There's no place like home. (Certainly not anything like the Thai islands...)

After almost two full months of backpacking through some of the most fascinating areas of SE Asia, there was no better way to end a trip then at the southern beaches of Thailand. Limestone cliffs claimed the sky to the east, the ocean to the west, and white sandy beaches of coconut palms in the middle. And living in a two story open air bungalow just steps from the beach... paradise. We spent our last few days together soaking up the hot sun at Railay Beach in Krabi Thailand. We found Nemo scuba diving off the coast of Koh Phi Phi Island, exchanged Secret Buddha (like Secret Santa) gifts, worked on our tans (maybe a little too much), went hiking to mystery caves in the pitch black of night with only one flashlight, and just relaxed in the 80 degree Fahrenheit water.

Looking back, my SE Asia adventure was everything and more that I had ever imagined it to be. I left on my trip with one backpack, no blisters, full bottles of sunscreen and bug spray, restless feet, a thirst for adventure, a hunger for Asian food, on a quest of self discovery. I came back with THREE bags, still no blisters!, an array of bugbites (I can play connect the dotes on my legs), 2000 pictures, innumerable memories, an empty bank account, an inspired soul, new knowledge of blackholes, an appreciation of western style toilets, a love of curry, an addiction to pad thai, so many emails and facebooks from acquaintances in Cambodian high schools to Thai rock climbers to a Spanish massage student, and so many new friends I want to keep in touch with forever!

Thank you to everyone that has followed my blog and/or my facebook pictures! Thank you for all your comments, it was wonderful to be able to share my journey with you.