Next Stop, Anywhere

Over the past few weeks, as the school year winds down, I've begun feeling slightly stagnant. I know, I know, you're probably thinking "Josh, you're in Thailand. How can anything feel stagnant?" I think the main reason is that I've developed a routine, and created a comfort zone for myself. Anytime that happens, you forget that there is so much going on around you to see and experience. That's not to say that having routines and being comfortable are bad. But I remember how excited I was to go explore a new area of the city with my camera when I first arrived. Now, I've become comfortable in my surroundings, the people I know, the places I go. At the same time, I realize there is literally an entire country for me to explore. I need to do that as often as I can. So I decided I need to get back out and explore as much as I can before my time here is up. Hopefully I'll be able to capture as much of this as I can with pictures or video. If not, you will have to relive it through my words. So expect to see many more pictures and stories in the near future. Hope you enjoy them.

Climbing the Days Away

As you may have noticed by the pictures I've been posting recently, I have rediscovered how much I love rock climbing. I am spending most of my free time either at the local climbing gym, or on the weekends I am out at the crag (where the rock climbing is outside). The crag, called Crazy Horse, is about an hour east of Chiang Mai through some scenic pastoral Thai farmlands. I really like going out there with a few people I met at the climbing gym and just spending the day there. It's very peaceful in the forest, and even more so when you are 20 meters up and it's just you and the mountain. All this rediscovery has prompted me to decide on what kind of travelling I want to do after the school year ends. I had been thinking about where to go between the end of school and my flight home for a while, and wasn't coming up with anything. Then, after I began rock climbing again, I decided I would take a trip to southern Thailand, specifically the area of Krabi, Railay, and Ton Sai. This is supposedly some of the best climbing in the world, and already being in Thailand, I thought it would be stupid not to head down there and check it out. There will definitely be pictures of that when it happens.

In addition to my decision to travel down south, I also decided I needed to visit Bangkok. Coming to Thailand without seeing Bangkok did not seem right, either. If everything works out, two friends of mine will be coming with me to Bangkok on their way somewhere else. So we will all spend a few days in Bangkok before heading our separate ways. It should be a lot of fun, and I'm excited to see the city and what it has to offer.

That's about it for now. I also decided I want to start taking mini road trips along nearby highways and bring my camera. Once you get out of the city proper, there is a lot of countryside to see. Some of it is pretty spectacular. Hopefully I can fit everything in before my time here ends.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes....

Sadly, it has been nearly a month since my last post. I am not sad about it so much as I'm sure people who check this regularly have started getting bored with it. The lack of postings has been mostly because I am doing more and more with my free time. So sitting in front of a computer doesn't seem like as good a use of my time. In the month since my last post, a lot has been happening here in the land of smiles.

I guess the biggest news is that I bought my plane ticket home. It's a little weird that I already did that and I feel like I just got here. I really like it here, and I know I will miss it, but I think it is a good decision not to stay another year. At least that is what I keep telling myself. Coming back now will give me plenty of time to look for teaching jobs, I just hope there are some for me when I get back. And who knows, if I stayed another year, I might like it so much I never came back.

In other news, I started rock climbing outdoors again. I forgot how much I like it. I am taking some courses here so I can feel knowledgeable when I return to the states. Once there, I think I'm going to start climbing a lot more. It'll be a little bit of an investment, but it'll definitely be worth it.

One question I keep asking myself is where I want to be when I get back. Now that I'm sure I'm coming back, I am not sure what city I want to find myself in. I haven't lived in New York for about eight years now, which is a long time. So a big part of me wants to live there. But I also know finding a job in New York will be much more of a challenge than in other cities, like Baltimore. Or the option of a whole new city is still a possibility. I don't know yet, but hopefully I will by the time I get home.

On the domestic front, I am debating between saving my money for when I get back and spending it all and travelling around Thailand. I think I want to travel. After all, when else am I going to be able to see all this stuff without flying from the states? Maybe I can somehow balance my money saving and my travelling. We'll see.

Hopefully posts will be a little more regular, and a little more interesting. I just had to write something now to get myself back into it. Until next time, keep watching the stars!