BKK Turkey Day

For most Americans and myself, Turkey Day is normally made up of family, friends, food, football, napping, a game where we end up ticked off at each other, and then more food. That’s great and I missed my family and friends back home terribly this Thanksgiving, but when life hands you raw fish you make sushi!

Sunrise Dive or a Knock at Death's Door?

Sai Ree beach in Koh Tao during Monsoon Season.

Once my friend Michele finished her PADI dive certification in Koh Tao, we decided to do a “Sunrise” dive together. We had to meet at Big Blue for 5:30 am and leave the beach with our gear by 6 am. I dragged myself out of bed after 3 hours of sleep and strolled down the beach in the dark. Even though it was still dim outside, you could tell the weather was going to act up. Monsoon season was in full throttle at this point.

Koh Tao - Diving Heaven on My Face

Gorgeous beach sunset on Koh Tao.

When I was a little girl and adults asked me, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” my reply without hesitation was “A mermaid.”  I actually remember saying this and to be perfectly honest, it’s still true.  I love water in every form the lake, ocean, river, bathtub (my friends can attest to the last one).

Koh Phangan - Mai Pen Rai “No Worries”

Beach at Mai Pen Rai on Koh Phangan

Koh Phangan is a fairly large island, so since we’d been limited to only a small section of it during the Full Moon Party, about 8 of us moved to the central east coast of the island to investigate what else the amazing isle has to offer.  Than Sadet was desolate and difficult to travel to, we had several near death experiences in the back of Pong’s truck on the trek out there.  No cell phone or Internet service, ATM’s, or minimarts exist in the isolated region.

Good Gollie Miss Mollie – FULL MOON PARTY

Saddling up with buckets outside the party.

I believe the number one mandate of Full Moon Party is what happens at Full Moon stays at Full Moon.  Therefore instead of sharing my complete personal experience with my readers, I’ll give you a general idea of what shenanigans go on.

Full Moon Party is a once a month beach rave where backpackers and travelers from all over the world come to party their faces off on Haad Rin beach in Koh Phangan, Thailand under the moonlit sky.

Let's Talk a Little "Operation Koh Samui"

Leaving Nai Harn proved to be a pretty easy transition considering 14 of us were headed to the beautiful island of Koh Samui. Chem, our beloved tuk-tuk driver for the 3 weeks while we stayed in Phuket, happily offered for he and his brother to drive the herd four hours by minibus (so we thought) to Don Sak pier. Here we boarded a ferry headed to Samui. When Chem showed up at 7AM we had one minibus and Chem’s Thai sized SUV with a massive stereo system that took up the entire luggage area.

Kata Beach - Pretty Nice Little Saturday

One beach north of the lovely Nai Harn is Kata beach. Five of us took an afternoon to explore the area and the shopping in Kata, which is about a 12-minute drive from Nai Harn on a tuk-tuk. Overall the beachside town is the same as the rest; shop after shop that sell the same same (common Thai phrase used to indicate that something is the same when clearly it is different) Chang tank tops and Ray Bans in every color of the rainbow.

Korean BBQ - Fondue at its Finest

Have you ever been to a fondue restaurant in the states called the Melting Pot? Well for those who have not, it is a clever place where you and your table choose seafood, meat, and veggies and cook them right at your own table to suit your liking! To commemorate our TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) certification, the group went to eat at a Korean barbeque restaurant for a celebratory dinner.

Vegetarian Festival - A Bloody Good Time!

Mah song participating in this year's Festival

Vegetarianism is taken to the extreme in Phuket and Bangkok every late September to early October for about 10 days during the annual Vegetarian Festival. Large Chinese populations celebrate a holiday where they don’t eat meat and respect Buddhist beliefs of mind and body cleansing. Everyone who attends the event is supposed to wear white to show purity. Pregnant women and girls on their period are encouraged not to attend the festival because everything must remain untainted.

Teaching Practice Week with “Teacher A” in the House

After two weeks of repetitive classroom training with ATI, the TESOL trainees set out to various schools in Phuket for a week of teaching practice with real students and creating our own lesson plans.  The 38 of us broke into groups of 6 or 7 and gave one thirty-minute lesson everyday to different age groups with a different observer.  The first 3 days we went to a school about an hour from Nai Harn.

Family Matters – Dealing with Kinfolk Issues While Overseas

Brother, me, Sharmon, and Dad having dinner

It is the sad and ugly truth that uncontrollable things can and do happen to our friends and family while we are overseas.  I don’t want to sound morbid by any means but I have to be realistic when it comes to this situation.  My grandparents are in their 90’s and although they are still kicking it, living on their own, cooking, cleaning, watching Jeopardy and all that good stuff, the fact is that they are still 90+ years old.

Patong Beach – The Big Easy of Phuket

A short 35-minute drive in a tuk-tuk from Nai Harn beach is the Bourbon Street of Phuket called Patong Beach. Patong is known for its wild nightlife and non-stop party on the main drag called Soi Bangla. A large group of us made the trek to the beachside city for dinner and a night on the town. I’d say Patong has the largest variety of food I had seen in Thailand thus far.

Wai Not? The Dawg and the Monk

The first two days of my course in Thailand consisted of a tiny Thai woman nick-named Pat who forced me to sing children’s songs in Thai and practice bowing to the king.  It was actually really fun and Pat (Thai people go by their nickname so I will go by “Teacher Dawg” in class and it will be completely appropriate) made the sessions very enjoyable and useful.  To “wai” in Thai is a form of greeting like shaking someone’s hand or saying “Hello, nice to meet you.”  And if you think there’s only one way to wai, you’re wrong.

Leo Dicaprio’s Ko Phi Phi Island – Monkeys and much more on my face!

Ok I’m going to shoot it to you straight about Ko Phi Phi (pronounced pee-pee). Ko Phi Phi is an island about an hour (by speedboat) from Phuket and it’s one of the most beautiful places in the world. This statement is not just my opinion, it’s widely known by travelers who have seen the worlds’ most beautiful natural treasures. Have you ever seen The Beach with Leo Dicaprio? Yea, enough said.

Living the hard life at Nai Harn Beach, Phuket

When I stepped off the plane from Bangkok and arrived in Phuket, Thailand, I was still a little skeptical about the American TESOL Institute (ATI).  These are the administrators of the course I am taking to become certified to teach English to speakers of other languages.  Before I left, I had zero information on where I would teach, what age, or basically anything else about the course.  I also found a few scary things online that lead me to believe I may be stepping into a huge scam or maybe even a ring of sex traders.

The Tuk-Tuk Tourist Trap

My good friend Michele whom I met while in Budapest met me in Bangkok late on Friday night.  Since our biological clocks are still a little off, we woke up at about 6:30 am ready to start our Saturday.  We planned on heading out to the Grande Palace first, a must see when in Bangkok.  After an hour drive into the city with all the congestion and traffic we were ready for a free tour in English around 10 am.  As soon as the taxis unloaded us, we went to purchase our tickets in order to enter the Palace.  A nice (so we thought) Thai man approached us and asked where we are from, what we were doing in Thailand and spoke enough English to keep us intrigued for a few moments.  Our new friend then explained to us that the Palace is only open to Thai nationals on Saturday mornings until noon.

Bye Bye USA, Hello Ambien

New Orleans airport

I’ve been waiting for this day, September 14th for a long time. It came up fast, but it’s been a loooong day. I’ve been hanging out with my family and friends and eating non-stop for the past week before I leave. A few months back when I booked my flight I reserved a direct flight from New Orleans to Los Angeles, then Guangzhou, China, then Bangkok. I suppose the airline didn’t sell enough seats on the first flight so I was re-routed from NOLA to Detroit, then LA with a lovely 6-hour layover. Yikes. It went by pretty quickly probably because

The pack job from HELL

A few months ago I wrote an article for Examiner.com on packing tips: http://www.examiner.com/european-travel-in-baton-rouge/basic-packing-tips-for-your-upcoming-trip Well have you ever heard of the saying “those who can’t do teach”? That same line applies here. Those fun little tips that I wrote hopefully helped some people prepare for a big trip abroad but not me! I loathe

Welcome to Travel on My Face!!

Hey y'all! Thanks for visiting Travel on My Face! I am leaving for Thailand in approximately one week. I am getting down to the nitty gritty of packing and finalizing plans. I'm going to document my travels through stories, photos, and video on this blog so you can get in on a little piece of the action from your own computer. I hope to gain experience and inspiration that guides me into a project for a future career or perhaps leads me one-step closer to my own show on the Travel Channel (a girl can dream)! If you're feeling extra giving today, please "Like my face" on Facebook and "Follow my face" on Twitter! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy traveling on my face!