Okay so first ‘big trip’ on my own, abroad, was Thailand. Hell of a trip.

It was the first time I’d flew long haul alone so the flight experience itself was something new, stopping in Qatar for my lay over. I just remember sleeping and drinking loads of gin…

Getting off the plane, I had my money and passport ready. Although, as I went to buy a Thai SIM card for my iPhone, I found out that the post office had in fact given me Swedish Krona instead of Thai Baht… so I had to exchange my cash again before I could buy the sim. After that, I remember sitting for about 20/25 minutes watching the world go by, getting my head around the fact I just landed in a strange place, all alone.

Only as I was boarding the plane in Manchester, did I think to check where I was meeting my tour guide. Good job I sent a quick email only to to find out when I landed in Bangkok I was looking for… the Bangkok hotel. Great.

1 sky train later after accidentally using a 500 baht note to pay for a 40 baht ticket that didn’t offer change, 1 taxi and a walk, I was in the Bangkok hotel.

So by now I have met the tour guide for the first few weeks of my journey, and paled up three random lads from Birmingham called Tom, Dick & Harry, jokes. Us four were trouble together and after a night of antics in the Bangkok streets watching United vs Liverpool, and a couple nights of Khaosan road.
We headed up to Chang Mai. This is where we started our journey out into the country, into the hills. And we trekked for three days out in the sticks and jungles of Thailand. I’d love to tell you more about where we actually were but I still to this day do not know exactly.
We got dropped off, trekked through the jungles, slept over night in two local villages, then floated back to the drop off point on bamboo rafts we helped the local build for us.
Whilst staying at the villages, we played football with locals who ran circles round us, bare foot on hard sand and dirt. Young boys and old men, athletes compared to us.
We helped cook traditional Thai dishes, and were offered a feast by residents. Went for ‘showers’ in the streams and river, and smoked tobacco out of banana leaf. At night we chilled out by the fire, and slept in bug nets in tall wooden huts. Amazing experience, never felt more in the open.