I have eluded to a surprise guest that is joining my trip for 10 days. Her name is Tina, she is from Texas, and she is quite amazing! The story goes like this… Last summer I met a girl in New Orleans while there on a bachelor party. She was from Dallas and we had some pretty solid chats over drinks, and got to learn alot about each other. The tough ordeal I had been going through with my grief and loss impacted her, and we stayed friends after the trip. Fast forward to February while I’m traveling and she tags Tina on a facebook post, saying “Steve, meet Tina”. Ok, I’m always up for meeting new peeps. ( Especially really hot ones from Texas… ).
Tina had also had some severe loss in the last year. She lost her young husband tragically, and was also going through a tough period of grief. Our common friend filled me in, and I dropped her a line. A few messages soon turned into something like 10,000 according to facebook. It started slow but soon we were talking alot. She threw out the idea of coming to visit me in Thailand. She wanted to travel as a healing process like me, and strongly identified with my situation. So, I said f&%$ it, come visit me. This all started quite platonic, as I was trying to respect where she was at in her grief, but, soon crossed a bit further.
So, Tina is joining the adventure for 10 days. We’ve talked twice on skype, only seen pictures of each other, so hence, “10 days of crazy!”. You only live once right!
She arrived late to Bangkok around midnight after a very long flight, and I anxiously awaited her at the airport. Would we be awkward? Would we not be what the other thought we would be? Who the hell knows, big gamble here.. It’s not often you get ready to meet a girl you’ve shared so much with, but never met. She rolled in on time, and honestly, our chemistry was even greater in person. Yada yada yada, the next day we got up to explore a bit and have some fun.
We had a full day in Bangkok to let Tina acclimatize to the heat and time change. She was born in Laos, but moved to Texas as a 4 year old, and has never been back. She speaks Thai and Laos, so this would be fun to have her navigate our way through the city. We had a great time chilling at our hotel pool first and then wandering our neighborhood. We were in the Patpong region on Bangkok ( sleazy red-light district ), so voyeuristic-ally took in the night, roaming around having some drinks. We even indulged in the crazy fish that eat all the dead skin off your feet. We did not indulge in any ping pong shows…
After some Asian delights ( McDonalds ) we headed back to the hotel for the night. The next day we were due to fly to Krabi, and spend the next 9 days around the fabulous Railay beach. The ice was broken and we were really happy to be with each other. I think the gamble was paying off.
So next up Railay Beach. Stay tuned for how it all played out.