Thailand 2008 - Sawasdee Kaa !!!

I've been dreaming of Thailand for practically all my life. When I was a little kid, probably about 4 years old, I saw this poster of a magical island in a shop or somewhere. I was astonished, and that moment stuck with me until now. It was the moment when I realized that there is a whole world out there to discover. That there must be so much beauty that I've never seen and probably cannot even imagine. It was the moment I realized I want to see it all.

As I grew up I learned that the photo showed Thailand's beautiful Phi Phi islands. And therefore I decided that the first big trip I'd make would be one to the land of smiles that injected me with the travel bug. Later on of course I learned more about this country and I fell in love with South East Asia in general, even though I had never been there before. I found a thousand more reasons why I wanted to see this part of the world, yet the special feelings about Thailand stuck with me and I kept to the promise I made to myself. Therefore, this year, when I booked my first non-European travel, there was absolutely no doubt about the destination.

Thailand is more to me than the country itself. It marks the start of a whole range of journeys. It is like I've been dreaming of all these travels all my life, and now I finally start making them. That probably sounds ridiculous, but it is how it feels.
I was planning on making this journey on my own, to pack my backpack and just leave. But as I had never been out of Europe and would travel alone, in the end it turned out I didn't have the guts for it. So I decided to book a tour and found one that did almost everything that I wanted to do. I know many of you don't like tours because they are touristy, expensive, fast paced and basically show only the part of a country that they want you to see. And that is all true. I had never booked at a travel agency before and normally I plan my own travels from A to Z. So it was a pretty hard decision to make, but in the end it just felt like the right thing to do.

That's how it all happened. Today is 2 march and I'm having my bags packed. My backpack, as I don't have any suitcases. But it will do. I have my first international passport ready to be stamped and my tickets in hand. My plane will take of in 3 hours, for a 15 hour trip to the other end of the world. Outside it is rainy and cold, and I honestly can't wait to leave this country behind.