Day 1 in Bangkok

The first leg of my approximate 24hr journey from Montreal to Bangkok went smoothly enough; the flight to YVR was on time at 6pm, the layover in the swanky international section was pleasant and non-stressful (seriously I do not remember it being so incredibly fancy - that fish tank and the new year decorations?!), and the final giant flight left on time at 22h45 Vancouver time to arrive on the 15th at around 5h30am. I lost a day going into the future! 

During the super long flight I was seated next to a UVIC researcher flying out for a conference on reproductive rights (kinda wish I got her details), and a guy from Whitehorse visiting Thailand for the first time with his gf. All three of us had never been to Bangkok before. The atmosphere in the flight was interesting - a lot of young people getting advice from random men on the plane, being told what to avoid and what to see. I eavesdropped a little before the Gravol kicked in and spent the next 16yrs drifting between reading and trying to doze. I could feel my ankles swell and my neck get sore, but was too drugged to walk laps.

Bangkok airport was muggy but enormous and well-organized. I found a SIM card before security so immediately had unlimited wifi on my phone for 30d for 44CAD which was insane. Being able to check in with people from home reassured me while waiting in line to get through immigration, which involved almost zero questions and some fingerprints. No one asked for proof of onward journey which I hope will remain a theme.

My first mission was to get food at this airport food court I had read about, freshen up, adjust the backpack, and figure out the transport situation. Oh and exchange money. The only learning experience I had to deal with was the food court - turns out you have to go buy a little card with money on it, then use that to buy stuff in the food court, then return the card for your change when you go. Cash and card sound the same with an accent so I initially went to get cash after showing my card and getting a no, brought some back only to find out no, it was card, and no, not credit card... I eventually ate some incredibly cheap and surprisingly non-spicy food.

After shoving literally everything into my main backpack (thank god it all fits), I figured out the straightforward metro system which involves tokens and cards which you keep during your passage, dropping them off to exit in the same turnstiles. It appears you pay based on how far you are going so each trip costs a slightly different amount. Everything so far was easy to figure out. The metro took almost 2 hours but it was all above ground (they even call it a skytrain as well!) so I could take in the city. The BTS was more air conditioned than the rail from the airport which made me prefer that leg of the journey. I forced myself to stand the entire time since I had sat for 16hrs, which did earn protests from my knees (weight from backpack likely did not help - I have to build my stamina for that again!). 

I made it to my host's area of town (near On Nut station) with some time to spare, so found an iced strawberry tea and the 7-11 where I could get shampoo. The montreal airport had taken my shampoo, conditioner, sunscreen, and body wash since I had too many liquids. With this delay I had made it to 9am so I could get into my first host's place!

I was greeted in a beautiful lobby and was able to chill out and wash my face and teeth which felt amazing. We got to know each other for a while, then made a little plan for my first small excursion. He recommended keeping it local today since I had travelled so long and it was super hot out, so I set out with a few things in mind: get the requisite thai elephant pants, get a massage, eat noodles, find sunscreen, visit a small local temple area and the surrounding malls, and pick up something to eat for the two of us on the way back.

The city itself is busy but not overwhelming at all. There are, however, an overwhelming amount of places to eat and most of the food was completely new to me. So cheap and so much potential, I didn't know where to start. I went with Yuto's recommendation of a noodle shop in a shopping centre, walking through a street full of massage buildings to get there. I ended up speaking to a couple people named Jack and Ben at the noodle shop - one was a local with a building he was looking to sell or rent out, the other LA based seemingly in the commercial\movie industry who visits Bangkok 3-4x a year and has a condo in the city. They gave me further recommendations in general and reminded me how easy it was for me to meet people when I am sitting around by myself in a random place. It was reassuring and felt like an appropriate initial travel experience. I found the sunscreen (with surprising difficulty), rejected the pants in the shopping centre, and went up to the temple area and walked around. 

It was incredibly hot - 35C - so even my camera had it's muggy effect going on and the photos of the temple complex were all affected. I was too uncomfortable with the idea of taking off my shoes to go into any of the buildings since it seemed it was for those wanting to express their religion and I was not going to do that (thus what business do I have going in). Funny how I have no quams about entering a church even when I have no intention to practice Christianity.

I began to overheat walking on a sidewalk with about 1000 electrical wires just above my head, so had to escape to a couple thrift stores with AC to cool down. I was extra sweaty but wanted a massage anyway, so went in a random spot and ended up having a foot massage for an hour which worked out perfect. No one getting offended by my sweaty back, feet were washed by the masseuse, and the massage involved everything from the thigh down which is what I needed the most anyhow due to being cramped in a plane with throbbing ankles and bent knees. I was in HEAVEN for about 10 bucks despite there being some pain (I don't mind if it hurts to some degree). 

I left floating and happy - found the perfect pants on the same street and boom - almost my whole list of stuff to do was done smoothly. I was proud about not collapsing, and even the people at the noodle place had commented on how fresh I seemed despite what I had just done. Having internet and maps was so handy, so I ended up at what seemed like a version of walmart or tesco called lotus on my search for dinner. I found some cute dessert for us and came back to the apartment (I was given a spare keycard which is amazing). 

We watched some anime (spy x hunter, mashle - loved both) and Japanese music videos - talked more then started smoking joints. This is where it began to hit me - I had not laid down in maybe 36 hours and now I was starting to notice. I did my best to stay awake to a reasonable time but was on the floor on my little mattress by 930pm. I woke up once and smoked more around 11-12, but this ended up making me sleep less soundly so now I know not to do that. I am so pleased marijuana is legal here!

Why I moved to Montreal

I moved to Montreal on July 2nd, 2012. It's been just over a year now, and for the first time since I left home in January of 2009 I have stayed in the same apartment for longer than six months. That makes for five years of change, until now. I lasted a year and a month in Vancouver after my return home from Berlin (plus two months in Langley to decompress and get sorted), but at the end of this month I will have been in Montreal for the same amount of time - a year and a month.

I am restless. There are still so many places I have not seen that I would really like to see! I'm 27 now, and feeling it. There's pressure to keep traveling before I am not able to get visas in certain countries. At the same time I am constantly exhausted, and I have a kitty cat now that I am responsible for during her next 10 years or more. I doubt she will want to live out of a backpack too. This is a massive change. I imagine it's like having a kid, but way cuter and with easier poop cleanup.

how can you say no to this face?

Since returning to Vancouver, I have been shot back into real life. I went back to my car, my normal job, my old friends. I was genuinely impressed with how beautiful British Columbia was, after having been to literally over a hundred cities I could say that it was by far the most beautiful in terms of location. I even cried on the Sea to Sky highway driving out to visit a friend (because of the landscape, not because of traffic!). It was like seeing the province with new eyes, and I felt like I could really appreciate it in a way I wasn't able to without leaving for as long as I did. I was ready to replenish my bank accounts and enjoy a period of nesting.

Unfortunately, I didn't nest very well. While I was extremely happy to see people I consider close friends, I was not accustomed to being social in the same context anymore. On the road, I was very open to meeting anyone, I was happy to chat with strangers, and since everyone was new I was not interested in impressing anyone, nor was I aware of any social hierarchy. There was a desire to genuinely communicate since I was either seen as exotic when I met locals, or a fellow traveler if I met others on the road. In fact, out of my friends in Berlin during my year there, I think I met two people that actually grew up in Berlin. We were all orphans, and I wanted to feel closeness, so I put myself out there. I also wasn't working very much, and I had savings, so I was up for just about anything.

That loneliness-preventing openness was not how I used to function back home though. In Vancouver I had no desire to connect with strangers, I wanted to reconnect with my long lost friends. I found myself uninterested in talking to strangers on the street, or in public areas such as coffee shops, bars, or public transport. This had happened on occasion in Berlin as well but it was usually language-based, and I had felt guilty and missed the times when I could just interject in a random conversation. Now faced with the opportunity, I often put on my headphones and got annoyed if anyone tried to invade into my life. I became stressed about money, and stressed about my living situation. I became stressed about schoolwork, since I had started online studies to get a bachelor's in health science. Since I was following the normal life regiment, I became stressed about relationships or lack thereof.  I felt like all the good things I had gained from traveling in regards to personality and life outlook were being reversed. Then my ex-partner from Germany came to Vancouver four months after I left Berlin, and he confirmed that I had indeed changed a lot. I felt sick.

I should mention that I did have a lot of good times in Vancouver as well. I had missed my close friends, and my reaction to re-connecting was similar to my reaction to the landscape: deeper appreciation. I grew my first little herb garden:

 I also went to Tofino with my family, and I tried to surf for the first time. That was something I had always wanted to try, so that was a life check-mark for me! Here I am about to fall, but the photo makes it look like I am doing something awesome (probably since I am surfing, which is awesome!).

I climbed the chief for the first time too, as shown below. I went to my favourite hot springs with my sister, and hung out at Wreck Beach. I danced with friends at bars, I cycled around the city, I did yoga, and I took a Pilates mat instructor course. The massage therapy clinic I worked at was perfect, and friends took me on the backs of their motorcycles and drove around.

I also did a bit of traveling. I gave myself a reading break in Mexico, but this time I traveled differently than normal. This time I was going to get away from distractions in Vancouver, and I wanted nothing but sun and a lounge chair to work on my chemistry and psychology courses. I didn't have time to experience the city, or absorb where I was. Like every apathetic sun-seeking Canadian does, I flew to Mexico with a super cheap last minute deal. I ended up in Mazatlan, and met a lovely newlywed couple on the plane that ended up inviting me to their penthouse condo for dinner. It had been given to them for two weeks, although normally it would cost something crazy like $5000 a week to rent. I was in partial disbelief that I was even there. Here I am pointing to where my hotel was. It was walking distance, and I could walk back along the beach until high tide.

Here is the sunset out of their window.

 
Another international journey was to New York and Boston during the Occupy movement. I had booked the ticket before the protests began, then hoped they would still be happening by the time I got there. It turned out, I was there for the largest of all the protests, when it went global in mid-October. I had stayed a night in Cape Cod, then a few nights in Hudson with my friend Otto's family beforehand. Friends of his family had a place in Brooklyn, and they were nice enough to give Otto and I keys for our stay in New York City. Turns out, it was an entire two floor townhouse in Park Slope. I can only imagine how much that costs. It was kind of strange at first, sleeping in luxury after 12 hours of protesting about wealth equality, but we weren't paying for it so really it was wealth dispersal. We ended up standing next to Michael Moore during the protests at one point. I was impressed how organized it was, and how diverse the demographic was. There were students of course, but a surprising amount of the aging population. Listening and participating in the park speeches was exhilarating, as everyone from church groups to random influential members of society visited to pay their respects and encourage everyone. Some of the speeches were so beautiful it was hard not to choke up while yelling it out to the rest of the crowd (human microphone). The excitement continued when we got in to see the Daily Show with Jon Stewart the Monday after. Otto and I watched the Daily Show together in Berlin since we were frequently the only people in our respective WGs that understood it's hilarity and significance. Just seeing the Daily Show live was already elating enough, but we ended up seeing it on the same day that Earth: the Book came out on paperback, so we ended up getting a free copy! I stopped in Boston for the day before catching my flight back, so I managed to see Occupy Boston as well, plus I had a beer at Norm's spot in the Cheers bar.

I returned to Vancouver's Occupy and was immediately disappointed. Someone was yelling about legalizing pot into a microphone, which had nothing to do with the movement. I lost interest. Winter came, and with that depression. My life became stagnant as all I did was work or schoolwork, and I was still feeling "ruined" by my reaction to normal North American life. I felt the urge to do some more things that I had always wanted to do. Since I was in Canada, I looked for ways I could exploit that fact to self-improve in a facet I wanted badly... language skills. I found the Explore program, where you learn French for a month for free at a University (provided you are a full time student). I was accepted at the University of Montreal, which had felt closer to Europe during my first visit there in 2009. It seemed like the perfect place to spend a summer, so I decided to make a trip of it. I left everything behind except what I would need for the summer, packed my car, and took a full month driving across Canada alone.