GO TO THAILAND

Have you seen photos of Thailand? OF COURSE. But these aren’t those photos.

Every time I travel, I’m horrible at remembering to take photos. Seems crazy, but I get so high on adventure I can’t even seem to blink, let alone fuss with my camera. Don’t get me wrong, I took way more photos than what is posted on this blog, but that still isn’t a lot by my standard.

For my fellow photographers: On this trip, I took even less photos than usual. Here’s why. I got this big idea that a Sony mirrorless camera (I shoot Canon, but already had a lens adaptor) is what this trip really needed. I got excited thinking of how it would be light and easy to travel with. SO, I bit the bullet and bought a brand new Sony a7 II before my trip, opening it up for the first time IN THAILAND. If you haven’t already guessed, this was a poor decision. I really had no idea how to use this camera, and I didn’t think to bring my Canon as backup. I ended up returning it as soon as I returned.

Buried in these unseen sights, is a list of reasons you need to take a trip to Thailand!

Temples
No matter which part of Thailand you travel to, you’ll have the opportunity to explore gorgeous temples. This temple below was one of my favorites. It is called Wat Arun and is in Bangkok. Every temple that we saw and went to was incredibly beautiful and unique.
Post Travel Lesson: The famous temples, especially those in Bangkok are going to be packed with tourists. This doesn’t mean don’t go, just be prepared.
I strongly recommend checking out some of the less heard of temples. My favorite temple we visited was unplanned. We just sort of found it and I still don’t know the name. The energy in the room was incomparable to anything I’ve felt before.

2. THE PEOPLE

I can’t express this enough. The best thing about Thailand is Thai people. Especially in the more rural parts, Thai people treat you like their personal guest in the country. Strangers were so helpful and constantly made us feel comfortable. SEE PHOTOS BELOW of a kind Thai man who entertained my friend with his skateboard as we waited for our boat.

3. The Water + Land

Don’t be turned off if you’re traveling during Thailand’s rainy season, because even then, the water and islands are just A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

4. Hotels, resorts, more jaw-dropping hospitality

If you’re coming from America, you’re going to freakout when you start browsing places to stay and realize how little it’s going to cost you. Our stays ranged from $15-60 a night and a few of them were 5-star resorts. We learned that Airbnb is not allowed in Thailand. You can still find places to stay, but in our experience the resorts we found online were as affordable as Airbnb, with a much richer experience.