Bangkok, Thailand

Wow, this trip has been jam-packed so far. A bit too much I am realizing. Before I get into how I am feeling today, let me back track and fill you in on what I have been up to. Day 1 (Sept. 17) I landed in Bangkok after a semi-uneventful 28 hour flight from Chicago. I managed to get out of the airport within an hour and a half, and caught a bus to my hostel. The ride was an eye opening introduction to this amazing city. Crazy traffic, beautiful old buildings next to 21 century skyscrapers with a tin roof slum around the corner. Dingy and colorful at the same time. Everything is always moving around here. The nights are when everything really heats up, but it is pretty fast paced during the day as well. Everyone I have met here in Thailand has been so helpful...admittedly most are trying to sell me something, but helpful none the less. Once I got to my hostel, this incredible little place in the heart of the city, I dropped my bags off and grabbed breakfast. I had intended to eat and then sleep for a few hours, but I struck up a conversation with the fellow sitting next to me at the breakfast table and next thing I knew we were both headed toward the Sky Train to hit up the mall to buy me a cell phone. David, who is from California and has been in Thailand the past 2 months, helped me get my travel legs under me and showed me the ins and outs of Bangkok. After buying my phone, we decided to head to Chinatown which involved taking the River Taxi (very cool).


Chinatown is a whole different type of amazing. One stall after another filled with so many neat things. Statues, amulets, silks, paintings, food, books, cloths...you name it, it is here. Skinny little walkways wind around block after block of sellers, with a few temples thrown into the mix.


After Chinatown we headed to Kaw San Road, the stereotypical backpacker local in Bangkok. It was interesting, and I ended up spending a night there after a few days, but for the most part I didn't like it. Most of the travelers spent all there time on this pretty tiny street, only interacting with other travelers and never really getting to see what Bangkok is really like. Cheap food, cloths and accommodations, plus lots of English books for sale are the only reasons to go. This pretty much finished up my fist day in Thailand. We headed back to the hostel and I was only going to take a nap and then met back up with David to smoke Hookah, but I crashed and burned around 6pm and didn't wake up until 9 hours later (around 3am). I managed to fall back asleep and got a good 13 hours of sleep! =]

Bus Trip From Hell

Friday, September 11 at 7am I left Austin, TX via Greyhound, headed for Bloomington, IN. It was a grueling bus ride with several layovers and quite a few eye-opening interactions with some interesting folks. I left Texas with a disjointed feeling of not knowing why I was so hell bent on traveling to SE Asia and wondering if the choices I had made in the past year were the right ones. One year ago I left what most of my friends are currently struggling to find. A good job that payed fairly decent, I never had to worry about putting food in my mouth or a roof over my head. A really good guy that I had established a 9.5 year relationship with. Four amazing “kids”, two cats and two dogs, that are some of the best pets a person could ask for. The problem was that individual components of my life made me happy, but the sum total did not and I felt like I had no clue who I was or what I wanted out of life.

As I rode out of Austin I was feeling quite lost and wondering just how screwed up I had made my life. Then I met Debbie in Louisville, the recovering meth addict whose daughter is in jail for dealing, and whose son is with her abusive ex-husband. Jose in Memphis, who has been traveling all over the states for the past 11 years following the harvest season and trying to make enough money to feed himself and send some home to his family. The 5 random guys I was woken up from a nap by them talking about their jail time, various drugs they love and how messed up their lives are and they can't understand why. The fellow at the Indianapolis terminal that was headed to Mexico so he could avoid being arrested and dying in jail from Hepatitis. Listening to their stories has had an interesting affect on me. I realiz how amazing my life has been so far, and how amazing it will continue to be. I may not know what the hell I am doing, or what I am looking for, but I have the opportunity to go out into the world and look for it. And somehow, in a bizarre way, they made me feel better about the decisions I have made about this trip.

My long and tiring bus ride finally ended in Terra Haute, since this was the closest town to Bloomington that I could book a bus ticket to. The local nickname “Armpit of Indiana” is not far off the mark. The greyhound terminal was a barn converted into a store where passengers were dropped off. There was no hope of finding a ride to Bloomington from here, so I looked in the local phone book and found a simple map of the area. Highway 46 ran straight to Bloomington, and I could get to 46 by traveling north on Highway 70 for roughly 10 miles. The sole attendant at this “terminal” told me that 70 was about a mile South. So I threw my pack on my back and started walking. I finally reached 70, and was told my a local fellow I met under the overpass that if I followed Margaret Street east for a few miles I would come to a truck stop on 46 and probably have an easier time finding a ride than hitching on 70. So I back tracked a bit and started walking down Margaret Street. 3 miles later, with most of the time with my thumb out, I stopped off in a gas station to refill my water bottle and ask exactly how far 46 was, since the bridge dweller had told me it was only “a few miles”. The kindly attendant told me I was looking at roughly 5 more miles. Then a wonderful lady that was paying for gas asked where I was headed and if I was walking there. She and her husband offered to give me a lift to highway 46, and told me that if there weren't headed to Indianapolis for their mother's 80^th birthday, they would drive me to Bloomington. I love nice people! A short air conditioned ride later, including an extremely kind-hearted conversation with the couple involving trying to think of anyone they know that would take me to Bloomington, I was dropped off at the truck stop on Highway 46.

I then spent an hour trying to procure a ride, until finally a truck driver asked where I was headed and was going in the same direction. Jerry had a rig with several cars he was actually hauling down to Texas, one being a beautiful '69, hot pink hotrod he had just bought for himself. After a bit of fussing around, Jerry finally decided that he really didn't need to take his entire rig to Bloomington because he was planning to stay the night in Terra Haute, but he would take me there any way. So he pulled his personal truck (not the hotrod) off his rig and drove me into Bloomington, even thought it was completely out of his way. I finally met up with Vanessa at the local mall where Jerry dropped me off around 7pm, thus ending my marathon 31 hour journey.

Wine & Music Festival in Kerrville

I am back in Austin after a wonderful 5 1/2 days at the Kerrville Wine & Music Festival. What an experience! It continues to amaze me how much fun, stress, emotional overload, amazing people, close friends and great music can be compressed into one festival. I worked my ass off and I played my heart out, and I loved every single minute of it. I met some amazing new friends and was able to reconnect with a ton of old ones. It is really quite difficult to try and record everything that happened, so I will give the highlights.

Wednesday afternoon Michael Adams and I headed West out of Austin - destination: Kerrville.

"Welcome Home"
One of my favorite things out at Quiet Valley Ranch is the feeling, and encouraged belief that the ranch is your home. Everywhere you go, from beginning to end, from close friends to utter strangers, you hear "Welcome Home". This greeting is usually accompanied by a wonderful, unrestricted, totally heartfelt hug. There is nothing like it.

"Thursday Afternoon River Trip”
After a long hard day of toiling in the sun and sweating my ass off trying to get the ranch ready for the festival a group of us headed down the road for a river trip. Layton, Michael and Raina hopped in a car, Steve and I hopped on his bike and we all set out for a little known spot in Center Point. This place was perfect: a wide, lazy section of the river with a rope swing and good paces to sit on the shore. We all had a blast and were able to cool off and reward ourselves for a hard days work.

“Campground Security"
This was my second fest ever and I was promoted to a Second for Campground Security. I am now equal to Mustang! Craziness. My first shift as a Second was absolutely wonderful. I had fun managing my crew, helped out a group of Kerr-virgins discover what fest is all about and how being on staff just makes it that much better, and still had the opportunities to interact with the festival goers and hang out in camps and make new friends. I love this place so much.

“Everything Else”
There were so many little, amazing moments during the fest that helped make it a special weekend. Running around transferring my stuff to Mustang's tent in camp Ohm Sweet Ohm when rain threatened, and then running around some more getting Michael's stuff into Cara's tent since he was on shift. Meeting Shamus and getting the chance to hang out and get to know him (plus the sweet bracelet he bought me hasn't left my wrist yet!). Drinking home-brewed sake with Secret Steve. Enjoying a refreshing cup of Snake Juice at Rebel Kitchen with Pops and Hillbilly, Scott and Mike, and many others. Staff party Sunday night and dancing until a dropped to the drum circle. There are so many more that should be included here, but I just don't have the time.

Good Bye College Station...Hello World

My journey has officially started. The last few weeks have been a crazy, hectic combination of frantic packing, planning, waiting, working, laughing, crying, stress, joy impatience and fear. I have hugged everyone good bye, heard all the advice everyone could think of, and truly enjoyed the realization of how many lives I have touched and how many people I have impacted. It really astounds me.
Now I start figuring out what it is like to be a vagabond. No phone. No car. No place to call my own. A 20 lb. pack on my back with everything I hope to need for the next 8 months. All I can say so far is that it is different...very, very different. I feel like I am in a sort of limbo. I have left home, but I am not in SE Asia yet. I realize I have started this incredible journey, but nothing really seams all that different. I guess I was expecting this drastic internal change. I new way of looking at the world. Which I realize is completely ridiculous, but I guess I still thought there would be something profound. I just feel like me, doing my thing and carrying on.
There have been brief moments of feeling intensely overwhelmed, but there have also been moments of extreme excitement that can only be expressed though an explosive squeal that typically catches those I am around by complete surprise. I am so pleased to be finally on my trip, not just planning the trip.
And I realize, as I am re-reading what I have already posted that I really have no clue. =] I am happy, I am pleased, I am excited, and I still have a lot to figure out!! So my friends, I will endeavor to gather my thoughts, compose my feelings and write some more later when I have something that does not contradict itself.

at the start...

In the beginning there was much confusion and uncertainty...and it was slightly overwhelming.

I have finally realized I need to knuckle down and start thinking about the nitty-gritty details of this adventure. Passports, transportation, places, people...all the how tos and what tos and where tos and want tos. I think what keeps holding me back is: 1) it is all so overwhelmingly daunting! 2) I still feel like a have a ton of time to figure all this out. and 3) the whole idea behind this journey is the desire to be free - and this is a big sticking point for me. I want to cut ties with the life style I have currently been living and set out on the road for who know what at who knows where. I want to be a vagabond...a nomad...exploring the world without a timetable or plan. I want to hitchhike and depend on the kindness of others. I want to wake up somewhere and wonder what in the world could happen to me today. I want to experience the true freedom of wandering. And I hope that through this unanchored existence, I can absorb the life, the culture, the people around me...be engulfed in their lives and see the world through their eyes. I want to make meaningful connections with individuals from all walks of life, all over the world. I want to go to Indonesia, and Africa, and the Middle East in part because it is "unsafe". I want to push the boundaries and open other's eyes to the beauty of humankind and show everyone that we are all the same on some level. I want to let go of the luxuries I have grown up with so I can better appreciate what I have been given. I want to prove to the world that money does not make you happy...people, friendships, love, desires, dreams...these are what make life rich.