After I returned to Bangkok I moved into a new single room in the same apartment building. The plan was to stay there for a month while I finished up some work and arranged my next travel plans, which is exactly what happened. For 5 weeks I slipped back into the blissful Bangkok rhythm of slow days, good food and occasionally loud nights. I worked only as much as I needed to and let the simple things fill up the rest of my time.

I had decided that after more than a year in and out of Thailand, it was time for me to pick up and continue traveling again. Since I want to eventually visit eastern Europe I chose to fly to Beijing, China and ride the famous trans-siberian railway all the way across Russia to Moscow. On the way I’ll stop in Mongolia and some destinations in Russia, taking around a month to make the journey, then either fly or continue overland to Sofia, Bulgaria where I can finally reunite with the great Gartholomew J. If I’m lucky I’ll also catch Mr. Joe McCraw who will end his own European tour there this month.

My sister will be joining me in Beijing and coming along to Europe, which I’m very excited about. I haven’t seen her since she visited Thailand about a year ago!

I had set up a really comfortable, easy life for myself in Bangkok so preparing to leave was hard. As the time of my exit approached, I started feeling depressed. During my last few days I tried to say goodbye to my friends and favorite places but it just made me question my decision to leave. It wasn’t until I arrived in Beijing that I was able to look at my situation from a new perspective and feel better again.

Leaving something you love behind is always difficult, but sometimes there is no other option if you want to explore the world. Bangkok will always be a plane ticket away, and I will be back again soon.