3 or 4 very very long rows with food vendors, carnival games, beer stalls, amusement rides - of course everything is very Thai and the place is absolutely packed with Thais. We had rented a bicycle and we rode all throughout the midway on the bikes ducking and dodging people, people laughing and pointing at us saying something to the affect i'm sure of "look at the silly Westerners on bicycles!" - We stopped to chat with some thai college kids from the local university - ate a grasshopper from the guy selling insects, drank some beers while listening to a Thai band cover "Wonderful Tonight (I serve that WonderfulTonight and Hotel California are the only two American songs that Thais know - I have heard each one at least a dozen times), feed some peanuts to an elephant, and moved. I felt so free just riding through these crowds - absolutely amazing.

There is a festival going over the bridge - complete with fireworks and lasers and a retelling of the whole Kwai story. Got some great snaps of the bridge, which I walked over right before the show started.

Yesterday, we did a tour where we went to Erawan Waterfalls in the morning. There are a series of 7 tiers to the falls, each about 200 to 500 meters apart. Some of you can swim in, and the hike to get from one to the next was great fun climbing through the trees and rocks and roots of the Jungle with a few monkeys sprinkled along the the way. One of the falls has this big rock that you can slide down. Then in the afternoon, we went to the Tiger Temple. A large group of Buddhist monks take care of tigers. They had three 4 month old cubs that you can play with. Yes, I was playing with a tiger cub, wrestling, picking him up, etc. Then there is this big canyon with adult tigers where you can get your picture taken with all 5 of them. Some of the pictures that I have are amazing. Catch these out!!

We met this very cool English guy, Sam, who does the sound and lighting for productions on cruise ships, so we basically just travels around on ships and takes breaks to travel a bit - he flew down after a cruise ended in Hong Kong for a week in Thailand before starting a new job doing the sound for Cirque De Soliel! Anyway, Erik, Sam and myself did some bar hopping and then went to this huge Thai disco which was absolutely packed. We ended up going there with the Thai girls who rented us our bikes the day before. We had bottle service for about $5. Incredible. Though, I am a bit hungover this morning.

I'm still in Kanchanaburi, though I have to get back to Bangkok this afternoon in order to get my flight to Cambodia. I can't even describe how fun I am having - travelling is more fun than I can ever imagine. Stay tuned for an Angkor Wat entry, probably on Sunday or Monday!

Cell Phone

2007-11-27T20:26:00.001-08:00

One other thing - have a Thailand cell phone. To reach me from the USA, call 001-66-845466833. I think that should work - otherwise - I can also make calls for only 9 baht a minute to the USA (like a quarter per minute).

Escape from Khao San Road, Escape from Bangkok, Escape from Thailand

2007-11-27T19:01:00.001-08:00

The first thing that I have done each day so far in Thailand is wake up and get out of bed. Yesterday, upon doing exactly that, I made the decision that I had enough of Khao San Road and its unethanic ways. Not ready to quite leave Bangkok, I transferred myself and my belongings to a ritzy 5 star hotel on the other side of the City, the Unico Grande, located off Silom Road, near the Bangkok financial district, and many of the other areas frequented by real life Thai people. Erik Drieding, who I have have thus far neglected to mention is also traveling throughout Thailand was staying there in his attempt to sleep off Jet Lag. The day was spent walking throughout the city, finding lunch at a market set hidden among the many sois (side streets) of Bangkok. Erik and I were the only Farangs there, so it was wonderful to be walking amongst an entirely untouristy area mixing with the locals, pointing to random foods labeled only in Thai, and eating whatever came my way. Thereafter, we wandered through Lumpini Park, made the decision to get out of this polluted, noisy, trafficed city. Not that I haven’t liked Bangkok, but there is only so much one can take. I have seen my share of the city, and it’s time to get out.

But, prior to doing so, I had one hell of an adventure last night trying to find Vertigo, an open air bar on the top floor of one of Bangkok's latest buildings. First we went to go see some Muay Kickboxing but got there a bit late, and ended up walking around Luam Saleen night bazaar instead. Then we wanted to go to Vertigo, but the problem was that I didn't have my guidebook and couldn't remember the name of the Hotel that the bar was on. We asked a bunch of tuk-tuk drivers and other Thais (there were hardly any tourists around), who didn't know or more likely wouldn't tell us the location, though finally we thought we had the address, only to be taken to some seevy red-light district area by a deceiving tuk-tuk driver, in which we found an internet cafe and looked up the locations amongst a group of Thai whores who were emailing their sugar daddies asking to send more money. Good times. We finally got there around midnight, and it was well worth finding a posh bar with good martinis, and taking photos of the skyline... then we went back to the Red Light district area, Patpong.

Hanging out with Erik yesterday, was a welcome change of pace from traveling alone. We both are fairly laid back, have similar travel interests, and are within similar budgets, so its pretty cool to have a travel companion. Erik was deadset on going to see Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and I am certainly intrigued, so we looked into the Visa situation, found it was relatively easy to obtain a visa upon arrival (all we needed was a few passport photos which we obtained), and booked a ticket to Siem Reap for Friday and returning on Monday. Considering I am leaving Bangkok today earlier than orginally I thought I might, and I added 2 more days to my trip, making this inpromptu adventure to one of the greatest ruins (Indiana Jones style) EVER seems like a smart move - especially since I know nothing about it - which is the complete opposite of how I planned for Thailand.

Anyway, I am heading over to the bus station now with Erik to go 2 hours west to Kanchaniburi for a few days to see the Tiger Temple, Bridge over the River Kwai, Eragon Waterfalls, and more! Then I return to Bangkok to get my Friday evenning flight to Cambodia. When I fly back to Bangkok on Monday, I just booked a flight to get up to Chiang Mai instead of taking a train since I will be at the airport anyway. I love the freedom of being able to change plans and make travel reservations on a whime while I am here deciding where to go and what to do. I think all my planning of an iterniary was a bit much, I may wouldn't be surprised if more changes are to come. Incidentally, that is when Erik and I will part ways since he is heading to the islands first and then has some cool sounding elephant ecological project he is doing for a week.
So, yesterday I got off Khao San, today I get out of Bangkok, and Friday, I get out of Thailand for a few days at least.

Check out some pictures from yesterday:

View from Vertigo - this is probably only about 1/8 of Bangkok - this city is huge - it goes on forever!

Night Bazaar - even on a Tuesday night, thousands of Thais are out and able shopping, eating, listening to music, and drink beer at the night bazaar.

View of Bangkok from Lumpini Park, which is the big public park in Bangkok.

Buddhas Buddhas Everywhere

2007-11-26T02:15:00.000-08:00

I arose fresh and early this morning for my first full day on the other side of the world, despite hanging out at a bar on Khao San Road much later than planned last night chatting it up with a German girl, French girl, and a Canadian guy listing to a Thai band cover the likes of Neil Young, Simon and Garfunkel, the Eagles, and James Taylor. Here is my new french friend, Hannah, who is leaving tomorrow to after two months scuba diving in Bali.

I ate breakfast at the hotel, and hailed a tuk-tuk, a three wheeled open air taxi like contraption, and drove a short distance to the Grand Palace, which is this huge complex with a ton of temples, statues, and monuments erected by famous kings over the past thousands of years. I got a ticket, this personal audio guide device, and spent an hour touring the grounds and taking photos with tons of other snap-happy sightseers.

The big attraction at the Grand Palace is the Emerald Buddha, a very small (60 cm) Emerald statue of the Buddha which is absolutely sacred. Wars have literally been fought over this thing over the past 700 years. You enter the temple where it is housed after first removing your shoes, promising not to take any photos and you sit down inside making sure not to point your toes at the Buddha - doing so is the utmost sign of disrespect. I sat amongst a large group of Thai teenagers who were all there waing and bowing at the statue. Needless to say, I also bowed. There also are a ton of other structures inside the palace, and many many ornate statues in the shapes of demons, ghouls, and these strange hybrid half-human half-animal things. There is this one monument which a bunch of demons are positioned to look like they are holding it up. So, all the Asian tourists take turns also pretending to hold up the building. This seemed like a prime photo opt, so I also joined the fun.

After my time at the Palace, I walked over to the Wat Pho, home of the reclining Buddha. This whole area in Bangkok is like the National Mall where all the biggest and most popular monuments are located within walking distance. Anyway, at the Pho, there is this gigantic reclining Buddha, which is apparently somehow a symbol related to entering Nirvana, that is at least 3 million times larger than the more prestigious Emerald Buddha. You are allowed to photograph this Buddha.

Also at Wat Pho, there is the most prestigious massage school in Bangkok where they teach the traditional Thai massage techniques. You can even get massages from the students in training, so I opted for the 30 minute session. This massage was definitely more professional than the one yesterday (to answer your questions in the comment section), and it hurt!

After my massage, I was approached by a storming stampede of school children, who together, with there teacher, were looking for a foreigner to help teach them English. They had a bunch of questions (What is your name? Do you like Thailand? Where are you from?, etc), that they asked me. Then I asked them to teach me some Thai. I still can't pronounce or remember any of the things they taught me, but they all wanted to shake my hand. Here is a picture of a group of them running towards me.

Anyway, these whole festivities lasted from around 9 am to noon. I decided that the ride over was so short, I can easily find my way back to Khao San Road while walking. Well, my sense of direction failed me, and I ended up having to hail another tuk tuk after wandering about for 30 minutes or so in the complete wrong direction. Not a big lose, they only cost about 40 baht ($1.50). This afternoon has been chill, I hang out by the roof-top pool, finished "Water for Elephants", and took a nap. Tonight, I am going to venture out to experience nightlife outside Khao San Road - though the travel-friendly atmosphere here is certainly welcoming and feels secure.

Jeremy is all smiles in the land of smiles.

Arrival

2007-11-25T05:46:00.000-08:00

And Jeremy has arrived - Thailand will never be the same. I am here.

For documentary purposes, here is a picture of what I looked like prior to leaving.

After 17 hours locked away in a flying metal compartment, in which the sky transformed from light to dark to light to dark again - I finally stepped foot in Bangkok and the adventure has officially begun at approximately 4:30 PM local time. You know how at sporting events, they sometimes do those dizzy bat contests in which the participant first (optional) chugs a can of beer, then places there hand down on a bat, and spins round and round in circles, only to then attempt to run a straight line. That is kind of what Jet Lag is like. Having thought that getting limited sleep on Friday night (approx 3 hours) would lead to an easily time sleeping on the plane - well, that turned out to be somewhat of a poor idea afterall. While I slept intermittenly on a plane (roughly 3 different naps ranging from 30 minutes to 2 hours), I did not sleep as long as I would have planned, and I began to get a bit delirious in the final few hours. To further escalate the pyschedelic state, I listened to Dark Side of Moon two times over prior to landing.

However, upon landing in Bangkok - I got my second wind, and I had an easy time going through immigration, grabbing a Red Bull (maybe that was the source of the second wind?), and hailing a cab to Khao San Road - the backpacker capital of the world. I checked into the D&D Inn - which coincidental is smack dab in the middle of the backpacker world capital, locked up my stuff in my smallish hotel room, and began to explore. Khao San Road has just about everything you could ever need - guest houses, bars, internet cafes, street vendors, jewelry and tattoo parlors and massage parlors. I grabbed a Pineapple-Mango-Passionfruit smoothie, and sat down for a bit to take it all in. While relaxing, I was approached by at least 10 people ranging from the age of 4 through 65 with offers of hats, lighters, massages, tattoos, stuffed animal monkeys, and paintings for sale. I ignored most of them, but then decided that getting my eyebrow pierced and a tattoo on my upper back would help me fit in more. So, here is a picture of what I look like now - approximately 2.5 hours after arriving.

No - just kidding. I didn't manipulate my body in any way, shape, or form. That is actually a picture of Khao San Road, with my gueshouse, D&D Inn prominately displayed amongst the chaos. I didn't follow the tattoo guys, instead I took up the offer of the cute Thai massuese, figuring that getting a traditional Thai massage (1 hour for 250 baht ($10) seemed like a reasonable idea after sitting prone on the plane for 17 hours - so I accomplied my gracious thai hostess to Charlie's Massage, in which I was then twisted, prodded, poked, and bent for one whole glorious hour.

So, there you have it. I have made it safely to Thailand - all worriers can breathe a sigh of relief, and everything so far is just groovy. And with that, I now plan on doing one more venture up and down this road, and then finally crashing in a real bed for the first time in nearly 3 days. It is now 9:15 PM. Plan tomorrow is to explore Bangkok itself, and not just the area where all the backpacker tourist hang out.

Ready

2007-11-22T23:09:00.000-08:00

This is my last entry prior to the exit from my reality, and the start of my long-awaited adventure.

I guess it is fitting to reflect upon my current mindset and try to describe just what I am thinking and feeling just prior to departure. Am I excited? Nervous? Anxious? The truth is that if I was to use just one world to describe my emotion it is that I am simply ready. Ready to actual see, hear, touch, taste, and smell everything that awaits. Ready to begin. Ready to realize the adventure that I have so intimated researched, planned, and awaited over the past 5 months. I feel as if I have spent so much time reading about Thailand – about the places that I plan on visiting – about the culture – the people – the tourism – the activities – the hotels – the modes of transportation – that it is as if I have already been experienced without actually experiencing. It’s as if I am already a returning visitor who knows so much about the country and everything that awaits. But I know as soon as I step off the plane, that all of that goes out the window, and I will find myself alone in a very strange land. And I am ready for that and I am at peace.

It’s reasonable to assume that with all this preparation, and especially with the 18 entries that I have written and published since this all began last May, that I am expecting that this journey will change me in some way – that I will be awoken to something deep inside myself, and that I will have some giant epiphany about life, and more specifically, my place within it. But that is not the case at all. I truly have no expectations. In actuality, I am very much happy with where I am in life – and the path that I am on. During the past several months, I have really established myself in my career with my current job, and I have no qualms with returning from my trip and continuing on with my career and future. As far as the trip, my only expectation is having an absolute blast and taking full advantage of the time away from my familiar surroundings and breaking apart from my regular routine. I have an open-mind, and I greatly look forward to filling that mind with the excitement that travel and new learning will bring. I want to meet the locals, learn about their outlook and how they see themselves and the world – and also I want to discuss the take on life that my fellow travelers will bring. I want to learn about Buddhism, mediation, freedom, expression, and exploration. But mainly, I just plan on having fun – trying new things – not saying “no”, and returning home with a ton of stories, new friends, and an overall memorable and unforgettable experience.

So, that is it in a nutshell. I’m good to good, set to jet, and ready to rock. Bring it on.

East Coast, West Coast, East Coast, Far East

2007-11-19T12:21:00.000-08:00

In anticipation for my forthcoming travels, I have decided to do a little travel sneak-peak in my last and final week prior to the departure. I am currently 30,000 feet high above the great smoky state of Tennessee (though, by the time I complete this entry, I might very well be above Oklahoma or Texas) in route to California for the old in-and-out audit excursion in Palm Desert California, one of the premier retirement destinations in the United States! I have 2 days of some fun and exciting interim risk assessment audit procedures for my client prior to returning directly to Connecticut for Thanksgiving with the fam. Preferably, it would have worked best to do this business visit in December, but due to my trip, we have to squeeze it in this week. Regardless, I figure criss-crossing our country would be the perfect primer for spending a month criss-crossing a different country.

In case you were curious on what location I plan on sleeping in over the next week, here is a detailed schedule:

Saturday November 17 – Washington DC
Sunday November 18 – Palm Desert CA
Monday November 19 – Palm Desert CA
Tuesday November 20 – Palm Desert CA
Wednesday November 21 – Trumbull CT
Thursday November 22 – Trumbull CT
Friday November 23 – New York City, NY
Saturday November 24 – Thai Airways (en route)
Sunday November 25 – Bangkok, TH

For the most astute and faithful Next Exit blog readers out there, you may notice something in the above list that may cause you to scratch your head, clear your throat, and wonder out loud – “Well, that is funny – I always thought that Jeremy was leaving on the Monday after Thanksgiving Nov 26 – but the list above appears to indicate that Jeremy leaves on Saturday November 24.” Well, you if thought that, then you will receive 3 points and one silver star your keen observation, because you are exactly right. Originally, I was planning on leaving on the Monday after Thanksgiving, as my Cathay Pacific airways ticket indicated. However, I no longer have a ticket to travel on Cathay Pacific, as I cancelled it, and purchased myself a ticket on Thai Airline, which just happens to depart 2 days earlier.

You see, over the past week, I began thinking… Why should I wait around a whole 4 days once my “Paid Time Off” officially begins before I leave? Wouldn’t having an extra 2 days in Thailand be just radical? 2 more days in Thailand? Why wouldn’t a want that? And as the thought process continued, I began to take proactive measures to see if I could change my flight. The first thing that I did was call Cathay Pacific only to learn that my ticket was extremely restricted and I could not change the flight without first cancelling the ticket minus a $100 penalty, and then repurchasing the ticket at the current price of $1150. For a total difference of roughly $400. At first, I wasn’t sure if such unnecessary spending was really smart, but then the more I got to think about all the fun I could have with 2 additional days, my mind began to rationalize the increase. But, before I made any decisions, I did some due diligence, as any forward thinking, ambitious, high brain powered, handsome boy would do - I checked the costs of other airlines, and to my great astonishment, I find a flight on Thai Airlines for only $1050. (On a completely unrelated side note, the Southwest Airlines steward just handed me a delicious snack-pack, and I am currently having an extremely difficult time opening my Slim Jim). The best part about the Thai Airways flight is it is direct from JFK to Bangkok – a total of 17 hours of flight time – the longest possible non-stop flight offered by any commercial jetliner. Additionally, I would no longer have a 3 hour stopover in Hong Kong, and I would arrive in Thailand at 5 PM instead of midnight. So, I decided that such a change would be in my better interests, so I made the big switch-a-roo at a rough expense of $300. I can further justify the increase by switching to a non-stop flight which is significantly better than stopovers in foreign lands. I now depart on Saturday, 2 days earlier than originally planned, and still return on December 26.

I am now eating one of those handisnack cracker and cheese things with the little red plastic spreading utensil. I haven’t had one of these in ages. Whe are on the discussion of the color "red", I also have a moderately sized red and gray Northface backpack which is nearly stuffed to capacity with the belongings I plan on bringing with me to Thailand. My backpack is in DC, in which I trust my brother will remember to bring up with him to Connecticut when he travels on Thursday morning. The contents of the pack, to the best of my memory, include the following:

Large Pack
Cargo Shorts – 2 Pair – One Khaki and One Camo (new)
Bathing Suits – 2 Pair – Camo and Red Flowered Board Shorts
Jeans – 1 Pair – Lightweight
Cargo Zip-off Travel Pants – yet to be obtained
T-Shirts (5) – Black City Sports, Blue City Sports, Tan “You Are Here”, Lion, Plain Yellow
Collared Shirts (4) – White Linen (new), White Polo, Blue Underarmour, White/Black North-face (new)
Long Shelf Shirt (1) - North Face pullover
Underwear (5) – Silky Patagonia Boxers (new)
Socks (5) – “Smart Wool” ankle socks (new)
Sandals – One Pair Chacos (new)
Shoes – One Pair Vasque Hiking Shoes (new)
Waterbottle – Black Sigg Aluminum 1 Liter (new)

Small Pack
1 Guidebook – Lonely Planet Thailand
1 Reading Book – Yet to be determined
1 Supercool Itinerary Booklet with all my confirmations that I put together
1 Camera – Digital Elph 6 megapixel in a case with a 1 GIG and a 2 GIG memory card, and a memory card reader for easy transfer of pictures to computer
1 IPOD – Complete with 8,000 songs
1 Pair Sunglasses – Ray Bans (new)
Drugs – Malaria Medicine and Cipro that I obtained when I went to the travel clinic for immunizations
Toiletries – Including sunblock and bug spray
Passport and Yellowcard Vaccination Thing
Wallet – potentially need to obtain a new one
Travel Pouch – want to obtain a new one
Lock for my Backpack – Need to obtain one
Hat – Need to purchase a new one

My pack is pretty full right now with all of that stuff – perhaps I should ditch a few things, such as the jeans (I would probably only wear once when going out in Bangkok), one of the bath suits, and a few shirts. Also for clarification and full disclosure purposes, please note that some of these items are not currently in the actual pack, as I have some of these with me right now, but they will be placed in the back prior to my departure. I think I did a pretty good job remembering this list despite not having my pack in front of me, but if there is anything thing that you believe I should also bring or do not think is necessary, I welcome your input. Two points and one Bronze Star for each suggestion.

Black Holes and Revelations

2007-11-14T15:32:00.000-08:00

So, I will be arriving in Bangkok in approximately 2 weeks. It's amazing that I started planning for this trip nearly 5 months ago, and now my departure is less than 2 weeks away. Despite being lazy in chronographing my planning by updating this blog, I can say that I believe I have covered all my basises, and I am completely ready for departure. I have keep meaning to provide a list of everything that I have done involving health (I got vaccinated!), money (I set up a special checking account), shopping (purchasing clothes, being gifted a backpack, etc), considering my camera, passports, figuring out an easy way to transfer pictures to these pages from Internet cafes, nailing down my itinerary, etc. But, I don't think such an update is necessary. Believe me, I think I have considered everything and things are properly planned, so I will spare you all the gory details, unless there is some great demand to know that I got vaccinated for Typhoid and that I purchased a new memory card for my camera.

One thing which I just discovered today which I am psyched about is that one of my favorite bands, Muse, is performing in Bangkok on Nov 28, which is my first full day in Thailand! So, I went ahead and bought two tickets about 30 seconds after I saw an article that they were playing there. I do realize that I am going to Thailand by myself and that it only takes a single ticket to get admited into a concert, however I bought 2 on a whime figuring that i can either sell one or give one away. At the very least, its a good way to make a new friend! Anyway, I found tickets on thaiticketmaster.com and purchased them. The site was kind of confusing because it was in both Thai and English, but I was able to navigate successfully through the site in order to purchase tickets. Of course, prior to entering my credit card information and hitting submit, it did not provide any information regarding how to pick up or where my tickets that I purchased wiull be sent. And then when I received the confirmation, it was all in THAI - which I do not know how to read. So, my first language barrier has occurred prior to even my arrival in Thailand. If anybody out there can read Thai, I would greatly appreciate a translation so you can let me know where to pick up my tickets, not that I will be able to find said location anyway.

Getting Paid to Travel?

2007-10-18T16:48:00.000-07:00

Ever since deciding on writing this blog and going to Thailand, and really giving some thought to just what I want to get out of my life and my career – there has been one single question that I have been batting around in this brain of mine – a question that I’m sure thousands of others before me and after me will ponder. The question is a simple one, yet there aren’t any simple answers.

How can I get paid to travel the world?

While there is certainly opportunity for the rich (or at least those willing to piddle away their savings) to take an extended break for a week, a month, or longer to vacation, travel, and explore; the ultimate desire for those with wanderlust is to make a livelihood from doing what they love to do – travel. Sure, there are business opportunities, such as working for multi-national corporations or being a pilot, flight attendants, or travel writers for Lonely Planet or National Geographic, but the vast majority of these opportunities are for those who are willing to work for free or very little, or those with very specialized skill-sets.

While the ideal of taking a year-long break to travel the globe is mighty appealing, and I envy those individuals who temporarily abandon their career to pursue their passon; I am unfortunately of the mindset that I can’t simply put my career on an extended hiatus in order to travel. Call it an American attitude towards overworking ones-self and being too focused on career-advancement and salary, but I really wouldn’t feel completely comfortable if I ever decided to give a big F-you to capitalitism, forget about money, and just grab a backpack, an around-the-world plane ticket and go. Nope, for me, there has to be a purpose, there has to be a financial opportunity, and it has to be a stepping-stone to future business endeavors. For me to travel the world, it has to be either part of my own business venture, or as part of my job.

If you have sat down with me at all in the past 3 weeks, I may have pitched an idea to you regarding a business plan that essentially combines a social networking site, a financial guide for young professions, a brokerage firm, a venture capitalized mutual fund for the masses, and an environmentally friendly bottled tea beverage – all of which are wrapped neatly around the idea of inspiring and helping people realize their passions. Trust me, it all fits together if you give me 5 minutes to explain.

But, ignoring the daunting task of starting my own overly-ambitigious company, an opportunity presented itself to me today that may just allow me to travel the world while leveraging off of my already obtained experience and knowledge as a CPA. And the best part is that I wouldn’t even have to leave my current company. You see, unbeknownst to me, this opportunity was already put in motion several weeks ago by a colleague….. and wait for it… with me specifically in mind, despite the fact that they had absolutely no idea of my desires for world travel.

Alright- enough suspense – I may have the opportunity to travel the world for several months next summer as part of an engagement that my company is bidding on to audit the Peace Corp. The job would entail traveling to various world-wide PeaceCorp destinations in order to provide accounting consulting services to individuals working in worldwide PeaceCorp offices. To explain, one of my old managers from the Big-4 accounting firm that I used to work at, has recently transferred over to my current company to work in our government accounting department. He is planning on bidding on several government issued RFP (request for proposals) in order to audit government agencies. He has already put together my company’s proposal, and specifically asked if I would be willing to work on the engagement if we won, and asked for my resume to include in our proposal - which I gladly provided.

So, there you have it – if my company can somehow win this work, then I’m on the engagement, and I’m getting paid to travel to world. Mission – Accomplished – cross your fingers.

In the meantime, if anybody does have any other ideas for a business model in which people are paid to travel – please don’t hesitate to suggest it to me in case this engagement falls through.

Thailand Itinerary

2007-10-14T18:56:00.000-07:00

All of my arrangements for Thailand are now complete. The image below is my final itinerary for Thailand. All yellow blocks are hotels/hostels which are already booked. All blue blocks are travel that I have already booked. I don't think I need to book or plan on booking accomodations in any of the areas which are blank, as these places shouldn't be as busy. Once I get up to Chiang Mai, I will be flexible to do a trek or go anywhere else in the north I see fit for 5 nights. While I will definitely plan on being in Koh Lanta to do some SCUBA, the island should be much more quiet than Phuket or Phi Phi, so I should be able to find a room and a scuba company once I get there. The Hilton Acadia is a 5 star resort which I booked using AMEX points - which will be great to have some luxury after "roughing" it while trekking in the North. I can't wait to roll up to the hotel full of honeymooners looking like a dirty grungy backpacker.

Look out for future posts on photography, A to Do logistical list of pre-trip logistics, and perhaps a review of my amazing whitewater rafting adventure which occurred this past weekend.

I bet you've been wondering where have I been

2007-09-22T17:55:00.000-07:00

Thailand is just about 2 months away. That’s about the same amount of time that it has been since I have last updated these pages. Unlike in May and June, when Thailand planning was at the forefront of my mind – I have been preoccupied with work throughout the summer months. You would think that as the trip approaches, the excitement would continue to build in anticipation. However, the opposite has been true. I have stopped researching, stopped reading the various Southeast Asia blogs, and stopped anticipating my future beyond the next week or month of work. Obviously with the lack of focus on the trip, the blog had also slipped deep into the back corners of my brain – scary!

When I made the decision and began my preparation, I was bored at work, and questioning my career. As it was pretty evident, I wasn’t entirely happy with my professional path – despite the success I had achieved. I wanted something to break up the monotony of my career, and figured a month alone in Thailand would be anything but boring. However, in the past several months, I have switched into a new division with my company and have become increasing focused on the work projects at hand. I have increased my responsibilities and especially my contacts in the company, and began traveling to our various offices throughout the US on a regular basis for meetings and projects. For business and pleasure, since I have begun writing this blog, I have traveled to Atlanta (3x), Chicago, Charlotte, LA, Vegas, Charleston, Boston, New York, Baltimore, and DC. My focus on work was renewed and my energy towards work has been rejuvenated. I have even contemplated moving to Atlanta to be located within the same office as the majority of the people I have worked with the closest. Obviously, all of these are good things.

However, due to these career changes, I could honestly say that if this trip was not already booked, I probably would not of the same mindset I was back in May and June, to plan on doing this. That isn’t to say that I am not excited for my adventure and I certainly do not have any regrets in making this decision, I’m just saying that I have tended to lose site of my place in life and long-term plans while I have been focusing instead on the more short-term goals of work.

But by just writing those paragraphs above and taking a step back to contemplate where I have been focused throughout the summer, I realize how easy it is to get stuck in your career and life, and not take the time to look around and explore and put myself outside of my comfort zone. If I keep the mindset that I have been focused on over the past several months, then I can honestly could picture myself at 35 once I’m settled with a marriage and mortgage looking back and wondering why I never traveled when I was young and single.

With Thailand happening, I want to ensure that I do not hold of my free spirit and that these adventures continue. If I had a year of my life to do anything without regard for practicality, then traveling the globe would no doubt be how I would spend my time. But from the practical standpoint, that is neither affordable or smart, but taking a month to do a trip each year is something that I could work into my schedule without stunting my career growth. So, its Thailand in 2007, maybe New Zealand in 2008, maybe South America in 2009, and definitely South Africa in 2010 (Safari and World Cup). So, that’s where I am and that is where I am heading. I do plan on making a checklist in the next several days of things that I need to do and accomplish over the next 2 months in order to prepare for my trip – so look out for that!

I promise this post is worth the month-long wait

2007-08-05T17:49:00.000-07:00

Life is not measured by the number of breathes we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

When I look back and try to count these breathe-taking moments in my life – I think I can do so on one hand. Starring into the Ngorongoro Crater, skiing the bowls in Park City Utah – ziplining through the rain forest near Arenal volcano in Costa Rica – would all qualify – I’d take a bit more thought to expand that list. But, after I return from Thailand, I would hope I may need to use both hands, and both feet to count the moments that have taken my breath away. The point is that these moments – the moments when you feel truly alive – don’t come around very often. And before today, it’s been years before I can think of anything that has even come close to such a moment.

But I had one of those moments this morning at approximately 9 am– Sunday August 5 2007 – just outside Fredrick berg Virginia.

While the moment didn’t occur unexpectantly – in fact – there have been roughly a month of anticipation and even one false alarm – it was everything I would have hoped for. Nerve-wrecking, adrenaline-pumping, quality fun.

It was a moment that lead to 5 friends sitting outside in mid-July of the eve thereof, grilling and gorging ourselves with steak, chicken, grilled vegetables, pasta salads, beer, and pies – eating like its our last supper contemplating our fate - putting together an acetic playlist featuring Tom Petty, Kayne West, The Rolling Stones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Third Eye Blind, Kris Kross, and Jefferson Airplane in order to listen to on the drive down to pump us up. And while the windy conditions in the sky required us to postpone the first attempt, thus dampening some of the original enthusiasm – the ultimate fulfillment of our activity certainly made the extra two week wait well worth it.

There is a reason for my ambiguity about exactly what this moment was. If they say a picture is worth a thousand words, well, I wonder exactly how much the video is worth (in this case, an extra $90). So, instead of using just words to describe this breath-stealing moment (or more precisely 20 minutes), let’s just go straight to the video footage...

Subject to Change

2007-07-02T13:33:00.000-07:00

Staying on schedule here of posting entries on a weekly basis each Monday, I want to bring our attention back to Thailand and update all my loyal and faithful readers about the progress of my planning. I realize that all of have been checking my website on a daily basis, eagerly awaiting new posts, and specifically wanting to obtain an update on my Thailand planning. Well, loyal and faithful readers, you are in luck.

I have continued my research, booked an in-country ticket, and have even slightly altered my itinerary.

After much deliberation, I think I am going to entirely forgo the final quadrant of my trip and opt to stay entirely on the Andaman Sea side of southern Thailand island-hopping between Phuket, Ko Phi Phi, Ko Lanta, and Railay during the final 15 days of my odyssey. My original plan was to spend a week on the Andaman Sea side and then to spend a week on the Gulf of Thailand. However, doing so, would add another travel day to my already busy schedule, so I can arrive at an island that is just like the one that I just left. From all reports, the scuba diving, scenery, and weather in December are all better on the Andaman sea side than the Gulf of Thailand, so it makes little sense to transfer. Besides, there are 4 unique islands that I plan on visiting on the Andaman side that all offer different things and are easily accessible from one another by taking ferries that will take no more than 2.5 hours to get from one to another.

Perhaps the only thing that I would be missing out on by not going across to the Gulf is the Full Moon Party on Ko Phan Ngan. While the prospect of dancing and partying all night long on Christmas eve (which is the full-moon) with 20,000 travelers from all across the globe is certainly enticing, the more I read about the party, it seems overly commercialized, full of undercover cops trying to sell drugs and then make arrests/accept bribes, and thousands of drunken teenagers littering the beach with bottles, urinating or throwing up in the ocean, and then passing out in the sand. While this certainly sounds like quite the spectacle, I don’t necessarily believe that it will be worth the extra effort, especially considering the variety of islands on the Andaman Coast and equal opportunities to party elsewhere (just not with as many people).

One exciting thing that I did was book a direct flight from Chiang Mai to Phuket at about the half-way point of my trip. If you know me, you’d know that I avoid stop-overs if at all possible. Who needs to waste several hours hanging in an airport or worrying about missing a connection or worrying that your bag(s) will get lost in the intermediary city? Not me! So, I found the one airline (Thai airways) that offers direct flights from Chiang Mai down to Phuket without having a stopover in Bangkok, and booked a one-way ticket for $173 (5890 baht). Sure, I could have gotten a flight for $100 if I didn’t mind that stopover but now I depart Chiang Mai at 12:50 PM and arrive in Phuket at 2:45 PM, which means that I am only wasting half a day traveling 1525 kilometers or 950 miles all the way from the north of Thailand down to Phuket. That’s like having a stopover in DC on a flight from Connecticut to Atlanta – who wants to deal with that hassle?

I realize that I want to leave room for spontaneity, but unfortunately, I am traveling to many of the most popular islands in Thailand at the very busiest time of year. So as much as I would like to simply go with the flow and stay as short or as long as I want at each location, I just feel like I don’t have the luxury when I am traveling in mid to late December on the Andaman coast. Unless I want to spend large portions of my days searching for a hotel or guesthouse that has vacancy, I am much better planning and booking the final 15 days of my trip in advance. So, that is precisely what I am planning on doing, err, have already done.

Phuket – 3 days/2 nights - December 11th thru December 13th – Phuket is the upscale and posh pearl of the south. It’s where the rich go to play, or honeymoon, or yacht. There aren’t going to be many backpackers there, and it is going to be expensive. Still, after spending the previous week on treks in the north hiking and camping, a little R&R will probably be quite welcome. Therefore, for 2 nights, I plan on booking myself into a luxury resort having completed the “cultural” aspect of my trip, and enjoy the good life. I’ll also take in the insanity of Patong Beach, which is Las Vegas with legalized prostitution, do some watersports, and possibly play a round of golf. Phuket is huge, so with 3 days/2 nights, I will only be able to see a bit of it prior to moving on, but I do think it’s worth the stop.

Ko Lanta – 8 days/7 nights - December 13 thru December 20th – This is where I plan on doing the SCUBA diving portion of my trip. I plan on giving myself plenty of time here (a whole week!), in order to get in as much diving as I see fit. It’s close to the very best dive sites in Thailand and has come personally recommended to me as a great place to do a course. The PADI course will take me 3 or 4 days, and then I still have another 2 or 3 days to do an advanced course, do some additional dives, or just relax if I find out that diving isn’t my thing. The island itself is less developed, doesn’t have the crazy nightlife or magnificent scenery, but has a large backpacker scene and is very chill.

Ko Phi Phi – 3 Days/2 Nights – December 20 thru 22nd - Ko Phi Phi has some of the best scenery of any island, and is the location where they filmed the Beach. Similar to Phuket, it is apparently over-developed, but has good nightlife, great snorkeling, and several locations that make more good cliff-jumping – which I am excited about. Gotta love adrenaline caused by gravity. I probably could do Phi Phi with just a day trip from Lanta or Phuket, but I rather at least give myself a few days to actually get a feel for the island.

Railay Beach – 4 days/3nights December 22nd through December 25th. Railay beach is actually on the mainland but is surrounded by cliffs giving it an isolated island feel. It has world-class rockclimbing which I will give a go, and also has great coves and bays for kayaking. I am sure to get a great upper-body workout between the kayaks and climbing. Between all day-time activities that I want to do (Water-skiing and golf in Phuket - Snorkeling and Cliff Jumping in Phi Phi - Scuba everday in Lanta - then kayaking and climbing in Railay), and all the nightlife I also want to experience, I'm not quite sure when I am going to find time to sleep, or at least be well rested for my day-time activities. I hope they have strong coffee in Thailand. The Tonsai Bay of Railay is where many of the climbers and backpackers hang out, so I am in the process of booking a room there for the final 3 nights (including Christmas Eve) of my trip. Supposedly, smaller versions of full-moon parties may break out here as well. Since I will be here on Christmas, I’ve already started contacting a few places to stay to get a reservation. Kinda funny that the very last place that I am going to stay is the very first hotel I plan on making a reservation. On the 25th, I’d take a flight from the Krabi airport back to Bangkok in order to my flight home on the 26th.

I just looked at ferry times to get an estimate of how long it takes to get from one island to another (about 1 to 2.5 hours each; not bad at all), and I realized that there are no DIRECT ferries from Phuket to Lanta, you have to stop at Phi Phi first. So, I think it probably would be must wise to switch Lanta and Phi Phi around, as its silly to arrive at Phi Phi from Phuket only to immediately leave for Lanta, when I can just do my 2 days at Phi Phi first, then go to Lanta, and from Lanta to Railay. I guess this goes back to my philosophy of hating stop-overs.

Of course, this is subject and probably will change, especially considering how often I am ammending my trip - hell, I just switched my locations around from the time I created the map above to the time I posted this entry an hour later. The crazy thing is as amazing as these 15 days sound; it only represents half of my trip. This advanced planning obviously represents a huge change in philosophy for me as I had initially planned on traveling on a whim, but hey, that what the first two weeks are for – where I don’t plan on booking anything past the first few nights in Bangkok. But at this rate, before I know it, I will have every last detail planned and booked.

Practicality of Thailand

2007-06-25T19:57:00.000-07:00

Snapping back to reality for a moment, but without getting too far off course, I think Thailand can be a contributing factor for me to help obtain admission into a top MBA program. Now that I have successfully completed the CPA exam (yep, just got the results back from my last section! Yeah!!! CPA!!! Me!) and will shortly be officially licensed, the next road-mark in my progression to realize all my professional goals in obtaining a Masters of Business Adminstration from a top MBA program. While I initially considered this upcoming adventure of mine to be a complete detour and break from my career, I have begun to consider some of the potential professional development opportunities that this trip can potentially afford me.

In the past week or so, I have spent far less time researching Thailand travel, and more time considering my future career. I suppose the reasoning behind this is that now that the CPA exam is complete, I feel that I have accomplished everything that I have set out to accomplish in the accounting world. I have gained valuable business experience, learned how to succeed in a corporation culture, been promoted, and now have the CPA to validate all my these experiences. For me to stay within public accounting, the next steps would be for me to become a manager and ultimately partner, which have never really been goals of mine.

It’s ironic after officially be certified to be an accountant, I have absolutely no desire to use any of these new abilities (preparing tax returns, attestation services, etc) in my future career. Instead, the foundation that I have obtained as an accountant and as evident by my newfound certification will be used in the future to help a company make financial and operational decisions. Having an accounting background and understanding of accounting is critical for success as a CFO, and being a CPA will forever label my competence in this area.

A CFO of a company is appointed with the responsibility of managing the financial risks, raising capital, financial planning, and financial reporting. When a company is making the decision to enter a new business or purchase new equipment or issue a dividend, it is ultimately the CFO who is in charge of making that decision. For me, having the responsibility of making multi-million dollar decisions that can make or break the future of an organization is the type of pressure and involvement that I seek. For years, while I have helped all sorts of clients from the federal to non-profit to commercial industries with their financial reporting, I have felt left out of the bigger picture – the decision-making and strategic operations of a business. I want to feel apart of a company and share in its continued success. I want the results of my work to be more defined. Right now, it certainly is a feeling of accomplishment when one of my clients issues their financial statements complete with our letter stating that we have audited the statements, and they are free of material misstatement, however, the results of the company’s performance are not mine or a result of the work that I did.

As such, in order to successfully advance my career from accounting into the private sector, obtaining an MBA is the logical stepping stone to altering my chosen career path within the business world. In order to be accepted into a top MBA program, the application and competition is obviously intense. In fact, even more so than law and medical schools, the prestige of the school in which you receive an MBA will have a direct correlation to the employer and specifically the salary of the MBA graduate upon re-entering the workforce. So, its very important to go to a top program, otherwise, I’m not even sure if its worth it, quite frankly.

While being a CPA and having Big 4 accounting experience, in addition to the corporate and growth experience of working in a mid-sized firm in rapid growth mode, is a very solid basis for my resume, I realize that the ultra-competitiveness of the top programs requires more. The MBA program admission criteria can be divided into roughly 3 equal parts: Tangibles (Work Experience, Qualifications, Education), Intangibles (References, Essays, Interviews), and Standardized testing (GMAT). While I believe that I will rank right up there based on my tangible qualities, I realize that I’m not going to be the only CPA with Big 4 experience applying to the top MBA programs. I’m sure that we are a dime a dozen when it comes to potential Harvard MBA candidates. I absolutely need to obtain above a 700 on my GMATs (roughly the 93rd percentile), which is often considered a cut-off point for many of the top programs.

However, it’s the intangible qualities in which my trip Thailand comes into play. The top business schools are looking for more well-rounded students who have leadership and worldly experiences outside the work-force to share. If I play it right, I can use my experiences in Thailand as a basis for an essay. If I go with the mission to met tourism business owners or individuals who have opened up a business in Thailand, or to go investigate how the economy has so quickly rebound since the Tsunami in 2004, then I could also obtain relevant business knowledge in addition to having fun and exploring and learning about different culture and myself. In fact, the recently released list of Harvard 2008 Essays for the HBS September 2008 start-class, includes the question, “How have you experienced culture shock?” If putting myself alone in a foreign country half-way around the world doesn’t provide me with a basis to answer that question, then I probably should lower my MBA standards.

In looking at application deadlines, the deadlines for submitting your completed application for a September 2008 start are in October 2007, so the only issue of course is that I would have to have my applications submitted prior to leaving. I still think my planning, and perhaps even this blog, is worthwhile essay fodder regarding my trip, so I think I can weasel an MBA essay out my trip to Thailand prior to it even starting. I guess the bigger issue is that I really don’t have much more time to procrastinate prepping for an MBA around considering I have to take the GMATs after first attending a course, obtain letters, write essays, conduct interviews, visit campuses, decide on schools, etc. Lots to do in really not all that much time. But how sweet will it be to go to Thailand already having all my applications submitted?

Weekend in Boston

2007-06-18T17:47:00.000-07:00

I was up in Boston this past weekend visiting some old college friends. What was planned to be a relatively tame weekend trip up to see a few friends I haven’t seen in a while, turned into a ridunkulous college reunion where 8 successful young professionals quickly and surprisingly effortlessly deteriorated back into 19 year-old frat boys. Instead of swapping stories about the ridiculous things that we did during college, we added to our legacy by having a weekend that included so much debauchery, tomfoolery and bally-hoo that this weekend will be talked about in future get-togethers with the same amount of infamy as the nights of college parties known simply as Beerzilla, Hurricane Party, or the Shrine.

But besides demonstrating to ourselves, my friends' girlfriends in attendance (much to their dismay), and the city of Boston that we still have it in us to party like a rock-star, I think my weekend in Boston demonstrated to me how exciting travel and change can be. I spent my weekend living in Boston as opposed to being a tourist in Boston. The distinction is that while I did some touristy things like walking through Quincy Market and checking out the USS Constitution (“Old Ironside”), I had the most fun hanging out with my friends who call Boston home, and walking around different neighborhoods (like the North End, Cambridge, and Kenmore) to visit restaurants and bars – check out a beer festival, grab some fruit and veggies at the hay market, and attend a Red Sox game at Fenway. Living in Washington DC, which incidentally is #2 on Forbes Magazine’s list of the top 50 biggest tourist destination in the World, for the past 7 years, I don’t think there is a single street I have never been down, a restaurant or bar that I haven’t been to, or a museum/park/entertainment complex that I don’t know within the city. Bottom-line is that as much I have enjoyed my time in DC, spending a weekend in a different city makes me realize just how ready I am to move out of Washington and live and explore someplace new, whether as a month long or life long adventure. I now have more motivation in the next few months to prepare for attending a Top 10 MBA program beginning in the Fall of 2008. GMATs, letters of recommendations, transcripts, essays, applications etc will all be completed and submitted prior to my departure to Thailand. An MBA is my ticket out of DC - Harvard Business School – here I come!

While I was in Boston over the weekend, there were a few interesting developments regarding “Next Exit to Adventure”. The Internet really is an amazing place. While I certainly did not set out to start this blog in order to gain readers outside my friends and family, it now appears that I have actually picked up a few without any sort of solicitation on my part whatsoever. The webmaster, Chris Mitchell, of one of the top Thailand websites regarding backpacking in South Asia, TRAVELHAPPY, in which I have posted links to articles from in past entries and has really provided me with not only a tremendous source of research for my trip, but has also been an inspirational as well, stumbled across my blog and posted a link to Next Exit to Adventure on TravelHappy Asia Links. That’s right! My first plug! And with the link, you can see how the number of visitors on the counter on the bottom of the page has increased, as well as comments added by random strangers like the one by Clare to the “4 Quadrant” post. How cool is this?! I have an audience! Welcome everybody! Glad to have you!

And now that I have an audience, I kind of feel obliged to provide content that appeals to those people who care about things other than me. Actually, on second thought, I really don’t. This is my blog, damnit, and while it’s certainly great to have you, I’m not planning on tailoring my thoughts or posts to appeal to people who are interested not so much in Jeremy Dommu, but are instead interested in Thailand or travel or quarter-life crisis, etc. Still, once I get to Thailand and start writing about my Thailand adventures in internet cafes as they are occurring, I do suppose this blog will have a lot greater interest to the masses than it currently does as I write about my emotions and preparation for my journey. What I would like to do though is get a little practice about writing about specific events, similar to the ones I am bound to experience in Thailand, so what follows is a recap (complete with jokes and photos) of experiencing a baseball game at Fenway Park:

After spending a weekend in Boston, I have come to the conclusion that the Boston Red Sox are beloved by their city more than so any other sports team in America. And keep in mind, I’m a Yankees fan. Walking around Boston during a weekend in which the Sox were in town, I saw more individuals wearing Boston Red Sox merchandise than people who were not wearing Sox memorabilia is not an exaggeration. Every other person that I passed had either a Red Sox hat or Red Sox shirt on. It really is quite impressive to see just how supportive the fans of Boston are of the Red Sox. On Friday afternoon about 6 hours before the game began, I walked about 3 miles from the North End of Boston (from the famous Pizzeria Reginas) all the way down to Kenmore, where Fenway Park is located. This walk entails passing through Government Center and the Boston Commons, two of the most populated areas of Boston. While some cynics like my friend Tony, may claim that the influx of all the fair-weathered fans since the team won the World Series in 2004, often called “pink-hat fans”, are not “true” fans and not deserving of being a part of “Red Sox Nation”, I found the popularity of the team amazing as we made this walk and saw so many jerseys, hats, and shirts.

After polishing off a few beers at the Lower Depths, a new neighborhood bar a few blocks from the stadium, myself, Tony, Phil, and Henry, proceeded into Fenway Park - one of the oldest and most famous sports stadiums in the US – home of the infamous Green Monster in left field and the giant “CITGO” sign. Tony had secured amazing Corporate tickets from his company roughly 20 rows behind home plate. Oh, and if the location was not good enough, this game was probably one of the most sought after tickets of the season thus far, as their opponent was the San Francisco Giants in an inter-league matchup in which Barry Bonds, who currently stands 8 homeruns back from breaking the most historical record in all of sports amidst a flood of controversy regarding his steroid use in which he cheated during his most productive home-run hitting years of his career and later lied about it to the US Congress, made his first career appearance ever at Fenway Park. So, let’s put this in prospective; this was the very first time in history that some of the most hateful fans in all of sports were combined with the most hated man in all of sports at one of the most historic venues in all of sports history. And here I am, a casual baseball fan, sitting back and quietly taking it all in. Actually, I am obviously joking here: I was rip-roaring drunk being just as obnoxious screaming obscenities as the most die-hard of fans while covering my eyes with a "Boycott Barry" blindfold, as the following pictures clearly indicate. But hey, when in Rome …

So, if there is a morale to this story, it is this: Even as a Yankee's fan, I can still have an unbelievable time at Fenway Park, the home of our arch rivals. And while I suppose having fun with some of your best friends while drinking beer at a baseball game on a beautiful summer night shouldn't be that difficult of a thing to do; I pride myself on my ability to have fun and make the most out of every situation, and with that attitude that I will bring to Thailand and beyond, I welcome change, exploring the unknown, and finding myself outside my comfort zone. THAILAND - BRING IT ON!

Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus

2007-06-11T20:02:00.000-07:00

The more I consider all the things that I want to do in Thailand, the more excited I am about taking a SCUBA course. Probably from the time I was nine (?) years old and Dad took me on a day long snorkeling adventure in Saint Martin, I always figured that I would eventually graduate to the world of SCUBA. I can still vividly remember starring into the turquoise reef watching schools of magnificently colored fish swim below me, while the Vernster took a big breathe and swam down to the reef below to get an up-close photo with our water-proof camera of the biggest and brightest fish. I remember that I couldn’t figure out how to close my mouth around the snorkel mouthpiece to prevent the water from rushing in from the top when you swam under and I was amazed that the Vernster could. I even got a turquoise blue tank top t-shirt on that trip that I wore for a few years probably between the ages of 9 and 12. Damn, I can’t remember all these memories are coming back. Mom or Dad, can you comment on how old I was when we went on that trip to St Martin?

Sure, land animals, especially of the African Safari variation, were my top animals of choice as a child, but I always had that spot in my heart for the reef world. From those childhood snorkeling trips to my salt-water seahorse aquarium to my whale and shark books, it only seems natural that on my upcoming quarter-life adventure, I finally learn how to SCUBA.

Here’s the breakdown. You have to get licensed to become certified to scuba. The licensing body is the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI). While there are many advanced courses, the Open Water Certification is the basic course that you need. Once you are certified, you are basically licensed to dive up to 60 feet anywhere in the world. The Open Water course is 3 or 4 full days, and consists of a theory class, pool training, a test, and 4 real dives in the ocean. Not all that difficult really. Kao Tao, which was on my original itinerary in the final quadrant of the trip, issues the second most PADI certificates in the world (behind some town in Australia by the Great Barrier Reef). It is really cheap to get certified in Ko Tao (probably 8,000 baht [$1 = 33 baht} or $240) and they are supposed to have some great dive sites, so I figured that would be the place to do the course. However, upon further research, I learned that the underwater visibility on the Gulf of Thailand side is bad in November and December. Upon further reading, the diving in the Andaman Sea is amongst the top in the world, and while it may be slightly more expensive (12,000 baht or $360) to do the course on Ko Phi Phi, the diving, visibility, and experience is supposed to be significantly better. How did I find all this out? Well, I asked a question on the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree Forum and got a near unanimous response.

Could this be me (on the left)?

Much like the elusiveness of the Cheetah in Africa (Harriett, remember how we didn’t spot one until our final day?), the Whale Shark is the prize “spot” in Thailand diving. Actually, its probably the #1 goal of many scuba diver to swim with a whale shark. For the few of you who didn’t spend their childhood reading about sharks, the Whale Shark is the biggest fish in the world, however they pose no danger as they only eat plankton. And it just so happens that they occasionally show up in the Andaman Sea. It is still very rare to see one especially while doing your introductory dives so I am certainly not counting on it, but I can say this: the chances of spotting a whale shark are significantly higher when you are scuba diving in Thailand as opposed to when you are auditing in Washington DC. And if I don't spot a whale shark, there are always manta rays, sea turtles, reef sharks, barracuda, moray eels, and octopus amongst all the coral and tropical fish.

So, there we have it. First change of plans is to do the Scuba course in Ko Phi Phi in the Andaman Sea during the 3rd quadrant as opposed to Kao Tao in the 4th and final quadrant. And how exciting is this! I’m going to Thailand and I’m going to learn how to SCUBA! And I just might swim with a shark the size of a school bus!

4 Quadrants

2007-06-08T11:12:00.000-07:00

So, the more and more I read about Thailand , I more inclined that I am to plan everything out in advance. To book hotels, make travel arrangements (Thailand is a huge country; so to save time, I want to book flights instead of taking 12 hour train rides) within the country, and plan the amount of days that I want to spend in each location and what I want to do there. And as I discover and read about more and more locations within the country, I keep adding to my list of places I want to go – which makes me even more inclined to arrange an itinerary in advance. Additionally, the late December Christmas time is the absolute height of tourist season, so it does make sense to make hotel arrangements in advance for fear of things booking up. Plus, it’s pretty much in my nature to read everything that I can find about where I am going, and the more I read, the more I want to make my arrangements now. As it currently stands, there are about 10 locations within the country that I want to visit.

However, this forward-thinking is probably not the best idea for a solo backpacker. Despite my continiously growing list of places to see and activities to do, I want to maintain a certain level of flexibility to change my arrangements while I travel if I come to a location that I don’t want to leave or I stumble across people that I want to continue to my travels with. What if I make friends with people going into Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, or Burma, and I want to go with them. If I have everything arranged and paid for in advance, I wouldn’t be able to. But then again, what if I am alone and I don’t have things planned, and I am delayed or booked out of a hotel or hostel I want to stay in because I didn’t book in advance. It’s a fight with myself to refrain from making too many advance plans in order keep this flexibility. But with so many amazing things to do within Thailand , its hard not to want to plan in order to ensure that I cover them all.

With that in mind, I have come up with a plan to divide my travels into 4 equal quadrants (of roughly one week each) that basically provides a rough outline of the places I will see and the order I will see them in – but also allows some flexibility. So, without further delay, and obviously subject to change, here is my initial plan:

Quadrant 1: Central Thailand: Bangkok and Kanchanaburi. Total Days: 5

Travel: Despite leaving NYC at about 2 PM in the afternoon of November 26th, I don’t actually arrive in Bangkok until about 11:30 PM local time on November 27th. Don’t ask me how a 22 hour flight (which includes a short stop-over in Hong Kong), takes 34 hours, but if I had to guess, I’d stay it has something to do with the fact that Thailand is 11 hours ahead of us.

Bangkok: From everything that I have heard, Bangkok is an overwhelming introduction to SE Asia. The place has a larger population than New York City, and has a huge pollution problem. Most people only stay in Bangkok for a few days before venturing off to explore areas of the country. Still, there obviously is a ton of things to do in Bangkok, and my plan is to spend 2 to 4 days exploring the area. There are tons of Buddhist temples, Buddhist statues, and Buddhist museums to see. The nightlife has tons of options, and the shopping is first rate. Apparently, they have millions of tailors that will make you a custom-made suit for about $100, so I will certainly pick one up. Khao San Road is basically the backpackers ghetto – where budget travelers from all over the world stay, so I’m planning on finding a hotel in that area.

Kanchanaburi: Kanchanaburi is about a 3 hour drive east of Bangkok. There was a prison there were American/English/Australian/etc POWs were held during World War II, and were forced to build a bridge over the River Kwai. A movie was made about this. The POWs were also forced to build a railroad over some mountains in the area, which is called “Death Railroad.” A festival is held every year in late November/early December in which there is a laser light show and a retelling of the events each night. While I’m not that much into history, considering the perfect timing of the festival, I will definitely make it to Kanchanaburi to check this out. Also, there is a sanchuary in the area called the “Tiger Temple” in which a bunch of Buddhist monks care for injured or previously domesticated tigers. Tourists can visit, pet the tigers, and have their photos taken. So, that should be fun as well. Plus, there are some good hikes and waterfalls in the area. Accomodations: A Riverhouse on the River Kwai.

http://www.travelfish.org/feature/40
http://travelhappy.info/thailand/tiger-temple-thailand/

Quadrant 2: Northern Thailand: Chiang Mai and Pai – One Week

Travel: Return to Bangkok from Kanchanaburi and take a flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai.

Chiang Mai: This is the second largest city in Thailand, but significantly smaller than Bangkok. The northern part of Thailand should have the least amount of tourists and provide the most cultural experience. There are more temples and Buddhist things to explore here, and I can get a traditional Thai massage and perhaps take a Thai cooking or just experience great Thai food while I am up here. If I’m looking for an adrenaline rush, bungee jumping is pretty popular in Chiang Mai.

Pai: The main reason to go up North is to spend a several days going on a trek. A trek is basically an overnight camping trip to visit local mountain tribes and see crazy jungle scenery. Bamboo rafts and elephant rides are often combined with treks. From my research, Chiang Mai offers plenty of treks, but its often better to get further away from the city to a smaller town, such as Pai, to find a more authentic experience. Pai has a “bohemian” feel and has a big music scene. It’s a small town with a laid-back atmosphere, and that should provide a perfect place for a day or two of relaxation prior to going off on a trek. Plus, they have hot-springs and the Pai river is the best for white-water in Thailand. Also, I can travel up to Soppong which has lots of caves to explore.

http://www.1stopchiangmai.com/backpackers/pai/
http://www.1stopchiangmai.com/what_to_do/trekking1/

Quandrant 3: Andaman Sea; Phuket; Ko Phi Phi; Ka Sok National Park (One Week)

Travel: This will be a long travel day. I have to return to Chiang Mai from Pai, and then take a flight all the way from Chiang Mai in northern Thailand to Phuket, which has an airport.

Phuket – Phuket is the Miami Beach of Thailand. It’s wear all the rich tourists visit and is very well developed, or overdeveloped. Still, its supposed to have amazing beaches with tons of great watersports. They have tons of 5 star beach resorts, and great night-life etc. If I can find a way to use my points, I might relax in one of these resorts for a few days, but otherwise I might just make this a quick stopping point.

Ko Phi Phi – Ko Phi Phi is supposed to be absolutely beautiful with crystal clear water and limestone cliffs jutting out of the ocean. It isn't as remote as some of the other islands in Thailand, but its suppose to be one of the most beautiful. It was completely destroyed during the 2005 tsanumni, but it has since been rebuilt. They have great scuba diving, snorkeling, and cliff-jumping. Its an island about a 45 minute ferry away from Phuket. This is where they filmed the movie, “The Beach”

Kao Sok National Park – This is the oldest rain-forest in the world and is home to tigers, leopards, elephant, sun bears, poisonious snakes and frogs, gibbons, and tons of birds. A lot of the places to stay are “tree houses” where you stay in a room built high above in the canopy of the rain forrest.

Quadrant 4: Gulf of Thailand: Ko Tao and Ko Pha Ngan (One week)

Ko Tao: Ko Tao is one of the best places in the world to learn how to Scuba dive. There are apparently tons of dive shops that offer 4 day long PADI SCUBA certifications. While I could do the scuba course in Ko Phi Phi, it seems that Ko Tao is scuba diver paradise with some of the best dive spots in the country for beginners. There is even a chance to see the largest fish in the world, the Whale shark. So, I plan to do one of the 4 day PADI courses here, but of course, is is subject to change.

http://www.travelfish.org/location/thailand/southern_thailand/surat_thani/ko_tao

Ko Pha Ngan: Ko Pha Ngan is famed for the infamous “Full Moon Party” Every full-moon, thousands of travelers party all night long to trance/rave music. Its a huge party that lasts until the sun comes up in the morning. The full-moon is scheduled for December 24th, a perfect ending to my adventure. But Pha Ngan also has great beaches as well, so I plan on arriving a few days before the party for further relaxation. I then travel back to Bangkok on Christmas and leave the morning of the 26th.

http://fullmoonparty-thailand.com/

So, that is my initial plan. How cool does that month sound? I would book transportation in advance from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, from Chiang Mai to Phuket, and from Ko Pha Ngan back to Bangkok, and then allow myself to explore and otherwise alter my trip between those few legs of the journey. While the last 2 quandrants can really be combined into one since I can make the journey across the Thailand pensula, stopping at Kao Sok along the way, any time I want, I should probably consider booking rooms in Ko Tao and Ko Pha Ngan in advance because its going to be pretty busy when I am planning on being there. All in all, I think this represents a pretty damn good journey.

Blog Expectations

2007-06-03T11:59:00.000-07:00

Writing a blog seems almost a bit narcissist to me. Posting thoughts about my life, career, and future plans for anybody and everybody to read seems like I am making a big deal of myself and dramatizing my life, which I feel contradicts my normal personality. So, I suppose it feels slightly strange to consider the fact that links are being emailed across the internet and a link was added to my facebook profile so people who I am not often in touch with can catch up on my life through a few pages of written text on the internet, as opposed to the more traditional method of actual conversation.

Not to downplay my plans because it obviously is a pretty big deal for me to up and travel for a month, and possibly more later on, but the truth is that what I am doing, traveling on my own and blogging about it is not unique. There are millions of people like me between the ages of 24 and 30 who have similar thoughts about their career and their future, thousands of people who are actually doing something about it, and hundreds who are blogging about their experiences. I personally have been inspired by other blogs, specifically these entries: How to Ditch your Cubicle and Plan your Escape, 7 Reasons to go travelling solo , and some random guy’s photo-blog of his month long trip to Thailand.

All things considered, I honestly don’t think it’s that difficult to find a few months to a year during this part of your life, to be able to travel or do something like this. Finding the courage and motivation to actual do it is certainly more difficult.

And while I do believe that traveling on my own will probably lead me to become more outgoing, social and worldly, I don’t think I will come back with a completely different mindset or outlook on life. My expectation is not to “find myself,” as I am already entirely comfortable with who I am and where my life is going. My expectation is simply to live a little, experience new things, and be able to define myself by things other than my career. When I see a friend who I haven’t seen in a while, the only real update I can provide to them is about my career, what I am doing at work, how I am doing on the CPA exam, what my future plans of obtaining an MBA are, etc, etc, etc. It’s as if my career has become my identity, and I want that to change.

But, I digress, in the interest of keeping this blog on the lighter side, I rather move away from the “why” and focus more on the what and where. I have spent some time researching the country of Thailand in order to help me determine what parts of the country I want to visit, and what I want to do there. With a few exceptions, I don’t think that I plan on making many reservations in advance to allow for spontaneity, but at the same time, I want to be prepared to know where I want to go, what I want to do and where I want to stay in different cities, islands, and national parks throughout the country. So, to pump me up for my trip, look for my next several posts which will each deal with my preliminary thoughts on all the exotic locales through Thailand that I will be finding myself at in November/December.

And now its official!

2007-05-31T14:00:00.000-07:00

So, I’ve gone off and done it. I purchased for the grand total of $824.88 a roundtrip ticket to Bangkok on Cathay Pacific airlines. Departing on Monday November 26 from JFK (with a brief stopover in Hong Kong) and returning on Wednesday December 26. This is happening. I’m going to Thailand for a month.

And as I clicked on the “Confirm Purchase” button transforming my daydreams into reality, my excitement transformed into fear. What have I gone off and done, I think to myself. Why on earth would I want to go adventuring off into the unknown, into a completely foreign culture, without a single companion? Won’t I get lonely? Won’t I miss my office cubicle terribly, not to mention my auditing spreadsheets and online fantasy sports teams? What will I do and where will I go when I arrive? Will I find myself shyly hanging by myself nursing a beer in a crowded bar or will I find myself cart wheeling through the streets of Bangkok relishing in the freedom of independent travel greeting anybody and everybody with enthusiastic cries of "Sawatdee Khrab!!” – Which I just looked up to mean hello in Thai. How the hell do you pronounce that anyway? I am going to completely butcher their language and insult any Thai that I run into with my mispronunciations.

The one thing that I am attracted to yet at the same time weary of is the backpacking culture. Being an independent traveler, staying at hostels and being among like-minded individuals who love to travel and seek adventure is obviously a major draw to be in very social environments like hostels. Yet, I have absolutely no experience with them, so I’m not sure what exactly to expect. Unlike traditional backpackers whose goal is to travel for as long as possible for as little as possible and perhaps do things off the beaten path, my goals are slightly different. A month is a long time for somebody like me to take off from work and travel, but a relatively short amount of time for people who have no real commitments and simply life to travel.

Plus, I have more money to spend and thus have no problem doing all the activities I want to do. Take a $400 Scuba Diving Course, sure. Take 3 days to stay in an upscale all-inclusive resort for $500, possibly. Go on a rafting/trekking/elephant riding adventure? What’s $300? And I much rather spend $50 for a cheap flight from one part of the country to another than wasting an entire day on a bus. I rather spend $30 a night for my own room in a more “upscale” hostel with my air conditioning and a swimming pool, than $5 a night to sleep in an open air dorm room with 30 bunk beds. But anyway, you get the point. And yeah, I’m definitely planning on brining all my tech gear – ipod, digital camera, and possibly a laptop to be determined at a later date. There actually is a term for somebody like me: a flashpacker .

The purpose and intended audience of a blog can be three-hold. They are as followed:

A) Yourself (Diary/Journal) – Provide a personal and private reflection upon everyday life or a specific topic of interest for an individual who rather use the Internet as a sounding board than write down thoughts in a journal/diary.
B) Friends and Family (Email) – Instead of sending mass emails, use a blog to keep your friends and family up to date on your adventures or latest news.
C) General Public (Website) – Attempt to build as large a readership as possible by blogging about things that may be of everyday interest to people other than those who know you.

At this point, this blog is looking like Option #B (Hi Mom!!!), but if I really wanted to attempt to branch out to a wider audience than friends and family, then I could attempt to build readership by providing travel tips and advice to the mid twenty to early thirty sect who qualifies as a “flash-packer” and has the extra money to spend, is more established in their life than the 18 to 21 year old backpacker, yet still seeks adventure and has the off the beaten path mindset. Could be interesting; and who knows, maybe I can actual inspire some other people sitting in a cube somewhere watching the last few years of their youth slip away to do something out of the ordinary like temporarily abandon their jobs, put their career on hold, and live a little for a change.

To the Land of Smiles

2007-05-29T13:48:00.000-07:00

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..

The Plan

2007-05-27T10:33:00.000-07:00

So, I’m reading the book, “The Alchemist” which tells the tale of a shepherd boy who dreams of travel. Despite multiple opportunities to settle down with a good job, money, a girl, he continues his Personal Legend to travel to the great Pyramids of Egypt. And upon purchasing the book, I sat down at the Sculpture garden on the mall amongst the throngs of tourists descending upon DC over Memorial Day weekend. I read the book surrounded by individuals from all over the US, from all over the world, who were traveling and experiencing things foreign to them. So, not only am I reading possibly the greatest travel-inspiring book of all time, but I’m reading the book amidst people who are doing just that – a perfect storm of motivation.

I don’t necessary believe that traveling the world would be a life altering experience. I don’t think it would change who I am or who I become. Bottom-line is that I am going to a successful business executive. I’ll have a great family, work hard, and end up as another boring mindless individual in the upper middle class doing pretty much the same thing as the people around me. But before I get there, I need to travel and explore. I’m seeking the experience and thrill of discovering the unknown, with absolutely no pressures of my world at home or those who know me.. Where I can be free to do as I want and go where I want when I want. I can stay at any destination for as short or as long as I want and move on to the next destination. That type of freedom excites me more than anything…

At this point, I have made up my mind that I am going to travel. So, it brings up the question of how and when I get away. As much as I desire to escape mundane office life and the world of auditing, I can’t just get up and leave. I can’t just quit my job and go off traveling with no job or school or path waiting for me upon my return. As much as I desire to travel and explore, it has to be well-planned and consider the implications of the real-world. I have too much loyalty to my career and my future than to just give a big FU to my boss and worry about a new job when I return.

Here are my options:

OPTION #1:

Use vacation time and/or unpaid leave from my job. IE – Return to the same job and same cube once I return from adventure.

PROS

-Minimum “interruption” in career

-Continue to get paid while traveling by using “Paid Time Off”

-Return to work with hopefully more motivation than I currently have

CONS

-Short time limit – Couldn’t travel for longer than a month

-Have to return to the same boring job

-Unsure if only a month away would really be long enough – Even a month is more like an extended vacation than the real travel journey that I seek

-Won’t be able to really go and do anything I want since I am limited by having to return in a month – Could probably only visit one or two countries in a single part of the world

Of course, taking a month off and traveling is certainly better than nothing, and it can almost act as a test run. While continuing to get paid while traveling and having my same job waiting for me, I can discover and experiment what traveling is really like and help me prepare for a real journey without time limits later down the line.

OPTION #2

Take time between my current job and either a new job or a return to school to travel for several months. IE – quit my job but already have a plan for what I am going to do upon my return from travels

PROS

-Be able to travel for a longer period of time (3 to 6 months)

-Not interrupt my life dramatically as I would be all set up to return to a new job or opportunity

-Be able to see an entire continent (ie do South American or Australia) and be able to stay away longer

CONS

-Still have a set time I need to return to my life

-I couldn’t travel the entire globe – 3 to 6 months still isn’t enough time for a trip around the entire globe

This is probably my best option. It gives me enough time to travel to really see what is out there, without really feeling like a tourist or vacationer. Plus, I have something at home waiting for me.

OPTION #3

Quit my job without any plans to return or no job or school or opportunity upon my return

PROS

-Unlimited time. Absolutely nothing at home that forces me to return when I am not ready

-Would truly be the experience that I am seeking – can go everywhere and anywhere

-Could get a ticket around the world

CONS

-Sense of anxiety exists since I truly have no set path at home. Maybe I would not feel as free to stay as long as I want because I know I have to return and figure out exactly what I am going to do when I return.

-No source of income. Need a lot more savings and money could run out.

As enticing as this option seems, it’s the least practical. I need the security of having something at home so I can easily get back on my highway when I return. The last thing I want is to travel only to return and have all the entrance ramps blocked.

THE DECISION

The truth is that I am already have a plan for travel before I even started this blog. My plan fits into my future plans and allows me a total of 5 months to travel within the next year. Here it is in detail:

-Schedule off for the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas of 2007
-Plan a month long adventure in a single country for this time period (which has already been chosen and to be revealed in my next post)
-Between now and my November/December adventure, take the GMAT, and apply for MBA programs which would begin in September 2008.
-Return from my one month adventurer and complete busy season (February through April) at my current job. Go out on a good note after completing another busy season.
-Decide on an MBA program and accept an offer to begin in September 2008.
-Quit my job and take off between May and August of 2008 to travel.
-Return to begin my MBA program and have successfully explored and adventured.

Obviously this plan allows for plenty of time for adventure but also allows me to not venture too far away from my path. Plus, I return to school and not the world of accounting, which makes me happier.

This does require a lot of advance planning between now and Thanksgiving. I need to have completely submitted all my applications to MBA programs. So I have to take my GMATs, get my scores, get letters of recommendations, write an essay/personal statement, and get everything submitted prior to Thanksgiving. That and get licensed as a CPA – which still requires more paperwork and such. Still, I get plenty of time off to explore, and return to an MBA program and not a return to accounting. So, from here on out, this blog will serve to document the planning, brainstorming, and ultimate realization of this plan. And once I travel, it will be the journal detailing all of my adventures and explorations…

Next Exit to Adventure

2007-05-23T14:05:00.000-07:00

This Friday, I take my 4th and final section of the CPA exam. Once I pass this final test, I will be a Certified Public Accountant. Jeremy Dommu, CPA. It has a nice ring to it. And this will be the crowning achievement of my professional life to date. It will be a huge accomplishment and something I will be very proud of. It will summate all that I have done in the past 3 years and validate all the time and effort I have put in to accounting both in and out of work.

And it should be another stepping stone to success. Another mile marker on the high-way to the upper middle class. Just one more signal that I am going in the right direction. I can become a partner in my firm, I can open up my own practice, I can use this title as leverage to get into a top MBA program, to be a CFO, to work my way through a corporation to the top. I do have a plan, I do have a vision, and my future is bright. But the problem isn’t where I am going, what I want to ultimately do, or how I am going to get there. To most, that is the hard part. But for me, my future is as clear as ocean that I am not currently in.

I can envision where I will be in 5, 10, 20 years. And I like that vision. I want that vision. But, I’m not in a rush to get there. I need to exit my current path and take a break. To see and experience the world while I am still young, still single, and still can. Each day, each month, each year that passes, it will become harder and harder, if not impossible to travel, to explore, to see the world. To do all of the things that and experiences that I have always wanted to do.

Life isn’t a race to the finish. The future isn’t now. The present is now. I have always considered myself somebody who lives for the present, who doesn’t take life too seriously and who is always up for an adventure. But how can you live for the present and explore when it has always been for the past 3 years about getting from A to B to C?

You can call it a quarter life crisis because that is exactly what it is. But I don’t think there is anything wrong with taking a break, taking a year off, seeing the world in a way that I want to see it. On my path as an accountant, there will be future opportunities to take a week or two long vacation to any destination in the world. But that doesn’t appeal to me as much as having unlimited time to go wherever I want, stay as long as I want, and do whatever I want when I’m there. And I have to do this soon. Its now or never. There aren't going to be many opportunities left.

So, that is the purpose of this blog. To devise an escape plan. To execute it and take a break from responsibility, a break from being an adult, and a break from speeding down the highway towards the upper middle class. – To travel the world, to enjoy my life and to document my escape and everything that happens thereafter. Today, I sit in an office cube no longer dreaming about moving down the hall to the corner office, the fancy car, the Mc-Mansion, and the trophy wife. Today, I dream about scuba diving in Thailand, bungee jumping in New Zealand, and snow-mobiling in Chile.

I’m taking the next exit to adventure.

UPPER MIDDLE CLASS HIGHWAY

2007-05-22T11:02:00.000-07:00

I’m on a highway cruising down the express lane with the pedal to the metal heading in the direction of the upper middle class. I got a full tank of gas, a sandwich, some water, a radar detector and an EZ Pass. There is no stopping me. I’m not taking any breaks, I refuse to slow-down, and my goal is to get to the promised lands of mortgage payments, retirement accounts, medical insurance, golf courses, wife, babies, family vacations, college savings, swimming pools, backyard BBQs, college tours, empty nesting, retirement, nursing homes, and death as quickly as possible.

I got on the highway 7 years ago when I first went to college. Back then, I drove pretty slowly and took a lot of breaks. I got off the highway to look around and check out my surroundings. I met a lot of cool people, learned about myself, and basically just had a lot of fun. But, I knew the direction I was heading in, so I never ventured too far away from the high-way. I got on the high-way for accounting courses, internships, career seminars, and always made sure that I was progressing. I got off the highway to go on Spring Break, join a fraternity, chase some girls, party it up … But never for an extended period of time. Going abroad during college would set me back too far… Even taking a summer to travel around was too much of a sacrifice….

And from the day I graduated, I never looked back… I zoomed right past the first exit I saw – the summer after college graduation… Instead, I started working right away for the largest accounting firm in the world… After 2 and a half years there, including an early promotion, total raises of 50% of my starting salary, bonuses, and unused vacation time of roughly 4 weeks… I quit to join a new firm…. And there was another exit (the time between jobs)… and again, I drove right past it…I started at the new job literally the very next week…

And so it goes, onward and upwards… slaving for the man, doing the best I could, taking the road most traveled… There is no looking back, there is no slowing down…I’m 25 years old and this is my life… This is the rat race… The exits are getting fewer and further between… Can I get off? Will I get off? Should I get off?