Day 138: Streamlined

Is exactly what we are not.

As a result, we have this conversation every time we have to pack (which is a lot)

L: I hate packing
C: I hate it more...
L: No I do...
C: No...
L: Here's what I hate most about packign..all my stuff
C: I hate my toiletries
L: So get rid of some...
C: No.
pause.
L: Does all this $%^#@#$%@#$% ever fit? Ever?
C: I hate packing...

And so on. Every time.


Coming to Thailand we had particular reasons for hating it, we just didn't know about it yet. It started with Nepal essentialy rejecting us as tourists by making our final morning there absolutely miserable. Everythign went wrong. I will not write about it because it is stupid travel drama that will only make me negative. but you should all know that no matter how much you travel, airlines and general country bureaucracy are always msierably complicated and difficult.

But we got on the plane, which was positive. Lara worked. Claire slept. Arrived feeling refreshed to Bangkok, which is basically like Europe. literally...more Westerners there than we'd seen in a long time. In a burst of ambition, we decided to get Claire's Vietnamese visa (lara already had one as she is a model of forward-planning). Got it with the remarkable ease that seems to characterize visa-getting abroad, got a dose of Pizza Hut in, and cognratulated ourselves on allowing 2 hours to get to the bus station on time.

Our taxi driver laughed at us. We would not make it, he informed us, wringing his hands and burying his head with despair (literally). We felt bad that our poor planning had caused the man so much angst...but then we fell asleep and left him to it.

With exactly 1 minute to spare, we made it to the bus station, and climbed on to some strange amalgamation of transportaion and a Vegas honeymoon suite. There was soft-core porn playing (our expressions matched that of the 5-year-old boy behind us) and pink shag carpeting on the walls with matching pink blankets and disco lights. Obviously, this is the way to travel. After a long time, which we wrote another post on, we are here.

It is lovely. It is like a honeymoon for everyone else...Claire and I have separate bungalows. I'm off to nap.

In conclusion, though, Claire says that her subscription to RealSimple's quote of the day (it is very Claire to not be streamlined but to get RealSimple's daily quotes and to think this somehow makes her streamlined) was very meaningful, and appropriate, today:

"Never miss an opportunity to make others happy, even if you have to leave them alone in order to do it."

— Anonymous