Ko Lipe and Langkawi

Ko Lipe to Langkawi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ko_Lipe

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langkawi

View from the shore in Ko Lipe

We left Ko Phi Phi at 9:30am on our 2.5 hour boat ride to Ko Lipe.  The water couldn’t have been more flat calm as I relaxed on the bow of the boat, listening to some great music and soaking up the sun as the captain raced through the inland waterways at over 60 MPH.  

Our boat prior to boarding

Everyone has had those moments in life when you just sit back and say to yourself, how can life get any better than this, this moment is perfect.  These moments don’t come often for a lot of people, including myself, but as I sat there, listening to some of my favorite Eagles tracks, I caught the eyes of one of the two Swedish girls sitting on the bow with me and we both just smiled.  I assume she too, was having an incredible time being exactly where we were at this exact time.  The whole situation was just so incredible that I actually couldn’t help but just laugh to myself, how can I possibly be doing this.  A truly special moment.

Inland waterways

Before long, we arrived at the island of Ko Lipe.  It wasn’t in any of the guidebooks that we had read and frankly, I’d never even heard of it.  It’ a very small, white sandy beach haven which has just recently began to develop into a place that people want to go.  So far, the water in Ko Lipe was more clear than anything I’d ever seen, I physically can’t comprehend water being more blue and more clear.

Once ashore we began walking around checking in at different places to stay for just the one night.  After about 3-4 spots, we settled on a nice, clean room with just a fan for around $12.  We spent the day exploring what the island had to offer, swimming in the ocean and also laying down for naps.  Napping has become something I’ve grown quite fond of.  I grow tired easily here as my body is definitely not used to the high heat and humidity as well as the 12 hours per day of activity.  We woke up late, went out for a small bite to eat and meandered through the various walking streets at night that had tons of various items for sale. 

The small local boy and myself enjoyed playing with the swordfish!

After a full nights rest, we we’re up again early to make it to our boat with enough time to fill out necessary immigration paperwork since we were now leaving Thailand and headed for Langkawi, which is an island in Malaysia.  There were fewer people on this speedboat, which made it nice and roomy.  Unfortunately, this boat ride was much different than the previous one as the ocean was feeding us 3-4ft swells throughout our passage.  Needless to say, we weren’t sitting on the bow this time.

While on the boat, the crew handed back our passports that we’d given them earlier in order to process their documents.  A guy handed me a passport which ended up belonging to another US citizen sitting behind me.  He quickly corrected his mistake but it was odd to see another person from the states on the boat.  Throughout our entire trip, I’ve come across a total of 5 other US citizens, obviously the way we speak is very easy to pick up on.  Towards the end of the boat ride, I noticed the guy with the US passport standing up taking pictures so I turned around and asked him where he was from.  He told me New York and I told him we were from Seattle.  He said he had done a job out in Moses Lake the year before so I probed deeper, asking him what kind of work he did.  He mentioned he worked on a solar plant out there and I asked if he by chance worked for a company called Matrix.  He responded that he worked for the company that employed that company.  I asked him if he had heard of my Dad, Scott Pickering, to which he replied, “your shitting me, your Pick’s son!”  While he didn’t know my Dad personally, he would exchange work related emails from time to time but knew many of the people my father worked with quite well.  What a small world!

We pulled into port in Langkawi and on the advice of Mr. Spelling, the US guy, told the taxi driver to take us a place called Petang beach, where all the young crowd apparently stayed.  After a quick stop through another immigration checkpoint, we arrived at our destination and went on a walk to find proper accommodations.  After a few stops, he decided to stay at the Malibi Hotel, a nice beachfront bungalow for a modest $40 US per night.  The staff showed us to our room and we quickly ratcheted up the air conditioning and settled into our place we’d call home for 2 nights. 

We spent the entire day walking around to different shops and I even purchased some Malaria pills after reading how terrible the sickness could be.  At my doctor in Seattle, he told me I would have to pay around $400 for a 3 month supply of Doxycycline, I declined and after speaking with several people throughout my travels thus far, thought I’d be fine without it.  I asked a local pharmacy how much for Doxycycline here and they told me a 3 months supply was only $18, so I said why not. 

Caleb and I stumbled across Malaysia’s largest aquarium about a mile from our hotel.   I hadn’t been to one since I was a small child and welcomed the opportunity to look at some cool marine life.  It ended up being rather impressive with exhibits of various penguins, sea otters, sharks, stingrays, and fish that I didn’t know could get so large. 

After a few hours, Caleb and I headed out of the aquarium and entered a nearby Duty Free store.  We had been told that the entire island was duty free and decided to get a few bottles of alcohol between us.  For how cheap everything in most of Southeast Asia is, alcohol really isn’t any cheaper than a good happy hour in Seattle.  At the duty free however, I could pick up a liter of Captain Morgan for $11 versus well over $25 in Seattle for the same quantity.   We headed out for dinner then decided to stay in that night since we were planning on waking up early to rent motorcycles to tour the island. 

We finally got to the rental place around 11:00 am the next morning and snagged some 110cc manually shifting bikes for $10 for a 24-hour period.  Having been completely screwed by the guy in Ko Tao, we decided to take photographs of all the damage on each bike before leaving the parking lot.  The guy looked puzzled that we were doing this so we explained what had happened with the last rental place.  He assured us, that’s a Thailand thing and its not how it works in Malaysia, they don’t even hold your passport.  Regardless, we had adopted the trust no one approach. 

First off, it’s worth mentioning that coming from the places we’d visited in Thailand to Malaysia felt like we went 30 years into the future.  The roads were much nicer, much larger, and there was a much greater amount of infrastructure.  The distance around the entire island was about 70 miles and so map in hand, we headed off.  I find riding thus far in these countries really exciting.  If there are traffic laws, no one obeys them and they aren’t enforced.  People on motorbikes just bob and weave through traffic, sometimes driving into oncoming traffic for long stretches of road for god knows what reason.  The whole situation definitely makes you be 100% alert at all times but a few near misses, some last minute swerves to avoid a pile-up, all gets your adrenaline going and makes it fun!

One of the places we stopped along the way was a giant crocodile farm.  We had noticed some signage in a few spots and thought it would be worth a look.  As we walked through it, we couldn’t tell if it was supposed to be a sanctuary or if this was all for commercial exploitation but these animals couldn’t have appeared to be enjoying themselves any less.  There were dozens and dozens of different species of crocodile there from small babies to ones that measured well over 15ft in length.  It was definitely a sight to see and we were glad we stopped by.

Caleb with the croc!

We slowly took the rest of the day winding through some lush highland areas, stopping by a few posh resorts to grab a drink and walked through a few Malaysian shopping districts to pick up some light linen shirts.  By the time we had made it back to our place and dropped off the bikes, it was late and we were exhausted so while Caleb caught up on some emails, I caught up on some sleep after I walked to the beach in front of our bungalow to snap a few sunset shots.

I woke up around 11pm and Caleb was itching to go out to experience some Malaysian nightlife.  After asking some locals where the hotspot was, we found ourselves walking to a beach bar called Babylon where some live reggae music was blaring.  We each grabbed a drink and I walked around in search of someone to converse with.  I settled on a young lady sitting by herself and soon struck up a conversation with the Polish girl.  After a few minutes, we were joined by her boyfriend, (wonderful), and soon I found myself talking with him as well.  I noticed he had an American accent so we started talking about where each other were from.  I said I lived in Seattle and he said, “Wow, small world, I went to Washington State University!”  I couldn’t believe it.  This was only the 7^th US citizen I’d met on my trip and he went to the same college I did during the same time.

It turns out, after he finished his Masters Degree at WSU, he got a software engineering gig in Texas that he excelled at.  He worked for several years, bought a house, started heading towards a normal life when in 2009 he made a drastic change.  He told me he sold his house, sold nearly all his possessions minus an old pickup truck that’s at his folks house, then purchased an older 40ft sailboat and began a sailing trip.  Three years later and a lap around the world, he’s sitting at this bar with me and a Polish girl he met 6 months earlier that loved what he was doing and jumped on the adventure with him. Wild!

Caleb joined the conversation for a little while but soon, he was noticeably “sleepy” and he left for bed around 1:30.   The bar soon closed and the three of us headed to another spot the couple knew of that didn’t close called 1812.  Once inside, I talked/bribed one of the staff members there to let me hook my Iphone up to the speakers so I could play my music and within moments, I had turned this English Pub into an Eagles tribute bar.  Fantastic!  I sat at a table with the couple I had just met as well as a local Malaysian guy and two dudes from Sweden.  We sat around and talked about American television, movies, and music for hours.  I told the Malaysian guy who’s name was Lesley Anthony (I’m pretty confident not his birth name) where we were headed to next and he insisted I take down his phone number so I could call him when I got to Penang.  He said everyone knew him there, just walk into town and say “Lesley sent me”.   I asked if I needed to use his last name and he said no.  He was the man there.  I reassured him that Penang was the second largest city in Malaysia at almost 750,000 people and I wasn’t sure his plan would work.  Fast forward 5 minutes and Lesley Anthony was face down unconscious on the table, I assumed perhaps he may have been lying to me…..

The next morning I woke up around noon, not feeling quite 100% from my previous evenings festivities.  Caleb and I packed up our things, checked out and jumped into a taxi headed for the ferry terminal.  Our next stop would be Georgetown, on the Island of Penang, a large metropolitan area, which would be a drastic contrast to all the we’d previously encountered.  Wonder how much it would cost me to take the boat below instead of the ferry!  Onward we go!!

Ko Phi Phi

Ko Phi Phi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ko_Phi_Phi_Don

We left Railay on a 9am on a large 175-person passenger ferry after an entertaining two night stay.  Ko Phi Phi (pronounced pee-pee) was a place I had heard about for years for its otherworldly blue waters, white powder like sand beaches, and also for being made famous by the 2000 film titled “The Beach” starring Leonardo Dicaprio.

The passenger ferry just before we boarded.

We arrived in Ko Phi Phi at the main terminal after a 2-hour boat ride and quickly headed for a restaurant as we we’re starving.  After having a nice $2 meal at a sit down place, we grabbed a map in search of the hotel Caleb had pre-booked for 2 nights called the Banana.  A staff member at the restaurant pointed to the map where she claimed the hotel was, a 15 minute walk away.  When we arrived at the place she claimed was it, we asked another local and they pointed us in another direction and said “15 min that way”.  This rerouting went on for another 3-4 more encounters with locals before we finally ended up at the Banana.  Unfortunately, this was the Banana BAR, not Banana HOTEL!! 

At this point, I’m about to kill Caleb for picking the dumbest possible hotel location on the island, a place no one knows.  Normally, I would love to walk around, it would be a welcome way to spend my time, however it was 90 degrees out, 95% humidity, and I was carrying a 40lb backpack with me.   Fast forward another half an hour and we finally manage to make it to our hotel, a full 2 hours since first getting off the boat and it was only 10 minutes away.  Fabulous.  Luckily, it turned out to be nice.

It’s now around 1:00pm and Caleb decides he wants to take a nap.  Our room is wonderfully air-conditioned and we soon have it down to sub-arctic temperatures.  I decide to go on a walk by myself and check out what this tropical paradise is all about.  Ko Phi Phi isn’t a large island and on foot, you can see most of the main places within a few hours.  Poking through the little nick nack shops and grabbing an occasional chicken skewer or banana shake, I meandered my way around most of it when I happened to cross paths with some familiar faces.   The Norwegian girls from Ko Tao!  We’ll two of them as one had flown back home as her trip wasn’t quite as long as the others.  We chatted for a few minutes and we agreed we’d have to meet up at some point later in the evening and exchanged phone numbers. 

I went back to our hotel to shower and went down for a quick nap.   By the time we got going, it was after 8:00pm and Caleb and I headed to town to grab some dinner.  We stopped at one of the nicer looking restaurants in town as they are the only ones that typically have air conditioning.  The rainstorms in this part of the world can be unlike anything I’ve seen before.  15 minutes into our dinner, thunder and lighting began occurring and a torrential downpour ensued.  Safe in our protected environment, Caleb and I sat quite entertained as we watched hundreds of others scramble to find cover, the foreign girls holding coats over their head as not to mess up their hair. 

We finished our meal and headed out in search of a place to have our haircut.  I had convinced myself that I was going to let my hair grow for the duration of my trip but as I learned in college, I just can’t pull it off.  I walked into a nice looking storefront hair studio and was eagerly greeted by three lady boys all clamoring to cut the American guys hair.  First time for everything right!?!?.  45 minutes later and with no instruction, I received one of the better haircuts of my life and had quite a few laughs to go along with it!

One thing I knew for sure I wanted to do while in Thailand was watch a live Muay Thai fight.  I had come across a place earlier that offered free ringside seating if we purchased multiple drinks so we headed there.  The fights started at 9pm with a bout between a couple of white guys from Australia.  The amateur fighters were promised a bucket of booze if they stepped in the ring, anyone could jump in and people did.  At one point during the first fight, I noticed a group of two attractive girls my age sitting a few rows back and decided to approach them and ask them if they wanted to come sit up at the front and have a drink.  They thanked me for the offer but then each held up a pair of boxing shorts, THEY WERE GOING TO FIGHT!  Nothing is more entertaining than watching two hot girls punch and kick each other and soon, their battle ensued.   It was more like watching a pillow fight but none the less, I was amused. 

First fight of the night about to begin!

The main event was between two Thai fighters that started around 11:00 PM.  During the course of the previous fights, I struck up conversation with a guy from Canada next to me who looked and spoke like Dave Chappelle.  The main fight began and it was nothing short of spectacular.  The athleticism these men had and the blows that they could withstand were truly remarkable.  I watched them battle it out for 5 solid rounds before the winner was declared.  Some say that they make the hits look harder than they are and that most of it’s staged but I’d like to believe the opposite since I had such a fun time!

The Dave Chappelle guy, Caleb, myself, and a couple of people who had joined our group decided to head out to a beach bar.  On the 10-minute walk there, I again heard my name and it was the two Norwegian girls, Silje and Stine.  As I spoke to them, I turned around and realized I had lost the other guys I was walking with.   The Norwegians, a few girls that they had met, and myself walked in search of them.  After some time of searching, I gave up and danced the night away with my new friends.  At around 4:30 in the morning, we had all had enough and headed back towards our respective hotels.  The girls wanted me to see the place that they were staying in as they had complained how crappy it was throughout the night.  As I walked into their concrete box, an overwhelming odor of hot, non-air conditioned, humid, moldy air hit me square in the face.  It was atrocious.  After they showed me the below photo of the spider they found near their bags earlier in the day, I decided the only polite thing to do was offer them Caleb and mines place to stay.

This would give me a panic attack!

I helped them grab a few pillows and led them the 15 minute walk back to our place, all the while chuckling to myself with the thought of Caleb waking up in the morning, rolling over, and seeing two blonde women sharing the bed with him.  After our first air-conditioned night sleep in several weeks, we felt rested and rejuvenated when the two girls and I awoke around noon.  Caleb had got up earlier and exactly how I had thought, was rather pleased when he opened his eyes. 

We all got cleaned up and headed to the beach to rent some kayaks for the day after grabbing a quick bite to eat.  The girls, then Caleb and I each grabbed a double kayak and ventured a few miles around the island to some secluded beach where we all snorkeled and marveled at the crystal clear water and marine life.  Swimming in the ocean here is much different than that of the Pacific.  It has a much higher salt content and therefore, makes it nearly impossible to sink.  With normal breathing, you can float half way out of the water, truly a unique experience. 

After three and half hours of kayaking and being in the intense sun, the four of us headed back to shore. We grabbed a quick bit to eat together, and said our goodbyes, unsure of wheher we’d meet again.  Caleb and I decided to take it easy that night as we had both had a rough one the day before.  We instead, went and spoke to a local travel agent about getting to our next stop of Langkawi, Malaysia, an island off the very northwestern tip of the country.  Travel throughout Asia is cheap in general, long bus rides are basically free, but the great part is you have a lot of different options depending on your budget.  Caleb and I had three options.  The first and cheapest was a slow passenger ferry back to Krabi where we had come from, followed by a 9 hour mini-bus ride for a grand total of 12 hours.  The price was about $20 US.  The next was a larger 200 passenger medium speed ferry that would get us there with stops in about 8-hours for $40.  The third, fastest, most convenient and most expensive option was hiring another 10 passenger cigarette boat for about $120 that would take us to an island called Ko Lipe about 90-minutes away from our destination where we would spend the night, then hop on another cigarette boat in the morning to get us to Malaysia.  The total travel time on this one would be 4 hours. 

Now I know people are always on different budget levels when traveling, but if you can safe a little extra, these pricier options not only A) Safe a TON of time which is precious, but B) they are experiences in and of themselves, so worth it.  We decided again on the high-speed Go-fast boats, purchased our tickets and headed to bed.  We had just had an amazing two nights in Ko Phi Phi! 

Krabi and Railay

Krabi and Railay

After spending a total of 7 days in Koh Tao, Caleb and I decided to move on.  The nice part that I’ve learned about traveling in Asia is when you want to go someplace, there are travel agents literally every 100ft.  Everyone sells travel packages.  My assumption is the larger companies that actually do the transporting, pay them a commission on everything they sell, so why not try to sell it.  What makes it nice for us is the competition keeps the prices low.  Usually, I’ll visit a couple of these places, tell them where I’m going, then whatever they feed back to me as their “best price”, I cut it in half and begin the drawn out, loud, arms flailing performance I call bargaining.  Typically I have to walk away a few times, tell them they’re going to put themselves out of business at these prices, before I finally agree to pay them what they ask after their original amount has been greatly reduced.  My favorite part of all of this is arguing, feeling like I won, they were defeated and the look on their face when after 10 minutes of intense multi lingual debate to save maybe a few dollars, I pull out a giant wad of cash that could have paid for it 20 times over.  No matter what language people speak, you without a doubt know the “I hate you” face.  Have to have those little victories!

Caleb and I bought a package that included a 6-hour boat right from 11pm to 5am followed by a 4-hour bus ride to the town of Krabi (cr-ah-bee).  Krabi is a central jump off point to many of the islands on Thailand’s western side as we were currently on the east side of the country.  We said goodbye to many of our newly made friends in Koh Tao and headed for the ferry terminal.  It was night now, around 10:30 and we walked up the gatekeeper of the ferry world.  Here was this guy, glum look on his face, playing what looked like solitaire and chain-smoking intensely under a dim flickering dock light.  I told him where we we’re headed, he looked at our tickets and pointed to which ship would ferry us to our next destination with a slight smirk on his face.  I turned around and stared at what looked to be a giant barge that perhaps once/or still transported tons of refuse. 

We climbed aboard the ship and moved into the interior.  The inside passenger section was nothing more than a giant square, dimly lit, metal room that contained rows of steel bunk beds that appeared to have been salvaged from a federal prison.  I climbed to my assigned bed, unloaded my backpack and thanks to my travel partner’s years long issues with insomnia, took a prescription sleeping pill and slipped out of consciousness.  

Like clockwork, I awoke to the sound of the massive engines revving in reverse as the captain slowed the boat as we neared the dock on mainland Thailand at 5:00 AM.  We loaded up our gear and walked off the ship, headed for a small mini mart a short walk away where we were instructed to wait for a van.  It was still dark out as the group of 40 of us from the ship awaited our next piece of transportation.  Within 30 minutes, small passenger vans began arriving with the driver yelling out just the name of the destination where he was headed.  We waited only a few minutes until we heard Krabi.  We handed the short Thai driver our backpacks and watched him load them on the roof of the vehicle with the others before strapping them securely down and covering them tightly with a tarp.  

We climbed into the van that held 10 people and began the 4-hour trek from one side of the country to the other.  The van was a little cramped but surprisingly well air-conditioned.   Within 20 minutes we had navigated the side roads and made it onto Thailand’s main high system, which shockingly, was amazing.  Large wide roads of extremely smooth blacktop provided us with an almost no trafficked path to the west and our driver took advantage of it.  From my seat, 3 rows back I couldn’t actually see the speedometer but I felt as though we were traveling rather quickly so I asked Caleb, who was sitting directly behind him to peer over his shoulder.  The speeds ranged from 145-155 kilometers per hour, the higher end of that figure when he was passing.  For those that don’t have a conversion calculator handy, that’s EFFICIENT transportation at 87-95MPH!

As a quick side note, the cost for the 6-hour boat ride plus the 4-hour van ride was $18 US.  Sooooo cheap.

We arrived in the port town of Krabi a full 40 minutes ahead of schedule thanks to our formula one driver.  A quick bite of food and we were headed to the waters edge in search of a long boat taxi to take us to Railay Beach, a peninsula of land located a 30 minutes boat ride away that had been highly recommended by Brendan and Helena.  After a little negotiating, we we’re soon cruising through inland waterways on our way to Railay.  About halfway through the boat ride, you realize why people come to places like this as we could start to see the several thousand foot tall limestone formations rising from the sea.  They were brilliant, unlike anything I’ve ever seen in person. 

We soon arrived at our destination and started combing the beach for ample accommodations.  The third place we checked had a sufficient price point and clean rooms so we reserved it for two nights.   We placed our belongings inside and headed out in search of the days activities.

Railay beach is divided into two sides with East Railay being the more budget friendly, younger, bars everywhere side, and West Railay, the much nicer beach, high end resorts up to $5,000 a night type of place.  The beautiful part is that they’re only 5 minutes on foot away from each other.  We headed over to West Railay and began walking down the beach, people watching, taking pictures of the scenery and poking into different shops who all had different activities you could sign up for.  Railay itself is world famous for its rock climbing due to the fact the you can climb very high cliffs but be right next to the ocean and it attracts thrill seekers from around the globe.  

Caleb and I found an operation that would take us out the next day about an hour away on a longboat to a place called Chicken Island where we’d not only go rock climbing up these vertical cliffs, but it enabled us to not have to use safety ropes since the cliffs overhung the water and honestly, who wants to be restrained!!!!

After a low key evening and pleasant night sleep, we met up at the rendezvous point for or rocking climbing/cliff jumping adventure.  We boarded a boat at 10 am with 7 other people from Finland, Austria, and a couple other EU countries.  The boat ride was great, flat calm and breathtaking sights.  We arrived at the first climbing spot and waited as our Australian guide swam over and clipped a ladder onto a piece of rope dangling from a cliff overhang near the water.   He gave us the green light to go climbing so one by one people leapt off the boat and headed to the cliff.  This first sight would allow you to climb up and jump off varying heights up to about 40 ft.  Now I think of myself as a relatively strong young man but climbing vertical rock faces with small handholds proved to be as they say, difficult.  In two attempts at this location, I made it up the ladder, which is the most difficult part mind you, then about 5 or so feet higher before both times, losing my grip and falling end over end landing ever so awkwardly in the water. 

Normally, this small defeat wouldn’t bother me.  It didn’t bother me when Caleb seemed to scale multiple routes on the cliff face with ease before actually entering the water on his own terms, however, what did bother me was the fact the 5ft tall, 110 pound chick from Finland who I’d chatted up on the ride over scaled the wall effortlessly MULTIPLE times who then proceeded to say how exciting and fun that was for her first time EVER CLIMBING A ROCK!

We pulled into a nice beach nearby when everyone was done climbing for a prepared lunch that included a cold piece of chicken on a ball of rice that we ate with our hands.  We explored around a few caves and caverns in the area before heading back to our second and final climbing spot.  This next place was amazing.  The overhang itself was 20 feet from the waters surface, the transition from the ladder to the rock face was extremely difficult our guide explained.  

Everyone on the boat was within about 4 years of my age.  Two of the guys from Austria were experienced climbers and what they did and could do in front of us, was seriously impressive.  This particular spot allowed willing adventurists to climb up to 30 meters or nearly 100 feet above the water surface before jumping from the cliff face onto a giant stalagmite.  Thinking about watching this Austrian kid doing it again makes my hands sweat typing it.  

After everyone was exhausted and soar from climbing around 4pm, we headed back to Railay where the group of us chose a restaurant and bar to meet at after we all showered.  It ended up being Caleb, myself the two Austrians Jonas and Funkhowzer and the two Finnish girls for dinner.  All of them spoke great English so conversation was a breeze.  The two Austrians had just completed their undergraduate studies in pre-med and were on a 2 week rock climbing trip before they started medical school.  They we’re absolutely hilarious and told us a lot about Austrian life and culture.  Their voices and accents sounded just like the bad guy in Inglorious Bastards. 

At one point the topic of conversation turned to Schnitzel’s (sneetch-sul), all kinds of Schnitzels, what makes Schnitzel’s bad verse good.  I could care less about Schnitzels but when they said it in their accents, it made me nearly wet my pants.  They taught be the wonderful term Schnitzel boy.  They said, laughing (imagine in accent) “yes, yes, zee schnitzel boy, the one where vee put zee schnitzel around his neck so dat zee dog play with him” followed by more laughs, followed by back and forth “Jonas, you v-were zee schnitzel boy”, “no Funkhowzer you v-were zee schnitzel boy!!!”.  Priceless.

We squared up the bill and headed to a bar since the Finnish girls really wanted to dance and the Austrians really wanted to drink.  I spent the next few hours swing dancing to hip-hop/electronic music with the Finns until it looked as though we had all been swimming.  At 4 am, and I said my goodbyes, wished everyone safe travels and headed for the sack.  Another amazing day behind me!

Utopia: An imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect.

According to the bible, God created the world in six days.   On the 7^th day, he rested, on the 8th day he devoted Himself to completely perfecting Koh Tao. 

At only 8 square miles, Koh Tao is a relatively small island.  1.5 miles wide East to West and roughly 5 miles North to South with a local population of just a few thousand permanent residents.  It was relatively uninhabited until the 1930's went it became used for Thai political prisoners for roughly 10 years until government pardoned them and it once again became vacant.  The island would lie empty for nearly half a century until tourists from Koh Samui discovered that it had amazing dive sites and slowly began setting up small shops.  When you look at photographs from 1991, 2001, and 2011, you are left in awe over how it’s potential hadn’t been unlocked sooner.

The island boasts over 700 dive instructors, 30 diving companies, and issues more dive certifications than any place in the world.  It's a dive heaven.

We departed Ko Samui on Wednesday the 9^th aboard a ferry destined for Koh Tao.  A relatively short 2 hour trip and $10 later and we arrived at the dock along with a plethora of others.  Stepping off the boat onto a rickety walkway we were greeted by locals all vying for our cash for taxis, accommodations, and a variety of activities.  Not two weeks prior to arriving in Koh Tao, I had only heard that it was a popular tourist destination for those interested in scuba diving and hadn’t even planned on making it part of my trip.  I had been perusing Facebook on the walk home from the bus stop in Seattle when I noticed a post by someone I hadn’t seen in at least 6 years.  Brendan Mulholland was an individual I’ve known since I was in grade school.  He was a year behind me in class but was friends with one of my close buddies so we constantly interacted.   He was one of those guys that whatever he did, he was the best at it, sports, school, girls, etc.  After high school, we didn’t speak much since I went to Washington State and he headed for the much more enjoyable climate in California attending Santa Clara University on a full academic scholarship.   Up until this point, I hadn’t known much that had gone on with his life post high school aside from times that he would come up in conversation when I was speaking to people back home.  I knew that he had graduated Suma Cum Laude from college and began traveling and at some point during his trip, met what would end up becoming his wife.

In the post on Facebook, he wrote that he was going to be in Koh Tao for awhile with his wife, taking a variety of dive classes.  I sent him a message saying I was going to be nearby in Ko Samui and thought it’d be great if I could catch up to him in Koh Tao and visit for a few days, he happily accepted. I had planned on getting to the island a day later and we had established a time and place to meet.  Since I was coming early, I just assumed I would be able to find him.  He had recommended a particular dive shop to go to as a meeting spot and if were to have any interest in diving, this was the best place on the island to work with.  When we arrived on the island, I jumped in the back of a pickup truck and got a ride from the ferry dock to the center of town along Sairhee Beach.  I walked into the main office of Bans Diving Resort and began speaking with the staff.  I could stay at the hotel in a nice room for about $15 a night or if I took one of the dive certification courses, they would toss in several nights for free.  After discussing packages I ended up signing up for the Advanced Open Water course beginning the following morning.  I was fortunate enough to take the basic certication for diving during my last semester at WSU (yes, that is a course they offer) which would legally allow me to go down to about 60 ft.  With the advanced course, I would be trained for a few hours in the classroom, then taken out on a series of 5 dives over 2 days and would now be certified to go up to 110 ft of depth. 

After I finished all the paperwork and checked into my room, I headed down towards a local beach bar to have a drink.   While I was sitting there people watching, I noticed a small boat offloading a group of people I assumed had just went diving.  Luckily, I spotted someone I recognized and quickly scurried over to greet him.  “What‘s up!” I said to  brief look of confusing on his face as to who I was.  Nearly 7 years had passed since I last saw Brendan and he looked exactly the same.  He told that me he was heading over to another beachside restaurant to have dinner with his wife and invited me to join.  A few minutes later we sat down on bean bags out on the deck of this quaint little restaurant nestled mere feet from the sparkly blue water. 

Soon, Brendan’s wife Helena joined us and I couldn’t have been more excited to meet her and catch up on the last 3 years of their life since meeting them.  To preface their story, I have to just say the words incredible, inspiring, envious, and thrilling come to the forefront of my mind.  Helena was born and raised in Norway near Oslow.  She completed her undergraduate studies near the south of France before moving to Medellin, Columbia, where Pablo Escobar once called home, to finish up her masters degree and complete her thesis when she had a off chance encounter with an American boy.   Brendan and a friend of his moved to Columbia after they graduated from college in order to do a 3 month Spanish immersion program with the goal of becoming fluent.  While in the program, Brendan and his friend would also teach classes in English to foreigners and they were told to select a small group of students from a large list to work with.  Naturally, as 22 year olds, they would obtain the large lists of students, enter their names in Facebook and select the most attractive girls from the list.  One of them happened to be a blonde haired, blue-eyed girl from Norway. 

Helena says she didn’t find him attractive for quite some time after they met but his unrelenting pursuit of her eventually proved effective.  Within a few months, a serious relationship developed as they both found that their views on life, travel, and goals were perfectly in line with one another.  They decided to travel together and for the next 3 years, that’s exactly what they did eventually leading them to Koh Tao where our paths crossed.  They lived in Buenos Ares for 7 months, Norway for 8 months, Patagonia for a time, ventured all through the amazon, with stops in the US for their wedding just 6 months ago on Sucia Island in the San Juan Islands up in Washington.

I have spent 7 full days with them as of this post being written and I can without question say to you they are the happiest, most in love, most emotionally connected couple I have ever met in my life.  I hope to one day have what they have, truly remarkable.

After dinner, we went out for drinks at another beach bar where Brendan and Helena introduced me to a barrage of people they had made friends with during their two and half months on the island.  Everyone was extremely outgoing and eager to listen to my story, my interest in diving and my travel plans.  The vast majority of the people we met that night were fellow classmates of Brendan's, all learning to become dive instructors.  They were from various countries including Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany, Australia to name a few, each with their own interesting and unique accent and ways of saying certain things.  I visited, drank, and danced with everyone for several hours before calling it a night at a moderate hour, still exhausted from the Full Moon Party and lack of sleep from the night before.

I awoke at 8 AM the following morning and headed down to the beach for breakfast before my dive class began at 9:30.   Brendan and Helena were able to sit in on my class and also come with me on my dives that day for free since they were in their Dive Master Training course. After a quick 1 hour class session going over some refreshers and speaking about the risks involved with diving deeper, we headed out to the beach to get fitted for the necessary gear.  Even though the ocean water nears 90 degrees, you still need a wetsuit as it is up to 10 degrees colder 100ft below the surface.

Gear in hand, we were loaded into a long boat and shuttled out to these large, brightly colored boats that resembled an open air houseboat outfitted exclusively for diving.  The boats were anchored 500 yards offshore and never actually came to the island.  The employees on the boats are Burmese (From Burma/Myanmar) and don’t have Thai visas allowing them to touch ground, so they live on them.

The boat made the ten minute trek to one of the dives sights where we put on our gear and plunged below the surface.  Each dive last from 35 minutes to nearly an hour depending on your depth and how much air you are using.  There are endless varieties of fish, in all shapes, sizes, and every color of the rainbow.  We were able to see giant schools of Barracuda, Tuna, and even stingrays on the following 4 dives for a total of 5 over the course of two days.

My favorite dives were one where I was able to see an old US Navy battleship, sunk intentionally to create an artificial reef.  We had apparently donated it to the Thai Navy years ago, then once they decommissioned it, it was laid to rest 90 feet below the surface just this past year.  Many sea creatures had already started to call this place home.

The second favorite one was a night dive.  We leapt into the water after dusk with flashlights in hand and were fortunate enough to see creatures that normally aren’t around during the day as they hunt at night.  At one particular point in the dive, 100 feet below the surface, a small group of us are instructed to turn our flash lights off, rendering complete and utter darkness.  After a moment, our instructor began moving his hand which ignited a fire of bright neon green light under the water call phosphorescence, for the next 10 minutes, I just swam around, surrounded by this green glow, complete silence, it was one of the most surreal moments I can ever remember having.  So unique, so peaceful, something I hope everyone will get a chance to experience at least once in his or her lives.

Aside from diving, Caleb and I rented motorbikes for a few days and traveled every road on the island and visited each beach and all the high hills in the more jungle like areas.  95% of the island uses motorbikes as transportation.  The roads are narrow and all but maybe a few stretches make it nearly impossible to operate an actual car.  Through renting the motorbikes however, we have now learned their process for making a ton of money at it and frankly, it’s pretty clever,  When you walk up to one of the countless motorbike rental shops, you’re initial reaction is to think that it is so unbelievably cheap to rent, around $6 US for a 24 period, less than a couple of drinks at the bar.  I wondered that it would take them 6 solid months of rentals to recoup the cost of the bike, let alone make a profit or have enough for repairs. You tell them you wish to rent and they make a phone call.  Soon, another man comes zipping up on a brand new, not a knick in sight, motorbike.  They reiterate that this is brand new, go over the bike meticulously and point out that there is zero wrong with it.  Upon acquiring the bike, you realize the fuel tank is completely empty.  You swing by the gas station and have them fill up the tank with $15 worth of fuel.  You finish riding the motorbike and realize that they use almost no gas, almost 80 MPG, and then the renter proceeds to syphon the gas back out of the tank that you paid for, place them in 1 liter glass bottles, then sell them for $2 a piece to the next person.  Also, not getting a scratch on them is literally impossible.  Upon returning the bike, there was literally a SCUFF the size of a quarter on the fender, somebody may have bumped into me, or perhaps the guy just pays another guy to walk around and scratch these up.  He tells me the damage is $60 but he’s willing to cut me a deal for $30 because I’ve got a pretty face, I argue, he laughs and reassures me that he holds my passport, he wins, I pay, and walk away feeling defeated.  I am the lucky one however as I spoke to plenty others who laid down the bikes, were forced to pay hundreds of dollars and it’s not as if these bikes are being fixed when damaged, the owner pockets the money.  For future reference, whenever you rent a motorbike in Asia, make sure you ask for the absolute shittiest one you can possible find that still runs, it’ll be worth it.

The nightlife in Koh Tao is incredible.  The island seems frozen in time, the mood and attitude of the tourists is what I imagine the late 1960’s California scene to be like.  The age demographic is made up almost entirely of early to late twenties men and women who all share the common interests of traveling and diving.  Everyone loves to talk to everyone and learn about differences in each others cultures.  I found it fascinating just hearing new peoples stories of where the came from, what they did, and how they got to where they were at. 

One evening while out at a beach bar, I struck up a conversation with a group of 3 Norwegian girls my age and eventually, decided the next day the four us would go relax on the beach together at a nearby small island.  I didn’t make it to sleep until just before dawn and my alarm was soon going off with 10 minutes to spare before meeting back up with them.  The 4 of us grabbed a quick breakfast, walked to the beach and hired a longboat to whisk us off the to the secluded beach.  Once there, we lied out our towels on the sand and began conversing on what life was like in America, what my family life was, how people typically grew up, university life in the states, peoples views on money and social status, etc.  There were endless questions for me and I for them about life in Norway.  We spent roughly six hours together before I had to leave and head back to Koh Tao to get ready to depart back to mainland Thailand.  We exchanged contact information, connected on Facebook and wished each other safe travels and mutually agreed to contact one another if our travels brought us near in the future.  I hope to have this exact interaction dozens of times throughout this trip, I absolutely LOVE learning about people and creating a more global network friends.  The fact that they we’re really attractive and shared a common interest in partying was a welcomed bonus as well J

In closing of this post, I want to reiterate that by far, this island, is the most incredible, most beautiful place  I have ever visited.  The lifestyle, the general happiness of the people who call this place home, is literally incomparable to anything I've yet to witness.  I hope some of you will be able to visit and experience what I've experienced, this is but the first of many times I will come to enjoy the island of Koh Tao!!!

Ko Samui/Ko Pha Ngnan

After a 12 hour flight from Seattle to Seoul, a quick a plane change then a 6 hour flight to Bangkok, we only had to lay over for 5 hours before we finally took the brief 50 minute flight from Bangkok to Ko Samui!  Ko Samui is an island off the east coast of Thailand, the third largest in the entire country but relatively small at only 88 square miles, an eighth the size of Maui.  Tourism has blossomed in the past decade with many western corporations rolling in giant resort hotels such as W, 4 Seasons, and several others.  The resident population is 55,000 people and a cruise around the island on a moped would take you under 2 hours. 


I walked off the 40-passenger airplane onto the tarmac and was greeted by 80-degree air and moderate humidity.  The airport here is small, nestled amongst lush green hills and expansive views of light blue water servicing just a handful of planes per day.

I made my way through the airport to the taxi area and was eagerly greeted by a few men all-vying to whisk me away to any destination I desired.  I decided to get into a large Toyota van that had been somewhat and creatively transformed into looking like a Mercedes.  It took about 15 minutes before we arrived to an area where my friends had said they’d be at from a message I received the day before and I began walking towards the Ark Bar hotel when I saw a place across the street playing the Super Bowl, 2^nd quarter, I was elated!

Quick side note:  A few of you have heard the relative misfortunes I’ve had relating to Super Bowls.  In 2008, I had unknowingly months previous, purchased a domestic flight from Phoenix to Seattle during the exact hours of the game, thus having to listen to periodic updates from the captain.  Out of the following 4 years of games, I had only been able to see one as year after year, I somehow routinely scheduled flights for the exact 3-hour period of time of the game!

You could imagine my excitement, only missing a little over a quarter as I walked briskly to the bar when I heard my name being called.  Travis, his fiancée Katie, and Jeff Carol were all eating breakfast as it was about 8 o’clock in the morning, couldn’t have been easier to find them.  Jeff had taken the 1 hour and 45 min flight from Singapore the night before and Travis had left the day before I did from Seattle.  After a few travel hick-ups, it ended up taking him almost double the time it took me to get here but his spirits were still high. 

We watched the game and decided after all the air travel, we wanted to just chill out on near the water.  Jeff, Travis and I decided to go on a long run down the beach to check out different places we wanted to stay for the night.  After a lengthy run, we settled on a place where we’d get two private bungalows within 25 feet of the ocean for a modest 30 USD per person.  We set down our bags and headed to the beach to get some sun and relax for remainder of the day.  Most of us had one-hour massages, including manicures and pedicures that cost a total of 300 Baht or roughly 10 USD.

When the evening came, we treated ourselves to a beachfront dinner at a nearby restaurant.  The restaurant had a giant display with an assortment of sea creatures sitting on ice.  We decided on shark, barracuda, snapper and squid.  The guy would simply cut off giant pieces of meat from all the different fish chilling there and soon deliver them to our table.  It was delicious.  After dinner, Caleb retired for the evening and the remaining four of us migrated to a nearby waterfront bar that was bustling with music, fire shows, and people dancing.  We stayed there for a few hours and absorbed a good amount of the local variety of drinks before calling it a night around 3am.  A good first day.

I woke up in the morning, took the few shorts steps to the ocean, and went for a leisurely swim in the 86 degree water before sitting down for breakfast on the beach by myself and watching the hotel staff rake the sand, clean the pool and get ready for the day.  I knew today was going to be exciting as it was the day to celebrate the Full Moon Party in Ko Phangnan.

The Full Moon Party takes place on the island of Ko Pha Ngnan , an island 10 miles from the Northern end of Ko Samui.  The island, and its monthly party, is world-renowned.  Every month on the night of the full moon, up to 70,000 people descend on a 1 mile long stretch of beach to partake in an event that some places rank as the best place on planet Earth to get wild.

We we’re currently staying on the East side of the island in Chewang Beach and the boats departed from the North end in Ko Bhut.  Caleb and I each rented motorbikes at a cost of $5 for an entire day, and made the 25-minute trek through the streets of Ko Samui in shorts, flip flops and no shirts!  Riding here is much different than back home, there is no speed limit, driving occurs on the opposite side of the road, and people just zigzag everywhere.  We found a resort nearby that’d provide us with beautiful rooms and transportation to the boat terminal and made reservations for both.  You have two options as far as boats from Ko Samui to Ko Pha Ngnan, one, a slow boat, that will get you to Ko Phangnan in 2 hours OR you can get on a 65 MPH, 40 foot long cigarette boat with three 250 HP outboards that’ll get you there in 12 minutes for 10 times the price.  We naturally chose Option 2 J

We went back to the old hotel, packed up our bags and Katie, Trav, Caleb and myself loaded up into a small taxi.  We were forced to say goodbye to Jeff, as he had to fly back to Singapore for work.  I assured him I’d see him at his condo there at the beginning of March.

After a nice dinner for 4 at the new hotel, we we’re transported to the awaiting speedboat at 10PM.  We grabbed a few cocktails and jumped on the boat before the engines fired and we were soon hurtling across the ocean at high speeds, warm wind in our hair, under the moonlight anxious for what lye ahead. 

Upon arrived to the dock, we jumped off the boat and began the half mile walk through the streets towards the party beach of Haad Rin.  Hundreds of street vendors selling buckets of half liter bottles of booze mixed with red bull and soda line the streets.  Tattoo shops, T-shirts stores, food carts, and body painting stations fill your peripherals as your brain tries to decipher everything including the myriad of languages being spoken around you. 

We made it to the beach in short order and nothing, nothing could’ve even remotely prepared me for what I was about to witness.  I’ve been to some large gatherings in my life; The Gorge, Merritt Mountain Music Festival in BC, Cannes Film Festival in France, and the Island of Ibiza off the coast of Spain, but this, this was wild.  As far as the eye could see and the ear could hear, bright colored body paint and clothing adorned every shape, size, color, and ethnicity of human on the planet.  Huge stages of people dancing we located every 20 yards, music from American hip hop to electronic remixes of Sweet Home Alabama screamed from every direction and people shooting off massive firework mortars that in the states, you would need a professional license to use would be shooting out of people hands for a mere few bucks. 

There were huge fire shows where people gathered around, locals swinging balls of fire like nun-chucks in a way that made the fire dancers in Hawaiian luau’s look like they were blowing out a birthday candle.  These guys as you can see if the video below, would take a long, thick 20 foot pieces of rope, soak them in Kerosene, then light it on fire and wait for drunk men to prove their manhood, inevitably burning themselves EVERY time.  While I admit, half way through the night I wanted to do this, just to say I’d done it, I decided not to partake as I thought a horrific burn scar on day two of a 90 day trip may prove to be an annoyance.

We partied the night away, dancing, meeting locals and living in the moment.  We hopped back on the speedboat around 3:30 in the morning and headed home, making it safely thanks to Trav and his ability to be sober and deal with the other “less sober” people.

The next morning brought with it relief that we’d survived the fool moon party with no serious injuries, as well as a pounding headache.  I treated myself to breakfast again as I have an inability to sleep in, no matter what the circumstance.  Shortly after finishing, I headed up to Travis and Katie’s room to say goodbye as they were heading back to mainland Thailand to embark on the remainder of their 2-week trip.  I’m sure they will get to see plenty on their adventure and I’m happy for both of them, recently engaged and being amongst the fortunate few who get to have two honeymoons, one after the engagement and one sure to follow their wedding a year from now. 

As for Caleb and myself though, the adventure has just begun…..

The Times They Are A Changin'

Believe it or not, when I hear those words, my first inclination isn’t to think of the popular Bob Dylan song from 1964.  It was a quote from my good friend Daniel Bissel the day he found out he would be leaving for a 27 month Peace Corps adventure, only two weeks before he was to depart for Namibia.


Life has a strange way of taking you directions we couldn’t possibly imagine.  Had you presented the question to me my first year in college at Washington State University “where do you think you’ll be in 7 years”, I would have with out hesitation told you I’d be in a career working for US Customs, residing in Bellingham, WA.  I truly thought that’s what I wanted to do with my life and was eager to head down that path. 


College changed everything for me.  I moved into a fraternity my first year, a little hesitant, a little scared, but none the less, excited for a new adventure.  I formulated life long relationships with the most incredible people a man could ever ask for.  People from all different backgrounds and social classes, some people just looking forward to a fun four years and others determined to make a difference in the world and college was simply a checkpoint on a long and successful journey of life.


I spent three years after transferring from a community college earning a degree in Criminal Justice and Political Science. I juggled the everyday stresses typical of a college student’s life.  Studying for midterms and finals, pulling all-nighters trying to finish a lengthy term paper that should have been completed months earlier, a rigorous social schedule that being a part of Greek life commands, arguments and disputes with roommates that are bound to come up when you live in a house with 45 other late teens and early twenties young men, and of course relationships.


I had obviously heard the expression “everything happens for a reason” many times throughout my life but had never paid much attention to it.  I realized as the years progressed, the smallest event can have such an incredible role in where life takes you.  The first of such events was meeting a person by the name of Kevin Olson.  At the end of my freshman year, I decided to do what the vast majority of college students do, go home and get a job.  I worked all summer at a building supply store counting the days until I could get back to Pullman and reunite with friends for another exciting year.  During the school year I was introduced to Kevin through a mutual friend.  We had a blast together, enjoying the same things in college that many twenty-year-old men do. 


He had told me that he had stayed in Pullman over the summer and in many ways, it was better than during the school year.  Fraternities typically only socialized with people of their own house during the year, but during the summer, the walls were broken down and everyone interacted with everyone.  I decided to stay the following two summers in Pullman, working odd construction jobs with Kevin for a local contractor.  We’d work during the day and enjoy festivities at night.  I met so many people that I still stay in regular contact today because of this.  Thank you Kevin.


During our last year in school, Kevin had talked about moving away from Washington after college.  I had never given the idea much thought but as he continued to put the idea in my head, I grew more excited and we began planning where we should move.  I had another good friend, Justin Challain, in the fraternity who had graduated the previous year and moved to Scottsdale, Arizona.  He visited a few times that year and raved about the climate, the economic opportunities and the quality of life in general.  We decided this was the place we would soon call home.


I graduated in May of 2007 and left the next week for a month long backpacking trip to Europe with four buddies.  This was the second life-changing event.  I was at one of the guys apartments whom I went to Europe with just having casual drinks when I asked him what he was doing on his computer.  He responded that he was planning places he wanted to see on his trip to Europe.  I became intrigued as I hadn’t even thought of doing such a thing.  Fast forward an hour and a few more drinks and I simply couldn’t find a reason not to go and so he invites me to tag along.  I soon realize however that I’m a broke, soon to be graduate college student and have no means to purchase a ticket!  Devastating!  Where was I going to get this money?  I hop on my phone, make a late night call to my Dad and present him with the opportunity to send his son through Europe, something he had done before.  The proposal hadn’t even been uttered in its entirety before he said “Book the damn ticket boy!!!”.  (he didn’t exactly put it like that but it’s how I like to interpret it J)


Europe was incredible.  We traveled through Spain, France, Italy and Monaco all along the Mediterranean.  We were fortunate enough to see the America’s Cup sailing race in Valencia, the Cannes Film Festival in Italy, watch the Grand Prix in Monaco, scuba dive off the Island of Ibiza, and have a crash filled motorcycle ride along the Almalfi Coast.  Incredible sights, all of them, however one memory that I’ve repeated to many people  is always at the forefront of my mind.  We had come into Nice, France late in the evening fresh off a lengthy train ride.  We were exhausted, dirty, and extremely hungry.  We walked endlessly searching for a place to fill our bellies when we came across a small Italian eatery that looked as if they were closing down.


I quickly ran up to an older Italian gentlemen whom I presumed worked there and asked if we could please get something to eat.  The man, while reluctant, seemingly noticed the look of desperation on our faces and told use to take a seat at one of the outside tables and he would bring us out something.  Soon, the man came out to the table with a few bottles of red wine and some pizzas, we were overjoyed!


The man decided to sit down with us and pour himself a tall glass of merlot.  Another older woman and a younger man soon joined us.  The man was the owner, the wife the cook, and the son the server.  We began a lengthy conversation about various topics.  It started with his displeasure of President Bush and normal slams about American way of life.  It transitioned into more lighthearted discussions about what we were doing and what our plans were for our vacation.  Just as we began to settle up the bill, he said something that has stuck with me to this day.  I was telling him how gracious his family was and how happy he seemed when he said and I quote “If I make enough money to pay for my home, the restaurant, and at the end of the day, I’ve got enough left to have a glass of wine with my family, that’s the definition of pure happiness to me”.


This man had such a simplistic, non-materialistic outlook on life.  It was truly humbling.  It made me realize how easy it is to get caught up trying to become so successful, buy the nice house, drive the expensive car, that without knowing it, one loses sight of what’s truly important and what’ll make you happy when you look back on your life in your later years.  Thank you long bearded, broken English speaking, wine guzzling Italian man, I’m indebted to you.  No sooner did I finish my trip to Europe, with a brief week long trip to Cancun as capstone to the longest vacation of my life with my friend Keith, did I pack up everything I owned in a Uhaul, picked up Kevin from Spokane and headed to start fresh in Arizona.


Kevin and I rented a condo sight unseen on the internet before we moved and upon arriving and opening the front door, I realized I owned WAY too much stuff for a 600 square foot 2 bedroom place, but we made it work.  I landed a great position with DeVry University shortly after moving down.  Great pay, nice schedule, and challenging.  I lived in Arizona for 3 years and what had just started out with a couple people I knew living there from the beginning, blossomed into a solid group of 25 people from WSU that also decided to move down to call Phoenix home by the time I left.


I knew I never wanted to settle down in Phoenix within about a year of living there.  I was having the time of my life but I loved the green of Washington, the proximity to the ocean, the crisp air, the close distance to family and yes, even the rain!  I moved into a beautiful home north of Greenlake with 3 of my closest friends, Ryan, Jeff, and Travis in October of 2010 without a job.  I was referred to a company called Zillow, a newer dot com real estate company that had tons of potential for big things.  It was here that I learned that I really had a passion for speaking to people and the art of the deal.  We sold advertising to real estate agents and it was legitimately exciting to do and I was great at it, I loved getting phone calls from clients attributing their business turning around, or being able to put their kids through college because I had convinced them to take a risk on a new way of advertising at just a few year old company. 


I had been financially successful at my job in Phoenix but Zillow changed the way I was able to live and allow me to do things that I didn’t think I could.  I had a certain goal in mind as to the kind of income I wanted to have by the time I was 30 and I was able to do it by my 27^th birthday.  With the great success however, came a realization, that I was losing sight of what the Italian gentleman had told me years previous.  I was getting so caught up with upping my social status that I began to forget what was really important.  Happiness.  Was I happy? 


In many ways yes, I was able to afford my impulses to do things that I wouldn’t have normally been able to do, help a friend out in a time of need, and sock away funds for my future.  I thought I was doing everything right, I had been dating a great girl for awhile, had plans of settling down in the future, buying house and having 2.5 kids, I thought that is what I wanted at the time but I began to realize it wasn’t. 


My roommate Travis had been to Asia before, backpacked for a period of 5 weeks to multiple countries and he was adamant to return for another go at it.  I was intrigued by this idea and shortly after the relationship I was in ended, I decided to take him up on his offer, booking my plane ticket in July 2011.  I knew this was going to be a good trip, but I soon realized in the following months that it was going to blossom into a great adventure.


One of my close friends from WSU, Jeff Carol, graduated from one of the world’s top business schools a couple months after I bought my plane ticket.  He landed an incredible job with Microsoft based out of  Singapore in late September and soon moved overseas.  I was excited for him, excited to have a place to visit while on our trip.


It wasn’t until he came back months later and explained about the culture in Singapore, in Asia, a completely different way of life from what we had grown up with.  He claimed it was a cultural melting pot, different outlooks, different ideals, and just plain incredible.  I began to think, maybe I should do something like this, work abroad, experience something fresh and exciting, take a risk.  I thought to myself, if I were ever to want to do something like this, it had to be now.  Just turning 27, no mortgage, no serious relationship, wife or kids, something that would make the risk less practical.  So I decided,….I’m in!


I quickly changed the length of my trip from 2 weeks, to 3 solid months.  I consulted with my boss about my idea, while he thought it was crazy, he said I had no reason not to go for it.  I had made a great impression with the company, consistently performing over what was expected, and after speaking with human resources, realizing if it didn’t work out in Asia, I would be welcome at Zillow. 


So now as I sit here one my 12 hour flight to Seoul before connecting on a flight to Bangkok, then Ko Samui, I am excited for what my future holds.  The person sitting next to me is a guy named Caleb.  A person whom I became friends with once I moved to Seattle who lived with my buddies Paul and Justin.  No less than two weeks ago, after a lengthy effort to get laid off for a 5 year long position as a Project Engineer for a large Seattle construction company, I received a phone call.  “Alex, I just got laid off!”  Never had I heard someone so excited to be unemployed, but he assured me that after 5 years of 80-90 work weeks, little recognition and an almost non existent social life, he was done.  He told me that the reason he wanted to be laid off was so he would get a hefty severance package and a cash out on his stock options.  The tone of his voice was that of excitement so I was happy to hear he was happy, but there was a lingering tone of something else he wanted to talk about.  Caleb had known about my extended trip for sometime now and he asked if he could come over to discuss.  He arrived at my house and I explained the countries I’d be visiting while intermittently flying to and from Singapore to line up job interviews.  Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos amongst others.


He had a smirk on his face and he asked, “Would you like a travel partner?”  I quipped “Abso-$^&#$&ing-lutely!”.  He broken out his credit card and booked my exact same flight!  Now we’re both sitting here, him not knowing I’m writing about him, about to embark on an adventure of a lifetime.  We have no planned hotels, no predetermined route to follow, just the guide of our whim of the day.  We’re not sure what’s in store other than we’re excited about the new people we’re going to meet, foods we’re going to taste, smells we’ll sure to be smelling, and places and experiences that are going to be engrained in our conscious forever.


The most important thing I want to take away from this trip, whatever ends up happening, is gaining a more expansive view of others cultures and an understanding of what it truly means to be happy and healthy on this journey that we call life!


I plan on updating this blog along the way and hope that for those that read it, you can take away the fact that you know somebody that at 27 years old is undeniably happy and wasn’t afraid to take a risk at an opportunity that can forever change him for the better.  I am so unbelievably thankful to each person who has been a part of my life for without you, I wouldn’t be sitting here today.  You are all incredible and always remember, do what makes you happy, take risks, have an open heart and mind to whatever comes your way! 

Here’s to life and adventure (consume a drink now!)