Chiang Mai Travel
And so it begins…the start of a love for a country that I had nightmares about as a kid that originated from a foreign exchange student.
At the end of our trip to China, I had the opportunity to travel over to Chiang Mai, Thailand with Brandi and Teisha. We decided to use Pomelo Travel to book it all for us as we had no clue what to do or where to go. I'm pretty adventurous, but I'm not going to lie: Thailand scared me a bit, and I think it was from the foreign exchange student we had in our house when I was growing up.
When I was in high school, my family decided to house a foreign exchange student named, ‘Pocktee.' We were told he was kind and a hard worker. He was a junior in high school and weighed about 120 pounds when he came over. Within a month, things changed pretty rapidly. This innocent student stopped going to school and was putting on weight very quickly. It wasn't an illness he had. He discovered his love affair with sugar and hamburgers. All he wanted to do was eat….and I mean eat. He'd eat up to 6 hamburgers each time we'd go to a restaurant, along with fries and shakes.
He soon became passive-aggressive, which soon turned into straight aggressiveness. My sister and I would hide from him on a daily basis. He would whisper to us that he was going to hurt us when we slept, and we pleaded with our mom to send him away.
After about 4 months he'd gained over 80 pounds, and the threats were still coming. My mom tried to tell him this wasn't acceptable and eventually asked him to leave.
Growing up with a huge traumatic experience like this, I guess it's understandable as to why I had developed a fear of the Thailand people. My small teenage brain thought they must have all been this way. It scarred me from ever visiting Thailand. Then let's not add to the fact that ‘Broken Down Palace' had been released and that added to the anxiety. Hollywood knows how to pour on the drama!
Speeding up to present day…I think I now want to move to Thailand. Ha! What a contrast of experiences.
In fact, as I'm writing this I'm sitting in Thailand with my family now. The 3 days I spent in Thailand about a month ago was one of the best trips I've ever experienced. It's right up there with my Iceland trip. Everything I'd ever learned about the Thai people was completely wrong. This one foreign exchange student was a complete opposite of these beautiful people.
As soon as we landed and walked through the airport, we were greeted with smiles. Chris and Bird picked us up from the airport, and within minutes all my fears were gone. It's amazing how the best way to face your fear is to actually face fear.
In the video above are 16 things to do when in Chiang Mai, Thailand. This is just what we did in 3 days! As I am here with my family now, I'm creating things to do with children. It really is a beautiful FRIENDLY place that I'll be visiting often. It's the complete opposite of what I had thought, what I had conjured up in my brain. It is one experience I hope to never forget and one I hope you get to experience (soon).
Pomelo Travel was the one who set this trip up for us.
Panswana was the bunglo and restaurant where we stayed AND would happily give it a 5-star review. PeeTee (the host) is superb!
Now, go. Face your fears and come to Thailand:)
