I find myself leaving Bangkok after five days feeling like I barely scratched the surface. It wasn’t from lack of exploring. I was out every day and night, wandering, seeing the sites. I made new travel friends and had several conversations with warm-hearted Thais. But a city that holds 11 million people has a lot to explore and five days could never be enough. So as I sit on the train to Ayutthaya, passing the most impoverished areas of Bangkok, windows open to the world outside, the sound of the engine deafening, a warm diesel breeze blowing through the car, I feel a sense of loss for the city I didn’t get know.
I make the decision to travel more slowly. That’s how I usually do things, and it just feels right. That’s going to mean skipping places I really want to see, but I expect the returns will be worth it. I will engage more fully in day-to-day moments, knowing I can just stop and be, not feeling the need to rush around to see it all. I will meet more people this way, and those relationships will have a bit more time to develop, hopefully leaving me with a lasting friendship or two. So on to Ayutthaya I go, feeling lighter already. Now the hard part, figuring out which places will have to wait for my next trip.
