I try to be a conscious and informed traveler. I do my best to research my destinations, be active and engaged in the local activities and culture, and make the most of the time I have in each place I’ve visited. However, that is not always the case, and on one particular weekend in Bangkok it was all about the party. 

It was my friend, Julie’s, birthday in February and she wanted to celebrate in Bangkok. We planned a trip there during a three day weekend. There was a group of 11 of us that met up from areas all over Thailand. For some, it was the first time we had seen each other since our TESOL course ended and we had been teaching. We swapped teaching stories, laughed about our culture shock mishaps, and mocked each other endlessly(like only true friends can), and went out for a big meal to kick off the weekend together! It felt like a family reunion. 

Bangkok lived up to its reputation as a city full of life and debauchery. We went non-stop, riding the euphoria of being together and celebrating birthdays. The weekend was filled with street food, drink buckets, music and dancing in the street, and inevitably nursing heavy hangovers in the morning. We took a break from the partying and went to explore Jatujak market, which is the largest market in the world, but one of the errands we had to do was buy some shoes for my friend because a couple of us had thrown them from the tuk tuk the night before(like I said, debauchery). 

Despite the fact that my 30 year old body took a whole week to recover from the weekend, it was some of the best times with the best people I’ve had in Thailand. I have a sneaky suspicion that we brought the party to Bangkok rather than Bangkok providing the party. We’ll have to see what happens at the next reunion, wherever that may be.