By the Numbers

- 106 days abroad

- 5.5 books read

- 7 items lost

- 6 pairs of sunglasses broken

- 17 T-shirts purchased

- 12 kilos - weight of my luggage when I started my trip

- 32 kilos - weight of my luggage when I ended my trip

- 150 new Facebook friends (give or take)

- 14 flights flown

- 55 hours, $2200, 40,000 Delta miles, and 3 flights to get home after I was denied a seat on the Delta flight I was standing by for for the third time

- 37 nationalities of people met (Moroccan, Spanish, Portugese, Greek, Turkish, Egyptian, Jordanian, Syrian, Serbian, Iraqi, Iranian, Pakistanian, Israeli, Thai, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Laotian, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Singaporian, Dutch, Danish, Irish, Scottish, English, French, Italian, German, Austrian, Polish, Finnish, Australian, Kiwi, Canadian, Columbian)

- 23 modes of transportation (Plane, Car, Ferry, Sailboat, Train, Subway, Taxi, Tuk Tuk, Local Bus, Charter Bus, Minibus, Pickup Truck, Foot, Hot Air Balloon, Camel, ATV, Elephant, Bamboo Raft, Bicycle, Motorbike, Kayak, Diving Ship, Tube)

- 17 experiences that could have killed me (bungy jumping, rock climbing, ATV riding, camel riding, hot air ballooning, surfing, driving in Cairo traffic, feeding monkeys, wearing a snake around my neck, climbing to the top of the monastery in Petra, driving along mountainous roads in Laos, sliding down a gigantic slide at the Full Moon Party in Koh Phangan, climbing to the top of a waterfall in Luang Prabang, tubing in Vang Vieng, scuba diving, riding an elephant, bamboo rafting)

- 25 cities visited

- $4,000 over budget

- Hundreds of hours spent in transit

- 11,000 total pictures taken (approximately - although I bet the total is much higher than that)

- Millions of memories made (cheesy, I know...)

So, I guess this is goodbye... for now, at least. I'll definitely be back, though :)

Bangkok (Things I Will Miss About This Place)

I apologize for the long absence - I'm actually writing this entry on my flight home right now.

Here's a quick breakdown of how I've spent my last few weeks:

- Diving in Koh Tao, highlights of which included seeing blue-spotted stingrays and moray eels, and kayaking through a torrential downpour
- Meeting someone whom I've spent the last two weeks with - and since most of this time was spent doing mundane things like shopping and eating, there hasn't been much to update you about
- Trying - unsuccessfully - to get a standby flight back home before finally giving in and buying another flight, thus extending my stay in Bangkok by a full week (hence the reason I've spent so much time at the mall)

So, although the last few weeks have been largely anti-climatic, this trip itself has been incredibly life-changing for me, opening my eyes to new cultures and experiences, and - although I know it sounds trite - teaching me plenty about myself.

Things I will miss most about Thailand:
- $6 massages
- 7-11's
- The lizards that climb all over the walls
- 30 baht ($1) mango smoothies
- Taking your shoes off everywhere you go
- Shopping
- Haggling
- Having to flush the toilet using a pail of water
- The creativity that goes into the Buddhist offerings here
- The incredibly diverse landscape
- The way everyone sounds like they're singing when they talk
- The people themselves

As good as it feels to finally be on my way home, I'm really going to miss this place.

Koh Phangan (Part II)

Having booked no travel beyond my ferry to Koh Tao, and realizing I wouldn't have enough time to really enjoy Bali (where I originally intended on ending my trip), I've opted to spend more time on the islands here. And, since I was curious as to what Koh Phangan had to offer aside from Full Moon, I decided to venture back - opting this time to stay at a meditation resort called The Sanctuary. As it turns out, this is really not my crowd (half the people here are fasting and don't seem interested in talking about anything but their colonics, and the other half - those strictly here for yoga classes - will not stop raving about how spiritual they are), the meditation and yoga courses were both great, and the food was phenomenal. (Granted, verything on the menu here contains wheat grass, spirula, lemongrass, ginger, flax, or something else I've never eaten or heard of, but it was just so nice to eat real SALAD again.) Some other highlights of my last couple days here:

- Swimming out to the pier to watch the sun rise
- Lying on a hammock for hours reading travel magazines
- Learning some Muy Thai boxing moves
- The bats in our bathroom
- Falling asleep to the sound of waves from outside the window of my bungalow