On the evening of May 22, 2016, I set flight for my first out of country adventure to Bangkok, Thailand. The flight to Thailand was around 22 hours in total with a connecting flight in Doha, Qatar. I stayed in Thailand for six days before heading back to Boston for another 22 hours worth of traveling. Luckily,Thailand and Qatar are ahead in the time zone so I was able to leave on Tuesday and arrive in Boston on the same calendar day.
I made the decision to travel to Thailand at the start of my sophomore year at Bryant University. I had been thinking about traveling abroad for the following school year and wanted to travel to a country that not a lot of Bryant students have traveled to. I've always been heavily involved on campus since my first semester and made the decision to apply and accept a leadership position for my junior year that would prevent me from studying abroad. Once I made the decision not to go abroad for a semester, I knew that I still wanted the opportunity to travel outside of the country in order to learn more about a culture that is different from my own.
I started saving for my trip to Thailand at the start of my junior year, with the outstanding working opportunity I had with Amica Mutual Insurance Company. With that outstanding internship, I was able to pay for my entire trip which included my flight, housing, food, and transportation. I've never relied on financial support from my mother or family in college as I've worked on campus since the start of my college career, so paying for this trip did not seem like much of a challenge.
I was so excited to visit Thailand and to experience what the country had to offer. The experience of flying to another country was one I will never forget. From the long flights to dealing with immigration, to experiencing language barriers, traveling to Thailand turned out to be more of a challenge than I originally thought.
When I finally arrived in Thailand on Tuesday morning, I wasn't sure if I was awake or dreaming. I can reduce the experience of my trip down to one similar to a dream. I had to quickly learn about the culture in Bangkok in order to navigate my way through the city. I adjusted to walking on different sides of the road, eating food made on the street, surviving dehydration, and observing the economic disparity that exists in the country.
Thailand is known by many travelers as a country that is great for travel because it is affordable. With twenty dollars you can receive 700 in Thai Baht. With 700 Thai Baht, you could go shopping and pick up two or three shirts from a department store, you could eat three meals at a nice restaurant or pay for a one person tour in Bangkok. I took a boat canal ride for 600 Thai baht and it lasted an hour. By American standards, Thailand is an affordable country to visit. It is by no means, however, the place you should visit if you are looking to stay at the beach for the entirety of your stay. You should take the opportunity to visit all of the temples, zoos, national parks and even the villages located out of Bangkok if you want to truly learn more about Thailand.
