Koh Tao- Everybody Comes Back

I find myself sitting in a hammock on the beach. It's night and the waves aren't more than two inches tall. Glass flat water with the sound of fun chill out music in the background. 

I've been back on Koh Tao for two weeks now. Saw a sea turtle my first dive back, the island "welcomed me back", but not as awesomely as my friends did. It was my birthday the day after I got back and everybody came out and it was a blast- I've never preferred loud places so we went to the one Mini-Golf course on the island. Had a few drinks, played some golf, and shared a lot of laughs. Getting back into my rhythm has been such a joy. I've got a little bungalow about 10 yards from the beach. My morning "commute" to work is 2 minutes from my door to the shop door by motorbike.

Every day starts out the same way. Up by 8, Planet Scuba by 845ish, then either diving, pool with students, or office work.

Days finish at 6, Safety Stop Pub for a beer or maybe one of my other favorites, then chill out with friends and get ready for the next awesome day.

I've settled in brilliantly. I'm teaching again, I didn't realize at all how much I had missed it until I got back. I'm hoping to be getting back into my blog pretty steady- for the time being most likely writing about classes or dives or people. 

Thanks for reading! Stories to come soon!

Two Months in Thailand

Howdy!

It has been a very interesting two months, from drinking homemade Thai whiskey in a hill tribe in northern Thailand to getting "narc-ed" while scuba diving to 40m (130f). From teaching kids how to hike in Chiang Mai to being taught how to tie up a boat in Koh Tao in such a way that a Thai captain approves. My first two months in Thailand have been nothing short of incredible. 

I find myself on Koh Tao, an 8 mile squared island off of Thailand in the south. I'm scuba diving every day and am now a Dive Master. I never thought when I started diving in 2004 that I would ever get to this point. There is no way I could have achieved this goal without the help of the amazing people at Planet Scuba. These people have proved themselves to be the type of people that I have always dreamed to surround myself with.

One of the amazing things about divers is their diversity and acceptance. When diving it doesn't matter where you're from, how much money you have, if you're atheist, agnostic, Christian, or anything else, your political beliefs don't mean a thing. For one dive, however long it may be, people are brought together for the pure joy that is scuba diving.

 

These are the people that I'm glad to be among. Most of us came a long way to make this small island home.

Here on Koh Tao people might not have Budweiser, Yiengling, Session, or Coors. They might not watch American football. I might not have had decent fried chicken in months or have seen anything that resembles guacamole.... But somehow this small island has become home.

I have a simple routeen. 

Wake up- dive- eat water mellon- dive- clean gear- tidy up- drink a couple beers, go home- sleep- start over.

And nothing could make me happier.

I know this isn't my longest post but I will try and write a few more soon. Feel free to email me anytime guys! Always good to hear from people back home or elsewhere-- SteveGoesAbroad@gmail.com

Take Care Y'all 

P.S: for those who worry the coup has not effected me in the least. Koh Tao is okay and people are still traveling freely.

Finally Back On The Road!!

I've done it! I have finally left Brisbane, Australia. I am very sad leave Brisbane. It had become home for me. But, the life of a traveller means getting comfortable in a place, making great friends, getting itchy feet, and moving on.

I find myself happily eating green curry while drinking a beer in a hole in the wall restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand. Now that I've hit the road again, I can feel the stress leaving me. My last couple of months in Brisbane had become stressful for some reason. Being in new places, going for spontaneous adventures (aka getting lost), meeting new people, and having the complete freedom to do whatever the heck you want to do..... this is my comfort zone and I didn't realize how much I missed it.

Yesterday was an incredible "adventure"/lost day. I spent 8 hours just wondering around temples, eating street food, meeting friendly people, and getting my future told! (January 7th is supposed to be extremely lucky for me! ESPECIALLY if I paid the guy 5000Baht [150 $US]).......(I didn't pay)....

One thing I REALLY like about Bangkok is the back alley scene. Tourist stay away for the most part, it's not "in your face" with trying to get you to buy things and it's easy to move around. The back alley restaurants are the best. Yesterday I got lost... utterly and completely lost (with no awesome landmarks this isn't a hard thing to have happen) I found myself taking a "shortcut" because I thought I knew where I was. I followed a dingy windy alley that was without a doubt the most sketch thing I have done to date. Passing by chicken coops, seeing people kill said chickens, everything being dirty and dark, water running down the middle of the alley, buildings in all sorts of different stages of dilapidation... and that's when I saw it.

A low roof building with a McDonnalds umbrella above it's one outside table. A couple of people scattered about sitting on wood boxes eating noodles. The woman in the "kitchen" -- A half indoor and half outdoor assembly of mismatched work stations, one big wok, and raw meet chillin under ice a foot away from the cooked meat -- she looked like she was about 100 years old. But she moved with the quickness and precision of a woman no older than 90....

I saw a sign that clearly stated something in Thai that I dont understand with a "-30b". So all I knew was whatever she was selling was 30 Baht or $1 US. I was hungry, so I figure why not!? I handed her 30 Baht, she pointed at the beef or the chicken...  the chicken had LESS flies on it so I went with that. Five minutes later the woman came back with a bowl of something that involved noodles, chicken, vegetables, and a broth that killed. The bowl was about the size of my face, I barely finished it all. But it was AMAZING. Without a doubt the BEST meal I've ever paid $1 US Dollar for.

What am I trying to say? Yes, there is an inherent plethora of dangers that might befall you when you decide to travel by back alleys that look as sketch as some of the ones I'm going down. But, sometimes they pay off. I have no idea how I got there, no idea what the place is called or if it even has a name, but that place will be lodged in my memory for the rest of my life as the best food I ever got for $1 Dollar.

So, I landed in Bangkok two nights ago. With the help and great direction of my Canadian CoachSurfing host, David: I managed to find his place, plan my next day, and have a place to stay for two nights! Yesterday, in addition to adventures, I went around to about 25 different Travel Agency type places and finally found the cheapest one. In about two hours I should be getting in a taxi, to then get on a bus, to then get on a speed boat, to the get to an island call Koh Tao(one of Thailands most legit scuba diving locations) for a 3 day stay to do 4 dives and hang out in tropical paradise.... I'm a little stoked.

I have a couple of other blog post to write, namely a "Australia- A Review" and a "People are Awesome" (thank you to several people) but this will most likely be it for today! I'm going be headed back to the states for Christmas and I'm stoked about that. If you wanta see me or hang or anything let me know asap!

Emails while on the road are always GREAT!
SteveGoesAbroad@gmail.com

Thanks for reading!
Steve