Bangkok: We've Arrived

Life 12 hours ahead

First flight out of Nashville was a solid 2 hours.

They rerouted us to Minneapolis so that we’d arrive with a 2 hour layover in South Korea instead of 50 minutes. The longest part of our trek was between Minneapolis and South Korea.

14 hour flights are a doozy.

Started the journey pretty strong…

• Pulled an all-nighter with my friend, Sophia (ok, we snuck an hour and a half snooze before waking at 3:30am)

• Kept my blue-light glasses on

• Slept when it was bedtime in Thailand, tried to stay awake during daytime hours

And just when I began to wake from the deepest sleep one can get while squished middle seat with maybe a foot of space between my face and the screen in front of me (thanks for hitting that max recline, neighbor)…

9 more hours. Oo-wee.

Long story short… we made it to South Korea. From there, another 6 hour flight to Bangkok.

We were not looking forward to this last leg, for obvious reasons, but South Korean Airlines was the most pleasant way to ride out the rest of the way. Got the bright idea to put my backpack overhead so I had way more leg room. Slept 5 of the 6 hours.

Once off the plane, we navigated our way through customs and toward the taxi our hotel had waiting for us. This was a 2 part process: find the sign that had our name on it, then hold the sign by the carline for our driver to hopefully see amidst the usual chaos of airport arrivals.

With our 3 backpacks (Peyton holding one on the front, the other on his back - thank you Peyton) and still wrapped up in long-sleeves from the flight, we shuffled through the humid airport in pursuit of our sign.

Likely passing it 3 times, we found it taped to other pick-up signs dangling from a rail. The person stationed there took our photo and told us to stand at Platform 4 to await our driver. Good idea taking our photo to send, because it was the only way our driver knew to flag us helpless foreigners down in carline.

We made it. And so begun our 40 minute drive to the hotel.

This was the moment I remembered watching some Reel about pedestrian street crossing, and how no one will stop for you until you put yourself in front of their vehicle first. Three days in now, we are building our skill with this… mostly by following alongside a local who puts themselves out there first.

We arrive at our hotel at 11pm (11am back home). They ask for our passports, payment, and 500 THB as security deposit for our room card. Thank goodness we had enough wits at the airport to exchange some cash before running to customs.

Enter the elevator, scan the card to our door, step into our room… wowza.

The curtains are drawn to reveal a bustling city below, the mainline train above the roads, and colossal LED screens of ads featuring Channing Tatum, Ana de Armas, and Sadie Sink attached to a 7 story mall across the street. It’s nearly midnight on Saturday night in Bangkok, and no one is in bed. Leaving our bags behind, we walk 100 ft to a nice restaurant for a $20 meal before calling it a night… day… who knows. Our bodies and minds were very confused by this point.

“We are definitely getting a massage tomorrow.”

And boy, did we get one.

Just a block from us (and next to a super cute coffee shop that we’ve decided we’d frequent), Makkah Health and Spa exceeded our expectations. They gave us a form to fill out of our focus point and pressure preference. I circled my head (side note: their scalp & face massages were straight up magic. Painful, but magic), neck, shoulders, hamstrings, tibialis anterior, calves… Okay I practically circled my whole body.

The spa attendants gave us a sweet rice cracker, tea, and essential oil towel before setting slippers by us to change into. Once ready, they directed us to a foot washing station before leading us to our room.

The thing that really made it more than anything we’ve experienced was that these sweet, kind women got on top of the platform and used leverage to their advantage. It was like BJJ but for massages, if that makes any sense. They were pushing, pulling, and kneading. The session ended in a seating position where they motioned us through spinal twists and extension (hello, neck pop).

Hair disheveled and faces puffy, Peyton and I looked at each other and started cracking up.

“Dude… Best massage of my entire life.”

We made way to the front desk to schedule the next day’s appointment, but not before heading to a table that was pre-set for our post-massage snack: tea, mango, and the best sweet blue sticky rice.

Our gratitude was expressed with “thank you” and head bows. We made our way back to the hotel with the intention to take a 16 hour nap.

Thus ended our first day in Bangkok.

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It’s 9:32am as I’m wrapping up this first blog and sipping my iced latte. We’re tired, but definitely recovering well. I will be spending the rest of my time here researching further activities and places within Thailand to travel.

Bangkok offers convenience and food. For the week, we’ve decided to stick to a routine of breakfast and coffee from 6 am-12ish pm. Hoping to add some gym time. While Peyton works on his workload, I am wanting to create something meaningful online that keeps me connected to my friends and family. Long-term, I’d like to put together things I have learned and will continue learning as we travel and experience the world beyond America and before kiddos come into the picture.

I hope these experiences turn into stories our kids and their kids can reference to, and maybe inspire anyone who reads this before that time comes.

This is for our family and friends in Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, and more. We love you!

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Until next time!