I started a challenge of taking 100 days off to mainly focus on my health and overall personal development and used this account as a personal blog to keep track of all my activity. I enjoyed it and continued afterward trying to build better habits and find a good balance between health, fitness, work, entertainment, and my personal life...
Tuesday was the day where I left on my first big solo trip with a very long travel ahead. It started with a drive the the Brussels Airpor arriving there a bit more than 3 hours before my flight. There was quite a traffic jam so it was a 2-hour drive and we left earlt enough just to be safe.
It has been ages since I took a plane and never done so alone and main feeling I had is "Why am I doing this to myself, I don't really want to leave." It's one thing to think about traveling and being up for it the moment you book a ticket, and another thing when the time to leave is actually there. At least for me as someone who likes to stay in his comfort bubble.
The first flight was a big one around 10-hours to Beijjing also in a big plane and I got a window seat with a very kind old Chinese Lady Sitting next to me (Miss Meng) who I talked quite a lot to. Initially I thought that's a bit broken english just assuming that all Chinese people speak it fluently until the point she asked me what I thought she did after she revealed she was a English Teacher. That's one of the reasons she enjoyed chatting so much and we got along very well. I also learned that almost no Chinese people speak proper english. Anyway, that flight was an absolute joy and the hours really went by super quickly as aside from the chatting there were many distractions. There were 2 hot meals which weren't that bad.
The 1st Meal was noodles with Mushrooms, some dry salad, a piece of bread with butter, and a rice cake dessert
The 2nd Meal was some rice with fish, along with cucumber andtomato, again Bread with butter and a small Mattentaartje which is one of the Belgian classics
I also listened to a 2.5-hour Pocast at times falling asleep. The Soundcore Space One for just 65€ really did a superb job at the noise cancelling and was a real bargain. And I started watching the Documentary 'Should I Marry A Murderer' which I nearly finished as it's only 3 episodes.
Once I arrived in Beijing, it was initially a bit of a search where I needed to go but I had 9 hours so no rush or stress and I quickly got myself to the hall where all the shops and restaurants were waiting for my plane to Bangkok. I did first do some steps, try to get EURO exchanged for Thai Baht which wasn't allowed, and managed to lay myself down on the waiting seats for what never really was a nap but I did manage to get rest. I also ate some of the crackers I brought, got some free water multiple times and avoided spending any money at the airport. I also changed clothes to keep everything fresh, and finished watching the series on ly laptop.
The 9 hours also here flew by pretty quickly and I boarded my 2nd plane which was a much smaller one again with a window seat in the back but with nobody aside me which left me a bit more room. Also here the time flew by with a meal which this time was Rice with Chicken, cueumber, bread, and some Mango which I all ate. I again put on a podcast to past the time and needed to use the toilet but the line was always too long which kept me busy trying to find the good moment until I just could not hold it anymore.
The plane landed and I was in bangkok. The first thing I did was to try to get my esim to work but apparently it connected first to my regular data plan which was followed by a message of a 60€ bill which is just a disgrace from Telenet and I will try to make it so that that wave that off. I did eventually get the esim right and continued to head to immigration which went smoothly, when I walked to the place where I needed to get my luggage, it was just in front of me and I was off to meet the taxi I ordered to Hua Hin.
The sign with my name on was there and a guy guided me to the place where a rather young driver came pick me up. He didn't speak any engligh which I didn't mind during the 3-Hour+ Taxi Drive which cost 2000 Baht (under 60€). It was quite crazy how some people drive their motorbike with kids and no helmets at high speeds on the motorway. Overall The city itself wasn't that crazy different from what it's like in Belgium.
I managed to get to my Hotel in time which is actually super nice for the 20$ a night price, had a quick call with my mom just to say I arrived. I took a quick shower and am now laying in bed to finally get some sleep even though I also am not super tired as some might assume. It was a long travel but nothing went wrong and it all felt a lot shorter than I imagined.
Next Day Goals: Even though I'm quite relaxed, I'm still in a mindset where I don't really want to be here even though I'm quite sure that will change sooner than later. Tomorrow, I will go on a hunt to find a condo to stay at the next 50+ days, I will convert some Euro to Baht, get some basic supplies and see where it takes me.