Last Days in Bangkok

I have had a great time here in Bangkok. And in Asia for that matter. Only a couple of days are left now before I return to Europe. Lots of open questions for the near future: when is my new apartment going to be ready? What kind of job will I find? Whatever will happen, will happen. I already got the ball rolling on most issues. I try not to obsess too much and enjoy my last days in Siam.

Thailand has been one of the friendliest and easiest countries to travel. The people are amazing and the infrastructure pretty good. It is easy to get around. I arrived with my usual anxieties, but was comfortable here. I understand that Thailand is praised for being a good ‘first travel’ country, and now I know why. Did I stay a little too long here in Bangkok? Yes, probably. But it was soothing for the soul, and there was a lot to see and do. I tend to fall into ruts even when traveling, and I had to shake myself out of them a couple of times here because I got a little too comfortable. But most of the pleasure of travel in Southeast Asia is just being here. Call it immersion, experience or whatever you like, but taking your time and not rushing from tourist destination to tourist destination was interesting to me. Just being somewhere is sometimes enough.

On most days I catch myself thinking about Japan. Japan has changed me and has become somewhat of a standard for comparisons. Seeing all the Japanese influence here in Bangkok amplifies my longing to go back to Japan. We will see when that could be possible again.

Between elephant pants, gashapon and other souvenirs, my luggage grew to quite a respectable size. I had to buy an additional bag (decathlon to the rescue) in order to transport it all. Let’s hope everything fits.