all good things in all good time

WAT PHO, BANGKOK

    
     The planning and preparation has finished! I have used my one-way plane ticket from Seattle to Southeast Asia, and my adventure abroad begins. Roald Amundsen once said ‘chance favors the prepared.’ I patiently waited to use my one-way plane ticket, to complete my to-do list. By waiting, I was able to depart, knowing there is nothing left undone. All my belongings have been given away, my financial arrangements have been taken care of, and last years taxes have been filed. Everything falls into place, when I let go, and let things flow naturally. Good things happen when I relax, kick back, and let nature take its course. I find it’s true, what I was told years ago, ‘all good things in all good time!’

     What I wasn’t told, or learned about in any book or website about being an expat, is the emotions experienced from saying ‘goodbye,’ or ‘see you later,’ to family and friends. When traveling before, I treated these departures lightly. But, I have learned, it is best to be realistic, life and death go hand in hand. Sickness and dying are part of the process of life, and it is not known, when a person’s life will end. I think it is best to be present and truthful, when saying ‘goodbye,’ because it really may be the last time you see that person. All my planning did not prepare me for the strong emotions from leaving my family and friends. I made sure they knew I loved them and that each of their lives have helped me to be here, now!

TEMPLE OF THE DAWN, CHAO PHRAYA RIVER, BANGKOK

     Meeting people while traveling is quite easy. While waiting for my flight in Seattle, I met a lovely couple returning from their travels. While waiting for my flight in Taipei, I met a man just beginning his travels. Once in Bangkok, meeting people is simple. Travelers from all over the world come through Bangkok, as it is the Southeast Asian hub for travel. Inexpensive flights, cheap accommodations, and delicious food, bring travelers through Bangkok, before they depart for other destinations. Here, it is easy to arrange flights, trains, and buses out of the city. Transportation in Bangkok, however, is a mess. The streets are packed, and it is best to use the river transport, the skytrain, and the subway, to get around town.

RIVER TRANSPORT, CHAO PHRAYA RIVER, BANGKOK

I spent some time in Bangkok, eating at my favorite thai restaurant, buying new shirts, and picking up a few new movies. I stay in a part of town that is full of tourists and travelers. It is easy to spot the first-time traveler, as I was once one of them. It is easy to spot the tourist as well. The seasoned travelers are the ones I now choose to share food and drinks. We spend hours sharing our travel stories and travel dreams. I did not meet any others moving to this part of the world, but I talked with many of them who understood my move to southern Lao. My planning and preparations are finished, and I am now in Southeast Asia with no return plane ticket! LET THE WILD RUMPUS BEGIN!!!

DUSK ON THE CHAO PHRAYA RIVER, BANGKOK