"One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple." ~Jack Kerouc

Dear readers (reader count=10, and just a few others…hello others), let me start by apologizing for my complete lack of attention to this blog. Having said that, please know that this will be the very last apology you will receive from these nimble fingers (get your minds out of the gutter!). Yes, the fingers are nimble, and wouldn’t you just love to know how nimble they are? However, I must say that I would be referring to my rather ambidextrous nature (again pull your minds out of the gutter). I have every desire to write on a daily basis. I have dreams of throwing myself into my work in some beautiful beach side bungalow where nothing more is demanded of me than my writing. However, until I hit it big in the lottery, which I don’t play, or until I am swept off my feet by some handsome billionaire who loves moody and artistic women…yeah, well you see my dilemma. In the meantime you will just have to be a wee bit patient with me. Between the teaching, the masters studies, and the traveling I am not left a great deal of time for writing. But then again, maybe I am just making excuses.

As a young, not well traveled, and inexperienced teen I read voraciously from writers who focused on their life and travel experiences. However, there was one book in particular that would be cracked open every spring as the itch to travel would begin in my toes and travel up my spine. Let’s just say that this particular novel left me with romantic visions of traveling cross-country by train. The prose harping on the rolling country side, and the sense of the infinite that it inspired would be an unrequited lust until I venture halfway across the world. It was here in this rich and verdant environment that I first experienced a day long train trip. I had experienced trains before, but in comparison that first train trip did little to inspire or sate my desire. It was here, coming from the dusty little town of Surin, and heading for the next nine hours back to Bangkok that I was officially indoctrinated to the pleasure of train travel. Watching the hills, lakes, dusty little towns, and gorgeous temples roll by that I found myself transported back to the pages that my sixteen year old self would sop up in pleasure. There are not sufficient words to describe the beauty that rolled by minute by minute on that train. Maybe it was traveling through one of the country’s most beautiful parks, maybe it was the fireworks that sang through the air illuminating the night like so many multi-colored angels, but I would have to say that it truly may just come down to the company I kept that day.

I have been blessed to meet a multitude of characters since I first stepped off that plane. You see, and here I must stop to disclose some vital information, I came to Thailand to deal with my past-namely my divorce. Make all of the Eat, Pray, Love jokes you’d like here, but sadly it is true. I had to come half way around the world to meet myself. Let me say that the first few months have been less than pleasant in more moments than I would like to admit to.  It has been almost a year now since the final separation, and I am grateful every single day to have been set free. My marriage taught me a lot, about myself, about life, but mostly about relationships. It was tough, and a lot of work, and there were some moments that were pure magic, but I am glad that it is over. I believed, when I married him, that I had met my match. I know now that I simply didn’t know what I was capable of. Having said all of that (and wow talk about full disclosure), I must say that I was not so easy to be around my first few months here. I can feel the changes in me, and I know that I am pulling out of it. There were a few bright souls who (for whatever their reasons) chose to see past my disarray. It is for these folks that I say thank you. Thank you for seeing past all of my bullshit, and loving me for me. You showed compassion, kindness, and humor when all of mine had run out. So thank you S for being a lifeline and go to in Bangkok when I was not quite standing on my own. Thank you S and K for showing me the best parts of yourself, and what I aspire to express on a daily basis. Thank you K for getting me from that very first weekend, and being so patient with my little princess ass. Thank you C for reminding me of home, and being a bright spot here in Thailand. Thank you G and N for your constant love of life and fun, and for keeping me light. My circle here is expanding daily, and I am grateful for the best parts of myself that are being revealed a little bit every day.

"Travel only with thy equals or thy betters; if there are none, travel alone." -The Dhammapada

Sincerely,

The Epicurious Gypsy

p.s.: I have included a picture below of the strangest snack I have had on a train.