Travelling

Reasons why I am not a natural traveller (and why I do it anyway).

1) I do not fit in anywhere except northern Europe - I am very pale and fair so will always look like a foreigner (compounded by the fact that I will burn in any kind of sunshine).
The upside is... I always look like a foreigner. This means other travellers will be friendly and approachable (and in my experience, if you are travelling on your own, many will tell you how brave you are!). The downside of looking like a traveller is you will be ripe pickings for any scammers that are around, but keep your wits about you and you should be ok. Be aware that as a foreigner you will always pay more for things.

2) I do not have a strong stomach. However, I have been in Thailand a week and so far seem to be fine – and if I wasn’t, don’t worry I would not feel the need to share. This is an affliction I hate because I love to try new food and will always eat local where I can. At the Sunday market in Chiang Mai you can pick up Pad Thai for 15baht (about 20 pence).

3) I can be quite shy when I am on my own. I have spent the last few days honing my skills at being obnoxious and forcing myself into conversations. Interrupting when people are eating with a ‘do you mind if I sit here’ seems to be quite effective. The upside is that once a conversation has begun, I can talk to almost anybody (unless you are a complete idiot, then I will make my excuses and leave).

4) I am not very good at the actual process of getting from one place to another. I can never sleep on trains. Or planes. Or buses. This is unfortunate as the cheapest way to travel tends to be the longest. My 12 hours from Bangkok to Chiang Mai was tolerable only thanks to the iPod and impressive vantage point for people watching  (I was the only English speaker in my carriage and 1 of only 4 foreigners – watching 30 Thai teenagers argue over comic books and BBM each other from two seats away was quite entertaining).

Added to this I find immigration officials quite intimidating. I am not the kind of traveller who could calmly debate with a tricky immigration officer on a power trip. Luckily I have never had to. Watch this space…

5) I pack too much… as you can see from the picture above. I am going to have to get rid of some stuff along the way if I am going to do any shopping here. And despite bringing all this, I have forgotten some essentials (small bag with compartments, sunhat, ¾ length bottoms required for temple visits – you don’t want to be wearing trousers in 35 degrees). So to the night market I go. (And yes, if you look closely, I have packed dry shampoo – I consider this to be a necessity).

NB I did not buy anything at the Patpong market in Bangkok as it was my first time there and I was too busy telling Thai men that no, I did not want to go and see ‘Super Pussy’ – I don’t think the aussie girls I was with will ever recover from their Ping Pong show experience (…and then she started pulling out silk scarves, like the kind magicians use, and they just went on forever, she must have had ten metres of scarf shoved up there…).

Despite these, and I am sure many other reasons I cannot think of at this moment, travelling is something you will either fall in love with or not, and I can’t think of a single person who has tried it and not established a full on romance with wandering the world. In future blogs I will be sharing my thoughts on my fling with Asia, and any tips I pick up along the way.

Next stop: 3 day trek in the hills north of Chiang Mai, staying with hill tribes for 2 nights.