After nearly 24 hours of traveling from Honolulu, I finally made it to Bangkok!

ARRIVING IN THAILAND & THE FOOD COURTS!

Arriving at 5 AM was no easy feat. I stupidly forgot my neck pillow in Japan, so I had to awkwardly adjust in my aisle seat the whole flight. But yay—I landed! I was so excited to jump in, but with my brain foggy from lack of sleep, I had no idea where to start.

I spent basically an hour searching online for a place to eat before finally finding Magic Food Court. There were so many choices, but I went for Hainanese chicken and rice since it was one of the only non-spicy options. The broth was warm and comforting, and they had tubs of sweet chili sauce, Thai ginger chili sauce, dark soy sauce, and more for seasoning. My favorite part? The ginger chicken fat rice with Thai ginger sauce poured on top—SO GOOD.

After that, I grabbed a Thai coffee from a vendor. When I asked how to say thank you in Thai, he smiled and taught me:

khàawp-khun mâak

The coffee was sweet, fragrant, and exactly what I needed to wake up for a long day ahead.

FEELING OVERWHELMED & OVERSTIMULATED

After a successful solo trip to Portugal last year, I had super high expectations for this trip. Which is why I was surprised when, instead of feeling amazing, my body started shutting down.

I arrived at 8 AM, but check-in wasn’t until 2 PM, which made things worse. Sure, I was exhausted, but I also found myself overthinking every interaction. I felt like if I didn’t pursue a conversation, I was somehow missing out on an experience that hadn’t even happened yet. I had to remind myself that in Portugal, things took time—connections didn’t just happen in the first two hours.

I wandered through Khao San Road, which reminded me of New York—loud, chaotic, vendors calling out to me like their life depended on it. I had no real direction, just walking through the heat, tired. When it was finally time to check in, I showered and crashed in my capsule bed.

MEETING THE GIRLIES IN THE HOSTEL

After resting, I finally put myself out there and asked a girl in my room what her name was. Before I knew it, other girls were popping their heads out of their capsules, joining the conversation.

There were five girls from Germany, one from the UK, and one other girl. I was the only American.

I’ve noticed that in Europe, solo travel is so normalized. In the U.S., people are shocked when I say I’m traveling for three months, but in Europe, it feels like everyone does this after high school or college.

We made spontaneous plans to check out Chinatown’s street food scene.

CHINATOWN STREET FOOD

SO. MANY. OPTIONS.

It took forever to choose, but something told me to go for Pad Thai. The Dutch girl and I split a plate, and as a group, we all shared:

🍽️ Chive pancakes
🍽️ Mango sticky rice
🍽️ Spring rolls
🍽️ Freshly cracked coconut
🍽️ Beer

The sights and sounds of Chinatown were magical. Being with other girls doing the same thing as me felt so good. We laughed, joked, and bonded over food.

By the time we got back to the hostel, I passed out instantly.

Onto the next day!!!!!