"I travel not to go anywhere, but to go.
I travel for travel's sake.
The great affair is to move."
- Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish writer (1850-1894)
I've long had a saying, "It's the journey, not the destination." Meaning that the big part of my love of travel is the travel itself, not necessarily the end result. In French it's known as L'âme de la gitane - the gypsy soul. Most of the time I'm also pretty happy with the end result, of course, and sometimes it turns out to be an actual paradise...
After spending several hot, sweaty days in Bangkok we took a quick flight down to Ko Samui, an island in the Gulf of Thailand in the South China Sea. We had a small bungalow just off the beach, the water was a deep sapphire hue, and the swaying palms gave a nice respite from the high sun. We dabbled with different Thai dishes, various curries, fresh caught fish & squid, hot & sweet soups, and coconut water. We swam in the ocean, walked the white sands, and rented a sea kayak to nose around the myriad reefs, small islands, and currents of the gulf. We went back into the heart of the island, Na Muang Park, where we hiked through jungle, crossed rivers, swam under a waterfall, rode the backs of elephants, played with monkeys, and then returned to a leisurely dinner overlooking the bay.
KJT - Ko Samui, Thailand (2007)
