Thailand: The Amazing Race (and why I couldn't)

Bangkok Layover--Koh Tao 9/5-9/11

1. breakfast at apples- pancake and fruit/muesli/yogurt
2. booked bus to ko tao…cramped!!
3. met up with clement on khaosan
4. bought prepaid phone
5. got on bus... sat with clement. long ride. slept at ferry station. slept on ferry. slept on the front deck of ferry sprawled. burned my belly. 
6. commitment fears--  food. hotels. people. places. 
7. wandered ko tao… booked open water cert and room for 5 days- scubafication!
8. picking up trash on the beach=exercise! and good way to meet locals!
9. call Amazing Race producer back, but get boyfriend first? or dont

(Scubafication until the 11th)

Koh Tao recap

From Kanchanaburi, I booked a ticket to Koh Tao for about 800 baht.  Coincidentally, my friend Clement had done the same thing from Bangkok, and we were able to sit next to each other on the bus/boat.  He’s my funny french friend-- a good person I met at the Bangkok couchsurfing event and had been hanging out with.  But sadly, after we got off the boat and settled into our hotels, we didn’t see each other again.  That's how traveling goes I guess. 

 so french

Anyway, I wasn’t planning on getting dive-certified, but in looking for a room to sleep in, I got lazy.  And it looked like staying at this dive resort would be a good deal (turned out to be 4 nights resort accommodation + dive certification+ excellent dinner for 269 USD).  In retrospect, I’m glad I did it.  I met a lot of really cool people and had an excuse to be in the water a lot (not as much as I’d like to be).  At the same time, I’ve decided that I’m still much more into skin diving.  All the tanks and weights kinda freaked me out, but maybe that would be different if I got my advanced and was able to go down a little deeper.  

Koh Tao beach

Also, I was amazed at how much trash had washed ashore every day. My first night I set out to walk and started picking up trash.  There was SO much and I wish I had taken more pictures.  The saddest thing was when I woke up the next morning to see that the beach was again, covered in washed up trash.  So again, I set off for 1-2 hours walking the beach picking up trash. This became a sort of habit for the next few days, and it was crazy how many friends I made this way.  Workers from nearby restaurants would offer me beverages and trash bags, little kids brought me trash that I'd missed, and others would just make small talk.  I made so many friends, burned a lot of calories, and got a nice tan just from picking up trash.

America/The Amazing Race calls

Found out that a producer from the Amazing Race had called my house, and I guess they are the same casting as Survivor, and they'd circulated my old Survivor  audition tape?

They want me to have a boyfriend that I've been with for 9+ months.  That's weird, but I might be able to find someone and fake it? I'll look into it when I get back, but right now I'm already doing it. Dad always says "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush"