Why I Chose to Visit Bangkok
I want to start by sharing the reason why I decided to book a trip to Bangkok and not to one of the famous, beautiful islands in Thailand.
After a ten-day trip to Pissouri Bay, Cyprus and staying at a family-friendly resort, I learned a valuable lesson. Actually, a blog reader commented on that post and brought my attention to something important.
Choosing to stay at a resort that’s mainly for couples and families is a bad idea if you’re single and over forty like me.
Basically, that trip made me tune into the shadow side of being single and to feel all of my negative emotions. It was really bad. The main reason was that all the restaurants and cafes in the surrounding area were closed for the winter season.
So there was really not much to do apart from going for beach walks and trying to stay sane. It was a very memorable trip – for all the wrong reasons.
By choosing Bangkok over islands like Phuket or Koh Samui, I was protecting myself from going through a similar experience as the one I had in Pissouri Bay, Cyprus. You can read that story here.
I also read things online about these islands and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to check them out. Because of many reasons.
That’s why I chose to visit Bangkok for my first every Thailand trip. I also stayed in Hua Hin for a week. Hua Hin is a coastal city and I stayed at a family-friendly resort. I didn’t feel the same misery that I felt in Pissouri Bay and the stay was OK. But it was a very boring city with not much to see or do.
I’ll share stories from both Bangkok and Hua Hin soon. For today, I mainly want to talk about how my Bangkok trip helped me uncover a another layer of my personality.
What Vibe does Bangkok Have?
Let’s start with the population. The current population of Bangkok in 2024 is 11,234,000.
I only looked up the population after I got back to Dubai and I was shocked! I wanted to understand why the city is so busy and why the cold that I got in my last week there wasn’t going away.
Bangkok is a big city with skyscrapers and luxury hotels. The air conditioning is blowing strong everywhere you go. When you order iced Thai milk tea or any other cold drink, they add tons of ice.
That’s why I got sick towards the end of my trip and it took me three weeks to recover. I still have nose and ear congestion, so I’m not even 100% back to normal. I even thought that I had Covid and I got tested in Dubai and thankfully, the result came back negative.
But that’s the price that I paid to uncover a major aspect of my personality and soul essence.
What my Bangkok Trip Revealed to me
Because of the high population in the city, the Skytrain and Metro get so packed during peak hours. It’s so bad that there’s literally not an inch of space between you and other next person. It’s very very bad.
You can take a car but the traffic is very bad too. So whatever transportation method you choose, it’s going to be a bad experience. Grab bike drivers there don’t have an extra helmet for the passenger.
They also drive very fast and carelessly. So you are truly risking your life by taking a motorbike taxi there. I did take Grab there many times, so I’m sharing from my personal experience.
Most Thai people don’t speak English, but that’s a topic for another day. I’ll share more about this when I write the travel blog posts from my Thailand trip.
If you don’t like long queues and waiting, then Bangkok isn’t for you either.
I have so many things to share about my 25 days in Thailand, so stay tuned for these stories and sign up for the blog.
Today’s post is a self-reflection story. I mainly wanted to share that although I knew that I didn’t like big cities, Bangkok confirmed that fact for me and I now know without an ounce of doubt that I’m not a big city person.
Apart from that big realization, I now can see myself as a real hippie and I notice more when people around me are glued to their phones, laptops, iPads and other devices.
But it’s not only about being glued to the devices (I’m guilty of doing that too). It’s much more than that.
It’s about the city person profile and lifestyle. It’s not a match to my personality and I find it very unattractive
This self-discovery Aha moment is so important for manifesting a relationship. Because I now know with strong conviction that my person is not a city type. He’s a hippie, just like me.
OK, a female participant at a photo walk that I joined in my last week in the city said that and it just clicked! I was sharing with her about my type of person and how I like creative types and not corporate men.
She replied with: “A hippie!” and it was like a light bulb moment and the highlight of my entire Bangkok trip!
So the next time you find yourself in a totally misaligned situation (or trip), look closer and deeper.
There could be a major self-discovery moment and realization hidden under all the negative and horrible experiences.
And I say this without diluting anything. Because I experienced rudeness and disrespect from some Thai people in public places.
As always, I share all of my experiences with total honesty and realness.
Stay tuned for future stories from my first ever Thailand trip. Which was not what I expected it to be at all but was a valuable milestone in my self-discovery journey!
Love,
Leela
