Looking Back

Here I am... sitting in a guest bedroom in Charlotte, NC... writing a post on my travel blog... without traveling.

Because I have zero ability to write in real time or even in a timely fashion it's not surprising that I'm writing about my travels after I returned to the United States.   I knew that there would be experiences that I wouldn't have the head space or the drive to reflect on and write about until after I got settled back into my regular life.  Never did I imagine that I would return less than half way through my allotted sabbatical time because of a global pandemic and find myself trying to wrap this up. 

My travel back to the US was not phenomenal, but I know it also could have been A LOT worse. I wasn't mentally prepared to travel. I knew it was likely that I would need to leave soon, so throughout the week leading up to my departure I had prepared myself for making the final decision to come back to the US as much as possible.  What I didn't have time to do is put myself in the position to be facing a long trip back without things like a fully charged phone and wireless headphones, a charged power bank, snacks, and an organized bag that I packed in advance. I basically woke up, made the decision to leave, spent time buying a flight, made cut throat decisions about what to pack and what to leave in Thailand while throwing stuff into my bags, and ran out to the door to get a taxi.  There was no moment to make sure I was practically prepared to go. I had to hope I didn't forget anything, didn't leave anything I'd want in the long run and would have what I needed in the event I got stuck along the way without making it to my final destination.  

I had a lot of stress as I was leaving because I walked out of my hotel at 10:00 AM and my flight was taking off at 12:20 PM. I was under the impression that I was about 30 minutes from the airport. It turns out that I shorted that by about 10 minutes, but that shouldn't have caused much anxiety, despite my window being kind of tight.  I was nervous because it was an international flight (Phuket to Hong Kong) and I knew the check in would close an hour before it took off. So, I really only had an hour and 20 minutes to get there and get checked in. It was enough time in an ideal situation without any snags and without any major waiting in line.  The taxi driver that took me to the airport did so in a tuk tuk instead of a van. Ok, fine, but it ended up taking longer because that thing didn't go over 35 mph.  It did have a sound system that would have allowed me to connect via bluetooth and have a little party in the back, but I was too anxious to do more than notice it. We also hit road construction, like three times. The driver kept taking turns to avoid it, but was just kind of feeling it out. At one point he even stopped because he had to go to the bathroom. I had to really do some yoga breathing and remember that human beings have to pee and I shouldn't be upset with him because of it. I had to trust him, but I had little confidence.  More importantly, he was super shady and at one point we missed the turn off for the airport. He seemed to be intentionally overshooting the airport in order to back track.  It made zero sense because we agreed on a flat rate. It's not like he was adding time to a meter. When I asked about it he mumbled something about going passed it to come back. It made zero sense to me but it stressed me out greatly because I couldn't always tell where we were and the clock was running. At about 45 minutes into the trip I asked how close we were and he said 20-30 minutes, which was insane. He knew I had to be there by 11:00ish and acted like he had no idea that I had a tight timeline. I ended up getting to the airport with 10 minutes before I thought the flight was going to close. I asked the taxi driver if I was at the right terminal and he assured me I was. After I waited in line to get my luggage screened and my temperature checked I learned that I was not in fact in the right place, and I had to go through the processes in an adjacent building. 

Let me pause and tell you that starting off a long international trip with an experience that will make you stress sweat isn't awesome because stress sweat smells awful. I knew I was going to be traveling for over 24 hours and I already reeked. Cool.

Thankfully, they didn't close the flights like normal and I checked in just fine, even after the expected deadline. The agent working the line told me not to worry, but I didn't believe it until I had my ticket in hand.  It was still close though. One I made it through immigration to officially exit the country and then security I was able to go to the bathroom and pick up a crappy panini because I didn't know if the flight would have food and at that point I hadn't had anything to eat yet all day. As I was paying my flight started boarding and before I knew it I was on my way to Hong Kong.

My first flight was about four hours and was uneventful, which was great.  When I landed in Hong Kong it was eerie. I have been to HK before I knew what to expect on a normal day - hustle and bustle, lots of people. It was not quite a ghost airport, but it was clear that the only people traveling were people who were on connecting flights. Most were westerners who were responding to travel warnings from their home countries.  There was a feeling that's hard to put my finger on, but it was palpable in the Phuket and Hong Kong airports.  There was a sense of urgency and anxiety, but also to some degree humor because what else could people do but throw their hands up and take what came at them. It was a weird mix of tension and a laissez-faire attitude about it all.  As I'm writing this I'm realizing that I think it was the only time I've ever traveled when I didn't witness an argument, at all. No parents and kids arguing, no middle-aged businessman without a sense of how loud he is when talking with a client on the other end of his cell phone, and no passengers and agents arguing (more on that later). It was quiet. Some people were talking on their phones to people back home, but here were a lot of people like me who were just waiting. 

I had a lot of time to myself in Hong Kong - about eight hours. I walked around and visited some of the shops to waste some time.  There were a lot of stores that were closed because there just wasn't enough people to warrant them being open. Even if there weren't concerns about spreading coronavirus, it would be bad business to keep the stores open with such little demand. I browsed lululemon, but continued on thinking about settling in at my gate.  I circled back because I realized how tense my body was and what difficulty I was having calming my brain. I realized that I had on a sports bra and work out top, so all I needed was a pair of yoga pants and I could go through a practice to help me relax.  The people at the HK airport lululemon were awesome.  They were ridiculously friendly in a genuine way. I didn't feel like they were just trying to make a sale. I engaged in some retail therapy, spending entirely too much un-budgeted money on two pairs of yoga pants. (I was only going to buy the pair that was on sale, but I tried on a new pair that felt like butter on my skin. How could I resist??) After I came out of the dressing room the staff even suggested that I borrow one of their yoga mats for my practice. It was great! So I left the shop with my spirits lifted a bit and with the plan to find a corner out of the way to do a practice.  

It felt so good. I released so much tension. I can't imagine what I would have felt like by the end of my trip had I not take this hour to stretch and slow my breathing. 

The flight was kind of bonkers. Out of about 265 potential passengers there were fewer than 50.  I was originally seated in an aisle where one seat had an immovable armrest, so before we even took off one of the flight attendants suggested I move to a center row where I could spread out and actually even lay day across the seats.  Everyone did it. Unless someone traveled with a child they were sitting in their own row.  I couldn't help but think it was probably the worst flight to have purchased an upgrade or even a business class ticket.  I read something after I got back that was a blurb about how a woman purchased her own domestic ticket with points, and then two dirt-cheap accompanying tickets on each side so that she didn't have to be within close proximity of another passenger. The joke was on her when her flight had fewer than 10 passengers.  FYI, in case you ever get the opportunity to fly with three seats across to yourself, if you try to lie down make sure to tilt back all the seats. It will make the seat cushions a bit more level across all three and will also make it so that the seat belt joints are less prominent.  It's much more comfortable to lay across like that. I slept something like 9 hours out of the 12-hour flight.  

The flight to Seattle was followed by a nine-hour layover. That was when my trip really started to suck. If I start counting from when I left my hotel I was about 26 hours in and I was pretty tired, despite sleeping on the plane. I was lucky to have gotten a fair amount of sleep across this trip, but it was all disrupted, uncomfortable sleep that wasn't very restful. I was appalled that the United States seemed to have finally woken up to the very real dangers of corona and the lack of preparation to stop its spread, yet I wasn't even asked if how I felt when I reentered the country, much less had my temperature taken.  I was asked where I traveled and when the immigration officer knew I had flown from HK he asked if I went to mainland China. When I said no I was welcomed back into the country without any further questions asked. It wasn't shocked because I read enough to expect that, but I was still baffled by the official process. It felt incredibly inadequate to me. 

I spent the next nine hours trying to sleep on a bench in the small mezzanine above the check-in desks because it's the airline's counters closed and it's impossible to check a bag in early, which meant I couldn't go past security. Once 3:00 AM PST hit I was able to check in, check my bag, and get through security. So, at 3:10 AM after all of that was done I found that Qdoba was the only place open. I destroyed a burrito bowl and a Dr Pepper just a few minutes later. Despite eating Mexican food, it felt like a very American experience.

My flight to DFW was uneventful and I had a quick layover that allowed me just enough time to go to the bathroom, grab a snack at the shop near my gate, and then get in line for boarding.  It was at this point that I craved being home all the way down in my bones.  I ached for it in a way that didn't feel nearly as intense at any point before.  It only got worse during the last two hours because my flight to Charlotte was the worst flight I ever had - worst than the four-hour turbulence-laden trip back from Turks and Caicos last year that culminated in me throwing up during landing, if that tells you anything. 

I started to feel airsick almost immediately.  I kept it to myself until the beverage service started, when I began to feel like I had an urgent need to vomit. My hope was that sipping on some ginger ale and deep breathing would help settle my stomach. It did not. I was sitting in the back of the plane and while drinks were being served in the front I got up to ask the male flight attendant (FA1) if he had a barf bag because I was having trouble finding one and was worried I was going to throw up in the seats 30-45 minutes into a two-hour flight. He barely looked back at me and said, "There's one in your seat back pocket and if not there are some in the back" while vaguely pointing to the rear of the plane. He was dismissive in tone and didn't seem to care that I was in need. At this point I was trying really hard not to vomit so I went to the bathroom and threw up. I made it back to my seat and then found a bag.  

As I was sitting in my seat after I vomited, FA1 and a female flight attendant (FA2) proceeded to the back of the plane to serve drinks.  FA1 did not acknowledge my presence, but FA2 asked if I was feeling ill. I said yes. She provided me with a ginger ale, but did not say anything else to me at this point. At first I thought she was being friendly and helpful, unlike FA1.  My stomach continued to bother me. I was cramping and felt nauseated. I got up again to vomit and FA2 suggested I use the bathroom more forward in the cabin instead of the ones three rows behind me because they were serving the last two rows of drinks. They could have stepped back less than 10 feet into their prep area, but seemed to refuse to do so. I was confused why they would refuse me easy access to the bathroom.  I rushed forward to find out that the bathroom was occupied. I returned to the back, waited until they finished and then went into the bathroom to vomit again. I barely made it. 

When I came out of the bathroom FA2 asked me if I had a fever. I said no and told her that I was airsick.  She asked me where I traveled and I said I was coming from Thailand. She asked if I had a fever again as if I never answered her first question. It was clear that she didn't believe me and was treating me as if I had lied to her.  I told her AGAIN that no, I was just airsick. I told her I had my temperature checked in previous airports and that it was fine. She did not respond to me further.  Throughout this interactions, both FA1 and FA2 were sitting behind the curtain that closes off the area behind the bathrooms.  FA2 was partially obstructed while speaking to me and FA1 was completely obstructed, but I could tell he was talking to her while she talked to me because she kept looked back and forth and interacting with both of us, but I could not hear what he was saying.  It was incredibly disrespectful to not meet my eye and speak with me directly.  

I returned to my seat and again, after some time passed, I felt the need to vomit and I had really bad stomach cramps.  I stood up near the bathroom in the rear, but facing forward until the bathroom was unoccupied.  While standing there FA1 breezed by me and nastily said, "You can't stand here."  I responded by telling him that I was going to vomit and he curtly told me I needed to sit down.  There was no suggestion for an alternative and no acknowledgement of my assertion that I was going to vomit soon. The seatbelt light was not on at this point in time. I sat down again, breathed through it, but eventually returned to the bathroom to vomit. 

With approximately 45-60 minutes left in the flight I stood at the back because of cramping and fear of vomiting again. One whole side of the back row was empty with the tray tables down. I worked my way back to the bathrooms, but knew I'd get reprimanded for standing again so I sat in the closest seat to the bathroom. The flight was not full and there was nothing that indicated that sitting in the back row seats was prohibited or that there was anything special about the seats. They just looked like unoccupied seats. A third flight attendant (FA3) rushed up to me to tell me that I couldn't sit in the back row. I told her I was just trying to stay out of the way because I had to keep getting up to vomit and I didn't want to disturb the gentleman sitting next to me again (aisle seat).  In a loud voice and snide tone she said, "Yeah, we all know." And started to walk away. She paused and asked if I had a fever. I told her no, that I had my temperature taken at my previous airports and she interrupted me and told me that I was lying because she knew that no one was taking passenger temperatures at SEA or DFW. I tried to explain, but she cut me off. She exclaimed that I wasn't even wearing a mask. I told her that I was air sick and that I didn't have coronavirus and that throwing up was not a symptom of coronavirus.  She then exclaimed that I was disrespectful and shouldn't have even been on the flight in my condition. The last thing she did was threatened me by telling me that she was already in communication with the American Airlines Chief Medical Officer who was going to meet the flight and advise them on what they would do with me.  I later learned that FA3 was the head FA for this flight.  

I was sick and miserable the rest of the flight.  I recognize that there was nothing the flight attendants could have done to prevent my airsickness, but they were rude and provided zero customer service in response to my seeking help.  As I departed the flight, all flight attendants acted as if nothing happened. They looked at me vaguely and thanked me for my business. There was no follow up, no follow through about medical intervention, no apology, and frankly, no recognition of me as a human being. I did not make any complaints to anyone in the airport because I was still feeling ill after landing and proceeded to vomit in an airport bathroom.  I decided to address this situation through written communication instead of lodging a complaint in person.  So far I've received a $100 flight voucher from AA that they issued me "as a courtesy" because transportation was provided and that is their core product, but I'm preparing to challenge it through another communication. What good is a $100 flight voucher to me when we're not even supposed to be flying now??

I'm happy to say that I made it to Charlotte where my dear friend and former roommate, Havaleh, graciously met me in baggage and handled me bursting into tears when I saw her like a champ. For the record, I puked one more time in the airport before I made it to baggage claim.  I was in rough shape and the idea of getting into a car to drive back to her house seemed like torture.  Eventually we made it there.  I am staying with Havaleh to avoid inadvertently bringing the virus back to my parents.  I wouldn't forgive myself if I got them sick.  No, I wasn't being cavalier about Havaleh's health; we both have a lower chance of getting severely ill from it if we did contract it.  My parents are each in the high risk category and I feel much more vigilant about keeping them healthy. I was confident that if I got "stuck" in Charlotte for weeks or even months that Havaleh and I would be ok.  We've lived together before and knew that we'd handle the situation well together. Plus, we're the closest of the friends and isn't that exactly who we'd want to be quarantined with in this type of situation? 

Almost two weeks in and we're still doing well. We're living a pretty basic life and it's fair to say we both have experienced heightened emotions, but I don't think to a greater degree than anyone else right now. We have mutual intentions of balancing of work, walks, working out, cooking, cleaning, and relaxation. We have been cognizant of how many entertainment options we have - Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBOGo, Starz, books, podcasts, music, etc. I've found that what's helping me is setting a list of daily goals, telling her about them for a little accountability, and then being satisfied with what I've accomplished, even if it's very little on some days. The expectations I have for myself are a bit different than what they would be if I were not on sabbatical right now. 

I haven't exhibited any symptoms of the virus in the last 12 days.  Two more and we can be confident that I don't have it. (That timeline is a bit debated, but it's the guideline we've decided to use.) We committed to social distancing before NC required it and also have been practicing isolation to protect others until we're confident we're not passing the virus along. Honestly, I think it has helped control some of our spending because we're not popping out to grab a few things here and there as we think of it.  This may seem counterintuitive, but in some ways I wish I got a mild case of the virus just so I wouldn't have to worry about it now.  Unfortunately, there seems to be no way to guarantee yourself a mild case.  Who knows, maybe I had it when I was feeling pretty miserable my first week in Bangkok?

So, anyway... my intention is to keep writing posts to discuss the things I haven't discussed about my trip yet. Once I finish, I'll be done until the next time I travel. 

One COVID19 Moment at a Time

I haven't spoken about coronavirus on this blog much. It's been fairly intentional in that the purpose of this blog is to provide reflections on my traveling, not provide commentary on current world events. I haven't wanted to post anything that could be interpreted as advice or recommendations for how to procedure during this challenging time.  There's a lot of ignorance and a lot of fear mongering out there, by both the overreacters and the underreacters.  I don't want to be one of them, so I've stayed away from the conversations here on this site.

Considering the frequency of my posting I doubt any of you few readers have been wondering about my realtime thought process regarding being abroad and travel while the virus spreads.  I am touched that so many people have reached out through social media and text to make sure I'm safe and in good health, though. Since I left the US on December 30 I have been following the news about the spread of coronavirus and keeping it in my mind while making travel plans.  Much to my parents' annoyance/frustration/concern I didn't view the virus as a reason to return.  While it was spreading in China, South Korea, Iran, and Italy, it wasn't a major issue is Australia, Thailand, and Laos.  I had to weigh the risks of being away from my home country with the reality that I may never get an opportunity like I've had these few months ever again. 

My mom cautioned me a little while ago that she wanted to make sure I wasn't making the decision to stay in Asia based on emotion.  The assumption that I wasn't looking at the situation intellectually hurt me and angered me. It played upon all my insecurities that people view me as ditzy and not very smart.  It felt like a low blow because it felt like my mom was saying that I was just too caught up having fun to pay attention to how the world was reacting.  I got a lot of messages telling me about the news that I had already seen as if I was completely cut off from western press, despite me saying over and over again that I was reading western sources.  What I think was really going on was that my mom was frustrated/annoyed/irritated/angry/whatever verb that I wasn't making the decision that she wanted me to make - the one that she thought was the right decision.  I can appreciate that both of my parents were very uncomfortable with having one of their adult children away from home during this growing crisis.  My sense was that both of my parents felt I was just digging in my heels. 

In a sense I was. Honestly, I did not feel a threat at all in Thailand. When I was staying in Bangkok I saw regular temperature monitoring of individuals entering public gathering spaces like malls and on public transport.  I saw regular cleaning of then handrails on escalators and on the metro.  At the entrances to those public spaces there were workers who stood offering hand sanitizer to everyone passing.  Most locals wore face masks every day, all day in public. There was so much consideration for keeping people healthy and so few cases that I felt very comfortable. The threat of mass outbreak was growing in the US and the US seemed woefully underprepared, but Thailand had already been dealing with it for months.  There was absolutely no concern in Laos because there didn't seem to be any evidence of the virus in Laos. 

More so than feeling safe in Asia, I felt less and less certain about returning to the US.  Most of what I read talked about how the US wasn't taking the virus seriously and that it was underprepared with few supplies, limited testing, and practically no protocols in place.  Why would I want to return to that when I'm in a good spot, having amazing experiences, and not feeling threatened by this virus at all?  Asking someone to leave a safe spot to come back to an uncertain at best location seemed foolish to me.  Additionally, I was really uncomfortable with the idea that being in Thailand I was safe, but through the process of coming back I could bring the virus with me.  For a variety of health and age-related reasons I didn't want to put my parents' health at risk.  For those of you who don't know, everything I own except what I currently have with me is either in a storage unit or being stored at my parents' house. Coming back means coming back to their home.  If I were to self-quarantine there's no way for me to do that without doing it with them. I don't have my own living space to go back to. That made things much more sticky for me. 

My parents kept raising the concern of "well, what if you get stuck in Thailand?" My response was, "Well, then I'm stuck in Thailand."  There are much worse places to be stuck. I'm lucky enough to have a job that I could do from afar if we stay in social isolation for long periods of time.  If things are so bad that blanket travel bans are in place for long periods of time I don't have to worry about in-person work resuming either. I could do my job from Thailand. The only thing that would stop that is if this virus hurts the economy so badly that my employer closes up shop. Hopefully that's not even within the realm of possibility. 

So, I decided to keep on keepin' on. I decided to stay where I was and enjoy my time, but keep my finger on the pulse of the world. I put myself in the mental state of being able to respond reasonably when I knew it time to change my plans, and be able to do so quite fast if necessary.  I was extremely disappointed to wake up to news one morning of India closing its borders. My friend Liz was due to arrive for a visit with me in Phuket in a few days and then a few days after that we were scheduled to visit Sri Lanka.  If India closed its borders it was only time until Sri Lanka did the same.  Liz ended up cancelling her visit altogether and I swiftly cancelled my flight to Sri Lanka.  We both felt confident that it was the right things to do because there was a lot at stake. We both agreed that it was better for us to stay in place where we were instead of risking international travel and getting each other sick.  It was alright right about this time that New York started ratcheting up its response and most people starting practicing social distancing and working from home.   I'd like to note that throughout this past month, but especially in the last two weeks I conferred with friends, colleagues, and other family members and all were supportive of my rationale for staying, all except for my parents. Go figure. I'm swear I'm not trying to make them sound like bad guys here. I understand their apprehensions and fears. We were just in opposition on this topic. 

Here's what flipped the switch for me.  This morning I woke up to a text that said, "Katie the US State department urges all US citizens to come home or shelter in place." I also had a bunch of news alerts saying the same thing. I read a few articles that made it clear that if I got stuck the US government was not coming to help. This was my warning. Well, poop. 

I considered sheltering in place, but just two nights ago I questioned what I would do if I ran out of my prescription medicines. I'm sure Thailand has accessible medical treatment for asthmatics and narcoleptics. It has a pretty good medical system and there is a substantial presence of western doctors in Thailand too.  The question was going to be how easy it would be for me to get routine care if the hospital system became taxed. I also started thinking about how I would get food if Thailand imposed a required quarantine. I'd like to think that whatever hotel I stayed at wouldn't let me go hungry, but that's a bit of a gamble.  I felt like I had a reasonable rebuttal to every request from my parents to come back to the US, except now.

As new of the virus taking its toll on Italy, it beginning to spread in the US, and governments around the globe responding I began to think about where I could spend my time if borders began to close.  Could I stay in Thailand if my tourist visa ran out? If the US closed its border or if I couldn't get a flight were there any other countries I could bide my time in? For a while I had been thinking about how I had to come up with a plan, and probably a few back ups.  I was considering going to a yoga retreat in Cambodia a few weeks ago but changed my plans earlier this week when I read that their medical system assumes your family will provide some basics like clean linen and food for you if you have a prolonged stay in the hospital. So Cambodia immediately turned into a no go for me. I could go back to Laos, which I loved and seemed to have a low chance of closing. But, I had just read that Australia closed its borders to all foreigners. I started to get the impression that the chances were greater of that becoming the standard across the globe, or at least in countries that seemed relatively untouched by the virus so far. 

After a few days of recognizing that my options were becoming more and more limited and the messages I got this morning, here I am - in the Hong Kong airport waiting for my flight to Seattle to start boarding, which it will do in about 5 minutes.  I know it's the smart thing to do, but I am heartbroken that this experience that I've waited 3 years for is now abruptly over. I'm crushed, but also know that I've had so many amazing experiences so far that it would be a bit inappropriate to be too upset about it. There are a lot of people dying from this virus and a lot more are going to get sick. I can handle having to go back early.  

And I will sing Neil Diamond in my head as I board the plane. I'm comin' to America... today!

Laos, I Love You!

I was ridiculously frustrated last night because I spent 3 hours working on a post about my first 24 hours in Laos and lost it all.  I had all of the pictures and videos uploaded, it was saved more times than I can count both through the autosave feature and by manually saving it, and then when I went to publish the internet wouldn’t work. When I refreshed the page, none of my edits saved over the three hours. I went to bed disheartened, but hoping that whatever glitch was going on would be resolved in the morning.  It was not. Thankfully, I had written some of the post in a Word document when I didn’t have internet access, which meant I didn’t have to completely start from scratch. So… here is my second attempt at my first Laos post written in the airport.

... and I had internet issues again, so this post was finished a few days after I returned to Thailand. 

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I know I haven't finished my Australian Open, Kuala Lumpur, or Bangkok posts (What emoji do  I insert here to that represents feeling embarrassed, ashamed, anxious, and also like I don’t give a shit?), but I've decided to forgo all semblance of a timeline and post as I can.

I struggled with living in Bangkok a lot and was happy to leave it a few days ago.  I worked on an important step in my textbook development, but it doesn't look like much yet to be honest. I have a lot of anxiety around being able to actually accomplish this and have it be a productive contribution toward my promotion. To combat my lack of confidence I’ve been trying to use positive language and change my mindset around it.  I set the goal of working at least three hours a day, and I know that doesn't sound like much, but my daily tasks were tedious. Plus, one component of a sabbatical is to rest and disengage a bit. Maybe there are differing philosophies, but I don’t believe the purpose is to work as much or even more than one usually does, just on different pursuits. I spent my month in Bangkok developing a survey for sport and social media professionals, gathered over 1000 contacts, and then started administering the survey.  My hope is that this survey will help inform the content of my book. One of the worst things that could happen is for me to spend all this time developing a textbook that isn't relevant, or one that has gaping holes in it.  

Getting the 1000 contacts was boring, annoying, and actually somewhat challenging at times. There is no magic list out there of the people I want to target and many organizations don't have complete, or sometimes even any, staff directories on their websites. When there is a staff directory there is rarely an email address associated with the individuals, the only exception being college athletics. I understand why professional sports organizations and agencies do this, but it's annoying when you're trying to contact people for a constructive, professional reason.  All in all, it probably took me legitimately at least 20 hours of work to gather all of these contacts. 

After I pilot tested my survey with a few people I started sending out the invitation to participate for real.  I am sending out personalized messages, so even though there is some element of copy/paste it still takes a while.  I've sent 100 of them so far, but I ran out of time in Bangkok.  My internet connection has been inconsistent in Loas that it makes internet-based work more frustrating than worthwhile.  The progress feels slow and I am nervous about returning home with very little work product, but I know this is an important step in the process.  (Cue my insecurities about others judging me for not being a workhorse over sabbatical and writing this entire book in the span of 6 or 8 months.) Of course there were a few not-so-supportive messages that came back, but I've also gotten a lot of really positive responses from people in industry. There are a lot of people interested in participating further and willing to help me in my development of this text. It's also confirmed for me that the idea I have for the book is a good one, and I believe would really be embraced.  There were a couple practitioners who talked about their experiences adjuncting and confirmed for me that there is interested in this book. If anything, that’s going to keep me going. I can always ground myself back in that sentiment when I start to doubt myself.

I'm telling you all of this to explain that Bangkok was difficult for me because I felt really isolated.  On top of doing this tedious work that wasn't feeling very rewarding and made me question my approach to writing this text, I had a really hard time not being connected to anyone.  I’m sure every non-white person in America is about to say, “Duh!”, but it’s also really difficult being the only face that look different than absolutely everyone else.  It's one thing to travel and stay in hotels and have experiences around other tourists, it's another thing to live in an apartment in another country, have very little interaction with others, and be different not just in physical appears but also in customs and norms. It’s something that you can know intellectually, but living that experience is something else. I have a lot of travel time left and I'm not going to say that I'm not going to stay in any apartments moving forward, but I'm considering mixing up apartment stays with hotel stays so that I don't go that long in an isolated situation again. Financially it can be very beneficial, but I think it contributed to a less than positive experience in Bangkok.  My challenge is to find a happy medium with interaction with others and the ability to get some work done day to day.  

Coming to Laos for four days was the best choice I could have made.  It kind of a whim and worked out quite well for me.  Coming in to Bangkok and getting a visa on arrival I knew that I could be asked to produce documentation that showed when I was leaving.  Even though my plans were open-ended I needed to have a plan, especially in case I didn’t get a visa extension. My original plan was to stay in Thailand for two to three months, but has since changed. In order to be prepared in case I got asked this questions, which now going through the process I’m 99.9% they never actually do, I found the cheapest flight out of the country I could so that if I decided not to use it, it wouldn’t be a major waste of money.  That’s how I ended up in Luang Prabang.  For your reference, here’s a map because if you’re anything like me you’d never heard of it until you read these words. The blue dot shows where I was.

I had no idea how much I would fall in love with this country.  It’s so peaceful here. It’s ridiculously beautiful; it’s mountainous and somehow feels lush, even though it’s the dry season and all of the trees look almost dead. It’s weird because the trees remind me of New York winters, but the temperature reminds of my North Carolina summers. Speaking of temperatures, I happened to be visiting in Laos during quite the hot spell. Every day the high temperature was at least 100 degrees which I believe is a little bit warmer than normal at this time of the year.

I chose to stay in a place called the NamKhan Ecolodge in Luang Prabang. I found this place on Hotels.com and I couldn’t be happier.  It was a bit of a risk because it’s a good 15-20 minute tuk tuk ride out of town, but it was well worth it.  A tuk tuk in Luang Prabang is like a pick up truck with a canopy over the back and two bench seats. Think of a red neck covered wagon. Aside from motor bikes and then vans that take tourists to a few key destinations, that’s the only transportation I saw.  There’s something both exhilarating and terrifying of riding in the back of a truck like this with the wind blowing in your hair down a dirt road to a place out in the Laotian countryside.

The Ecolodge is the funky open-air type resort with cabin rooms and canvas tents available to rent.  The Mekong river goes through Luang Prabang, but so does the NamKhan and it’s that river that curves around the resort. Some aspects of the resort have a more rustic feel – like the fact that the rooms don’t have air conditioning, despite the fact that I realllly thought the ad said it did. Even though I don’t have A/C, I have a wonderful overhead fan and late into the night it gets quite cool outside.  I learned to open the windows at night to cool off my room, but I do still wish I had A/C.  I haven’t slept that while since I’ve been here and I think being too hot is one of the reasons why.  It is a little weird because anyone could walk past my room and basically look directly in on me sleeping. I don’t feel uncomfortable about it though because the resort is fairly empty because of the coronavirus hubbub.

The ecolodge is a beautiful property. The riverbank is dotted with canvas tents that are more “glamping” tents than anything else.  I stayed in one of the cabins that have beautiful wood ceilings, floors, trim, and furniture.  It’s all got that super glossy finish of a new build.  The lodge opened about 4 months ago.  There is a very nice open-air reception area and restaurant.  Breakfast was included in my stay and it’s been yummy and satisfying for me.  There’s always eggs, cereal, fresh fruit, salad, yogurt, coffee, tea, juice, toast with all the accoutrements, etc. etc.  I’ve eaten in the restaurant a few times aside from breakfast and have been pleased with the selection and preparation of the food.  While it’s much more expensive than the street food in town, it’s still much cheaper in the US.  For example, the other night I had fried spring rolls for an appetizer, pad thai, and a lime daiquiri all for $23.  The portions were also quite plentiful.

In addition to the housing and the restaurant, the lodge has a beautiful garden that you’re welcome to tour. Much of the food served comes from the garden. The pool was beautifully situated, but the water looked almost like it had a lot of sediment in it. I’d say it was about the same color of the NamKhan which is a light jade color – quite clear in some spots and less than that in others. That’s to say I didn’t use that pool at all.  There’s a second café/ bar at the entrance to the complex. There are lots of activities at your disposal – pony riding, hiking, tubing on the river, morning and afternoon yoga, basket-weaving with a local, movie nights, and I’m sure a lot more things that I can’t think of right now. One thing I wish was a bit different was the small fees associated with the activities. I paid $8 per session of yoga, which is quite cheap for the US, but a bit expensive for and activity Laos.  It felt a little bit like getting nickeled and dimed because the advertisements for the resort talk about all the activities and make it sound like they’re included without overtly saying that. I paid $9 for 30 minutes of tubing down the river, which was AWESOME, but we all thought we got to go 2-3 times down the path from one edge of the property to the other. It turns out that once you go with the guide and pay, you can then take a tube and go on your own at any other time. That wasn’t sufficiently explained to us so instead of doing that with the guide early in my stay and then tubing more later, I did it late in my stay and didn’t. Going even just twice would have justified the $9 more. What is great about all that they offer is that it’s easy to stay on the resort property and just relax. It’s good to go into town for cheap food, more variety, and the night market, but it’s also really not necessary if you’re not interested.

"Me" is one of the dogs that welcomed me to the lodge.  "Me" means "bear" in lao.  It turns out there are black bears in Laos, but they are poached and the population is being decimated so there are some black bear reserves. The dog population in Laos is quite high, but when I checked in, the receptionist explained to me that there used to be a major problem with wild, roaming dogs so the government cracked down a few years ago and now they require that the dogs are cared for and have their shots. They are mostly friendly, or if anything they are just disinterested and don't pay attention to people they don't know. None of them have tags of any sort, most don't have collars, and all of them definitely don't get regular baths. 

This is the view of the lodge property from reception. In the distance on the right side are the gardens and on the near left is where the restaurant is.  My cabin was on the near right side. 

I want to tell you about the amazing people I met while at the resort, but before I do that I need to tell you about the two American women I met in the airport.  Before my arrival in Laos I did one of two things – either got bad visa information or didn’t remember to follow up on the initial information I did find. Honestly, I can’t remember which one it was.  I had it in my head that I didn’t need a visa for Laos. That was absolutely not accurate.  I was supposed to have a passport photo with me and 35 American dollars to pay the fee. Once we landed and I learned this I thought I would be ok because in every airport I’ve been to in Asia there were accessible ATMs before I had to go through immigration. I also randomly had a passport photo in my carry-on from my immigration saga in Thailand. (I know I didn’t post about that yet, but I will. I promise.)  What is crazy is that I considered packing those photos in my suitcase, but for some crazy reason at the last minute I moved them to my carry-on. Once we entered the airport and went directly into immigration there were no ATMs.  I have no idea what they do if you don’t have money.  I don’t know because Linda, an amazing New Jersey nurse taking a holiday after working with Nurses Without Borders, gave me the $35 I need. I was exactly in the right place at the right time.  Honestly, I’ve learned that the Laos people are super nice and things are quite lax here, as in Linda’s friend Grace who was already in Laos was chatting with us over a barely-there barrier while we were in immigration. Despite there being “security” no one stopped her from walking in and no one was concerned. I suspect that if you don’t have the cash they walk you to the ATM outside of baggage claim and wait for you to get it. Honestly, they might just direct you to go and trust you to come back. Anyway, I tried to pay Linda back, but by the time we all got through immigration and I got my luggage and found the ATM, she and her friend had already left because they had an impatient tuk tuk driver. So, where ever you are Linda – thank you for being my guardian angel and taking care of me! The videos below are of me telling the story to a few friends on Snapchat. 

The third American in the mix was a 23-year told named Jackie who was from the Buffalo area and actually went to RIT! So here I am entering Laos, stressing about getting my visa upon arrival and one of the people helping me figure out what to do is a young woman who knows exactly where I lived in Rochester. It was crazy! Before we all got separated Jackie and I exchanged contact information and set up plans to meet for dinner. I got settled at the ecolodge and then headed into town on the ecolodge’s tuk tuk shuttle.  It had a pretty decent schedule, but put me in town an hour and a half before I was to meet Jackie.  I spent my time by walking around, looking at a temple, and catching a happy hour beer at a restaurant on the Mekong river.

 

 

Jackie was easy to talk to and we had a lovely meal of super cheap, but good quality street food together.  Jackie, along with several other people to come in this story, talked about how a lot of the food was very similar if not the same as in Thailand. I can tell you that I ate a lot better food in Laos than what I had in Bangkok. The food in Bangkok wasn’t always bad, but the meat was often lower quality. I liked the spices most of the time, but the gristle got to me a lot.  The food in Laos seemed better, of a higher quality.  The flavors were delicious – garlic, chili pepper, and I’m sure much more but I just don’t know! After our meal we walked around the night market in town and then parted ways for the night.

Jackie and I made loose plans to go to the Kouang Si Waterfalls the next morning. We both almost bailed, but then stopped hesitating and met up to go. Jackie had to catch a bus to another city in the afternoon, so we went a bit earlier than is normal and it totally paid off. The waterfalls were gorgeous – again, the water was the beautiful light jade color.  We were both on the same page of “let’s get in, take some photos that will look great on Instagram before there are too many people, and then we can just relax and enjoy.” That’s basically what we did. There are four levels and we took the advice that someone in Jackie’s hostel gave her and we started from the top and worked our way down.  When you arrive you enter at the bottom level so people tend to be in awe taking pictures and going for a swim there. By starting up top we saw what I think are the more beautiful areas, but also got an opportunity to take pictures with fewer people around. When we went to the second area we were alone for a good 15 -20 minutes. Let me write that in a different way. We swam in a naturally occurring beautiful jade-colored pool with a waterfall with no one else around. It was amazing! I almost can’t believe we did it! The water was quite cool, but not too cold to enjoy. There were lots of fish nibbling our toes and in many areas it was short enough to stand up or sit on a rock. 

 

I'm actually standing on a rock in this next photo. It was pretty deep in this little pool.

A Sense of Unrest

I've been riding the struggle bus since I left Australia.  Kuala Lumpur was alright, but I didn't love it. I honestly don't understand why it has such a strong reputation of being a cool city. Nothing was wrong, but nothing really felt right there.  I'll get into it more later, but long story short I was happy to leave when I did. I left KL for Bangkok, Thailand, which is where I am now as I'm writing this.  My start to Bangkok has also been a little rough, but again not because anything is really wrong.  It's more of my mindset and emotions I guess.

I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't have to pay for a visa upon arrival despite everything that I read before I left NY telling me that I would need to do just that.  I made a point to have Australian cash on me so that I could exchange it to Thai baht before I hit customs. I had a little run in with the customer service agent that a less experienced Katie would have fallen for. After I exchanged my cash, had the signed paperwork in my hand, and the deal was done I asked the woman if she would exchange one of the large bills she gave me for smaller ones. I read that often taxi drivers don't keep enough change on them so I didn't want to be in a tricky spot later.  It was then that she told me that one of my 20s from Australia was damaged and that she couldn't accept it. I told her no and she kept insisting. She completely ignored my request for small denominations of baht and was urging me to return my baht so that she could give me the Australian bill. I told her that the exchange was done and that I wasn't returning any money.  She got irritated with me and kept insisting. I said firmly no and then walked away.  A younger Katie would have done what she said because I would have thought it was the right thing to do and would have been scared that I did something wrong. Katie today is a bit wiser. I had all of the documentation and I did nothing wrong. See ya later, gator!

So, I proceeded to go to the visa upon arrival queue and was told that I didn't need it, which was awesome because I didn't have to pay the fee that I was anticipating having to pay.  I waited in the immigration line for what seemed like forever. It was probably only about 30 minutes, but it felt like a lot longer.  After I got my finger prints documented and my photo taken I was officially in Thailand! I didn't even have to get my bags checked or anything. Customs was basically me just walking through a corridor. I love it when it's like that!

I got from the airport to the my Airbnb just fine. It was one time I was thankful that I actually did some some research before traveling. Without it I think I would have been pretty lost - literally and figuratively.  When you get out of immigration and customs at Don Mueang airport there are some stands that offer you taxis, but they are quite expensive. Those are actually flat rate car services, not traditional taxis despite the way they brand themselves. Unlike in KL, there's no express train service from the airport to the city center so a taxi is pretty much necessary.  There is a bus option that will get you to the rail service, but I didn't want to mess with that with all of my luggage. It seemed more cumbersome than saving a few bucks was worth.  The best financial option for a taxi is to proceed to the metered taxis.

The metered taxis are regulated by the government and the expectations regarding what you're paying for are much, much more clear than other options. So, it's both smart and relatively inexpensive. There's a large waiting area where you take a number, sit down and wait for yours to be called. Before hand I read that waiting for the metered taxis is a smart financial move, but can be really frustrating because it can take quite a while. To give you a sense of what I mean, my metered taxi  number was 809.  They were calling 720 when I first got there. I took a deep breath and reminded myself that I wasn't in a hurry so why not wait. I often don't mind having to wait for transportation for a while after I get off a plane because my stomach tends to be unsettled, so I focused on the positive even though I really just wanted to be "home". It really didn't take as long as I expected; it couldn't have been more than a 30 minute wait, if that.

When I arrived at my Airbnb I was a bit nervous because my directions were really clear about not asking the front desk for help and making sure not to talk to any official with the building. That's a clear sign that something's not on the up and up for sure. Basically my directions were to wait by the door and follow someone in where I could collect the key. I easily found the key fob in the mailbox and proceed to the lift to go up to the apartment.  Oh, did I mention that there were signs everywhere in the lobby warning about how to building was not a hotel, it was illegal to rent out apartments to daily and weekly visitors, and that staying in one of the apartments on a short term basis was against Thai law?  Welcome to Thailand, Katie! Here's a nice dose of freak out just for you!

So, already I felt a bit uneasy. But then I couldn't get the elevator to work properly and, of course, there was a tenant who was giving me advice on how I should go to the front desk to ask for help. CRAP! Two things were going on. 1) I wasn't working the fob properly. There's a six inch long device where you have to swipe the fob. It turns out that where the logo is on that device is actually where the sensor is, so it's not enough to swipe it across the device anywhere. It has to be in a specific place. 2) I was selecting the wrong floor, which is also why it wasn't working for me. I'm staying on floor 12A, not floor 12. My fob only gives me permission to go to my floor and the common floors. I might as well have been trying to select the 20th floor.  It took me longer than I'd like to admit to realize that I'm staying on floor 12A because there is no 13th floor.  Thankfully after I figured that out my racing heart slowed down and I made it to my floor just fine.  By the looks of the plastic wrapped doors, there's only a few apartments that are actually occupied on this floor. I get the sense that the building isn't empty, but it's far from full.  It's quite quiet, which I greatly appreciate.

Once I got into the apartment I had to figure out how to turn the power on and how to get the air con up and running.  I let myself settle in a little bit, but I also immediately got wifi rocking and rolling to message the host about the signs of illegal behavior and to do a some internet research myself.  Long story short, my host assured me that there was nothing to worry about (what else was I expecting to hear?) and the internet assured me the same.  Thailand has officially said that Airbnbs are illegal, but it hasn't held up in court. Ultimately, Thailand doesn't want to see their housing and hospitality markets in crisis because of cheap rentals, but it also has been apathetic about enforcing and prosecuting. It's been argued that there are two loopholes to Thai law that allows for these type of rentals, and those arguments have actually been successful in court. There are some technicalities that my rental of a month, as opposed to just a few days, potentially exempts my host from the requirements. Most importantly what I took away is that I am not breaking the law in any shape or form, technicalities or no. At worst, my host is and that has nothing to do with me. So I'm good to stay.  After staying here for a few days it is crystal clear to me that there are several apartments being rented out in this way so while I'm not trying to tempt fate here, it doesn't seem like the building cares much beyond posting those placards. I read several internet sources that said that this is how most buildings have responded. They've posted the signs, but they don't pursue any legal recourse with the hosts. I've seen people coming and going with luggage on the regular, as well as others who are clearly trying to blend in without drawing attention to themselves. I feel fine about everything now knowing that I am not doing anything wrong, but it really did add to my stress level on my arrival day.

The title of this post is "A Sense of Unrest" because that's how I've felt since I've arrived. I'm doing everything I can to feel normal here, but I'm struggle to do so.  I'm trying to set up a schedule so that I'm getting the most out of my days. I'm trying to settle in to just living and not being a tourist.  I need to slow down. I'm feeling really run down after five weeks of almost non stop travel. I know that it doesn't seem like it should be taxing to lay by the lagoon and stretching out in the sun, to watch some tennis, or to visit a few temples, but it is.  I think it's a result of not having a home.  Every piece of every day needs to be thought about in a way that I just don't do when I'm home and living my every day life.  For example, on day one in Thailand after I got into the apartment and felt confident that I wasn't doing anything illegal, all I wanted to do was grab something to eat and then go to sleep, but I couldn't. I had to figure out where I was in the city, what was open, how to get there, etc.  Even if I just walked out my door to see what's up, I'm thinking about a lot more like making sure I'm paying attention to where I'm going so that I can get back and so that I'm being safe.  Even after I got dinner I had to remember to find a place to buy water because while maybe I could risk it, it's better to be safe than sorry when brushing my teeth that night. When you have to consciously think about every little decision and action it can be really exhausting.

I was glad to have had the experience of traveling in Asia before because otherwise I think I would have lost it within the first day or two. Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Vietnam are all distinct. They have their own customs, their own languages, their own distinct rhythms.  At the same time, they are all pretty similar. I think of it like the US, Canada, and Turks and Caicos. For all intents and purposes if you understand one you can understand the other, but then you discover something like milk in a bag that makes you realize they are different places. While Thailand is somewhat different than what I've experienced in the past, I've been able to use those experiences to brace myself for immersing myself in the culture. Though there was less of an initial culture shock entering Thailand than my first few days in Hong Kong, I still kind of felt like I wanted to cry because nothing was familiar. No matter how much I knew it was coming I was feeling really uneasy about not hearing English around me, being the only white person around, not being able to find items I'm used to getting in the stores, etc. The worst part is that I knew it would just take time and I also knew before embarking on this trip that there were going to be days or even weeks of feeling frustrated that where I am is not home.  I think what added to this feeling is the recognition that I need to settle in to just living here and get serious about work.  There's now an added pressure to prove to myself that I can do what I'm supposed to be doing on this sabbatical. I also have to deal with the fact that I'm not really motivated to do the things that I'm supposed to be doing. I'm trying hard to find that motivation, and fear of public failure is frankly not as motivating as I expected it to be. It's no longer a matter of planning for what I'll do or anticipating the start; it's now time to do it. 

The cherry on the top of all of this? I'm sick.  I woke up yesterday morning with a very sore throat and a bad attitude about it. I tried to get a few things done, but I mostly laid low. I was hoping that my sore throat was a product of being in a really dry apartment with the air con going most of the time.  Bangkok is also super polluted. There is a pretty constant haze over the city. Yesterday was particularly bad though so I thought maybe that was part of it as well. I bought a saline spray and some throat lozenges.  I've been trying to drink water constantly to stay hydrated and to dilute anything yucky in my body. Last night it cooled down to about 84 degrees when I went to bed so I opened the windows and tried to get the air circulating with the fan only feature on the air con unit. I slept pretty well and wasn't overheated at all. Unfortunately, it didn't work. Today I woke up with an even more sore throat and a little bit of congestion.  I've indulged in some naps and Netlix. I'm struggling with it because I know I should be working and I feel like a bum hanging out in an apartment in a foreign land when I haven't seen anything in this city yet. But, if I really am just living and working here, it's ok to rest and trust what my body is telling me to do.

I know this sense of unease will pass. I know that this little sickness will pass too. It'll be ok. For now though, everything feels wrong and I'm having a hard time dealing with it.  Vacation pictures look great, but I'm going to keep it real and say that right now I'm not in love with bring abroad.

Happy New Year!

Happy new year, everyone! It's been quite a while since I posted on this blog and since I decided to spend the bulk of 2020 away from home I figured I'd revive it.  Similarly to when I've traveled in the past, I'm not promising anyone that I'll keep up with posting, but I'll try... at least for a little while. :) If you find yourself looking at some old posts, please give me a lot of grace while you do so.  I often posted from my phone and/ or while I was tired so typos and sentences that don't quite make sense are more common than is comfortable for me. I'm also entirely too lazy to go back and try to fix any of it.

This year new year's eve was an interesting one for me in that I didn't really have one.  I departed Buffalo, NY on December 30 and arrived in Brisbane, Australia on January 1.  At what point in my travels it was December 31 and for how long I really don't know.  I asked a flight attendant if she knew when we'd actually hit midnight and she didn't know, but told me she'd find out. I promptly fell asleep after asking her about it and never revisited the topic except for during landing when she told me she'd stop at the bottle shop on the way home so that she could have a champagne breakfast. I felt like if we met under different circumstances we'd be friends.

All in all my travel to Australia went smoothly, but traveling across the world really kicks your ass no matter how well it plays out. Honestly, worse than the long flight across the Pacific were the domestic flights.  It took me about 11 hours to get to LAX from Buffalo via Atlanta. Ooooof. I was quite lucky to have a nice couple with an 11-month old baby sit next to me.  Henry nursed through take off and then passed out in a milk coma for the majority of the flight.

My layover in Atlanta was mostly summed up by me inhaling Shake Shack too fast and then feeling nauseous for about two hours. Why won't we have one of those in Rochester?? It's so delicious!  The real excitement of being in Atlanta was me realizing that one of my favorite tennis players, Madison Keys, was on the same fight path as me to Brisbane. I discovered this by looking at her Instagram story, which made me feel a little bit like a stalker. I'll admit I got a little giddy realizing that this professional athlete that I've followed for years was going to be in the same space I was.  It felt serendipitous and like some kind of surreal stamp of approval for my trip by the universe, seeing as my main motivation for coming to Australia was to go to the Australian Open.  I tried to avoid being a total spazz and respect her space, but a friend of a friend who knows her encouraged me to say hi and ask her for a picture if I saw her.  I didn't think that I would because I assumed that she was hanging out in the first class lounge, but after coming back from the bathroom and moving my seat I turned at the exact right moment and saw her walking by.  I cringe because I know I sounded like the exact person I didn't want to be,"Hi Madison, I'm sorry to bother you but I just wanted to let you know I'm a big fan..." Vomit. Of course she was super nice and took a picture with me. I'm clearly cheesing in this picture. I'm going to have to work on that.

When I arrived at LAX and was staring down a 14-hour flight I took advantage of the opportunity to upgrade to an exit row seat. When the cabin doors closed my seat mate and I were lucky enough to have an empty middle seat between us. We were also practically ecstatic when the pilot informed us that our documented flight time of 14 hours and 10 minutes was downgraded to 12 hours and 45 minutes. Don't ask me how that happened. They didn't even say they were making that time up in the air. It was as if we had the wrong estimated flight time from the beginning.

I can't complain about the long flight because I actually slept through most of it, which really surprised me. It seems that the extra leg room really made a difference - well, that, a new travel pillow, and a sleeping pill. (Side note: I cannot recommend the Trtl Travel Pillow enough, particularly for a girl like me who has a long neck and for whom traditional travel pillows do nothing.  You can check out a review of it here. I agree with the reviewer's comments about the downsides being packability and the pillow cumbersome when trying to wear headphones, but something he didn't say was how amazingly soft the fleece is.  It helped keep me warm on the cold, cold plane ride.) The last time I had a major flight like that was when I flew to Hong Kong and I remember being awake much more than this time. I legitimately think I slept for about 8 or 9 hours out of the trip and mainly in two chunks of about 3 to 4 hours at a time.  Sleeping this well really helped me be more rested for a full first day as well as keeping me from being super irritable.

After I landed I had another few hours of a layover and then was off to Prosperpine, which took about 1.5 hours. I slept through most of that flight, but managed to wake up for the snack. Weird that I would do that, huh? LOL Two notes about Virgin Australia: 1) The service was excellent. 2) The food was not. The two meals on the flight over the Pacific were gross. They aligned well with the stereotype of airline food being disgusting.  When I flew to Air China a few years ago their food was quite yummy so I probably had unrealistic expectations.  Something that was pretty cool was that on the long flight Virgin Australia had a little compartment in the bulkhead where they left water, juice, muesli bars, and fruit so that if you woke up during the flight and needed a little sustenance you could just go up and grab it. I'd never seen that before. On my flight from Brisbane to Prosperpine they offered a snack of a muesli bar or chickpea salt and vinegar bites.  I took the salt and vinegar bites.  They were really interesting in that I didn't love them, but I can imagine slowly becoming addicted to them. They definitely grew on me the more I ate.  I don't know if this was a move motivated by improving healthy decision-making, but I was also offered water, coffee, tea, or juice on this flight. I desperately wanted a Coke, but it was $4! So I passed and had water instead. I was pretty proud of myself because throughout the entire trip I did a really good job of mainly drinking water.  I only had ginger ale on one flight because my stomach was feeling unsettled.

As always seems to happen, my plan was to write about my entire first day in Australia, but it's 7:42 PM and I'm finding it difficult to keep my eyes open.  Spoiler alert: I did a great job staying up yesterday and didn't go to sleep at all until about 8:30 PM. I slept through the night like a rock and woke up a 5:30 AM ready to go. Of course, I told myself to F off and made myself go back to sleep for a few hours. My stimulant for my narcolepsy helps me adjust to the time change much better than if I had to deal with the jet lag 100% naturally, but it still seems to be creeping up on me. Days 1 and 2 will have to wait until next time. G'night!