Category Archives: Travel

Travel

Ode to Water

2015-03-03 ramblintraveler Leave a comment

Refreshing and cool, clear and crisp,
Water should always be at the top of my list.

It’s just what the body hungers for first,
And for workouts or hot days, it’s the best to quench thirst.

It satisfies and nourishes in so many ways,
You’d think it’s what I’d reach for at the end of my days.

Alas, I must confess that instead what I do
Is reach for water turned into a brew.

It’s always the same: “Just one for today”
But as soon as it’s consumed I get carried away.

As the cans begin to stack and the fun buzz begins,
The memory of the hangover starts to sink in.

And though I am reluctant and try to not care
I know in my head I better prepare!

Guzzling some water at first is a chore
As the plain taste suddenly seems a bore.

But as the beer buzz is gently washed away
And sleep comes comfortably to bring a new day,

I think just how good that water did taste
And the miracles it worked in avoiding the next day being a waste!

Leaving Sangkhla

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Thailand, Travel

Thankful

2015-02-24 ramblintraveler 5 Comments

Normal life has set in. I haven’t been doing anything special, haven’t been engaging in any new adventure or activity, haven’t gone off to some new exotic place… No, regular life is in full swing. I’m still volunteering at an animal sanctuary in Sangkhlaburi, Thailand so the regular duties of feeding, caring for, and helping to heal injured shelter dogs takes up much of my time. And by the time all is said and done with the dogs daily, while there is time to do something new, I’m just too tired to think about that “something new ” and instead always opt for a quiet night of sipping beer on the porch while watching Sangkhlaburi street life.

I haven’t written anything on my blog in a while because in my mind I haven’t done anything “interesting”. I wonder what exactly to write about and whether people would even be interested in reading “normal life” posts. One thing does always come to mind however, so instead of my usual adventure/travel stories or stories about my random drunken escapades, I will write about this: being thankful.

See, even though my life has settled into being “normal”, I realize on so many levels that it isn’t. While there is a lot I still wish to accomplish and have in my life, I think daily on how thankful I am for the things I do have and have achieved and experienced. It’s almost turned into a form of prayer for me. Each day I try to take time out and think about all the things I’m thankful for. The list always starts general, then randomly pops from narrows to specifics. So here are the things I’m thankful for today. Hope you enjoy and perhaps find inspiration to seek out and acknowledge all the things in your life that are worth giving thanks for.

Aside from the top 3, they are in no particular order. Today I’m thankful for:

Family
Friends
Good health
Being physically and mentally able to workout
Being in good company
Living in Thailand
Working with animals
Waterbelly (a sanctuary dog) NOT being run over by a car this morning
Emails from friends
Having traveled to several countries
The people I’ve met along the way in short bursts, yet who I’m still impacted by today
Having found apple cider vinegar here
The little girl next door who instead of holding a blank expression while looking over at us on the porch actually smiled and waved!
Learning a new Thai word from the market lady (“kai gai” is egg)
NOT seeing the neighbor behind us flash her body parts while walking along the road as she adjusts her clothing
Nambia’s for breakfast
Watching random firework displays light up the sky on the Mon side
Seeing the temple lit up at night
Having the relief of rainfall after a ridiculously hot and humid day, even though we aren’t supposed to get any rain (according to the forecast)
Watching the monks give morning blessings to people throughout the neighborhood
The support and patience of my family as I live a quarter to half way around the world from them
Knowing I’m loved by my family and friends
The hope to meet a man to love indefinitely along my travels
The dogs that survive the unthinkable
The dogs that move on to a better place, freeing themselves of the pain they were suffering here (of course it’s hard to lose them, and we always wonder whether there was anything else that we could have done for them, but I know ultimately they are in a better place)
NOT being woken throughout the night by either barking dogs or our neighbors insomniac tendencies
Hearing the dogs in a synchronized howl
My mosquito net!
Thursday and Saturday markets
Having a day off from the sanctuary
Learning something new everyday
Witnessing small kindnesses (a young brother was helping his younger sister take out several rubber bands from her hair and smoothed it out when done)
Watching the 9 chicks that live in our neighborhood grow up (and seeing all 9 daily)
The water delivery guy
Local community support for the sanctuary (Som Chai, Dr. May, Sai and Charlie)
Meeting new volunteers from around the world
Hearing of friends engagements
Hearing that friends struggling with health issues are doing better
My memories of times past
Being content with what I have and where I am
Feeling blessed in so many ways
The hope that I continue to be thankful and grateful for every little and big thing in my life
And lastly that I am able to continue to travel, explore, and give back to the life around me

On to Ode to Water

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Travel

Laughs from Around the World

2015-02-10 ramblintraveler Leave a comment

One of my favorite parts about traveling is learning about the differences in culture and ways that people express themselves. From the friendly “buenas” greetings you encounter daily in Central America to the bows and prayer position hello’s given and received in Thailand, every culture has ways of defining themselves that makes them beautiful and unique.

Perhaps my favorite difference, yet similarity, in expression however is the laugh… And not just the physical laugh but more specifically the written or ‘text’ laugh.

In the States, to express laughter in a text we use a variety such as LOL, LMAO, LMFAO or the most basic: hahahahahahaha!

It’s the last of those “text laughs” that you find variations for around the world, yet the sound is just the same. For example, in Spanish text they write “jajajajajaja” for a laugh because the”J” makes an “H” sound, so the resulting sound is the same as “haha”.

Just recently I’ve learned another form of text laughter in Thailand: 5555555…. Now you may wonder as most do when first coming across that as to what in the world that means. But once you know that the word, or rather the sound that the word makes, for the number 5 in Thailand is “ha”, then it all makes sense! Repeated 5’s in text literally reads as “hahahahaha!!”

Just love it! I’m curious how many other variations there are out there to express laughter in text form from different countries… If anyone knows of any more, I’d love to hear about it!

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Thailand, Travel

The “Bum Gun”

2015-01-27 ramblintraveler 1 Comment

Bathroom activities are certainly not at all among the list that many want to talk about, but I just have to talk about the “bum gun”… That phrase was actually coined by one of the first volunteers I’d met while here, Megan from Ireland, who also was the one who taught and told me its real function!

When I first arrived in Bangkok and stayed at the hotel near the airport, I noticed that while they had a Western toilet complete with a roll of toilet paper, they also had a hose connected to a water pipe with a nozzle at the end of it that when pressed would squirt out water. I thought it was a rather clever way to clean the toilet and flush out the areas under the rim when scrubbing the bowl out. I had seen this arrangement in every other hostel/hotel bathroom I had been in and continued to think how clever it was…

Then I arrived in Sangkhlaburi… And while J’s Family Homestay, where I stayed for the first couple of weeks, had a bathroom with a Western toilet with the spray nozzle attached, they didn’t have any toilet paper in the bathroom nor a bin stored in there to be able to throw away toilet paper that was brought in… Hmmmm….. That made me wonder a bit and was quite annoying really to have to bring in my own bag for used toilet paper.

A few days after being in Sangkhlaburi while drinking at Baan Job with Megan, Nyzil and Omar (a volunteer from Spain), Megan and I went to the bathroom together (as girls always do) and she made a mention how she really quite enjoys the bum gun as it made her feel so much cleaner! “I’m sorry, what?? The bum gun??”. “Yea that hose attached to the toilet”… Now I was really confused. So… That isn’t to clean the toilet but rather for… cleaning… instead of… toilet paper???

Yup. Indeed the “bum gun” is used in place of toilet paper. Several seconds of squirting water in the areas required is all it takes to get you feeling fresh and clean! Of course you had to wait a few seconds to dry a bit after using it, but it seriously does make you feel so much cleaner! Suddenly it made perfect sense as to why several places had no toilet paper but always had the hose and squirt nozzle! A word of advice that Megan also shared with me however was to always test the pressure of the nozzle before pointing it to yourself as it can sometimes be a bit strong.

So there it is. My knowledge of the bum gun. Use at your will:) Oh and I have thought to take a picture to show you all what exactly it looks like, but really don’t want to be caught walking into a bathroom with a camera… I can only imagine what people would think in seeing me do that, lol! Funnily enough the bathroom at the volunteer house doesn’t have a bum gun… Otherwise I wouldn’t mind sneaking in there for a shot of one. We have an Eastern toilet and utilize Western methods of cleaning since there isn’t a gun there. Honestly I do wish it had the nozzle as it really does make you feel cleaner than toilet paper!

On to More Muay Thai

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Thailand, Travel

Animal Exploitations?

2014-12-11 ramblintraveler Leave a comment

I will fully admit that one of the big things that put Thailand on my map of places to visit was because of the Tiger Temple. When I first heard about it and saw pictures from a customer at my workplace I was in absolute awe! You mean you can walk beside, pet and sit with REAL tigers???? I was sold!! I wanted to be a part of that!! I had heard things like; there is a Temple in Thailand where monks live and care for the tigers; the tigers are fed cooked meat so they don’t look at humans (raw meat) as being a food source; the tigers are docile and are pretty much exactly like house cats, except much larger. A Tiger Temple was even featured as one of the locations where they went in The Amazing Race during the first season. I was highly intrigued!!

Then I started doing research… There isn’t just ONE tiger Temple in Thailand. They are a dime a dozen (here in Kanchanaburi you can barely walk 10 feet without seeing a sign for a tiger tour). Tour groups are taken daily to the various Temples so that each tourist can have a “genuine” experience with the tigers… I should have figured. After really looking into it, I can’t help but wonder whether these “Temples” aren’t so much about the benefit of the animals as they are simply another way to bring in the tourist, essentially exploiting the tigers along the way. I’m not saying the tigers are mistreated. I doubt they would be since it is such a popular tourist attraction. What I am saying is tigers are by nature wild. As much as I love the fantasy of being able to chill along side a tiger, I would much rather have a genuine encounter (much to the fear of my family I’m sure) in the wild (where tigers really belong) with one than to stand in line, wait my turn and get my picture taken with a “tame” tiger.

I’m not sure how these Temples began. Perhaps the first did originally start as a place where tigers that would otherwise die in the wild were taken in and cared for. Then perhaps from there it evolved into the circus it is today? I’m not sure. But I now know I don’t want to be a part of that.

For all the animal encounters I wish I was able to have, I certainly won’t if it’s at the potential exploitation of the animal. That is why I didn’t take an elephant ride in Ayutthaya. I’m always very wary of how the animals are treated before paying to be a part of an activity with them, though I did buy a basket of food to feed to them (since the food was going directly to them). There were several elephants off giving rides to tourists down the street and back and three remained at the main location without any harnesses on, but tied by their foot with a chain to the hitching post beside them.

It was hard to see chains around their legs, but here I will play a bit of the devil’s advocate. As a horse back rider, we tie horses up with halters and a lead lines to keep them in one place. We don’t tie a leg of course nor do we use chains in tying a horse, but I had to wonder if since elephants are soooo much larger, if chains are just the equivalent to a cotton or nylon tether to a horse? Elephants are highly intelligent however so I also wondered why they would need ties at all to stay within an area? And again, since I’m not educated enough on the proper treatment of elephants and whether these ones were properly cared for, I didn’t agree to a ride, just a direct feeding to them.

In Ayutthaya they also have a place called the Elephant Kraal and the Ayutthaya Elephant Village, right next to the floating market. I did think to go check them out, but thankfully read up on some reviews first… This review was also confirmed by a couple staying in the hostel who had personally gone to see it. First the floating market is nothing but a tourist trap. Second, they said that the elephants look stressed and unhappy, that they made the baby elephants do tricks that were unnatural for an elephant to do and third they also had TIGERS that they kept in small cement cages with their legs tied to the edge of the cage. The couple said the tether was so tight that it was cutting into their skin. Absolutely unacceptable!!!

Soapbox time… Though it may not make any difference (because most people are too much into their own needs to care) I urge people NOT to support any cruelty to animals and subsequently do NOT support places or people who treat their animals in foul ways. The best way to get them to stop is simply to not support them. Unfortunately many of these kinds of places open up because tourism drives them. Since they have animals native to their lands that many other places in the world consider exotic, many places make a buisiness out of exploiting the animals so tourists can get up close and personal with them so they can show off to friends and family back home on what they got to do with a wild animal. If we don’t support these businesses, they can’t survive. The drive will die off and those who exploit animals for profit will no longer make money.

As I write the above rant, the only concern that comes to mind of course is: What will happen to the animals themselves? I don’t have all the answers. If I could wave a magic wand I would have a place of my own (or enough money to support a place) that would provide safe and natural habitats to abused, mistreated and exploited animals. Somewhere where they could simply be. Sounds like a zoo, I know, but what I envision would be just large expanses of land where only the injured/unable to live in the wild would be in enclosures so they could be properly cared for. The rest would roam free. Until then, all I know is step 1 is to not support places like the above mentioned or any other. And if anyone out there has better suggestions, I’m open to hearing them 🙂

I do hope there are genuinely good places here that really care for their animals, as I am interested in volunteering. Whether that means shoveling shit, or any other nitty gritty “gross” job necessary to benefit the animals. So far I haven’t found any yet but hold hope that they are here somewhere…

On To Gone to the Dogs

Back to Thailand

p.s… all tiger images in this post were taken from Google Images, keyword “tiger temple images”

Travel

Cruise Critique

2014-12-07 ramblintraveler 1 Comment

I will start off by saying that my family and I had a great time on the cruise aboard the Splendour of the Seas. There was lots of laughter, great conversation, fun in exploring the ship activities and of course the port stops were fantastic to visit! However, and I think I speak for my family as well, we will never sail with Royal Caribbean again.

Leaving Venice at Night

Leaving Venice at Night_2

I will start with the positive: the staff were for the most part very nice and accommodating. The activities on board (Bingo!, Name that Movie Trivia, nightly movies on the main deck, mini-golf, etc) were lots of fun. In fact my sister and I each won a round of Bingo! (her $25, me $300, a bottle of champagne, an umbrella and a scrapbook package… I got the X, yay!). Our woman who cared for our stateroom was very nice and often left towels in the shape of very cute animals in our room to come back to at the end of the day. I loved the little daily itinerary they left each night in our rooms so we could see all the activities and plan accordingly. I loved that they had a salt water pool instead of using chlorine.

Bunny Towel

Elephant Towel

Monkey Towel

But, here’s the thing… When people pay good money to go on a trip that is supposed to be something of a luxury, it is expected that the staff are nice and accommodating and it’s expected that there will be fun activities on board so people can fill their time up on sail days with something other than staring at the water. It’s expected that the port stops would be interesting places to see/go. Otherwise why would people go on cruises to begin with? So really the only positive items about the cruise were things that one would EXPECT to be positive.

At Sea

At Sea_2

Can you spot the Dolphin??

Now for the negative: 1) Booking with them was one of the most painful and stressful experiences we’ve dealt with in planning a trip. We booked online and everyday it was a new story as to what was owed. First everything was paid off, then we owed 5 times more than what the cruise was supposed to be, then it was back to almost being paid off, then we still owed more… Literally everyday there was some issue or another in our booking and I can’t tell you how many phone calls (upwards of 20 at least!!) were made back and forth to customer service (who were at least patient and nice on the phone) trying to sort everything out.

Santorini Sunrise

Santorini Sunrise_2

At Sea_3

2) Steak night: my sister decided one night to order a steak… She ordered the temperature medium. What she got was a very tough piece of medium well steak. She didn’t want to send it back or make any fuss, but at my parents insistence (they wanting to make sure she actually enjoyed the steak) she told the waiter it was too cooked for her liking. He immediately sent off for a new one. Great! Well done!

No pun intended there, but that’s pretty much what she got for the second try: a medium well to well done steak. The waiter stood by as she cut into it (as he should) to make sure the cook was correct. It wasn’t so off it went again. This time however the manager came over to chat with my sister to fully understand what she was looking for. She again stated ‘medium’ then described how the cook should look (warm pink center).

Off went the manager and server and a few minutes later out came a VERY WELL DONE steak…. Ummm…… ?????? Seriously???? At this point is was just too comical!! Ironically it was the most tender piece received so far despite being well done, and my sister was at that point beyond trying to make them get anything right. She was content just eating the veggies and nibbling on some of the bits of meat. But no, the server and manager weren’t happy that she wasn’t happy, so they whisked away the plate again and brought back… Lucky steak #4???? No…. a RARE, almost so rare you could still hear it mooing steak… Again, we (my family) were actually quite humored by the whole fiasco and were in good spirits about the comedy of errors unfolding around us…

What wasn’t comical however was the second manager who came by to inform us that next time, if we wanted a piece of meat to be tender when cooked at a medium temperature, we should order the filet mignon for an extra $17…. THAT was condescending and highly rude. Duh! Of course the better the cut the more tender the meat! But that wasn’t the point. The point was there was a huge miscommunication going on with how to cook THAT particular cut of meat to the correct temperature. And by the way, we weren’t the only ones having issues with the steak as we overheard several more tables around us raising the exact same issue.

3) On the topic of food, in general it was lackluster whether at the buffets or at the restaurant.

On deck Outdoor Pool

Ship Center

Ship Center_2

4) Last little bit, I had the worst drink I’ve ever tasted… I ordered a mojito. Seriously mojitos are made by muddling mint, lime and sugar (simple syrup will do too) then adding in rum, shake shake shake, top off with soda water. Done. This bartender put in (I was watching) mint, simple syrup, sugar (yes, regular sugar WITH the simple syrup already put in), she muddled for about 15 minutes. Then added rum, mojito mix out of some cardboard container, added ice, shook for another 20 minutes then topped off with Sprite… Oh and THEN she added a lime on top… I could feel a sugar induced coma coming just looking at it! I hate to be rude though so I took a straw sip (not sipping from the straw but capping the straw and dipping it in for a taste). I have a very big sweet tooth, but seriously, there was no way to drink that drink!! It was so sugary and gross. Nowhere near refreshing as a mojito should be. I had to refuse it and later had to make sure it wasn’t charged to my account, which it was so I had to have it taken off.

Really the real theme going on behind all the negatives was the lack of… I’m not sure, knowledge, communication or experience with the staff??? I don’t know for sure but it was frustrating. Again, the staff were very nice and they tried (except for the condescending manager) but there was some serious link missing there . And again, the cruise was fun and relaxing and great to get away with my family, but if we ever happen to do another family trip via a cruise, it won’t be with Royal Caribbean.

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Travel

Butterflies

2014-12-01 ramblintraveler Leave a comment

In less than 24 hours I fly out of Pisa, Italy and ultimately land in Bangkok, Thailand. I’ve been talking about going to Thailand for over 2 years and it’s finally coming true. I’m reaching another goal that I’ve set and saved for. Yet, I can’t help but wonder…

Before I get anywhere with what I wonder, I first feel the urge to simply say I’ve so much to be thankful for: a family who loves me and who I love in return, unbeatable friends who’ve come through for me all over the world (way above and beyond my expectations) and good health. For those things that are truly important in this life, (family, friends and health) I’ve been blessed and fortunate. I can’t be thankful enough and give thanks everyday for them, as I believe it very important to be thankful daily in any way possible.

As I get set to take off again for who knows how long and ultimately where, I can’t help but wonder and hope whether this trip, whether this place will be THE trip, THE place where I’m finally able to be of real use in this world in a way that really matters. Metaphysics says that simply ‘being’ is enough. But there is so much I hope for. So much that I hope to be able to actually contribute in this life and for this world. Am I doing “enough”?… Will I have the courage to do something truly worth while?… Could this trip be it?

I also can’t help but wonder whether this trip and place will be THE trip and THE place where I will finally find my best friend/husband/partner/lover or whatever you want to call him. I’m done trying to fix those who can’t be fixed, done being the convenient one, and done being the one who isn’t really loved in return. Yet I still hope. I still wonder… Could this trip be it?

I know I sound completely spoiled: traveling the world and yet complaining about not having a man in my life or complaining about my insecurities about not REALLY doing enough in/for this life… Maybe it’s too much to ask for- having a loving family and friends, great health, making a difference in the world AND having someone beside me supporting along the way… I just don’t know.

Yet these are my thoughts… These are my butterflies…

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