I land in Chicago, I feel like Neo in the Matrix, once he is able to see the Matrix. People are rushing & running, their faces tell they are in an emergency mode, like missing a meeting, or on the verge of getting fired. Or maybe I’m thinking, it’s a pretty busy ant colony? You cannot land here and not see the major weight catastrophe this country faces. You look to your left, to your right, even up or down. Look inside a restaurant and it’s filled with people who cannot stop eating, and they obviously should. The food is literally spilling from their plates. Stress is everywhere, there is no calmness to be found. I find my next terminal and a airport worker comes to pick up an elder woman. She’s Hispanic, in her late 30’s. She has the potential to be a beautiful person, but obviously she isn’t. She screams across the terminal as if she is talking to a four year old “stay there, don’t you move!” and the woman she is talking to, must be in her 70’s, just mumbles to herself “ok, ok” with a guilt smile, as if she doesn’t understand what she has done wrong. People around me did not notice, it seems like completely normal. What am I missing? Sipping on some Chocolate Milk, reality hits - I’m back in the U.S after three weeks away.
This trip started with an email from a friend. He is from the U.K and is facing some major business challenges. He decided to head to Phuket for few weeks to relax. He mentioned to me he is leaving soon and the idea ran across my mind, but I was too busy with my life to pay much attention. Few days later he calls from Phuket, this time I stopped what I was doing. When he hung up the phone I thought this could be a nice idea, worth checking out. This was around 2PM and within one hour I found my next flight ,leaving early in the AM the morning after. Just as booking this trip without any idea where I’m heading, I decided not to book a hotel, go extremely light with one bag, and have a random experience.
I set few rules to myself as I was leaving:
1. No reading
2. Limited internet (email emergencies, Facebook picture uploads excluding reading other people’s updates)
3. No news
4. No business
I stuck with most of these rules but meeting other friends there, I did talk a little about business, but not too much.
The flight was long, but a couple of good movies and lots of classical music, and it was perfectly fine. I landed in Phuket some 30 hours after leaving Florida. My friend there met me at the airport, already booked a room at a local hotel, and off we were. We arrive to the hotel, it isn’t a five star hotel (nor did I want one) but it is nice and clean, and has everything I would need. It’s 1AM, I drop the bags, and we had to a local bar for drinks. Girls everywhere, smiles everywhere, music everywhere, and even some lady boys around. Welcome to Phuket, Thailand.
The rest I will tell in the pictures below (more pix on FB), as I can probably fill a book if I continue writing. The short version is I had a great time, I went solo after a couple of days. That day I woke up in the morning, didn’t know what to do, took my scooter and drove NORTH. I found myself within those random drives. I ate healthy for the whole trip, I exercised, I learned to spend hours on the beach without a plan, and I made many new friends. New year in Patong was absolutely amazing. Yes, I will be back, soon.
