Ain't no rest for the wicked

I swear 12 times over that when I bought this flight it was San Franciscio to Taiwan to Thailand. I swear it, by my left and my right hand. despite my assuredness and not surprisingly I had literally only looked at the ticket once, to see what time need to leave and where from, so I can't say I didn't have it coming. I boarded this plane thinking it was going to Taiwan. It wasn't. You know those interactive maps they have on planes now? The really neat ones that tell you where you are and the wind speed and elevation and temps? Well it took until I saw that thing, about a half hour into the flight, before I realized I wasn't flying to Taiwan. Not that it matttered that much really, because it was just a layover on my way to Bangkok (what I thought was my final destination). It's just a little surpising when that morning I didn't expeect to be flying to China. 

Alright, no biggie. I was just in China which is cool. Also it was freezing and the few hours spent there were huddled up with some other travelers awaiting their flights to Thailand. It was a good experience for me I think. The only issue was China didn't like me using their internet. Also, not a huge issue, but seeing as I had coordinated nothing with Stumbles, no meet up point or game plan, before leaving the states it would've been nice to get in contact with her before I landed in Bangkok at one in the morning. Again, I wasn't too worried, I was positive Stumbles knew all the details of everything and I wouldn't have to worry about a thing. So, after freezing some tail off in China I set out for Bangkok on the last (so I thought) leg of a long commute to travel. 

I got to Bangkok after a near twenty four hours of solid travel. I was tired, hungry, and all I wanted was to get through one of the longest immigration lines I've ever seen. Interestingly enough I could not manage to find any wifi my phone would accept here either, except briefly before it kicked me off. In that briefness though, I got a flash of messages from Stumbles. I was relieved to have some idea of what there would be to come. Then I read the messages... some of the messages were this: 'There was a miscomunication on when my flight was coming in so she wasn't even in Bangkok'. Interesting. A further message said she was in Krabi. Despite that I had plenty of time to prepare for this trip I still hadn't looked at a map of Thailand and due to my lack of internets I was flying in the dark. I had no idea where Krabi was. And the final message that came through was 'the other airport is cheaper'. Okay. Interesting. I now had a breadcrumb situation. I had nothing to go on other than 'the other airport is cheaper' and 'come to Krabi'. Cool. So, after 24 hours of travel I walked out of the Bangkok airport at 2am and hailed a cab saying nothing more than I needed to go to the 'other' airport which I didn't even know the name of. The cab ride was a blur. I was feeling solid at first, but then the air conditioning and luxurious seats (remember I had been sitting in airplane seats for over 15 hours) started to get to me. My mind got fuzzy for a while as I just watched the street lights trace by in the dark. A surprisingly long ride later, I got there around 3am where I was informed the ticket desk would open at 4am. Enough time to scarf so airport food. I bought a ticket for $40 to Krabi first thing in the morning with still no idea if Stumbles was there or whether they'd moved on to somewhere else. 

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Krabi

I got off the plane with really no idea what to do. Thank goodness I managed to get some wifi at this airport though and recieved a long sought after message from Stumbles with the final key to the puzzle, the location of they were staying. A couple questions later I was sitting on a random bus driving through the gorgeous gorgeous Thai countryside. There were little mopeds whipping around through all the trafic and temples scattered about. Everything you would imagine. Before I knew it the bus was at the end of it's line and I still wasn't where I needed to be. I flagged down a moped taxi and enjoyed the sea air blowing in my hair as we drove parallel to the beach towards my final destination!

I rolled up to the hotel to find Mr. Miller waiting downstairs for me. If you don't remember Mr. Miller, he is now part of the Stumbles/Beacon team and, as is with all old friends, it was really good to see him again. He lead me upstairs where we found Stumbles for a super hug, Turns out I've really missed traveling, especially with these two. And immediattely the stories and banter started between us. Just remembering all the good old adventures we've had over breakfast on the newest adventure. 

A little bit to my surprise, but not too much, Mr. Miller and Stumbles had taken a girl under their wing. They just kicked it off apparantely and now we have a fourth! Her name is Kiki and she's from Florida. Very cool young lady. Then, as often ends up happening, with some slight variations of course, we were all off drinking Thai whiskey on a boat as we explored the islands and beaches. There is no place in the world I would rather be.

Be happy, 

Beacon