For Christmas this year my family decided that we would celebrate by being together and having new experiences, rather than exchanging gifts. It was a very different holiday for us but I think we all had a great time! We stayed at the Pueblo Bonito at Sunset Beach, which was an all inclusive resort. It was great to eat our fill of seafood, tacos and margaritas! 

Christmas Eve and Christmas night we dressed up and enjoyed both a sushi dinner and the more upscale restaurant. 

 

 

Christmas morning was very different in Mexico! First of all, 70 degrees and sunny was quite the environment to feel jolly!

Christmas breakfast was also quite impressive!

 For mom's birthday the day after Christmas we celebrated by taking a boat ride to The Arch and to whale watch. 

 Overall it was a great trip, even though it was a non-traditional Christmas. I think this is a tradition I could get used to though!

Phuket was such an enchanting place. During my time in Thailand, visiting this location had to be the best thing I experienced. 

The Buddha Cave Temple, or Monkey Temple,  was quite an interesting place. There are monkeys everywhere that you can feed and interact with. Walking past the monkeys there is a cave that houses a large reclining Buddha statue (although nothing compared to Wat Pho in Bangkok!) and a monk that will bless you. 

The next stop was the infamous James Bond Island, where The Man With The Golden Gun was filmed. It was interesting to see, but much too crowded for my taste. 

Next up was lunch at a Muslim fishing village that was floating seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

Later that night on Kamala beach, a bunch of us talked a man on the beach into selling us paper lanterns for 50 baht each. It was so magical to light the lanterns, make a wish, and watch that wish float away over a moonlit ocean. 

The weather was pretty hot and humid, as can be expected in tropical environments. That also comes along with occasional rain storms although I completely lucked out and missed all the rain!

I stayed at the Novotel at Kamala beach and it was really a wonderful hotel. Right on the water and walking distance to various restaurants and bars, it was the best experience.

Kho Phi Phi Island was just as gorgeous as I have seen in photos. While the water wasn't super clear for snorkeling, the vibrant turquoise color and refreshing temperature made it a great place to relax.  

On to clearer waters, the snorkeling was amazing! So many fish and different things to look at under the sea.

The last day in Phuket was truly my favorite. After enjoying a leisurely breakfast by the pool and overlooking the beach, I walked down and had an incredible Thai massage. What made it even better is that it was around $8 for an hour of bliss. After that I indulged in a $5 lunch of pineapple fried rice with prawns. 

In Phuket I experienced a level of zen I didn't think was possible. All the fears of solo travel drifted away with the tide and I felt truly at peace. It was a feeling I knew wouldn't last forever, but one I will never forget. Thailand holds a piece of my heart forever and always.

“May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears” 

Nelson Mandela 

People asked me why. People asked me how. People gave me high fives or expressions of concern. The truth is, I didn't need a reason or an explanation: I wanted to go to Thailand, and I was going. 

Some of the benefits of traveling solo:

~ No compromises in what I wanted to do or when I wanted to do it. 

~My budget was the only one that mattered and I didn't have to adjust for anyone else. 

~An empowering adventure and test of independence. Some people say you "find yourself" but I am already pretty well acquainted, so it was more of a test of what I am capable of. 

Of course this decision didn't come without fears and reservations. I made a list of things that could "realistically" go wrong that were preventing me from traveling solo, and I came up with ways to mitigate that risk. Many of the concerns are real no matter who you travel with, but when you are responsible for yourself they become a lot bigger. 

1. What if I get lost? How can I avoid getting scammed?

I signed up for a lot of guided tours before taking off. This allowed me to search Trip Advisor reviews to feel comfortable. Of course I paid more than if I opted for some of the local tours, but this sense of security was worth it to me. I liked having an English speaking guide that could tell me places to visit and places to avoid. He described things like how taxi drives will try to charge you a flat rate (200 baht) rather than turn on the meter (53 baht) and where to see the best lady boy shows. 

2. What if I miss my flight? 

I looked up terminals before hand so I had a general idea, but going through the lines in security in between international flights still had me rushing through the airport. Luckily, travel insurance had me covered if I missed a flight!

3. What if I lose my luggage?

Lucky for me, Thailand is HOT and HUMID so the clothes I needed were fairly small. I took everything I needed in a carry on bag because I was so worried about losing my clothes and essentials. I had an outfit in my personal item bag just in case I had to check it, but I made it through. As a backup plan, my travel insurance covered lost luggage. 

4. What if I get lonely?

This was never a problem on my first solo trip. I joined guided tours and left with several new Facebook friends. Traveling alone forces you to interact with people and it really wasn't hard. If you aren't outgoing, the most common things you can bring up are: Where are you from? What has been your favorite part of the trip so far? What are you looking forward to the most? Where else have you traveled to?

5. What about unwanted attention?

I personally feel that limiting your nightlife as a solo female traveler is a good idea, or at least your alcohol intake. I met lots of people on Thailand tours I felt comfortable with so I ended up going out a bit, but you need to be extremely cautious. Plus, who wants to be hungover when you are in such an exotic place? I didn't travel 30 hours to stay in the dark with a headache! I also didn't wear anything terribly scandalous that would draw attention to myself and it is a good idea to respect local dress codes. In Thailand there were many temples that did not allow females to show their shoulders or legs, so you need to be respectful. 

6. What if I get robbed?

This was my biggest concern with traveling solo. I wanted to take my DSLR camera and laptop, but was worried about losing them. This was my biggest reason for getting travel insurance so that it would replace my gear in case the worst happened. I also bought a few TSA travel locks, read Trip Advisor reviews to confirm security of hotels, ensured they had safes in the rooms, and brought cross-body bags that would allow me to keep my camera tucked away so I didn't flash my expensive gear. Pick pockets are the biggest gamble in Thailand so I was sure to split my cash up so it wasn't all in one place and kept my bag in front of my body at all times. 

7. What if I get sick?

The last thing I wanted was to be sick and all alone in a strange country. I made sure my travel insurance covered me for this situation, but prevention is the best plan. I took lots of vitamins, focused on a good diet before the trip and got all required vaccinations. I opted out of malaria pills but was sure to bring lots of bug spray to prevent the mosquitos. The best thing I packed was Pepto though, because I was victim to food poisoning. I was overly cautious and only drank bottled water, avoided fruits/veggies with the skin on and didn't eat raw foods, but on the third day I was feeling horrible. Half my group was also sick and we all went to different places, so it is just one of those things that happens. Best to prepare for it!

8. My family is so worried!

I typed up my full itinerary with addresses, phone numbers, confirmation numbers, flight numbers, travel insurance information, and copies of my passport just in case. This helped ease the fears of my family! FaceTime was also a blessing for worried family. 

9. What if I run out of money?

I did a lot of research and got a real idea of how much things cost such as food, taxis, tips etc. You can take out the local currency from your bank, or you can usually get better exchange rates at the airport or hotel. Relying on credit cards and the ATMs are really the best way to go when traveling abroad. Just remember to split up your cash just in case something happens, you don't lose it all. 

10. I love being in pictures... How am I going to get good ones?

Hello GoPro! Seriously the best invention ever. You can set it to take pictures every 5 seconds or so while it is filming, or you can take screenshots from the video footage you take. The wide angle lens makes it perfect for selfies. I always worry about asking someone else to take my photo because I am worried a) they won't know how to use my DSLR camera and the photos will be blurry or b) they will run away with my camera. Luckily there were other people on my tours that had DSLRs and knew how to use them. 

Selfies with the GoPro:

Photos taken by my tour guide:

I mentioned Part I of my Tours with Tong experience with the Tiger Temple, but part II was also pretty epic. 

The elephant splashes you with water - which felt amazing because it was so hot!

She really loved being in the water and was so gentle in posing for photos with me!

I think she wants to be a super model

Seriously amazing!

I was struggling with food poisoning from earlier in the week so I opted not to ride her back to the camp, but I was able to feed her lots of bananas instead!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I was concerned with making responsible travel choices. I initially attempted to volunteer with an elephant sanctuary but the 3 I looked into were about 8 hours away and the reservation process was not something I was comfortable with. I cancelled other tours that included elephants performing tricks and rides with the benches on the backs. After hearing reports from people that did take those tours, it was the exact thing I was concerned about. Babies were in distress and separated from others. I was disappointed at this spot to see that the elephants were chained while they ate, but was told they had free reign at the end of the day and I felt like the tourist aspect was a lot more natural than other options. So ultimately, not as I would have hoped but still not  as bad as it could have been. The moral of the story is to research the best you can and make informed decisions. The experience did give me a greater appreciation for these intelligent and magnificent creatures. 

I signed up with Tours With Tong for the VIP Tiger Temple and Elephant Swim, and I have never made a better decision! This post is a break down of Part 1 of the day at the Tiger Temple. 

The day started at 4:30am when the tour guide, Kung, and the driver picked me up in my Bangkok hotel. We went to the Bridge over the River Kwai and watched the sunrise. 

Next was to provide donations to the monks. Buddhist monks do not go to the grocery store or cook for themselves, so they rely on donations for food.  The Tiger Temple started in 1994 when someone turned in a tiger cub orphaned by poachers. Once the surrounding villagers heard about this, they started bringing more orphans for the monks to care for. Now they are pretty much raised at the temple, cared for by monks, volunteers and staff. 

 

 Next up I got to bottle feed a 4 month old tiger cub. I'll let that sink in for a minute....

The tigers are so focused on the bottle they don't pay attention to much else! 

Next we walked the tigers back to their enclosure; this guy was about 11 months old but still intimidating!

The tiger was focused on some deer running past (yes I was terrified) and this monk was walking by. He was kind enough to pose for a photo with me. Typically you remove your shoes so you do not risk being higher than the monks, but in this case they asked me to squat down.

Next up was tiger bath time! 

With 148 tigers at the temple, they go through about 400 cooked chickens per day. I was lucky enough to feed the tigers one. I was surprised how gently they took it!

If you want to talk about memories of a lifetime, this would be it! They put you in the tiger enclosure with no cages or chains. You play with the tigers like you would a house cat, dangling toys in front of them. It was amazing to see the power of these animals.

From there we walked the adult tiger to the big cat enclosure. I was truly in awe of how big he was. 

Just a little snooze....

For the last stop, they put the tourists in a cage and let the tigers play in the water. They loved jumping in the water and wrestling each other!

In my effort to travel ethically, I did a LOT of research on this attraction. I found it to be a lot better than the Tiger Kingdom in Phuket, which seemed to be much more commercialized. I read lots of reviews saying that the tigers here were drugged, but in my honest opinion, they were NOT. First of all, tigers are nocturnal, so they like to sleep a lot during the day. I also saw no mistreatment from the staff and the most corrective actions I saw were merely redirecting the tiger's attention when they started to focus too much on the tourists. You need to remember these tigers were raised in this temple with people, so they are much more used to the interaction. They still got kind of riled up at times, but there were lots of rules to keep tourists safe. For example, how to approach them, when you could have more contact, how to handle them, what you can wear, etc. 

If you are interested in going to this temple, I highly recommend Tours with Tong for your guide. Kung knew the best places to stand for photos and to get the best mannered tigers, she held my purse so tigers wouldn't want to play with it, took 700 photos of me, and brought me ice cold water. Traveling in late November and being a native of the desert, I still got seriously dehydrated, so be prepared for the heat.