Begin at the Beginning

Some of you may be wondering: how did that strange girl that writes too much get to where she is now? From rainy old London to a boat in Malaysia in the middle of a storm. In a nutshell, this is how it happened: My parents had sex around 24 years and five months ago.
TMI,sorry.

Well after working enough to save up a little bit of money (my thanks to Cote Brasserie and the Foxman!) I was wondering how far around the world you could get for the lowest amount of money. Skyscanner helped me with this - they had flights to Bangkok from London for 300GBP. Kate had given me a wonderful book for my birthday - pictures and a short description of every country in the world. I flipped to the page on Thailand: beautiful beaches, stunning lady boys and strange food. It sounded like a great place to start! I booked my ticket, singular, that night. I didn't really consider how much* time you need to get organised for a round the world trip - I figured one month was long enough for me to give my notice and have some jabs. Apart from missing one of the shots, I just about made it to the airport in time! 


In the local supermarket...

My adventures in Thailand were as much as to be expected - and more! I overdosed on temples pretty quickly, found that although there are some beautiful lady boys out there, there are also some pretty unfortunate ones too, started couchsurfing, met loads of cool people (more on all these adventures later) and before I knew it, my first month was gone! In this time I'd also got my open water and advanced PADI qualifications, attended the obligatory full-moon party and successfully navigated the Bangkok public transport system, on the way to the airport for my second month on the road - in Burma!

Burma was very special - this is where I was adopted for the first time, met some truly incredible and inspirational individuals, saw the temples at Bagan, went swimming in lake Inle, got into trouble with the immigration officials at Naypyidaw and went back in time, to a place where the locals didn't bother with modern inconveniences like tractors, or electricity. I also had the most fun I've probably ever had - before or after - during Thingyuan (Burmese New Year festival) which was pretty much a nation wide water fight. It was a short flight back to Thailand, but such an extreme difference in the development of the two neighboring countries. 



Teaching colours, using Twister

Back to Thailand, then, for some air conditioned 7/11 treats. I took the train up north, and spent some time hanging out in Chiang Mai, before taking the bus to Chiang Rai, and settling here for the next 10 months or so as I found a school that was willing to let me teach their students (I'm still not sure why they let me). I had a fantastic time here, learning a lot more about Thai culture than you could ever find in a book, making friends, adopting families and hopefully teaching somebody something. 

I had some holidays in this time - a month I spent in Lao, making new friends, and meeting some old, whilst kayaking, rock climbing, visiting waterfalls, sustaining the worst injury of this trip so far (broken finger - thanks to the excellent Nurse Lauren, it's only slightly wonky now), tubing, doing some cultural stuff, like going to Phonsavan and seeing the plain of Jars, plus the caves at Vieng Xai. I was lucky to be in Vientiane, applying for my Thai visa, whilst the beautiful Lao Loi Krathong festival was in full force. I made my way back to Thailand (in time to see the festival all over again) and back to school. 

Riding a water buffalo, of course.

"Gravity works like this..."

I started to make plans for moving on - a fellow traveller had told me about findacrew.net, and I eagerly set up a profile, although I didn't have much of an expectation - I thought it would be another of those things I am endlessly signing up for, only to unsubscribe six months later when you realise your inbox is full of junk emails you've stopped opening. Happily, I couldn't have been more wrong if I'd tried. I got in touch with Captain Brian, of Furthur - we met up at New years in Phuket, and I delayed my return to school so I could join the trip to the Similan Islands for diving - something I am very glad I did. I met some other crew whilst here - Julie and Anya, my first companions on the boat.

Beautiful beach at Koh Raja

That beautiful holiday ended all too soon - back up north for another few months of 'teaching'. When school had finished for good, I made the 24hour bus journey - 1000 miles! - back down to Phuket, where the boat was waiting in Royal Phuket Marina, ready to cruise again. New crew this time, but the journey was just as fantastic, as well as some more incredible diving around Koh Ha, Racha Yai/Noi, Hin Deang and Hin Mueng and on, towards Malaysia. 

The rest of the last eight months have flown by - we've done some amazing things, met awesome people - not to mention the diving! - and cruised down the length of Malaysia, past Singapore all the way to Flores in Indonesia, before changing direction to head up around the coast of Borneo. 

"Room for one more?"

Boat travel suits me very well - I'm a lazy backpacker, and being able to sleep in one bed, yet have a different view nearly every day is incredible. It's a fantastic way to get around, especially all these archipelagos that are made of thousands of islands. I can't wait to get to the Philippines and see another new country, both above and below the water. Making a profile on find a crew has been one of the smartest things I've done on this trip so far. Maybe the best part is that long bus rides are now optional!


Now you know where I am, and how I got here. I aim to write about everything that I've previously done on this trip, as well as all the exciting new things.

*There's so much else you have to do! 
- Vaccinations (I got rabies, Hep A and B, yellow fever, a tetanus booster and unfortunately, a completely pointless and expensive Japanese B encephalitis shot. I also picked up lots of anti-malarials).
- Start a travel blog (Ha! Who has time for that before you leave?) 
- Go shopping. Seriously, I barely had any of the necessary stuff: a good first aid kit, walking boots, a big backpack, a raincoat, travel proof clothes - e.g. quick drying, wrinkle proof lightweight clothing. If you can find something that looks good and also has UV protection built in, you get extra points! Also a travel towel - mine is an attractive shade of puke green, but was a bargain. Most important on your list: a sleeping bag liner - if made of tightly woven silk these things stop bed bugs from biting you, and anyone that's ever been bitten will tell you what a horrific experience that is.
- Some things I took that I've barely used - a sleeping bag, waterproof matches (actually I used those up really quickly lighting mosquito coils), and the new raincoat.
- Organising travel documents - visas etc, making sure your passport has enough pages/years left on it. It's a good idea to scan and save an electronic copy of all these things in case you find yourself in a situation without your passport. 
- Changing money - there are some bank accounts you can set up from home that allow you to exchange your money before you leave so you won't be charged with a terrible rate every time you hit up an ATM when you're on the road. This is probably most useful if you're going to the US, Australia or New Zealand (I didn't find them in any other currencies). Otherwise it's a good idea to travel with some back up cash, in case you get stranded/have an emergency/lose your bank card. 
- Saying goodbye. Organising one big party/event and hoping everyone can be there would have been a sensible way to do it, if you can spare some cash from your travel budget.
- Planning an itinerary. Although this is definitely optional, and I've never been very good at it, it's nice to know where you're heading from the airport at least. 

Good luck and safe travels!

Teaching in Thailand: Things to expect

One of the best experiences I've had on my travels so far has been teaching English in a primary school (4-12 year olds) near Chiang Rai, Thailand. Culturally, it was a fantastic opportunity for me to be immersed into Thai society, religion and way of life. There were barely any other 'farang' (westerners) in the town which meant I was kidnapped on an almost daily basis, with no idea of where I'd be going and with whom, as the plan tended to change as soon as the group found out they had a hostage. Desperate to show off their local traditions, attractions or food, or even just drink beer with an English person, everyone wanted to get to know me and make sure I had a good time.

Recently a few people have asked me about my school year, so I've compiled a list of some information you might not get from your school directly.



Things you need to be prepared for whilst teaching in Thailand:

Toilets:
Almost definitely NOT what you're used to at home, but as soon as you practice your squat, you'll do fine.

You might not have a lot of free time.
Teaching aside, Thais are incredibly social people and also don't seem to have the same ideas about personal space/free time/privacy as you might. For example, one of the teachers at my school spent Mon-Thurs nights alone in her house because her husband went away to work. She was forever trying to abduct me, her theory being that I must be lonely as I also 'sleep alone'. I have generally no problem sleeping in a room by myself. Apart from the time I found that giant spider...Anyway for the Thais it is probably something to do with their religious beliefs in spirits and ghosts - the idea of staying in a house by themselves is terrifying.


An awesome eating spot I was kidnapped to. Ok, so it wasn't such a hardship!

The kids are not the same as whatever you're used to at home. Because of course, Asian kids are so much cuter, but they're also better behaved. They even clean their own classrooms! Be prepared for when you suddenly start getting friend requests from your eight year old students on Facebook; before you have a heart attack you should realise that all of the other teachers in the school have already befriended them. But maybe you want to clean up your page first, or make a second one. (It's a great way for them to study English outside of the classroom if you write simple posts.)

It's possible the kids are better behaved because the threat of a slap on the back of their hand/head/shoulder is pretty real. This is an interesting point, because it divides people. I was pretty shocked in the beginning, when I saw (in my opinion) how freely the teachers gave out a quick smack. It's difficult to see if it's affected them at all negatively; they're definitely a lot nicer than the little monsters at home. The first time I had a student misbehave in my class, I was absolutely baffled by the rest of the class holding up their metal rulers. Obviously they fully expected me to grab one and give the naughty kid some disciplining. Hmm.

Your hours might not be obvious in the beginning. Even if somebody tells you which days and for how long you're supposed to be teaching, in my experience that was fairly flexible - nobody remembered to tell me about festival days, for example, so I would turn up on Monday morning with the lesson plans for the week only to find out there was a festival to prepare for, which meant normal lessons would be cancelled, so the kids could spend a whole day making a floating flower arrangement to set on fire and put in the river, or something. Also, even though I was only supposed to be teaching three days a week, if anything even vaguely school related fell outside those days I was fully expected to attend if I was in town. eg. sports days, parades, scouts camping overnight. Or even during school hours - like the countless times I was actually pulled out of class to go and have lunch with some government officials who would be inspecting the school. I was pretty much the marketing tool for the school: 'Hey look, we've got a girl farang. Send your kids here!'



Thai people take their competitions seriously!



The pay might seem terrible, but you have to realise that although you could get more working in McDonalds at home (probably, I've never asked what the rate is) to the Thais you are earning A LOT more than they are. I found out the minimum wage in my area was around 30Baht/day (with accomodation and food included). That's insane. Maybe they were illegal Lao immigrants, but still - I rarely manage to leave 7/11 without spending three times that in one visit! Most teaching positions will also offer your accomodation, food (at least school lunches) and some form of transport along with your salary. So in theory, all your living costs are taken care of.

You can earn extra with private tuition. If this appeals to you, you can take on individual students, or even small classes for an extra charge, outside of school hours. This is probably only going to work in an area where the parents have got some cash to spare, or you're big hearted enough to do it for nothing.

Don't speak Thai to your students. This is a hard one, because Thai is a difficult language to learn, so when you start to understand your students talking to you in the playground in Thai, you really want to show off your new skills. Bite your tongue!!! It's so much better for them if they are forced to use English to speak with you.

You need to learn how to drink beer and whiskey. Apparantly, Thailand has only got two alcoholic drinks: beer and whiskey. Beer is consumed with ice and whiskey can be mixed with water/soda water/coke/ice/any above combination.

All of this could be completely different for a school in a big city. The above is just my experiences, working in a small town an hour's drive from the nearest big city, way up in the north of Thailand. It could also be completely different in the next province/age group/government school etc.



Kru (teacher) Newii knitting during a lunch break. Teachers are called by their first names in Thailand.

Whoever and wherever you end up teaching, one thing is for sure - your Thai students will quickly win a place in your heart, and will be a very sweet memory you can cherish years after you leave.