We cleverly named ourselves the Mini Backpack Poppers. Because that is exactly what we were. A hybrid hip new version of the cliche and overly trendy backpackers. With less than a dozen summer dresses, a pair of flip-flops, and only the most crucial necessities, we traveled light, with a small backpack each. Mini backpacks, that is. We popped around Phucket, taking in the most of the magical beaches and bustling towns by day, and surreal sunsets and ice cold beer by night.
Being a Mini Backpacker not only means mini backpacks. It means mini excursions. In order to hop around as much of the southern bit of Thailand in merely a week's time, Mini Backpackers understand that one must bend the parallel lines of time and pleasure: it is essential for those two to merge and flow together. We did a grade-A job on accomplishing that. We took pleasure with every bit of the time we had. We went the CliffNotes route, where we only stayed in one area just long enough to get a summary, and we packed up and popped out to indulge in the next amazing chapter. Indulge we did, with food and drink and smiles..Or at least we tried. Being a Mini Backpack Popper has its drawbacks as well...
Between the breathtaking sunsets, where the magnificent colors slowly smeared down a canvas backdrop behind the ocean, and the food, and the Thai iced-tea in plastic bags, and the consistent Thai smiles, we became lost. On a minute by minute basis. The best part about being lost was when the Tuk-Tuk drivers asked, "Where you go?" We honestly said, "We don't know." We never knew where we were, where we came from, or even better, where we were going. We were clueless and lost. At times it took up to three hours to find a beach, walking in the summer sweaty heat, through dirt roads and fields upon fields of nothing that seemed to lead nowhere. Those moments we'd look at each other's drained, exhausted faces and ask, "Where ARE we?" On the other hand, these back roads we inadvertently trekked through with a confusing map, a useless guidebook, and the help from people we'd randomly meet along the way pointing in general directions, would sometimes lead us to a place more magical than any Lonely Planet or Frommer's would ever offer. Some of these places were OURS, and nobody else's. We'd then look at each other in a dreamlike state of mind and a wide smile and ask, "Where ARE we?"
Another major point in being a Mini Backpack Popper is that mini includes a mini budget. Any food or drink exceeding 45 Baht ($1.50) left us with a look of horror and left the business with two less customers. Traveling with a light wallet has its positives and negatives. I would much rather spend my time away from fancy resorts, where Thailand is seen behind an overpriced tropical drink and a plate of spaghetti, where the smiling Thais are your servers rather than your friends. I would also rather spend my Thailand adventures away from a dorm room of ten beds in a hostel, gaining more knowledge about every other country around the world EXCEPT Thailand, and where eggs benedict and English tea is a morning specialty. Rather, we walked for literally miles at a time looking for our perfect guest house that matched our budget and our comfort. And we really didn't need much to make us happy.
Being on a budget and satisfying our taste buds was not a problem at all. It was an adventure in itself. We found true hole in the walls, where our server greeted us with a toothbrush in mouth and his wife cooking outside their home, aka their restaurant. These dollar menu restaurants had flavors upon flavors of exciting varieties. Those were the times we truly tasted Thailand. And it tasted delish.
i had never read this before. it made me cry. let's go back. mini-backpack popper reunion <3
ReplyDeleteYES YES YES!!! Next mini-backpak popper trip won't come soon enough!
ReplyDelete