Where it all Began

I was a seventeen year old fresh out of high school who possessed dreams bigger than those of Martin Luther King when I landed in Bangkok, and all I could think of as I headed for the airport exit was pad thai and Leonardo DiCaprio in "The Beach". I had just conquered my first flight overseas, by myself, and was ready to take on whatever the land of Thai was going to throw at me. Or at least I thought I was.

The doors of the airport opened and my excitement was short lived as it managed to perform an impressive backflip and turn itself into anxiety, leaving me with a sinking stomach and sweaty palms. Outside, my senses were forced in to overdrive and as my eyes searched frantically for my older sister I could hear nothing but men shouting 'taxiiiii,taxiiiii' in their Thai accents. There was a lingering stench similar to that of a rotting carcass left in a sewer and the temperature was not the comfortable one controlled by the air-conditioning inside.

After half an hour I decided Kate had hung me out to dry so I regressed, tail between legs, to the bright lights and sterility of the airport. I didn't even get one foot in the door before I was halted by the raised weapons of security guards who sent me straight back to the chaos of the arriving tourists and shouting taxi drivers. When this became too much to deal with I decided to do what any logical person would do after being in transit for 15 hours with no where to go; I threw my backpack on the ground, sat on it, and I cried.

Eventually, my sister found me red-faced, glassy eyed and perched on my backpack. She explained why she had been late but I don't think I heard any of it because I was just glad to know I was not going to be left to the street dogs. We shared the embrace I was desperate for and then headed off to our hostel.

In the two weeks that followed I stayed in dodgy hostels, fell asleep on a random's shoulder and treated myself to many meals of pad thai (until one made me ridiculously ill). I also swam in crystal blue waters, took in amazing views, met friendly locals and partied the night away with a bucket in hand as the full moon lit up the sky. The memories that I have from Thailand are some of my best, and can always be counted on to put a smile on my face. But the feeling - including the sights, smells and sounds - of the night I first touched down in a foreign country is something I am still able to conjure up and because of this, I know it will never be forgotten.