Posted: 02/03/2014 | February 3rd, 2014
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport!”
These were words I hadn’t heard spoken in two years. and they’d been sorely missed. After landing in Bangkok, I glided effortlessly through an airport where I’ve been numerous times and made my way to the train into the city. It was a routine I followed without thinking, and I easily made my way to my hotel (I used points to stay for totally free at the new W Hotel, one of the nicest W hotels I’ve ever stayed at, but that’s a different récit). After check-in, I dropped my bag and headed to the nearby street market, ordering sorely missed pork noodle soup and Thai lemon tea. (Tip: if you’re searching for a market in Thailand, find an office area. Where there are hungry office workers, there is great street food.)
The sights, sounds, and smells had a comforting familiarity to them. After a long flight from San Francisco, I felt at home.
And as I sit here staring out across the city, I ponder what that word “home” really means. Is it a place or a state of mind? Un sentiment? Can you have much more than one home? Is it where you live? grandir? own property?
To me, a home is where your heart feels many comfortable. It’s a place you step into with ease, and your heart says, “Yes, this is it” and wraps that place around itself like a warm, comfortable blanket. A house is simply a physical structure filled with stuff, but a home…that’s where you know you belong.
For me, that’s Paris, Stockholm, new York, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, and Bangkok. There are numerous other destinations that I love and return to often, but they aren’t home. My heart doesn’t belong in them. They’re beautiful to visit, but I wouldn’t want to grow old there. However, put me in any of those destinations noted above and I’d happily stay there until my dying day.
Traveling has taught me that the word “home” transcends a physical place. As I’ve traveled the world, I’ve learned I fit into numerous places. This has given me insight into people and the rhythm of life. There’s a certain universality to life around the world. I think that’s why so often we can easily and (sometimes) accurately compare cities. It’s taught me that the turf is never greener because at its core, the turf is always the same.
And no city crystallizes this better for me than Bangkok. It was where I first really stopped and lived. It was a place where I built a whole life and got a job, friends, a girlfriend, and a routine. I came here a stranger, not speaking the language and knowing only one person, and I left with a life.
I learned to survive.
J’ai grandi.
Learning that home can be so numerous places made the world a lot smaller to me. It’s no longer the idea that there is “my home” and “other places in the world” because the world is my home.
I know that might come off as a bit “out there,” but when you can relocation so easily and feel at ease in so numerous places, it makes the world a bit smaller, less foreign, and a lot less scary.
But no matter where I go, what I do, or how long I’m gone, Bangkok will always be home to me.
That’s why I’ll never stop getting emotional when I hear those eight magical words: “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.”
Travel is a fantastic experience, but in some cases there’s nothing much more fantastic than coming home.
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Book Your trip to Bangkok: Logistical suggestions and Tricks
Book Your Flight
Utilisez Skyscanner ou Momondo pour trouver un vol bon marché. Ce sont mes deux moteurs de recherche préférés parce qu’ils recherchent des sites et des compagnies aériennes du monde entier, donc vous savez toujours qu’aucune pierre n’est laissée. Commencez par Skyscanner d’abord car ils ont la portée la plus importante!
Book Your Accommodation
Vous pouvez réserver votre auberge avec HostelWorld car ils ont l’inventaire le plus important et les meilleures offres. Si vous voulez rester ailleurs qu’une auberge, utilisez Booking.com car ils renvoient régulièrement les tarifs les plus abordables pour les maisons d’hôtes et les hôtels bon marché.
N’oubliez pas l’assurance voyage
L’assurance voyage vous protégera contre la maladie, les blessures, le vol et les annulations. C’est une protection étendue au cas où quelque chose se passe mal. Je ne vais jamais en voyage sans cela car j’ai dû l’utiliser à plusieurs reprises dans le passé. Mes entreprises préférées qui offrent le meilleur service et la meilleure valeur sont:
Aile de sécurité (pour tous moins de 70 ans)
Insure My trip (for those over 70)
MedJet (pour une couverture de rapatriement supplémentaire)
Looking for the bEST Les entreprises pour économiser de l’argent?
Consultez ma page de ressources pour les meilleures entreprises à utiliser lorsque vous voyagez. Je répertorie tous ceux que j’utilise pour économiser de l’argent lorsque je suis sur la route. Ils vous feront économiser de l’argent lorsque vous voyagerez aussi.
Vous voulez beaucoup plus d’informations sur Bangkok?
Assurez-vous de visiter notre guide robuste à Bangkok pour encore beaucoup plus de conseils de planification!
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