The First Place

This question and my response was from an email years ago.

Tell me more about how/why you decided to head to Thailand in the first place.  Did you already have some connections?

Traveled first to Japan in Feb 2000, then flew to Hong Kong a month later,  After ten days in HK, I flew to Bangkok.  I arrived in Bangkok in March 2000.  No connections.  I landed at the airport, and met a German girl.  We actually had a whirlwind romance and traveled around Thailand together.  Seriously.

I only came here because people in Japan and Hong Kong said it's an interesting place.  I was on the adventure of a lifetime and wanted to see as much as possible.  Six months and 12k later, I had traveled to Japan, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam.  What's funny is that when I started out, I was thinking about returning to law school in Alabama - I had visited a campus and class back in the USA - or becoming a kind of missionary in Asia.  I had gotten back on an evangelical kick somewhat, and was thinking of possibilities.  It was only in Bali, four months into travelling when I started thinking that living in Asia would be stimulating.  I chose Bangkok because of its locale, and because I had met Kade and started falling in love.

More thoughts today:  I did more of a semi-backpacking trip.  Although I stayed in hostels on a few occasions, I stayed in more moderately-priced hotels when I wanted.  And I would fly if need be.  I also didn't skimp when it came to eating.  I enjoyed myself.  However, I carried around a huge backpack as my luggage, and I stayed in or close by the backpacker areas.  One reason:  I could meet other travelers that way - from all over the world.   In coming days I will list some things I did during the six months that clearly fell into the backpacker category, and also list out some things I did that the typical backpacker probably wouldn't try.  Keep in mind, backpackers are traveling for extended periods (a year or more sometimes), and therefore need to budget for the entire journey.  For that reason, doing things "on the cheap" is a deserved stereotype of backpacking.  A true backpacker would have taken my 12K and traveled for a year, and not just six months.  Or, they might have just spent 6K doing the route I did.  And then there are people backpacking who come from rich families and they are traveling for the experience with their friends, and maybe just to test themselves.  Or maybe their rich parents don't just toss their money their way.   The kids work, save up, and then they go.  And backpackers can be of any age.  I also just tell people, especially Americans or people from countries where English is the native language, you can always go teach English, and use that place as a base to travel in the area.  That way, you have money coming in.  If you were smart and willing, you could break even over the course of a year.  Sometimes people say, "I don't have the money to go."  That's why I tell them about teaching.  There are also other alternatives.

source

This is not the backpack brand I used.  I can't really recall what I had actually.  But it's very similar in size and design, and the same color.  I bought it online (in the early years of online purchasing), and it arrived at my home in Dothan, Alabama.  I remember being so excited to get it.