Hello 2015!

I spent the last day of 2014 laying on the beach and rang in 2015 watching the fireworks and partying on the beach. It's hard to believe the year is over. 2014 brought some major life changes for me. I quit my job and moved out of the apartment in Boston where I lived for 3 years, broke up with my best friend who I dated for 5 years, and I bought a one way ticket to Southeast Asia. I moved home to the Cape and waitressed to fund my dreams of traveling the world. In the meantime I strengthened old friendships and created new ones. I fell in love with my home all over again and learned to appreciate the beauty that constantly surrounds me. I became a certified yoga instructor, I swam with sea turtles, I got scuba certified, I bathed in waterfalls, and I danced for hours on the beach under a canopy of stars. I lost friends and I made friends. There were highs and lows, as is usual, but one thing is for sure it was a year of transformation for me and I don't think 2015 will be any different. I'm not dwelling on the past nor am I anticipating the future. Instead, I am focusing on the present and living in the moment.

After treating ourselves to a bottle of wine and a fancy dinner for Christmas Eve on Koh Tao, Laura and I took off for Koh Phangan. Known for the famous Full Moon Party, the island is filled with 20-somethings in neon shirts and body paint, ready to rage at any hour of the day. We went to the full moon party on Christmas and had an absolute blast. Thailand being such a popular destination for Europeans, I found myself speaking Italian, Spanish, and a mix of other languages all night. I was fascinated by the fire shows, with young Thai boys tossing flame colored ropes into the sky, twirling them around and managing to not get burned. Then there were the fire jump ropes which are exactly what they sound like. A massive jump rope engulfed in flames and the brave souls who risk a 3rd degree burn to get a good picture.

Koh Phangan was fun and there is a lot more to do than party. The farther north you go on the island, the prettier the beaches get and the more yoga and health centric spots start popping up. We stayed on the island for a few days, zipping up and down the coast on our motor bike, before deciding we wanted to explore the Indian Ocean side of Thailand. So now we are on Koh Phi Phi (pronounced Pee Pee) and have been doing little more than sunbathing everyday. This island is stunning and the weather has been perfect so we are taking full advantage and getting our tanning time in. Made famous by the Leo Dicaprio movie, The Beach, Phi Phi is a tiny island with no cars and a mixture of backpackers and vacationers. 

I am so sad that our Thailand adventure is quickly coming to an end and Laura is leaving me in a week. She has been the perfect travel companion, always on the same page as me, and I'm going to miss her so much when she goes! As for me, I have 8 days before they can legally kick me out of the country and I don't quite know where I'm going yet. If the Myanmar website would work and I could secure my eVisa then I would say I'm going to Burma but so far I've had no luck. As always, I have faith that things will work out the way they are supposed to and the universe will nudge me in the right direction. :)