Redheaded Travels

Alas, I must leave this paradise. Sitting on th beach today, mostly careful to sit in the sun though not enough, I burned my shins. With about half my body burned I’m still doing ok. I started and finished reading Paulo Coehlo’s The Witch of Portobello. My mother gave me the book back in February yet I grabbed a copy from my hotel to read. Exactly what I needed. Thanks Mom, Thanks Paulo. I get euphoric after reading his books. While he is not well liked in Brasil, according to one native, I like him. He speaks to me and helps me uncover or recognize a part of myself and that’s all I can ask from a book.

I do not know where my travels will take me in the far future but the near future looks good with family and friends. I realized these past few days that I’m ok on my own, and I’m not as scared as I was just a few weeks ago. Maybe it’s my recognition of God in everything. (‘Wait, did Ashley just say God’ you ask. Yes friends, God. Man, woman, it doesn’t matter nor does God really fit those descriptions. The mimicking of nature above or below the water has proven once again to me that God does in fact exist. I don’t want to believe it’s coincidence and as it is my life and my beliefs, I don’t have to. I see God as pure love and that can’t be harmful). That blue fish with the orange honeycomb pattern on its side just confirmed it.

Here I sit, listening to the thunder after watching a magnificent sunset and lighting in the distance I know this trip was well worth it. Life is well worth it.

- Manta Rays are the most majestic creatures I have ever seen
- I love seahorses
- I may never come back to the US
- Ok, when I do come back, I am definitely living near the ocean
- The traveling world has my people
- The sun is no less intense at 8 am than noon when you are 10 km from the equator
- I really do burn like no other
- I will get skin cancer
- I want to switch to the metric system
- I am seriously thinking about becoming a vegetarian again and I will continue to not eat seafood/anything that lives in a body of water
- I am OBSESSED with scuba diving
- I saw baby white tipped sharks but was more impressed by massive clams
- Nature mimics itself underwater as above as noted in a fish I saw with a honeycomb pattern
- I want to be barefoot all the time (this come from the girl who wore socks and sandals up til the 9th grade)

Please youtube the Eddie Izzard bit about awesome hot dogs to truly understand how I feel. I returned from the live aboard yesterday and did not want to come back to land. I love the ocean, I really do. It’s scary and interesting and massive and amazing. I am off to enjoy my last day in Thailand (for now) but really feel that when I return it will need to be for 3 weeks. Life moves so much slower and the beauty of this world is remarkable. I am so lost in this world that I drift off into daydreams every few moments or so. And now I must go, for I have drifted a few times while writing this and long to sit on the beach. Perhaps when I fly home I can bring some hot weather with me. If not, I’ll return to it in Hawaii.

Free internet and AC really lends itself to me posting.  Today I finished my dive certification.  I can now scuba dive anywhere in the world!  And I shall once I head to Africa/Mid East.  downside: it’s an expensive hobby. As I sat on the boat today, enjoying the weather and wondering if I could live in a beach town I thought “I should stay here longer.  Hell, why not just fly to Hawaii from here?!”  Yes Ashley, why not?  It’s only a few days and I’ll be passing over it anyway.  Yet the same thing stops me as before: Cash flow.  I realize as I started traveling the odd saying is true: Pack half of what you think you need and bring twice as much money.  I want to do more, see more, and thus spend more.  True, it’s good to spend my money in a country that truly needs it but there are several.  If only I could see them all.   For now, I will try to enjoy and remember all the positive reinforcement and the fact that I am a lucky, lucky girl.  So quit complaining and go frolic on the beach!

-Scuba diving without sufficient sunscreen creates an awkward and painful burn
-My brother’s passport in the hidden pocket of my backpack
-Canadians are really nice
-Little children will always transcend the language barrier
-I suck in hot weather (The Mid East in May/June is gonna be hard)
-I will always burn
-I feel totally underdressed yet wish I had packed less
-Life really does just work out

I’ve been in Thailand for 4 days now and things have just been falling into place. We find hotels easy, the Thais are more than willing to help us, especially finding this orphanage in Chiang Mai, which took 3 Thais to talk on the phone, 2 cab rides and a few scramblings around. Even when we got to Phuket I called this different hotel and didn’t realize ’til we showed up but the guy who drove us owns a dive shop and is finishing my certification and found Kurt and I and live aboard boat trip. And he was just doing our hotel a favor in picking us up at the airport.

The worst things to happen is that Heidi lost her ATM card (not good at all) but she canceled it and had backup card and I rolled my ankle this morning which was mostly fine 10 minutes later. This place really is magic. Well, aside from the sunburn, which is totally my fault. Apparently I can’t read/make up words cause I thought it said waterproof yet it was resistant. No, that doesn’t help, but nice try self.

Anyway, here I am, stealing free internet from the nice hotel/resort I have ever seen/been inside, enjoy air conditioning. This spur of the moment trip is quite nice….

First, some generalizations.  I thoroughly enjoyed the 12 hour flight to Tokyo.  Why?  The kids were amazing.  Adorable Japanese, Thai, Korean, etc children who are so curious and adorable and…barely…make…a…sound.  It was ridiculous.  I’ve never seen such well behaved kids.  I swear, it’s in their blood, in the womb.  A bunch of babies from the States?  Hell no, they’d be screaming like the rugrats they are.  (Kids of my friends excepted, especially Selah who was in my dream last night). 

Despite having an inner seat and a completely full flight I did quite well.  They kept feeding us (Thanks Northwest) and were very liberal with the water.  Much better than any domestc flight.  If only it could go back to the good ole days. 

As for Narita, the Tokyo airport, simply beautiful.  The design and architecture:  it was so soothing.  Tranquil areas to rest, layered couches with quiet children playing and flopping about. Even an origami museum where Heidi bought a delicious green tea cake. 

But perhaps the best part of the trip is when we sat down for some sake and Asahi beer.  We seated ourselves at low blue couches with a flatscreen playing a burning fire, a photo of downtown Tokyo on the wall behind me.  It made for some excellent pictures.  We consumed the sake and beer, though not fully and were slightly ashamed to leave some of it behind.  I mean, who can’t finish sake and beer?!  It wasn’t even a big beer, 12 oz at best.  Perhaps it was the odd red bean jelly cube Heidi also bought.  Yes, let’s blame it on the jelly, not the fact that it felt like 5 am for us and that we were dehydrated from flying.

Alas, I did not make any purchases in the airport, despite wanting the Japanese NYLON and the beautifully decorated book covers. It would put Chip Kidd to shame.  Ok, maybe that’s a bit ballsy but I’m going with it.  Plus they open the opposite direction and the characters alone account for so much beauty.  As did the people walking around.  I swear, I haven’t felt that shlumpy since going to the doctor after fainting.  Ahh, thus is the life of the functional backpacker.

It’s 2 am and I leave for Thailand in 36 hours.  36 hours.  Oh shit.  I’m nervous.  I was supposed to find a place to stay in Chiang Mai, and get in touch with this orphanage to shoot some promotional footage, which I’ll then have 5 days to edit, while getting ready to leave for another three weeks and trying to work.  Oh and I just decided to go to Coachella with Rachel.  ”Gee Ashley, your life is so hard.  Tropical destinations, music festivals.  If only we all had your problems…..you ASS!”  Yes, I know, it’s not a big deal, and actually it’s all supposed to work out, according to my horoscope anyway.  (it’s my second religion.  I do have an aquarius tat on my foot.  yes, an aquarius sign.  as much as I love the ocean they are not waves for that.  at least not in the primary sense). 

So here I sit, at my parent’s island (in their kitchen, not a real island), typing fast and deleting to correct my spelling mistakes, slightly shivering and not cleaning nor looking for my other travel stuff.  I pre-packed.  Pretty surprised.  Just a few other things to add and that’s my pack for 7 months.  Well, minus the souvenirs I’m gonna pick up.  But I’ll probably ship a lot of those home.  Can’t have too much weight on the bad back!  

Oh the bad back.  Been bothering me lately.  The lack of working out due to sickness has weakened it.  But the weight loss from sickness has lessened the load.  6 and one half dozen to the other, or whatever that phrase is.  Definitely should not have had that Diet Coke with grenadine.  Too much energy, especially since I basically quit drinking pop and other forms of caffeine.  (I did need some to balance the white wine flight).  My former boss will be happy.   Always touted how bad pop is while he smoked cigarettes.  Pick your poison, I say.  

 So here, I sit, listening to DownDownDown, a Bay area band I have the privilege to call friends/acquaintances, over and over as I do not have their album yet and won’t have for Thailand.  I can’t sleep, riled up and worrying about my complexion.  This winter/spring hump is wreaking havoc.  Hopefully the 90 degree weather will fix it.  And the possible thunderstorms in/around/near Phuket won’t mess up my scuba certification.  OH gosh.  I need to email them now.  Get that set up.  Possibly pay. Ok, I’m gonna do something productive now.  Like switch my laundry that I just remembered I was doing. 
damn.