Bangkok

I'm on a lay-over in Bangkok right now. I feel like this is one of the airports I know pretty well, given the handful of times I came through here last winter. Feels strange to be in someplace so different but which feels familiar.

Because I'm a worrier, I have been starting to plan out "what-ifs" - what if it is too cold in Northern Vietnam? What if I'm not having fun? What if what if what if. And then I remembered - I'm in Southeast Asia, and a flight to someplace strikingly beautiful is about $50 away. So I'm still thinking about Chaing Mai again, but am also thinking about Malaysia. Or Borneo. Or anyplace, really. Anyway, there are always options, and if I'm not having a good time, I can move on.

For some reason, once I know what my "worst case" scenario is, I feel better about the whole thing. Like, once I know what I'll do if things are bad, I feel better.

I left Mokop last night on the 2:30 am bus to the airport in Incheon. I'll get in to Hanoi at 7:30, so with the time change, that will be about 19-20 hours of travel. Tomorrow it is about 4 to CatBa Island. I maybe need to think about visiting places that don't require me to travel for a full day just to get there. What is interesting is that I will be going to my 4th country that doesn't use a Roman alphabet, and have never traveled to one that does. I sort of like that.