Maybe I did run away. Maybe things just got too hard for me that I had no choice but to run away. I had to take that leap of fate. I had to do the unthinkable and leave my family. To go with a virtual stranger on an unknown adventure. I do however, know full well, when I return it is all still going to be there. My hope is that I am now in a better place so that I can begin to rebuild my new life. I am on my way back. I can not wait to see Marc and Ari when I get home. I wish the trip wasn’t as long as it is. 16 hours…. I just took off from Bangkok and am en route to Hong Kong. Two and a half hours this leg. Then a two and a half hour layover there, and finally an 11 hour flight to SFO. Ugh. So long. I didn’t plan on sharing this trip with the world. It’s not me to put my emotions out there. It felt right. It felt good. Most, if not all of my posts were just free thoughts I wrote down. I would start to write them on my phone not knowing what I would write, and it would all just pour out of me. So what you have read is real. It is raw. It has left me vulnerable. But I did that to myself.
Saying goodbye was so incredibly hard. So hard. Bruises, crossing crocodile filled rivers, hiking barefoot over jagged rocks, leaches, mud, scrapes, million hour hikes up stairs and hills each way, and even Bangkok hair (levels of humidity that are just not compatible with life will do that to your hair) were ALL worth it. I wouldn’t trade one second of this adventure. Even our impasse. All worth it. Worth learning that I can do this. Worth learning what it means to be a true friend. I didn’t want to leave. Nope. Not at all. Yet I can’t wait to get back to my family. I thought about them a lot on this trip. I spoke about them a lot. Yet this trip wasn’t for them. They couldn’t have been here with me. This was for me and me alone. Mine to make it whatever it was supposed to be.
I tried my best to express my gratitude and all that was done to make this happen. I will be forever thankful for such a special person to have entered into my life. There is a reason for everything I believe, and I hope to be able to use what I have learned moving forward. For real. I know I can never repay Sakai for all he has done. I also know that I don’t have to. I know I have done so much for him too. Our on going friendship is the best payment to each other. I look forward to many years of traveling with him. The two of us exploring unknown lands. Even if he’s been to the locations we choose, as he’s been almost everywhere in the world. That’s ok. We will forever be learning together on our adventures.
No, this wasn’t an Eat, Pray, Love kind of trip. Nor was it an Eat Shit and Die kind of trip. The food was beyond amazing and I am still here to tell you all about it. I had no idea what “kind” of trip it was going to end up being, and in my wildest dreams, I could never imagine that it would be what it was. I cannot wait to experience traveling with Sakai with the addition of Marc, and Ari …Just 9 weeks and away we go! Almost seven weeks of the adventure of our lives! ALL of our lives. He may have planned it. He may know the areas. However, we all have so much to teach each other. Things you can only learn when you travel as we will. It can be intense at times. But that is what makes you stronger. And believe me when I say 3 outfits! One on, one off, one in the wash. It’s really all you need. I know. I just did it. (So happy my bag will be so much lighter then).
There is one thing I could have done with out…. I could have done without the bathrooms in Thailand. But that’s another story. And I was told that they are even worse in Vietnam. So looking forward to that. Also looking forward to sharing our adventure with you all.
One on, one off, one in the wash... 