Sayonara Japan, Sawatdee krap Thailand!

As I leave Japan I’m thankful for everyone, friends and strangers who made for a fantastic month. The friendliness, politeness, and efficiency of the Japanese people is incredible. As I fly the 6 hours to Bangkok on a cramped 747, I’m already missing some of the things that I started to take for granted in Japan – clean drinking water, heated toilet seats, trains and busses that run on time to the second, English signs, zero theft, 200mph trains, and of course sushi and  sake! With that said, it is time to move onto some more ‘challenging’ environs. I’m looking forward to Thailand – its been about 10 months since I was last there with my MBA cohort and then Marc. I will also be transitioning from solo travel to traveling with a partner. Autumn and I rendezvoused at the Tokyo airport for a brief 45 minutes before jumping on separate planes to Bangkok. We have no idea where and what we’ll be doing – some vague plan exists that includes Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. We are looking into volunteer opportunities in various places and will be generally following a spontaneous itinerary. Its going to be fun to travel with someone, (especially her!) as much of my journey has been and will be solitary. Hopefully she can put up with my antics for a month!

My next update will be from Thailand – not sure I can keep up this blogging pace, but I do appreciate everyone’s comments and feedback! Home is often in my back pocket and that is a very comforting feeling.