‘Dear Diary… today I saw the world’

Written by Sophie 10 March 2010 4 Comments

Yeah, I’ve been pretty lax with keeping up with sharing my travelling tales so for that, please accept my sincerest apologies. However, since my last post I have had the most amazing time in Thailand, which truly is ‘the land of smiles’. I’ve passed through Malaysia, dipped into Singapore before jetting down to New Zealand to meander my way up to Australia. It has been such a whirlwind of a few months, but the travel bug has firmly infected me causing the antidote of needing to extend my trip by a few months to fit in more of the world. It is so dangerous to have a round the world ticket that you can reroute and extend, although the flexibility and option for spontaneous action gives backpacking the much needed freedom and excitement element! I think my mum and dad have resigned themselves to the fact that each email I send will bring a new itinerary and plan which I’ve invented.

Thailand was… no words can describe the fun and adventure: I’ve ridden on elephants, kayaked in a storm, partied under the full moon, had a Swede nearly OD on sleeping pills on a night bus, saw sunsets on epic canyons, got philosophical between wheatgrass shots, took chances and risks that paid off (luckily), and was able to zigzag all over the country making friends from around the world. I am now desperate to share all which I have seen, where I have been and what I’ve learnt (however small that would be!), so thank god I’ve kept a fat detailed journal, which I swear is about 4kg and is the main reason the airport luggage weighing scales groan under the weight of my beloved backpack (it is one of life’s great mysteries how my pack continually fluctuates between 11kg – 16kg).

buddha.bmp ‘Dear Diary… today I saw the world’
I do kind of regret not writing an online blog to keep friends and family updated with my adventures, but to have kept this journal in extreeeme detail has enabled me to dip back into the past months and relive all the memories with every turn of the page. Receipts, bus tickets, party flyers, maps (roughly hand-drawn or precise-to-scale and actually correct ones) and quirky postcards are among the many random scraps I’ve taped in. Conversations, names, kisses, quotes and place-names have all been documented (with questionable spelling), as well as the BEST Pad Thai dishes, Noodle Soup stands and fruit shakes I’ve sampled! I’m only half way through my trip and already I’ve nearly completed a volume which will probably have to be shipped home, but if it gets lost in the post…. I will hunt down every postman and search every post office to reclaim my most prized possession of my trip: My journal.

12466 511270720031 281000294 500686 6671517 n ‘Dear Diary… today I saw the world’

So my advice to any traveller, no matter how long or short, far or near that your travels extend, keep a journal. Photographs will capture that look he gave you, the colours of that sunset, the serenity of that praying monk, the forgotten blurred night after that tequila shot, but write down that quote, that conversation, that thought, that taste and that little self-discovery you experienced. Those memories are priceless but easily forgotten.

Sunset on Pai Canyon (North Thailand)

Tags: Diary, Memories, personal experiences

4 Comments »

Fraeulein Schlau-Schlau said:

Nice post and sooo true! I have been in Thailand for 3 weeks from middle of November 09. It has been a great trip and I have experienced so much! As you said, it is difficult to describe with words. Nevertheless, I published my diary in my blog (in German only – sorry), but still have to work on the last post (my last days in Bangkok). I wish you a great time in New Zealand and Australia with lots of good experiences!

# 10 March 2010 at 11:11 am