Hittin the Road

Today was an exciting day for me. I taught my last class here in Thailand, renewed my passport (which, while still having all of my middle names, no longer has Laks-Marx as my last name), finalized my trip details and bought my plane tickets to Bangkok and Krabi. The end of classes was somewhat anti-climactic, as I was simply told by my co-teacher that they were going to review for the upcoming tests and didn't need me there. I still have one more class with my NP class, but that is a party class, so no more teaching. I will definitely take pictures of the kids stuffing their faces during the party, so don't worry about that.

As for my passport, I don't know if anyone has gotten a passport in recent years, but the new ones are pretty fancy. They apparently have a computer chip in them for tracking or scanning. A lot different than my old one. It was a little disappointing knowing I wouldn't be able to add more visas and stamps to my old passport (I was able to keep it though), but it was also exciting getting the new one, every page empty, full of possibilities. It is almost like the beginning of a new trip - one that will last until 2020 when I have to renew my passport again.

The first thing I did with my new passport was book my year end trip to Bangkok and Krabi. I'm still a little hesitant to go to Bangkok based on everyone's description of it to me. But I feel like I ought to see the capital of Thailand if I'm here. It may be a big, noisy, polluted city, but I like those. Plus I want to ride the SkyTrain. After a few days in Bangkok, I head down to Krabi, one of rock climbing's top 5 destinations. And now that I know how to lead climb, I can head down there confidently. After a few days of climbing, I'm hoping to find a smaller island and just relax there. I want to do absolutely nothing for about 3 days. Just lie on the beach, swim in the ocean, read books - that's it.

It's all coming up soon, and before I know it I'll be back in America. Prepare yourself, I know I am.