In a world that never stops moving, theres something remarkably ecstatic about venturing around the vibrant chaos of Thailand. From the local food carts, marketplaces, parks, and attractions to the Muay Thai stadiums and local gyms around Bangkok. I decided to take a trip to Thailand for the following reasons:
- I quit my corporate job in 2019 to pursue a long lost dream to eat, sleep and train Muay Thai. Due to covid that dream fell through, and I was left with the “fear of missing out” (FOMO).
- I’ve never traveled to another country by myself, I wanted to prove to myself that I could travel on my own, and wise enough to make my own decisions.
- I’m a skeptic in embarking on an adventure to transform myself into someone new, I wanted to see if my perspectives would change and if there would be some sort of self discovery.
- I wanted to see what it was like to work remotely, in a different country.
- Life is short. We will all die, If not now then when? timing is often never in our favor, we tend to put things off because we don’t realize that our time on earth is finite. Thailand is something I wanted to experience before I die.
With a couple days left in the motherland of Muay Thai, here are some short reflections that I came to conclude on this trip:
- Muay Thai is awesome in Thailand, the stadiums, shows, and gyms included. The fear of missing out (FOMO) is gone. I could see a vision of myself living here for a year to do nothing but eat, sleep, and train Muay Thai while working contract jobs from the USA remotely. However, I have a German Shepherd back in the USA that I miss a lot and I am conflicted to do so.
- Before landing in Thailand, I was pretty nervous about solo-traveling. I can only speak as a male traveling by himself. For the most part, everyone is pretty friendly and helpful. There’s a lot less entitlement. Some things to be aware of are scams, and potential pickpocketing if you are in some busy streets.
- I learned a lot about myself on this trip. My perspectives did change on this trip. The more decisions I tend to make — the more confident I am in myself regardless of the outcome, I tend to have a better understanding of the experience and if I would want to try them again. I’ve also met people from all over the world from China, Laos, Dubai, New Zealand, Spain, Australia, Argentina, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Germany just to name a few.
- I’ve been facing a difficult period in my life since my mom’s death last year. It has been a significant loss and I was blessed to have a mother that cared for me. I’m finding ways to cope and heal. There are moments where I ache to hear her voice, and visualize her expressions. It aches to know that I can no longer pick up the phone to call her, neither receiving a comforting call to talk about life. The silver lining has been hard to find, other than being present in the moment.
“you don’t know what you have until it’s gone” has resonated with me during this adventure.
I’ve learned a lot about myself during this trip. I’m not sure where I will be next, or what the future has ahead. But starting the statement with:
Before I die, I want to…
Really puts things in perspective on how I want to keep pushing forward when there doesn’t seem to be a solution.
