Day 27 and 28

Day 27

so we just relaxed a lot yesterday. we had breakfast and then went swimming for a little while. i laid out first. i'm determined to get a tan. i've pretty much never had a full-body tan in my entire life. i don't think it's better to be pale or to be tan. i think people should like the color they are whatever it may be. i just wanna try out a tan for once in my life ya know? it's hard though because my skin is so white that it pretty much just reflects the sun and won't absorb it lol i have to get burned before i'll tan. i've got various shades of skin all over my body at the moment. i've burned my back twice but not on purpose. this may be more work than it's worth :oP i probably won't ever TRY to get tan again after this trip. i just wanna try once :o)

so the beach is pretty skinny during the day but the tide goes WAY out when the moon comes out. it's really crazy how much the moon affects the tides. it's something i never really thought about since i never lived on the beach but i've been on the beach so much this trip that i've really started to think about that. it's really weird that the moon's gravity can pull the waters of the ocean toward it so much so that the tide goes out several meters each evening. pretty wild.

the water here is really clear but the bottom of the ocean is kinda rocky and weedy. you have to find sandy parts to stand in. but it's fine. the water was really calm though- almost like a swimming pool so you could just float around without any waves disturbing you. jens snorkeled a bit and just saw a few fish. there might be better snorkeling at these rocks that are a bit further out.

while we were swimming we saw this really dumb guy go out and get a black spikey sea urchin out of the water with a hook! you're not supposed to take any marine life out of the waters when snorkeling. i mean just think if everyone did that! there'd be nothing left! but this idiot gets this sea urchin and he keeps dropping it under the water and then he PICKS IT UP! with this fingers! like he just grabs one of the spikes! these things sting really really bad so we were waiting for him to start screaming! we just stood there baffled thinking he must know what he's doing. i mean most people look up some info before they go snorkeling or before they start grabbing things out of the water lol but then these two people on the beach stood up and yelled at him- BE CARFEUL! THOSE THINGS ARE POISON! lol so then he just turned around and took it back in the water. i was worried he was just gonna drop it right there near the beach and we were gonna have to worry about swimming around it, etc. but thankfully he took it way out...probably near where he found it. dunno if he got stung or not...

after that we showered and had lunch at our bungalow. just thai jungle curry. good but spicy!

then we just hung out in our hammocks on the porch and read and listened to the waves. it was SO NICE! makes me always want hammocks on a porch for the rest of my life lol

later we walked to the mini mart, got a few things and walked down the road a bit. there are barely any businesses at all on this strip. we got really hungry at that point so we went to the reggae bar on the beach for dinner but it was really uncomfortable so we left. it was too dark, had uncomfortable, dirty cushions on the floor and there were a bunch of people smoking :oP

so we went back down to la dolce vita again and we'll probably end up eating there every night we're here lol it's got the nicest atmostphere and the food is good. we got wine, bruschetta, spinach and ricotta ravioli al pomodoro, salad, more bruschetta lol and then tiramisu and espresso! it was all good :o)

Day 28

just relaxing again. had breakfast and came in here. might swim later or just hang out. tonight is the big full moon party on haad rin (rin beach...a ways away from here). we'll have to get a taxi to get there. i wish we could take a scooter but the roads here aren't great and they say it's pretty dangerous to try to drive here at night esp. after a full moon party. apparently 8,000-30,000 people show up to this party each month. pretty insane! i'm a bit apprehensive to go but we're gonna be careful and smart about it. we're only gonna take some cash and the camera and stay together the ENTIRE time. we won't let each other out of our sight, won't take any random food or drink from strangers, etc. we'll probably just eat dinner, walk around, check things out, have a couple drinks and come home. we don't wanna stay too late when everybody starts getting too drunk and too crazy. i think we'll experience enough of it in 4-5 hours lol may sound lame but i just don't feel like getting kidnapped or injured or have things stolen from me lol we'll go but we'll just be smart about it.

then we'll have 3 more full days here. we may rent a scooter one day during the daylight and go see other beaches and waterfalls or something. the main priority is just to relax though. it's kind of the mid-way point in our trip. we have a lot of moving around after we leave here. a couple days in bangkok, 3-4 days in ayuthaya, a few days in vientiane, laos, a few in luang prabang and then about 4 days to see angkor wat in cambodia. it's gonna be go go go.

i've loved having this 2 month vacation away from korea but i gotta tell ya it's a bit tiring after a while. all the packing and unpacking. all the eating out. only having one person to talk to the whole time lol we've talked to some other travelers but it's always hard to start the convo. you don't know if they'll be receptive. and then you just talk about the same things with everyone- where are you from, what do you do, why are you here, how long are you here, what do you think of it, etc. lol

i certainly don't regret this trip! it's been AWESOME! we've seen so many amazing things and had great experiences! we've always wanted to go to these countries and now we are! it's really happening! :) it's always nice when you want to do something and you work toward it for a long time and then it actually happens. i love that!

all that being said though i don't think i need to take a 2 month vacation across 5 countries again lol i think one month in 2-3 countries is enough. or even just 2-3 weeks in one country. that right there would be enough "getting away" for me. i'm happy to have discovered that though! because that's what most americans get in a year - 2 to 3 weeks. i'm happy to know that that actually is enough.

we were talking about europe last night though. i've always wanted to go back to france and i've always wanted to see more of europe! i just wonder when it's going to happen. after we move back to the states there's no telling when we'll have the money and the time to travel abroad again. and what with oil running out and the prices rising it makes it even harder. we almost thought- maybe we should do europe instead of our american road trip in may/june! but that'd definitely be more expensive and we're really looking forward to seeing more of america and and to see b.c. canada and all of our family and friends along the way. we're hoping that'll it'll be possible for us to visit just one or two european countries once a year during our 2-3 week vacations we'll have if jens is a firefighter.

flying is by no means eco-friendly but i LOVE traveling. that's my weakness! lol i figure if i'm "good for the environment" in a bunch of other ways then maybe it's not so bad if i fly ;o) i plan to recycle and compost and grow my own herbs and some vegetables and try to walk and ride my bike as many places as possible and buy local and organic. most people don't do those things AND they fly so i think i'd be doing pretty good lol

which brings me to my wedding planner aspirations. i've been thinking about it more and i'm just not sure wedding planning would be that fulfilling. i love planning events, i love some weddings. but the weddings i love the most are the really simple, innovative, diy ones. the ones that don't cost that much money and therefore probably did not involve a wedding planner lol if i were to do it i'd have to find clients who didn't have a lot of money but had enough and weren't that creative and therefore needed me to help them. i dunno how many of those there are.

i just don't wanna work with rich spoiled brats who are like OMG MOM i can't believe you're not going to pay for me to ride in on a camel! or someone who wants icelandic peonies flown in for her bouquet.

also- i think i'm not just interested in weddings. i'd be happy to plan showers or birthdays or whatever. i just like planning parties in general.

at the same time i'm really getting into the eco-friendly/local/organic movement. i'd love to plan parties that serve only local organic food and use dinnerware and old linens from antique stores and thrift shops and had handmade decorations, etc. is there a niche big enough for that that i could actually money at it?

one thing i pictured doing was organizing some kind of local food festival at the local farmer's market or something.

i read barbara kingsolver's "animal, vegetable, miracle" and i just finished a book called "do good lives have to cost the earth?", which is a compilation of essays by various british authors, and they both inspired me a lot. in the latter book they talk all about how we can lead good lives without over-consuming and using up all the world's resources. research has shown that wealth only makes people happier up to a certain point, and that when you get to that point more money (or material goods) won't make you any happier. that's what's wrong with americans. that's why we've got a good percentage of wealthy people who are really depressed and feel they have no meaning in their lives. they've focused too much on working, earning money and then spending that money on material goods thinking that the more they have the happier they'll be. that's not how it works. if you take a really poor person who lives in a shelter or on the streets and you give them enough money for a decent apt., decent clothes and decent 3 meals a day they'll be MUCH happier than they were before. but if you take a rich person who has a big house, tons of clothes and gourmet food for 3 meals a day and you give him or her an even bigger house, more designer clothes and even more expensive food- they won't actually be much happier than they were before. get it?

they also talk about how we need more celebration in our lives. back in the day, even though people were poor, they'd have lots of feast days and celebrations in the community. it was about getting together, everyone bringing something and just having a good time together. it was about community and the simple joys in life.

so my point is i don't want to overwork just to get more and more money so i can buy more and more things. i want to work enough to meet my needs and have some small pleasures in life and spend the rest of the time ENJOYING life! i also want to work a job that helps other people do that. i.e. the kind of event planning i was talking about earlier. or i'd at least like to have a job that's good for the environment and good for people.

i just really don't know what exactly i'll end up doing! so many possibilities! i guess i'll just have to see where life takes me! lol

i also want to say that no one is perfect and just because i've said what i've said it doesn't mean i'm never going to eat food that's not local or i'm never going to drive a car, etc. it's up to all of us to do a lot of little things that help the world and help our population. so praise the things that people do! don't focus all your attention on the things they don't do :o)

and i urge all of you to start doing little things here and there that will help the planet. start out small and add things over time. start recycling everything that you can. don't just throw out that old cell phone. take it to a shop where they can re-use it or its parts. start buying some vegetables at the local farmer's market (i bet they'll taste a lot better than those pink tomatoes from chili or wherever lol), ride your bike to the store to get milk, buy a few quality durable pieces of clothing instead of a bunch of cheapies that'll fall apart in a year and have to be thrown out. there are so many things the average person can do to help!

go forth and save the world! lol