I Got Ditched at the Airport in Thailand

I try new things and make snap decisions all the time. I was raised with the mentality try something once and if you don’t like it, try it a second time. So when my roommate Jonathan asked if I wanted to go to Thailand, I responded hell-fucking-yes. Although to be honest, I was pretty scared to go abroad for the first time.

If only I knew this trip was going to ruin a friendship, cause me to quit a future job, break up with a girlfriend and spend over a year of my life living out of a backpack...

I land in Bangkok on schedule. The 6 hour flight from Beijing wasn’t so bad. I glance at my phone —two hours until Jonathan’s plane lands. I need some WIFI.

I find a Starbucks through security and as I’m about to order something a horde of messages come through. One is from Jonathan.

This is his actual correspondence. Go ahead, read it. I’ll wait.

………

Flabbergasted, I make my way to my hostel on Koh San Road. When the tuk tuk driver stops, I look up. Three stories above an Indian restaurant is what can only be described as a shit hole.

I meet two girls from Australia, a guy from Serbia and a girl we call party animal because we never see her. They can clearly see I’m distraught, so I show them the message.

“Nothing a Chang can’t fix”

It’s been over two years since this happened and it’s hard not to find the irony in Jonathan’s words “I know you will realize that travelling is a very individualized thing. And you will grow regardless.” Well Jonathan, you were right.

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