Last day of my Trip

I got to Japan and it took me 20 minutes to exit the plane, go through immigration and customs, and ten get in the train.  It's almost as if Japan was waiting to welcome me home.  I had this wave of relief once the plane landed.  I felt that I could finally relax. I noticed on the plane that I had lost the bracelet that Pau from Cambodia had given me.  Although a little bummed, I felt that the bracelet was karma reminded me of its presence during my trip and now that I was ending it, it also ended its journey with me.

Even thoguh it was a month long and there were times during the trip where I literally thought would never end, now that I'm at the end, it all went by pretty quickly.  All those long nights waiting for a bus or boat, the crawling train that would be stopped more than actually moving, the nights where I couldn't sleep because I was being eaten alive by bugs.  They don't seem so bad anymore now that I'm back home.  

If there was anything I could have done different, probably not.  It was a great trip and those unbearable times all make for some pretty good stories.  Is there anything I will do differently next time I try something like this?  Yes, less long haul transport.  For a $10 train ticket, I could have dished out an extra $15 and gotten a flight.  

Also, I wouldn't take so much stuff.  I didn't have much with me as it was, but I only used 2 shirts and only 1 pair of pants (which only got washed twice, but is now comfortably resting in a trashcan in Bangkok airport).  There was absolutely no need for 5 pairs of socks.  I think 2 sets of clothes is enough.  You can wear one while the other spends a day drying in your room.  Unless you plan to do some intense hiking, you don't need shoes.  I used it once for the Mount Bromo hike in Indonesia, but there were plenty f people using flip-flops.  Take clothes that you don't mind throwing away beause that lightens your pack and makes room for gifts.  My shoes are in Indonesia, while half my other clothes are in Thailand.  

I'm more of a see as much as you can kind of person, so although most people will do a few weeks in a country where I only did a fee days, I don't think I would change that.  A couple of days in Ko Tao might have been nicer, but no complaints.

This trip definitely fine-tuned the patience that I learned in Japan.  Waiting 5 hours for a minibus to fill up, or 2 hours because the bus broke down ... I didn't expect much in terms of efficiency when I came out here, and I didn't get much.  

This is what I appreciate back in my comfortable life.  Flushing toilets that don't smell or are coming apart, being able to rinse your mouth with tap water. a comfortable AC room on a really hot day, mosquitos that are actually repelled by my repellant, my bed.  I still don't really have a bed that I feel very comfortable in, except back in Hacienda, but just knowing what kind if sleep I'm going to get is a nice luxury.  Seeing a price and paying no more than that and knowing that everyone pays the same price, that's something I missed.  Although haggling was fun at times, it's can be really draining.

Seeing the cultures differently from the frat to the last day was interesting.  The touts in Indonesia started off as really annoying and I ignored every one of them, but spending that night in the bus station watching them work really hard all night long to make just a few bucks, that put them in a new light.  They're just trying to get by like everyone else. 

I met some really interesting and nice people on this trip and I'm ending it with lots of good memories.  I wouldn't compeltely call myself a true backpacker yet (I still need to loosen up a bit), but I'm getting there.