It's the Journey...

"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)

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El Aniversario

"A wedding anniversary is the celebration of love, 

trust, partnership, tolerance and tenacity. 

The order varies for any given year."

- Paul Sweeney, American writer

We rented a villa on a cliff overlooking the bay. It had five different levels, nine bedrooms, a swimming pool on a wide balcony, a pool table, and came with a cook and a bartender/housekeeper. We invited a small group of our closest friends to fly down and celebrate with us. It was June, the rainy season in Mexico. We were lucky during the days, the sun was out and it was hot. Every evening the clouds and wind would roll in from the west and there would be fantastic lightning storms out over the bahía de banderas. We would all sit out on the balcony in the warm rain, drinking margaritas, Mexican beer, mojitos, and watch the white sheets explode out over the water and slash down to strike the surface. It was beautiful and terrible. The days were spent snorkeling, shopping, deep sea fishing, swimming, and just lounging about. We would read for a bit, and then the housekeeper might ask if we wanted a drink or a shrimp quesadilla and perhaps some guacamole? "Splendid idea," we'd say. 

On the afternoon of the 19th, we all went out to Le Kliff and Stacie and I were married in a semi-traditional Mexican ceremony. She wore a beautiful pale pink sun dress and I had on hemp cotton pants, a Mexican shirt and sandals. The short, succinct ceremony was on a promontory out above the water of the bay. Afterwards we all traipsed up to the restaurant above and had a gigantic feast. Lobster, shrimp, chicken, and pork along side fresh flounder, snapper, tuna, salmon and scallops. Margaritas and Sangria in bowls the size of your head. G got drunk and made an ass of herself. We all laughed. She played the fool quite well, and wandered off with a taxi cab driver. Back at the villa, we were all in our cups, jumping into the swimming pool, cracking more beer, laughing, playing, and watching the storm show out over the dark water as the warm rain washed us clean. 

Best week of my life.

KJT - Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (2004)

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