I had grand plans for a day and a half in Bangkok, but what I got was jet-lagged sleep, incredible Thai food and an amazing foot massage for just $4. When I got in, I checked in with my family to let them know I was OK, wrote a bit on the blog, snacked a little and tried to wind down. Ended up going to bed at about 7:00am Thailand time, which was about 8:00pm eastern time. I was already up, so I ate breakfast near the pool in the hotel, which was included with my room at the Adelphi Grande.

Photo Gallery: Breakfast at Adelphi Grande

When I woke up around 2:00pm Thailand time, I checked out of my room and asked the staff to help me book my transfer from Bangkok. I needed to either fly or bus to Chumporn, then ferry to the island of Koh Tao to meet my Project Getaway group. The staff were very friendly and accommodating – they called the travel agency for me, drove me to the nearest ATM machine and secured a taxi to take me across town to the tourist/backpacker area of Khao San Road so I could buy the ticket. (For some reason, I was not able to book online or over the phone using my credit card.) Although I know I paid too much for the taxi (200 baht, about $7) because it would have been cheaper with the meter, I was OK with paying a bit more just for convenience and to avoid the haggling – we were only talking a few bucks here, so no big deal.

The taxi took me to Lomprayah, the travel agency recommended by the folks at Project Getaway. They had great prices and I bought a combo bus and ferry ticket for 1200 baht, about $40. The bus would take five-six hours, then a two hour boat ride to Koh Tao. I was to meet the bus at Lomprayah at 5:30am the next morning, which drastically shortened my time to explore Bangkok, but at least the mission at hand was accomplished. Then it was time for lunch! I wanted to experience the famous street food of Thailand, so I went straight for a plate of pad thai, prepared by one of the vendors lined up along Khao San Road. People literally just set up their cooking stations on the street and make all kinds of yummy Thai food to order – popular dishes include pad thai, grilled fish, spring rolls, chicken satay and ahem, fried insects. Kind of like the hot dog carts and food trucks we have in DC!

Photo Gallery: Street Food for Lunch on Khao San Road

After lunch, I wandered around the streets for a bit, taking in the sights.

I stopped at one of the many shops advertising foot massages for 120 baht for half an hour, about $4.

The woman who did my foot massage took me upstairs to an air-conditioned room to give me a much-needed break from the heat! The massage felt so good, I fell asleep toward the end. “Full hour?” she asked. Nah, I was ready for a nap! I wish I had gone for an hour full-body massage, but I knew I would get a chance for that once I got to Koh Tao. I was so sleepy but it was about 5:30pm at this point and I still had to find a room close to Lomprayah so I wouldn’t miss my bus in the morning. I decided on a room at the Viengtai Hotel right on Khao San Road for $40, about 10 doors down from the travel agency. I took a nap for a few hours after I checked in, then went out to find some dinner.

I had read so many great reviews of May Kaidee’s Vegetarian Restaurant, so I decided to go there since it was also right around the corner from my hotel.

Photo Gallery: Dinner at May Kaidee’s Vegetarian Restaurant in Bangkok

My entire dinner only cost 200 baht or about $7. I’d NEVER get a delicious Thai dinner this cheap in the U.S.! I got a tuk tuk to take me there, but it was a short walk back to Khao San Road. It felt safe to walk around there at night, with everything lit up, music playing outside the restaurants and tourists everywhere.

I had a rough time getting to sleep when I got back as my room faced the street, with the noise of people partying late into the night. I SO wanted to join them – but my body was NOT havin’ it! And anyway, I had to get up around 4:00am to get ready to go to Koh Tao to meet my Project Getaway Group!

I took this ferry and was in Koh Tao by 3:00pm the next day…and I received such a warm welcome. Will share more in my next post with some lovely pictures of our villa and the view of the island!

Read My Previous Travel Diaries from Thailand:

• Travel Diary: My 24-Hour Trip to Bangkok and Sushi in Japan

Note: This post continues my series to document my travels and inspire other women to plan their own adventures. Travel is a huge part of my ideal life and I know it’s a value that many HBW readers hold as well. Stay tuned for more diaries from my trip to Thailand!

I made it to Bangkok, Thailand! After a 24-hour trip plus a few flight delays, I’m finally getting settled into my room. I decided to spend a few days in Thailand’s capital city by myself before I meet up with my Project Getaway group in Koh Tao. First impressions on the way to the hotel: Thailand is HOT, y’all. It was about 1:30am when the hotel’s driver picked me up from the airport and it was 85 degrees outside. Even at that time of night, I felt the immediate whoosh of heat and humidity engulf me as soon as I stepped outside of the air-conditioned airport. I’m reminded now that it’s summer in Thailand during April, the hottest month of the year here. Tomorrow, it’s supposed to be 100 degrees!

It’s hard to believe that just a few days ago, I was still trying to figure out how to fit a month’s worth of clothes and toiletries, plus my big laptop into one backpack. I bought The North Face Overhaul 40 Daypack at REI and it had an extra compartment just for my HP with a 15 inch screen. Worked like a charm! Of course, it helps that I packed actual summer outfits, unlike my clothing snafu last year in Europe when I brought jeans and light sweaters to wear in the summertime. This time, I rolled up t-shirts, shorts, light pants and capris into my bag along with my underthings, bathing suit and a few pair of sandals. (I’ll do a separate post on everything I packed for my trip – I’ve got enough for at least 16 different outfits!) Anything else I need I can buy here. I’ve heard that clothing is super cheap in Thailand and there are a ton of shopping centers that cater to tourists.

Vegetarian struggles

On the 13-hour flight from DC to Tokyo, I forgot to specify that I needed a vegetarian option for my meals. I don’t think “pescatarian” was an option, which I would have chosen had I remembered, because I do eat fish. I was painfully reminded of this when the flight attendant came by asking, “beef or chicken?” Ugh. Lesson learned. I had eaten before boarding the plane and brought a few snacks from home, but nothing that would last me 13 hours. I ate the salad and bread, then went to sleep to avoid the hunger pangs. I was tired as hell, anyway. I wasn’t able to sleep the previous two nights out of excitement and worry – but mostly excitement!

A few hours later, I wake up and the flight attendant brings me a vegetable wrap from first class. She feels bad for this starving vegetarian back in coach. It’s such a nice gesture that I don’t want to tell her I really don’t like vegetable sandwiches. (Clearly, I’m way too picky to be relying on airplane food!) Maybe she sees it on my face though, because she also offers to bring me some fruit. Then, the woman sitting next to me pulls out a little gold box and presses it into my hand, saying it’s the best pineapple cake from her country, Taiwan. I take it gratefully and eat the cake (which is yummy, by the way) along with the fruit salad for as proper a meal as I’m gonna get.

On that long flight to Tokyo, I remembered that no matter where you go, there is always someone who will be willing to help you out!

Eating sushi in Japan

My vegetarian struggles have a silver lining though – next up is a fantastic sushi lunch during my layover in Tokyo. Eating sushi in Japan has long been on my bucket list, but little did I know I’d find some at Sushi Kyotatsu in the Narita Airport on my way to Bangkok!

I order a selection of nigiri at the counter and watch as the sushi chefs prepare each piece with care and precision. They look so serious about their sushi. Clearly, this is not a game! As I taste the first bite of unagi (eel), I think, so THIS is what real sushi tastes like! I also eat tuna, tomago (sweet egg omelet) and shrimp, finishing almost everything on the plate. I don’t get up quite enough nerve to try the salmon roe. Just thinking about little fish eggs popping in my mouth makes me gag, even though I’ve been eating sushi since I was a teenager living in Hawaii.

The second leg of the trip is seven hours from Tokyo to Bangkok. I feel like I’ve gotten at least 12 hours of sleep on the plane already, so I plan to catch up on my movie-watching instead. I watched three films in a row: Sliding Doors, Broken and Life of Pi. I love a good drama and all of these were excellent!

Now I’m getting settled in my room at the Adelphi Grande, which is pretty nice for what amounts to about $80 a night including free breakfast, wi-fi and late checkout. It’s really more like a little studio apartment, with a full kitchen and washer-dryer combo in here.

Time for me to take a bath and try to get some rest, even though it’s a 13 hour time difference. It’s so wild that it’s 4:30am here in Bangkok and 5:30pm on the east coast right now. My body is so confused LOL.

Good night!

Eating pizza in Naples is was on my bucket list. I didn’t really know anything else about the Italian city beside the fact that it was the birthplace of pizza. And seeing how pizza is one of my absolute favorite foods, I salivated thinking I might one day get the chance to taste The Real Thing.

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Like I said, I don’t even LIKE hiking. The most exercise I’ll do willingly is walk around the neighborhood for a bit every day so that I get some regular physical movement in my life. So when someone on the Tuscany tour suggested that I do the hiking one as well, I shook my head. “No, I don’t hike,” I said. Because I don’t. But last week, in Italy, I did. And it was pretty amazing.

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