A New Homebase
This blog entry about the events of Friday, February 04, 2005 was originally posted on February 11, 2005.
DAY 475: “This is one case that Let’s Go let me down,” Noelle said. She had listened to my anti-Lonely Planet rants and brought over the latest Let’s Go guidebooks for Southeast Asia and Thailand, and was quite pleased with them — until she discovered that neither book had maps for Krabi Town or Ao Nang, nor did they really explain how far away they were from each other. Contrary to our thinking, the beach of Ao Nang was miles out from our guesthouse in Krabi Town.
IN DESPERATION FOR CLIENTS, the owners of the Ao Nang Inn, which was above the affiliated Irish Rover pub that we went to the night before, said that they’d give us a daily rate of 500 baht for a room that they usually charged 1500 for during the high season. Seizing the opportunity, Noelle and I packed up our small room in Krabi Town, hopped on a songthaew (shared covered pick-up truck) and rode off to the beachfront town of Ao Nang, a town which completely catered to tourists with its cafes, pizzerias, and souvenir shops — plus two obligatory 7-11 convenience stores. It was there we made our new home, our base of operations for lunchtime pizzas, Thai food for dinner, and beach time (picture above) in between.
The room in the Ao Nang Inn above The Irish Rover was everything we had been told: a big, clean room with satellite TV, private bathroom, refrigerator, digital safe, and a terrace with a view of the inland greenery — the only thing missing was a Tivo and a wi-fi connection. Noelle was disappointed was that there was no VH-1 on the TV like they had running on the pub downstairs, but that was just a minor setback to what was otherwise a more than decent place.
Having satellite TV was just one of the niceties reminiscent of the world back at home in America, which, along with the leftover pizza in the fridge, made our new abode very homely. I reverted to my homely electricity-wasting habits, namely having the TV on while working on my computer while listening to music in my headphones. In a way I felt guilty not having an “authentic” Thai experience (otherwise, why go to Thailand?) but on the other hand, it was good to, at least for a while, be “home” with a fellow American with “I’m on vacation” mentality.
As I was working on the Blog on my iBook, one thing did catch my eye on the television as we were flipping around. On the A1 (Adventure One) channel, there was a program that featured daredevils handgliding and paragliding over Machu Picchu in Peru. Immediately I had flashbacks of the time I went there — not on this trip, but in 2001 with Blogreader oogy — and I felt like I had been bitten by the travel bug again. “Wow, it kind of makes me feel like I should be traveling,” I said, not even joking.
Noelle laughed of course, but I meant what I said; ignoring the TV while working on a laptop and listening to music wasn’t exactly “traveling.” Not that there’s anything wrong with it of course; sometimes you just have to sit back and say, “When in Rome…” — although I’m sure the Romans didn’t waste as much electricity as I did. (At least there was pizza in the fridge.)
SAVE THE DATE; DAY 503 IS COMING. MARCH 5, 2005, NYC.
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Comments for “A New Homebase”
Are you saying that I’m a bad influence?
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/11 at 01:55 AM
NOELLE: Nope; it was just my “vacation from my vacation” as they say…
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/11 at 01:59 AM
Damn, being an influence of any kind is more fun than no influence of any kind.
Ah well, I’ll get over it.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/11 at 02:08 AM
it’s bourgeois I tell you, Erik!
Oy, what use is complaining now…I’m stuck going down to San Fran with nothing but a lousy Fodor’s.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/11 at 02:48 AM
Hey you two…...talking on the blog. I thought you were together in person! LOL Received a postcard from Cambodia. Thanks! To answer your question….what will I do? Well I just might start all over again at day 1.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/11 at 02:54 AM
NOELLE: Yeah, you say being “a bad influence” like it’s a bad thing…
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/11 at 09:51 AM
ROSE: I’m behind about five days; Noelle has since left her appearance on “The Trinidad Show.” Episodes to come.
ARE YOU COMING TO 503? This goes for all you Canadians!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/11 at 09:58 AM
Okay, so to clarify - being a “bad influence” is a good thing - and seems to come naturally to me. Also, even if I WASN’T there, the TV woulda been on - Erik’s an addict!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/11 at 11:49 AM
Yummy food pics (as usual). Guess I should stop reading—temporarily—and eat some dinner. I can get swept up in the BLOG so easily. Whatever will I do when it’s GONE?
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/11 at 11:07 PM
Once again Erik delivers for the WHMMR! Thanks
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/13 at 02:11 PM
yes, I love bingeing on blog entries on Monday mornings!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/13 at 02:32 PM
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This blog post is one of over 500 travel dispatches from the trip blog, "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World (Or Until Money Runs Out, Whichever Comes First)," originally hosted by BootsnAll.com. It chronicled a trip around the world from October 2003 to March 2005, which encompassed travel through thirty-seven countries in North America, South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. It was this blog that "started it all," where Erik evolved and honed his style of travel blogging — it starts to come into focus around the time he arrives in Africa.
Praised and recommended by USA Today, RickSteves.com, and readers of BootsnAll and Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree, The Global Trip blog was selected by the editors of PC Magazine for the "Top 100 Sites You Didn't Know You Couldn't Live Without" (in the travel category) in 2005.
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The Cliffs Men
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Volunteer Work
THE GLOBAL TRIP GLOSSARY
Confused at some of the jargon that's developed with this blog and its readers over the years? Here's what they mean:
BFFN: acronym for "Best Friend For Now"; a friend made on the road, who will share travel experiences for the time being, only to part ways and lose touch withThe Big Trip: the original sixteen month around-the-world trip that started it all, spanning 37 countries in 5 continents over 503 days (October 2003–March 2005)
NIZ: acronym for "No Internet Zone"; a place where there is little to no Internet access, thus preventing dispatches from being posted.
SBR: acronym for "Silent Blog Reader"; a person who has regularly followed The Global Trip blog for years without ever commenting or making his/her presence known to the rest of the reading community. (Breaking this silence by commenting is encouraged.)
Stupid o'clock: any time of the early morning that you have to wake up to catch a train, bus, plane, or tour. Usually any time before 6 a.m. is automatically “stupid o’clock.”
The Trinidad Show: a nickname of The Global Trip blog, used particularly by travelers that have been written about, who are self-aware that they have become "characters" in a long-running story — like characters in the Jim Carrey movie, The Truman Show.
WHMMR: acronym for "Western Hemisphere Monday Morning Rush"; an unofficial deadline to get new content up by a Monday morning, in time for readers in the western hemisphere (i.e. the majority North American audience) heading back to their computers.
1981ers: people born after 1981. Originally, this was to designate groups of young backpackers fresh out of school, many of which were loud, boorish and/or annoying. However, time has passed and 1981ers have matured and have been quite pleasant to travel with. The term still refers to young annoying backpackers, regardless of year — I guess you could call them "1991ers" in 2013 — young, entitled millennials on the road these days, essentially.
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