When we arrived in Thailand, a beautiful feeling washed over me and I felt as though I had been “lifted.” It is hard to explain in words, the feeling you get when you know you are in the right place… a place that feels good so good, like you are on the same frequency with it. This sensation or feeling has become our primary guiding force for our travels. You go out to see the world, and you have a list of places that you would love to visit. You hear tons of advice and opinions from others, to try this or that; you know there are places that you thought you should or would go to… but with so many places to see, where do you actually go? We have learned that we are not the kind of travelers that really care whether or not we see all the ” sights,” rather, we are interested in really experiencing the vibe of a place, meeting the people, and just enjoying life. There are others who have lists of destinations to see, and fill their days with tours and excursions, etc.. so they can pack as much in as possible. The thought of that alone gives me a fucking headache. Its natural to ask other people about their thoughts and opinions, but you really have to take what they say with a grain of salt. There have been so many times when we took people’s advice and checked out a spot that was supposed to be “amazing,” and when we arrived there, we just felt like something was off. At first, I doubted this feeling, I thought..”Okay, this place is supposed to be amazing, so what is our problem?” So we would agree to stay, but I couldn’t shake this feeling, that the place wasn’t right for us. It just felt kind of bad, like there was no energy there that we could connect to. Finally, we would just pick up and go because things just were not flowing. And then we would arrive somewhere else, and get that lovely lifted feeling, and it felt right again. We decided that it was clear, that these “feelings” were serving as our road map. (Thankfully, my husband and I have always been in agreement about these how we felt.)
Ultimately, we are all individuals, and we all vibe with different things. What one person loves isn’t necessarily what you are going to love. A great and specific example was that we absolutely hated Kuta Beach in Bali, which was basically a huge and nasty frat boy meat market. The place was all about the party; the sort of disgusting, drink till you drop, and then drink some more scenario. But then there were those who’s sole purpose was to party like rock stars, so they absolutely loved it (I still can’t wrap my head around loving Kuta, but whatever.) Kuta is an extreme example; there were other places, that were seemingly “nice…” I mean, they were pretty locations that seemed to be popular with so many people, but they just weren’t for us.
And then came Thailand. I just love it here. It is beyond beautiful, and I have not yet seen nature quite like this in my life. We are currently off the western coast on the Andaman Sea. You have the amazing waters that are like every shade of blue you can imagine, with huge rock formations that shoot up out of the ocean and tower over you. I feel like its a cross between Lost and The Lord of the Rings. We would sail through these massive rock formations on the local longboats, looking up at the rocks that looked like warriors or sentinels guarding the sea, with our mouths dropped open just in total awe of the place. The people of Thailand are so fucking laid back and friendly, and everything here is ridiculously inexpensive. I have always wanted to be here and every part of my being feels like its at home, so it really is a dream come true for me. Thailand is a place that is buzzing with the “feeling.”
Really getting in tune with our intuition in this respect, has made a world of difference in our experience on the road, and as we continue deeper into our journey, our “knowing” has become extremely precise. When you are away from home and anything familiar, your life simplifies in a profound way, because you literally have the bag on your back and that’s about it. You aren’t distracted by work or chores or the daily grind of maintaining a “stable life.” There is so much less that you “need,” and you find that you are satisfied with just enough, and the thought of taking more, for the sake of it… is just not worth it. For me, this drastic simplification has brought my desires into a very clear focus. I know exactly what I want, what I will put up with and what I absolutely won’t tolerate. And I could give a fuck about the should’s and shouldn’ts, in a way that I couldn’t quite accomplish at home. It feels as though I am completely aligned with the universe and my place in it, and that “the force” is with me.
