Phuket birthday adventures

Two thousand nineteen has been a good year. Already. On the 3rd of April I celebrated my birthday in solitude. My 5th birthday abroad, the first on my own. I guess 23 is a good age for it. 

Anyway, 30th of March 9:20am and I was up and away again! Off to the beautiful Island of Phuket, Thailand. I could not have been more excited, nervous and ready for the trip. Even-though it was only for a week, the thrill of stepping into the unknown like this once again was exactly what I needed after having lived and worked in Byron Bay and having been in Australia for almost half a year already. 

Six months is a long time if you live every day and not just let life pass by. This is something I have learnt during my travels. They say time flies when you’re having fun which is true but doesn't time always fly by in hind sight? I mean to say that I feel like I've been to so many places and met so many new faces, it wouldn't be right not to acknowledge all the awesomeness of my last 182 days spent here. 

Back to Phuket. Now, I feel like I must start with sharing something I would have liked to known beforehand. This being that Phuket is quite a big island with plenty of little towns. Public transport is close to non-existent and taxi’s are quite pricy for Thai-standards. 

The single piece of public transport that I found was the airport bus. Which is the easiest/cheapest combination to get to Old town. Costs 100Bhat and takes about an hour and 20 min to and hour and a half from the airport to Old town. If you say which hotel you’re staying at in old town the bus driver might just drop you off in front if it’s on the way. 

Although old town is quaint and has it’s charms, things to do and see are well spread over the entire island. On Sunday nights though, you'll find the Thalang night market right in the centre of Old town, which I most definitely recommend to everyone staying in Phuket over the weekend. 

So the thing about Phuket is, is that you’ve got two big hubs where you’d want to be. This being Old town and Patong beach area. Now Patong beach is world renown for it’s party scene and I made the very conscious decision NOT to stay there because I wanted to go explore and relax rather than party. So I started off at Vitamin sea hostel in Old town. This beautiful little hostel is an easy walk from the bus station 1 where the airport bus ends and is an equally easy walk up the road to the central streets. Probably the best thing about the hostel is the ever so friendly and helpful staff. Most definitely recommend when in Phuket. 

Spent my first morning pretty slow, figuring out a plan on what to see and do in Phuket and if I would even stay in Phuket for the entire week. After a good couple of hours going over maps and talking to other travellers I decided not to make a decision quite yet on what to do with my week. I went for a walk in stead. Ended up wandering through Old town for most of the day. 

Turns out there's quite enough places to discover in Old town I soon found out. Temples and murals just around corners and down alleyways. As well as a nice park here and there and of course all the food waiting to be eaten. After a quick nap back at the hostel I ventured to the night market to stuff my face in all that's weird and wonderful. Ran into two girls I met at the hostel and ended up eating loads of mango sticky rice which made my soul really happy.

I'd also decided on doing an island hopping day tour, which I booked through the hostel. So day two started early with a pick up shuttle to Rassada pier. I booked a 3 islands day trip tour with Sea Angel for 1 400Baht (39€/62AU$) as it was recommended by the hostel and I had a great day. 

Air conditioned shuttle to the pier, animated briefing by the tour guide accompanied by free water, juice, coffee and some biscuits. And then off we were!

Speedboating to the first stop which was Yao Yai Island where we were free to go snorkelling and so I did of course. Met some really cool people too with who I ended up hanging out with for the rest of the day. We also got fresh pineapple and watermelon sliced to munch on before heading off for some sightseeing. Where we stoped in monkey bay and went snorkelling in the Phi Phi marine national park among many other places. For lunch we headed to Phi Phi Don, where we spent another couple of hours relaxing and enjoying the island

one of the snorkel sights, where I saw
the entire Finding Nemo-crew !

Take three for the sea

Koh Phi Phi Don

Had such a great time and laugh with this crew!

Monkey bay laughs

 So about the monkey picture. If you know me at all I feel quite strongly about animal/wildlife conservation and keeping wildlife wild. Which naturally includes not exploiting wildlife for tourism or any proposes really. This includes feeding wildlife, which I can get really angry about if I see people doing this (certainly if it's just to take a picture/selfie with the animal??!) as it disturbs their natural habitats and food patterns. So in the picture we're at Monkey bay, a little bay on one of the islands close to Phuket known for it's monkeys that inhabit the beach. Tourists come to the island in boat loads and although we were explicitly asked not to touch/feed nor interact with the wildlife clearly others weren't. As there were loads of people feeding the monkey it's clear that these monkeys already have changed their habits greatly and now fully associate humans with food. 

So as I was getting angry at idiots feeding the monkeys another monkey climbed up my leg to sit on my shoulder/head. Quite ironic, I know, as I was telling people off for feeding the monkeys and letting them climb onto them for pictures. But I still think it's a funny picture so imma still gonna leave it right here.

Case in point: DO NOT FEED WILDLIFE, nor ride elephants, take selfies with tigers, .... the list goes on and on really. people are idiots 🙅

ok rant over, back to my trip.

As it would be my birthday in just a few days I decided to spoil myself completely and book myself into a resort. So thanks to the expert searching skills of my sister I found The Mangrove Phuket. Located about 20 min out of Old town in Chalong Bay I went all the way and booked a taxi to get there in style haha!

So for the next four nights I found myself in bathing in (affordable) luxury. I got on of the studio villa's with views over the bay for just 281AU$ (178€) breakfast buffet included. The resort also rents out SUP-boards and kayaks for free to explore the bay and next-door mangroves. I cannot recommend this place enough. Honestly. Very friendly staff, always happy to help. 

Not everyday has to be extraordinary, even in paradise

This is a line I think I read somewhere, although I can't remember where so it could also just be something that just came to me. Who knows. Doesn't really matter, what does matter is that by (finally) coming to this realisation my life truely has sort of changed. Or maybe it's more my look on life that has changed. Either way, it really helped me lift the pressure of adventure off my shoulders which resulted in me finding ways to find something extra ordinary in everyday again!

So this is the deal, here's some real talk.

I had never worked two jobs as such before in my life. I’ve always been busy doing about a million things at once combining my horses with music classes, high school and scouting for instance and still finding the time for a social life. But I never actually had to combine two jobs with life. Turns out that's harder to do than combining hobbies when you're a kid.  

So it took me quite some time to find a balance between working and still going on adventures/ having fun.

this was the result of a pretty
average day working both jobs

And in doing this I learned something really important. I decided to let go of the crazy idea that, because I’m living this travellers life in the far far away country that is Australia, that I should be doing something extra ordinary everyday because I would otherwise be “wasting” my time here in paradise somehow. 

Almost funny to think about it like that now, because after all, this is MY life and My adventure and if I feel like doing nothing I'm quite entitled to do so. And certainly because of some recent events that happened like some kid throwing up on (and effectively destroying) my laptop as well as some struggles I had with my skin I felt tired and just didn't want to do more then I was obligated to do with my work. Which is quite normal tbh, life's though and sometimes it just wares you down. It happens all the time and to everyone in certain degrees. Everybody needs down time.

But with only 5 weeks left to my time in Byron I decide to make sure I have at least 1 full day off a week, and to dedicate that day to exploring. This way I would be able to have my extraordinary days and see amazing things and still have my time to chill and do absolutely nothing at all in those 2 to 4 hours in between or before shifts. You see the thing is, spending time doing something you want or enjoy doing at the time isn't wasting time. I've come to understand that this is mostly just self care and self love, to let you just be you.

And so I started planning and setting out at least once a week exploring Byron Bay all the way. This lead to finding some great spots like the Killen falls, lunch at The Farm and dips in the tea tree lake with Loreto between shifts. Meeting up with Fien, an old friend from ponycamp and exploring the Springbrook national park on the Gold Coast hinterland. As well as solo day tripping to the Mynion falls and a lot of Byron bay hinterland along the way.

I'll take more about and give you all the deets on these great places to explore very soon!

First I'm dying to talk about my birthday adventures, which I'll be doing next. So stay tuned on all the sweet stuff about Phuket, Thailand!!

xoxo Liz

Nomadic going on settled

Byron Bay, January2019

Going to Byron felt like the next natural thing to do. As I was running out of money fast I decided to settle down there for a bit to earn and save. I arrived on a Saturday and was completely overwhelmed. Not by the town itself, which is small and hardly rises above 2 stories but by the amount of people. Tourists and locals alike were all out and about on the streets. I had not realised it was the last Saturday of the summer holidays so the town was absolutely packed. I planned on saving money and staying on a campground outside of town but on arriving I decided I needed to be in hub to get that social contact going again, which is another reason why I ditched the campsite far out of town and checked in to a hostel in town. 

Christina and I on the eastern most point of mainland Australia

The same afternoon I met Christina, a lovely girl from Spain with whom I spent the rest of the day on the beach and after we did the lighthouse walk for sunset. It was a great way to start my days in Byron. It’s always so incredible to find someone, between all the people you meet along the way, with whom you can relate to in so many ways. Christina told me how she had been looking for a job here for a week already now and hadn’t had any luck so she ended up flying to Melbourne on Tuesday. Obviously this made me worry as I was getting in desperate need of a job as accommodation was really expensive with the summer still in full swing. Despite this I still walked around hours handing in my resume to every- and anyone who could give me a job.

It’s these kind of people you meet though, who really make me love travelling. The kind of people with whom you just connect. It’s the kind of people where you share life stories with before having asked their name or just forgot it instantly lol. 

My first few hours in Byron were super overwhelming which sent me spiralling. It was another moment of crisis in my head which I let run me over for a bit. And almost made me leave again. I’m so glad I didn’t though, thanks to a Skype call home and this beautiful new friend I met I pushed through, once again.

The following day I started talking to some other guys in the hostel which ended up in us going to the silent disco on the beach, with the full moon. Needless to say it was awesome, it felt so good to feel so alive and happy in the moment again. 

After a couple of days in my first hostel I decided to move as I just didn’t feel the ‘vibe’ going on there (the vibe being: party). So I walked across the street and around the corner to the YHA and asked for a room. Of course this place was almost as expensive as the last but I walked around and had a way better feeling about the place than the last so I moved. And thank god I did. Funny how life sends you across the street like that sometimes (literally haha). 

Life had it that I was able to score a job for accommodation there which would save me sooooo much money, so naturally I immediately took it with both hands. Around the same time I had started working at Cypress tree, a small Mediterranean restaurant in town which serves magnificent seafood. It was quite a fun job and the hours were perfectly combinable with my work at the hostel. Unfortunately this wasn’t the place for me to work after all, after a good week the owner told me they weren’t in need of my help anymore. So I received my pay and was thanked politely for my help. 

But as if they were waiting for this to happen the very same day I got a message from a restaurant where I had walked in with my resume, if i was still looking for a job and if so, if i would like to come in for a trail in a couple of days. 

And so I started working at Fishheads, a nice little restaurant right on the beach. Better pay, more hours and still manageable with my other job made me a happy kiddo.

from housekeeping

to the front of house

The whole “work for accomodation”thing was the best opportunity I could’ve gotten as this enabled me to live super social while saving big time on acc. costs. Most hostels work with volunteers who work about 15hours a week for acc. The work depends obviously on the time of year and what the hostels needs having done but I got a position with housekeeping. And even though I don’t think you’ll ever find me doing that full time I was easy work in shifts of 4 or 5 hours 3 mornings a week.

During my very first day at the hostel I did the free lighthouse walk, which was one of the activities done by the hostel.

side note; I always try to do the activities organised by hostels I go to, they’re usually either free or very cheap and it’s an excellent (and easy) way to meet people. 

So on the walk I met Yanina, a not your typical backpacker girl from Germany who was on a vacation in Australia from her life on the (cruise)ships. Anyway, we started talking about the horse tattoo on my back. 

Yanina and I after yet another fun night out

again side note: I have found that tattoo’s are also always such an easy way to start up a conversation with perfect strangers. 

We ended up spending most her time in Byron together, going out for drinks and diner and to the beach. I was great and I was able to see her again a couple of weeks later due to a change in her itinerary and I hope to be able to see her again somewhere around the world wherever we may get to!

Loreto and I at the tea tree lake

The other good friend I made is Loreto, from Chile. We met as we were in the same dorm at the time and stayed in contact throughout my entire time in Byron which was so great. We both had jobs and she moved places but we still managed to get together for waterfall adventures, strange meditation sessions and just beach chills. 

Even with the rocky first few hours in Byron I am so great full for the opportunities I got (and took) in my new home away from home, the beautiful Byron Bay.

So as life in Byron settled and I was working almost 45hours a week some weeks I learnt some new things in life.

Stay tuned for more Byron livin’ !

xoxo Liz