Koh Tao, Thailand

Koh Tao really is an island of wide variety.  You can have a drink on the beach and go party at The Rock, or hike to gorgeous viewpoints of the island and the absolutely stunning blue water, but generally when you think of the Island Koh Tao, automatically your mind goes to one thing: diving.  Here you can get your dive certifications for one of the cheapest prices in the world, in one of the most beautiful locations in the world.  Really it's a win win situation if you're adventurous enough to brave the deep and unknown underwater world.

When i arrived in Thailand, I had no clue what I was doing or where I was going. I figured I would talk with other travelers first and see what they could recommend for me.  I knew that I wanted to get my dive certification, but I hadn't really planned a where or when.  A few buddies of mine and me went to a local tourist shop and booked out bus ride, boat ride, 4 nights accommodation, and dive course for 12,000 baht, or roughly $340 US dollars.  Realistically, we could have gotten it a bit cheaper had we done it all ourselves, but the price was fine for all it included, and it was nice to have something arranged for us just putting our toes in the water of traveling Thailand versus jumping right in seemed like a safe bet.

My English friend, Billy, that I had just met, and I set off together to begin our diving.  We went through Buddha View Dive resort that was on a quieter part of the island, which was perfect because of the early days beginning our course.

The first day we began our training in a pool and did all sorts of exercises getting us ready to go into the ocean.  At first it was really simple for me because I had already done a discovery dive with my fiancé in Cyprus prior to the course.  One of the skills I really struggled with was taking off my mask and breathing with only the regulator.  I sucked water up my nose and couldn't breathe without plugging it.  Day 2 we had the same sort of skills, only instead, in the ocean, in much deeper water.  When i filled my mask completely with water and had to empty it, I panicked underwater.  I couldn't breathe with my nose unblocked so when I tried it felt like I was choking on water and couldn't get a breath.  I started to panic, but then i remembered Wayne, our instructor, telling me that feeling of choking is only that I had swallowed water.  So I plugged my nose to calm my breathing, swallowed the sea water, took a deep breath, and cleared my mask.

In general, I really don't fear much of anything.  That feeling of total fear is very few and far between for me with most things in my life, but that day really was something else.  I really was afraid of that skill and when they told me on day 3 I had to do it again, the entire boat ride over I was preparing myself on exactly how I would handle it.  I was dreading it.  I was talking myself through the process that would work for me.

"Okay.  Take a super deep breath then take your mask off.  Let the air slowly out, and put your mask back on.  Plug your nose with the mask on to take another deep breath.  Unplug your nose and breathe out to release all the water out."

I went through this over and over and over in my head till we were finally in the water and it was my turn to do the skill.  It was easy.  I didn't panic.  I wasn't afraid.  That had to have been one of the best feelings in the world conquering that fear and overcoming that obstacle.

In the end, when I had passed my exam and done all my skills, I felt a sense of accomplishment not only because this was yet another thing I could cross off my bucket list, but the fact that I overcame my fear, becoming an even more confident, fearless person.  If I can conquer one fear, why can't I conquer all of them?

I am now a certified open water diver

Bangkok, Thailand

Day 1

My initial plan for the first day I arrived in Bangkok was to be lazy because I figured I would be jet lagged, however right when I walked in my room to other guys walked in at the same time.  We got to talking and then decided to go for a wander around the streets of Bangkok to find some food.  As we were walking a very polite Thai lady started talking to us, making conversation on where we should visit.  Before we knew it she was putting us on a Tuk Tuk and sending us on our way to a good restaurant she liked.  I read and read and read about not to do this because they get commission if they bring in customers to whatever shop or restaraunt but did it anyways.  We later got taken to a suit shop in a somewhat sketchy place and from there I had had it and asked him to take us back to our hostel. On the upside, the food was very good and we did get taken around to a temple as well as a travel agency where Bill, one of my roommates, and I decided to travel down South to Ko Tao and get our dive licenses which cost us about 12,500 baht including travel and lodging.  Day one was down and I had actually been semi productive and adventurous for being jet lagged as well as learning to listen and follow through with other travelers advice and experiences. Never again will I get on a Tuk Tuk without knowledge of knowing exactly where I want to go.

Day 2

I wanted to explore the city as much as I could so my friend, Bill, and I set out and walked the streets of Bangkok with a map and a few baht for a little over 4 hours.  The only street food I have tried so far was a delicious banana smoothie for 30 baht. I am a horrible traveler for now, I even said no to the cooked scorpions I promised myself to try.  Luckily, (unluckily?) I have plenty of time for that.

Right now in Thailand, the experience is one of a kind since the death of the King.  The entire country is in mourning.  Walking the streets, we were the only tourists around the grand palace, as it is closed for now to foreigners. The streets were lined with black and white decorations and shrines for the king.  Every Thai person I have seen have some sort of black on.  The love they have for him and their country truly shines through as they mourn for his loss together as a whole.

Though the Grand Palace is closed, there was still plenty of other gorgeous Buddhist temples all over Bangkok.  One of my favorites, and one of the most famous, I saw was Wat Pho.  It was a large temple surrounded by other smaller buildings and Buddhas everywhere. The great and unique thing about here is the big reclining golden Buddha that in length was about 42 meters.

Once we were done with our sight seeing, we walked around more eventually somehow making our way back to our hostel.  During that time we got caught in a massive rain pour and were completely soaked head to toe.  It was like life stopped as even those prepped with umbrellas and rain gear attempted to wait out the short storm.  Another time daily life stopped, we were walking when all of a sudden we noticed that all the Thai people had stopped moving.  A military officer, one of whom were lining the entire street, motioned for us to quickly stop.  As we stopped a government car drove through and when it was out of sight, people resumed as usual and the officer motioned to us it was okay to move.

After a long, interesting, eventful day, we got back to the hostel and relaxed our sore and tired feet, hanging out in the hostel lobby with other travelers.

Day 3

The night before about 15 of us from the hostel went out to Koh San Road for a few drinks even though there wasn't the usual fun, loud, and exciting atmosphere, we still had a good time.  The most shocking thing for me was that the bars sold laughing gas you could order.  They would bring you a balloon full for 200 baht and it was quite the interesting experience.  We went out till about 2 am, me being fully award I had to get up at 6 am for a tour of Ayutthaya.

When I got home from going out, I assumed I would get at least 4 hour of sleep being how tired I was.  Sadly, I was mistaken because I was still jet lagged and stayed lying awake until a little after 5 am.  So I got a short nap and woke up exhausted and hungover.  I would complain how tiring the day was but I did it to myself so I mustered up as much energy as I could and headed out on the bus out to the ruins.  We saw about 5 different sites all over the city showing us the beauty and awesomeness of the ruins that were once where the monarchy was until it was taken over and destroyed. Since then they have worked to restore it as much as they could.  We had a guide that was supposed to speak English however no one in the group understood anything he said unfortunately so the learning aspect of this trip was very little but the excellence and beauty of just taking it all in made up for that part.

First days in Bangkok, Thailand 2016

After visiting my now fiancé for 19 days in Cyprus, it was time for me to say goodbye and start my travels to Southeast Asia.  I flew through Qatar airways which was a great airline for a great price.  I received breakfast, lunch and dinner for free. Food is love, food is life.  

I landed in Bangkok, Thailand around noon and took a taxi for about 450 baht to my hostel near Khao San Road called Nap Park which was a clean place with a good atmosphere of people.  The amazing thing about traveling solo is how many people you meet and how quickly it becomes like you have known them your whole life because everyone here all has similar goals... To learn new things, meet new people, and experience new places.

Right now, late October 2016, I am witnessing history.  Sadly, the Thai King passed away a few days before I arrived, and the entire country is in a 30 mourning period.  Usually, Thailand is seen as a great place to party for travelers and locals alike, but the entire country has completely transformed in the last days.  Walking the streets, almost every single Thai person is wearing black out of respect for their beloved King.  Many travelers are getting out of Thailand because of what is happening but I find it absolutely incredible and lucky I get to experience this part of the Thai culture.  This is the kind of atmosphere I will never experience again, seeing an entire country so unified and full of the utmost respect.  When I visit again, as I know I will, it will be such an entirely different atmosphere compared to this unpredictable one as of now.

Salento, Colombia

Salento was probably one of my favorite places I visited in Colombia.  It was a quiet, laid back town that wasn't too touristy for how beautiful it was.  It's located in the coffee region and was one of the top spots to tour the coffee plantations and try the famous Colombian coffee.

Cynthia and I stayed in a hostel out of town that had a very homely feel to it.  It was located in a beautiful area, surrounded by tons of greenery and trees.  For me, the nature and serenity of it was a much needed change from the hustle and bustle I had been experiencing in other cities.  The downside of its serenity though was there was no wifi for emergencies and it was 2 miles away from town.  So either we would hire a Willy (Jeep taxis) to come and get us, of huff it all the way into and out of town sometimes with our big backpacks, or groceries from town.  This got exhausting after a while, but for me was well worth it as nature traveling is more of my scene versus big city travel.


Day 1 in Salento, we decided to sign up for a more touristy type, English spoken coffee tour.  The tour was decently close to our hostel so we walked down a dirt road about a mile or so, and arrived at the tour.  They took us through how the coffee beans were grown and harvested, and we got time to pick some ourselves.  I got the most, I might add.  We then got to watch the process of grinding down the coffee beans and making our own coffee.  Pretty epic deal drinking Colombian coffee on a cool morning in Colombia.


The next day we went to Valle de Cocora, Las Palmas.  To get there we packed tightly into a Willy and took about a half hour drive up there. It was a long hike to rolling fields of endless palm trees.  The hike was decently strenuous, but the more difficult, the more energized I feel.  I practically ran up the hike.  When we got near the top, it was so fog covered, we could barely see anything.  We were a little disappointed at first, but soon ignored the feeling and instead took in the sight of the foggy view and outlines of trees.  As we descended, we realized the top wasn't even the view we were waiting for.  At the bottom, the very end of the hike, were where the open field of palm trees were.  They were extremely tall and skinny with little top hats of Palm leaves.

Cali, Colombia

La Capital de la Salsa.  The capital of salsa.  So when in Cali, one must learn to salsa dance.  Damn can those Colombians move their hips and dance!  I absolutely loved the styles of dancing around here.  It was so cool to see people actually dance still, instead of just grinding and dirty dancing.

The backpackers hostel we stayed at (which name escapes me) had free salsa lessons as well as yoga during the day.  Naturally I was going to absolutely be the first one to sign up for both as it was a first come, first serve basis.  If you went to Cali and didn't salsa dance, there really is no point of you being there.  So hell yes, in the salsa capital of the world, I learned to salsa dance, at least the basics, anyways.  I swear, every Colombian can salsa dance.  They explained to me that it was almost expected for people to know how to dance because who wants to go out of a club with someone that can't dance?  Well, I for one cannot dance and never have been taught so I found it absolutely awesome that they all knew how to.  It was hilarious when we all first went out to the salsa club, you could tell who the Americans and Europeans were not only by the way we looked, but by the way we danced.  We would all be in a group while the Colombians always had a dance partner.  Group dancing is definitely just not a thing.  So we all did our very best to salsa dance the night away.  After that night, Cynthia and I just hung back at the hostel by our pool and played cards.  Which we did everyday of every hour whenever we were bored.  We are now masters of slap jack and Cambio.

Dancing, Dancing, Dancing.  I loved Cali.

Popayan, Colombia

Popayan was the very first city of Colombia Cynthia and I visited.  It is known for it's beautiful white washed walls all around the city.  To get there, we rode a night bus from Quito to right outside of the Colombian border.  We got our travel visas, which were free for all except for Canadian residents.  It was an awesome feeling to finally be in another country. Colombia.  The interesting part was actually getting where we needed to go.  I had never once booked a hostel in Ecuador, and felt no need to in Colombia.  So once our bus arrived, at about 1 a.m, we walked around the city attempting to follow our directions to the hostel we found.  Once we finally arrived there, exhausted and a bit scared, the man told us there was no rooms for us so we were pretty much SOL.  Fantastic.  2 a.m, and we had no where to go.  The man gave us directions to a nearby hotel that was about the same price, so we did our best to find it.  finally, once we found it, we got the room for 3 nights.  Looking back, that wandering around with all our belongings was probably not the brightest choice, but you do what you gotta do sometimes when you're in a bind.  From then on, we booked our hostels online.

There wasn't a whole lot to do in Popayan, but it was nice to rest and get a little shopping done while we could, as well as wander around the white city and visit a few museums.

Popayan, Colombia

Popayan was the very first city of Colombia Cynthia and I visited.  It is known for it's beautiful white washed walls all around the city.  To get there, we rode a night bus from Quito to right outside of the Colombian border.  We got our travel visas, which were free for all except for Canadian residents.  It was an awesome feeling to finally be in another country. Colombia.  The interesting part was actually getting where we needed to go.  I had never once booked a hostel in Ecuador, and felt no need to in Colombia.  So once our bus arrived, at about 1 a.m, we walked around the city attempting to follow our directions to the hostel we found.  Once we finally arrived there, exhausted and a bit scared, the man told us there was no rooms for us so we were pretty much SOL.  Fantastic.  2 a.m, and we had no where to go.  The man gave us directions to a nearby hotel that was about the same price, so we did our best to find it.  finally, once we found it, we got the room for 3 nights.  Looking back, that wandering around with all our belongings was probably not the brightest choice, but you do what you gotta do sometimes when you're in a bind.  From then on, we booked our hostels online.

There wasn't a whole lot to do in Popayan, but it was nice to rest and get a little shopping done while we could, as well as wander around the white city and visit a few museums.