Traveling Day to Bangkok June 1, 2016

    BRANDIN SHOST IN THAILAND 2016


Thailand trip:  Summer 2016  I had signed up to teach a summer course in Thailand before the death of my very, very close friend, Ponsak Poopatanapong.  One month after I had agreed with the Bangkok School of English, I received news that my wonderful friend Ponsak had passed away.  I have spent many summers in Thailand and felt obligated to follow through on my commitment.  Now that I am on my way to Thailand for 5 weeks, there is a pit in my stomach thinking about how I will feel when I arrive in Bangkok.  I will be totally on my own with the Thai people and their very different culture.  I have very good insight on the do's and don'ts in their culture and feel I know a significant amount of Thai language to make it with little problem.   I will be teaching adult business men and a woman English for 4 weeks.

It is time to embark on this experience.  It is going to be significantly different than any of my past six visits to the country.  It is most likely my final trip to this friendly land and I am sure it will be bittersweet.

My recent summers are full of adventures including many trips to Thailand, Europe and riding my bicycle across America for the second time with my wife Deb.  The experiences have been meaningful and life changing.  I do not believe that we change who we are in life, but our perspectives on life continually change as we age.  The trip is a GO.




Deb drove me to the airport in Ft. Walton Beach, VPS for a 5:35 AM flight on June 1, 2016.  I arrived at the airport an hour and ten minutes before my flight (good thing).  The trip got off on the wrong foot. I was stopped by security for suspicion of chemical explosives!  My kids accuse me of embellishing stories, but this is a fact and no stretching of the truth.  My wife, trying to be kind "sweetheart", placed Almond Joy bars in my carry on suitcase  for a nice surprise.  I never knew that coconut oil has been used in making bombs since 1944.  (Google Search after the incident).  I was body searched four times, yes, four times.  Every item was removed from my suitcase and individually inspected.  The woman said; "we are getting all kinds of readings of explosive materials".  It is a bad idea to laugh when they say that.  It was no doubt, bizarre as could be.  Finally, after 35 minutes of interrogation, I was finally set free and made it to the gate as they were just closing the door. A minute longer and I would have missed the flight.

The flight to Houston was very turbulent.  We passed over many thunderstorms along the way. There was no snack or beverage service because of the turbulence.   Once in Houston, I went to the United Club and had breakfast and coffee.  I have passes to spend my layovers in the comfort of the United Club.

Boarded the Houston to Tokyo flight and settled in for the 14 hour flight.  It is never easy to sleep on a plane.  I think I did get about 3 hours of sleep throughout the 14 hour flight.  We had three meals along the way.  I was fortunate to have the center seat empty to place items and have elbow room.  The flight arrived in Tokyo twenty minutes early.  I had a five hour layover so I went to the United Club and showered to refresh myself.  I am nearly ready to board my flight to Bangkok.  Another seven hours of flight time with arrival at midnight Thailand time.  It is 12 hours difference between Bangkok and Freeport, Florida. I plan to sleep in tomorrow.  I will update the blog briefly upon arrival at my hotel.  Love to all.