Last City in Thailand and my Long Needed Return to the Beach

My first day in Krabi was exactly what I needed to restore my soul and excite me for my coming travels. I had an early morning flight, 6am, so I was at the airport by 5am, but no need to be early because I was the only person in line for security, they even had to double check something in my backpack and I was still through within a few minutes. I was so excited to go to Krabi. To be back at the beach, to lounge at the hotel pool, to have access to a gym, to island hop, to stay at a nice hostel, it was all adding up. And truly, with solo traveling the fear is that you won’t make friends and then have no one to talk to, but for me even if that was my worst case scenario, I could easily fill my time with reading and writing and I wouldn’t feel lonely when doing some of my favorite hobbies in an ideal dream location. I always say that I am an extrovert with introverted hobbies, becoming more extroverted in recent years as I found the importance and abundant love that comes with good friends, connections, and relationships with family. 

I got to my hostel around 10am, it was raining sadly so I spent the late morning at a cafe. There is something so key to my readjust about getting my bearings set at a long cafe session. I had a lovely “vegan breakfast plate” and cappuccino with oat milk. It is a pleasure to see non-dairy milk options as less than half the shops I’ve gone to for coffee in my travels so far have the option. Fresh milk only which is a bummer for me. But here, being that there are so many western travelers, mainly europeans, there was plenty of non-dairy options for me and my coffee. I finished up at the cafe and walked around a bit. I walked the strip that hotels, bars, restaurants, and shops line the street, and I popped into almost every store that had any postcards or jewelry (the two items I collect while traveling). 

I am grateful that I have so long here, about 6 days. I feel like a mind reader, Hannah two months ago when she planned all of this knowing the Hannah right now would be tired and just want to chill on a beach and not move around a lot. One thing about this trip is time is in my favor. I want to give each place the time it deserves and not rush onto the next. I also want to take time to relax. It was go go go in Vietnam, but this is where I am slowing it down. Taking time for myself. To work on my passions. To rest my heart and soul and find inner peace like no other. I know this moment in my life will be like no other. A time in which I have no responsibilities and nothing on my mind besides having fun and making memories. That is my job, that is my task for the summer. And with that, I want to use any downtime to work on personal projects, this blog being one of them. It has been a joy to write about my travels, about my feelings and what I have all learned so far which has been plenty. I have learned not only travel tips, but a lot about myself. 

I continued on with my day at the pool. I didn't care how much time was passing, the view at this pool could be stared at forever and deserved to be done so. I am very grateful that my hostel has a sister property that is a nicer hotel with all of the amenities, that including two pools, one being a hilltop infinity pool. It was a bit of a hike up the incline to get to it, but worth it. It was raining on and off so it was quite empty up there, I shared the pool with just a handful of people. 

I grabbed my kindle and wadded into the weather until I reached the ledge that I sat my arms to rest and dove into my book (current read: Hidden Potential by Adam Grant). I stood in the pool, read, and would occasionally look up from my reading to admire the view. It was so incredible. I had so many moments in which I was in complete disbelief that I was here, looking out on this breathtaking view, wondering how I got here. So many long deep breaths, as I was trying to bring myself back to earth, feeling as though I was in a state of euphoria and my life couldn’t truly look like this. 

When the rain got to heavy for my kindle, I would put it back in my bag safely kept under an umbrella, and I would swim back to the view, and I took the time to just think. And feel. Thoughts of my life and goals, feelings of gratitude. I think my most prominent thought was that I did it, I made a dream come true, backpacking Southeast Asia. This was once a pipe dream, something I claimed could only happen in a “perfect world” knowing that life throws you curveballs and we can all have dreams but must be realistic that they might not come to fruition. But this dream of mine came true and in the moment I realized that, I felt like the luckiest person ever. My worries about traveling alone dissipated, my fear of so much future unknown subsided, and what was at the forefront of mine was pure joy, bliss, and gratitude. These were my speechless reflections, thinking about this trip and the adventures to come. All of this swirling around my mind as I stared out at the clouds and rain covering the cliffs and the moving along as the rain lightened up for another moment. Then I took some time to think, if I made this dream come true, what would be my next? Living in Hawaii? Europe? Starting a business? Writing a book? If this dream happened does that mean I can do the same for all the others? I guess we shall see. 

I was at the pool for almost three hours, the rain finally pouring down so heavily and the air turning so cool that I retreated for some warmth. I wanted to go to the gym tonight as well so I held off on a shower, and because I had an early brunch, I was hungry for dinner so I dressed up and then walked along the strip in search for a vegetarian restaurant. I found this cute place that had lots of vegan options. I decided on a wrap, and when it came out, it was indeed packed so full it was barely wrapped and quite messy to eat, but at least it had some good flavor and was filling. I treated myself to a chocolate chip muffin and felt content after my sweet tooth was satisfied. 

I soaked up the last few minutes of sunlight as the sun sets so early here, walking along the beach as I chatted with my mom. I walked the length of Ao Nang beach and back until it got dark and I thought I should probably head back anyway. I was barricaded by a crowd of people looking out at this group of young thai kids who just started lighting some torches, and within seconds, they started their fire show. It was so impressive and so fun to watch. Some of these performers were so young and so talented. I also loved that they had a choreographed show, aligning it with music and switching off between different types of fire, tricks, and people. I loved each minute of it and knew I would need to go to another before I left. 

I went back to my hostel room where I was greeted by my roommates. They looked like they were ready to go out, I had delayed them a few moments for an introduction. I had two roommates from China and then another from Korea. They kindly invited me to walk on the beach with them. The gym was closed and I didn’t have anything better to do so I thought I’d put my yes on the table and get to know these people. 

What is so different about Asia travel is that you get people from all around the world, meeting here, mixing languages and culture, to be exposed to more than you’d ever imagine. Here I was with three other girls, none whose first language is english, but yet we got to know each other, laugh together, and have a fun night in each other's company! I think this experience opened by eyes because I was so intimated to talk or get to know others who don’t speak english, in fear of the language barrier, but this showed me that it is not the case. Using some broken english and google translate, I communicated with these girls and ended the night feeling so comfortable sharing a room with them as now they were friends. We were all solo traveling and I was grateful to hang out with them. We chatted a bit more back at the hostel until I knew I would need to go to sleep. I mentioned to them my *hope* of getting up for the sunrise, and when they said they wanted to join, I really just committed myself to something. So alarm was now set for 5:30am and no snoozes were allowed.