Thailand

Someone asked me this week if I could remember where I was on that particular day two years ago and it came to me so vividly. How could it not? Two years ago on this day, I was in Thailand alone doing one of the bravest things I've ever done in my life. I chose to travel to a place I knew very little about all my myself because I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone and experience life in a completely different way, and boy did I!

I thought about it carefully and worried about whether or not it was a good use of my funds (hi, I was unemployed at the time). Booking my flight was a complete leap of faith. It was scary and nerve-wrecking, and also incredibly exhilarating! And that was just the booking part of the trip.

I traveled all around the country with a desire to dive deep into their culture. I visited temples, ate weird sausage from a street vendor, kayaked through caves, fed elephants, visited WWII POW grave sites near River Kwai, backpacked 45km through the northern mountains, slept in local families' homes, camped on a private beach with a 5 foot lizarddragonthing, swam in crystal blue waters, stared down giant spiders until I finally fell asleep, learned how to cook Thai food, and hiked up a seven layer waterfall. Most of that trip was uncomfortable and terrifying, but that was the point! It was incredible. The best gift I could have given myself.

This courageous adventure gave me a lifetime of sweet memories and the guts to say yes to adventure more often. I'm a middle child in family with four kids and lots of cousins. I'm a person who has always had a lively social life. And I had been living with someone for all of my adult life up to that point. I don't do alone. The thought of being alone and taking on something so big independently was a major step for me. And I don't regret it one bit. Take that leap of faith and go get yourself some adventure, friend!