I’m in the car on the way to the airport. I can’t quite believe it’s here. Me and Shelb (mainly Shelb) have been planning this trip for months. We’ve got notebooks full of hostel names, flight prices, possible destinations, different routes, places to see, conversion rates, and everything else that goes with organising travelling. It’s always seemed like some distant dream. Something that is always just too far out of reach. But now it’s here. I don’t know if I ever believed we’d get to this point. It just felt like something we did to pass the time in between watching movies, eating rice, and going out. Sitting down with a couple of laptops and planning where we want to go. Countless emails and wechat conversation have been dedicated to this too. And now, we’re on our way. 

For Shelby, this car ride is her last experience of China, maybe. There is no guarantee that she will ever step foot back into this country she has called home for a year. For me, well, I’ll be back in August, just a different city. 

We’re both burdened down with a rucksack and a weekend bag each: Shelby’s, beige and black with a splash of deep purple; mine an array of yellows, blues, reds, and greens. 

Our first stop is Chiang Mai, Thailand. It’s been 2 weeks since I flew to Bangkok for my first taste of Thailand, and I’m so excited to be able to go back and see a different part. I’ve only heard incredible things about CM, and from what I saw in Shelby’s notebook (our bible for this trip) we’re going to be kept pretty busy seeing as much as we can in the short couple of days we have there until we hop on another plane.

Between June 19th and July 19th, I worked it out that I will have boarded a grand total of 10 flights, until my feet are planted firmly on home soil  (for a very short period of time). I think it’s safe to say I’m going to become pretty familiar with airports… 

“Once a year go someplace you’ve never been befofe” – Dalai Lama