That time I ran off to Thailand and didn’t come back for 2 years!

So one of the first things you should know about me is that I am obsessed with travel! The first time I traveled abroad was in High School and after that it was a personal goal to get out and explore a new country every year! Now of course I haven’t been able to keep that up every year since, but there have been certain years where I’ve managed to spend multiple months abroad stacking up new country experiences so that makes up for it!

After I graduated from University, I was a little uncertain with what I really wanted to do with the rest of my life. I had graduated with a focus on Fine Art Photography and realized that the gallery life wasn’t quite for me. I had also worked as a photojournalist for the last five years and had also discovered that working for a newspaper was a bit too negative of a job for me. I was facing that post-school freaky feeling that I’d just had an absolute blast in college, but didn’t exactly set myself up for walking right into a career once I’d graduated.

It turns out, if you aren’t sure what to do with your life, a 2-year trip to SE Asia is a fantastic way to procrastinate starting “real life!”

One of the fun things I did in University is satisfy my PE requirements with SCUBA classes. I’ve always been a huge water fan, and advancing in SCUBA certifications was just too much fun not to continue so by the time I graduated I was an Instructor-level for diving!

As I graduated I also got crazy-lucky and kind of fell into being a photographer for an on-line SCUBA magazine which was based out of Denmark, so I figured that if I wanted to try out the magazine world, moving to a place which has lots of epic diving destinations would be a good idea!

So, a few months after I graduated I bought a one-way ticket to Bangkok and got on a plane, my SCUBA kit and all the belongings I thought I would need for an indefinite amount of time all jammed into one backpack that probably could have fit in the overhead luggage area!

Arriving in Bangkok I had no idea what to expect, I’d never been to Thailand before and certainly didn’t know any Thai so my first challenge was how to get to the right bus station which would take me south to a place called Khao Lak where I would try my luck at getting hired on as a SCUBA instructor.

After several rather frightening rides on the back of a motorcycle “taxi” I finally got on a night bus which took me south.

Arriving in Khao Lak at night and with no idea where to go to get a room I hopped in the back of a songthaew (a pickup whose bed has been transformed into a sitting area and acts as a short-distance taxi) and asked to go to a guesthouse I’d looked up the day prior.

Now, one thing to remember was that this was back in 2012, and I was a late-bloomer when it comes to technology so I was without any smart phone and the only way I could access internet was in an internet cafe on my trusty Apple laptop I’d brought with me. The songthaew took me away from the lights of the main village center and quite a way into the jungle. Just as I was starting to get quite nervous my driver pulled up to a tiny little hut which was lit by a hanging lightbulb, illuminating a small round table where a group of people were sat around drinking and playing a card game. Hopping off I clumsily motioned that I had booked a room and was taken to a little hut of my own just a few yards away.

I slept like a rock that first night as the sticky humidity crept in through my open window and the faint waves of the ocean could just be heard over the noise of the cicada.

In the morning my first adventure was to find a foot path between my new lodgings and the main town where the SCUBA shops were located. I headed to the beach, thinking that walking along the sand would be much more pleasant than trying to navigate the very thin shoulder of the winding and surprisingly busy “highway” that I’d come in on the night prior.

As I made my way down to the beach I came across a small boy, maybe around 11 years old or so, tending to several large elephants. It looked like he was feeding them their morning breakfast and I was fascinated. I stood watching the majestic creatures until the boy motioned for me to come closer. He didn’t speak any english and I was hopeless to understand his Thai so we communicated with various gestures and what I gathered was that his family owned a small farm nearby and they used the elephants to help them with the farming.

He was quite friendly and quick to laugh and even allowed me to touch his gentle giants.

After “chatting” for a bit I asked him which was the way to the beach and he motioned for me to follow him. He left the majority of the elephants to munch away at their breakfast but took one with us as we walked down a long pathway.

Almost out of nowhere the beach opened up before us and in a small covered area sat several other locals, working on cooking something which smelled delicious!

The boy pulled at his elephant’s ear and led it down to the waves. Smiling a huge and almost mischievous grin he made some imperceptible sign to the elephant and then placed his foot on her trunk. She easily lifted him up to her head and he jumped onto her back. He kicked his heels and I followed him down the beach, amazed at the ease of which he rode on her bare back.

He jumped down effortlessly and motioned for me to try as the elephant’s strong trunk lowered into position. A bit frightened that I’d be too heavy for the creature I gingerly placed my foot on her trunk. I shouldn’t have worried however as she practically threw me onto her back and I must have looked quite comical as I struggled not to fall off from the force of it, making my companion burst into a fit of laughter.

We began to walk and it was truly amazing to feel the strong structure of the gorgeous creature as we approached the waves. With a little encouragement the elephant entered the water right up to where my feet were jus dangling in the water.

Laughing, the boy motioned for my camera (which I always had with me) and he took my picture. Backing up to take a second image the boy raised his hand and dropped it in a rather exaggerated motion and all of a sudden the elephant beneath me completely submerged herself!

I had nothing to grab onto and in the salty sea water despite being fully clothed I was still quite buoyant so as I floated off the elephants back I saw her kicking her large and powerful legs as she somehow graciously swam forward.

The waves hit me and I was pushed back onto her back just as she rose up and headed out of the water, the young boy laughing and pointing and clapping the whole time.

I was smiling ear to ear at this amazingly wonderful practical joke and couldn’t help but laugh along with him, patting the elephant’s shoulders in what I hoped was an thankful acknowledgment that she didn’t toss me off her back during our little swim!

Sliding off her back, I took my camera back from the boy and he motioned me over to meet the others who were cooking on the beach.

These were his family members and they thoroughly enjoyed my failed attempts at saying each on of their names. (Thai is a tonal language so it is an especially difficult one to duplicate correctly!).

As the hot day dried my clothes I reluctantly said my good-byes to everyone as I motioned that I needed to get back to my hut to change.

Walking back up the hill I turned and waved at the young boy who was lounging in the shade, elephant standing by his side munching on some vegetation.

As a first day in Thailand it was absolutely magical and a day I will never forget.

I went on to acquire a job at a local SCUBA shop and had to move to a room closer to the main town so I wasn’t able to see that boy or his beautiful elephants ever again, but I hope that he recalls with fondness that crazy American girl who he gave a big surprise to that day in the ocean!

The stories and epic adventures continued throughout the next two years as I moved from country to country and worked for various SCUBA shops, but writing all these adventures here would make for a novel rather than a blog!

So with that, I’ll leave you until the next time I decide to take a walk down memory lane and tell another story of my adventures of living in SE Asia. (Spoiler alert: this trip culminated in finding the love of my life and my future husband, Dominic so look forward to that!)

Until next time, thanks for stopping by to get to know me a bit more. I truly believe that it is one’s life experiences that shapes who you are and that getting to know someone on a deeper level involves knowing their past and where they came from.

I invite you to peruse all of the blogs under the “Meet Kate” portion of my blog to get to know me better and I hope that when we meet I get to hear a few stories from your life as well!

Till next time!

-Kate