I visited Thailand in 2006, while celebrating my 50th birthday. It was a solo trip to Hong Kong, China, and Thailand. Before booking my return here, I was planning on staying in Guam for a month or so. Once I got there, I decided to keep moving. So, Guam became a vacation destination and I quickly made my way to Bangkok.

For this trip, I picked the Silom Sathorn district of Bangkok. The area is home to bank headquarters, financial institutions, and office buildings. There’s a nearby park, great hotels, modest-sized malls, really good restaurants, and tons of street food vendors. There’s also the famous nightlife scene of Patpong. The area is a good mix of locals and tourists. For example, I couldn’t order a coffee at the nearby 7-Eleven and that’s a good thing. The area doesn’t just cater to English speaking tourists.

While in the store, I was able to purchase water and a toasted sandwich. They were both the items that I really wanted. After seeing YouTube clips of tourists raving about the sandwiches (and the joy of 7-Eleven), shopping there was my second food stop. I first purchased fruit and a salad, from street food vendors, on my way to the store. The young workers at 7-Eleven were overjoyed with my attempts to order the coffee. I could have done the whole Google translate thing, but it was funnier this way. Plus, I really didn’t need the coffee.

I then made my way back to my hotel and sat in the lobby area and had breakfast. I don’t need to be a super tourist and cram in all the attractions. I did most of that in 2006. Today, I have a stamp in my passport stating that I’m good here for 45 days. That 45 can be extended or I can simply hop over to another country and just come back. Slow travel is really a thing. Plus, I’m still in Returned Peace Corps Volunteer mode. I keep treating Bangkok like my Hub Town, rather than a tourist destination.

So far, so good. Guam was very relaxing. My flight to Thailand via The Philippines was crazy. My luggage was searched five times. Passengers transferring to another flight had their passports taken. Then, after sitting at the Transfer Desk for thirty minutes, our luggage was scanned. My bag was rechecked. We were then taken to a departure gate. Once there, we were given back our passports, led downtown stairs, put on a shuttle bus, and taken to another terminal. At the new terminal, our luggage was searched again. My bag was then searched four times.

I’ll post later about the flight. The good news is that I’m here! I told you there would be a new adventure. Thanks for following! XOXO—GGT