Thailand!

I haven't posted anything since February, 2008... over 8 months.
Writing clearly does not come as easy to me as others. I usually need to have something exciting to write about. Not that every day life is a complete bore, but its not as exciting as traveling.
That said, I am heading to Thailand two weeks from today for 17 days.
It was a last minute purchase after I realized that the prices from PDX to BKK dropped over $400. I am on a very tight budget and realized I could afford this trip... barely. :)
So, on November 24th (two weeks from today) at around 10am in the morning I will board a flight from Portland to Seattle, where I will catch another flight from Seattle to Tokyo, where I will catch one last flight to Bangkok.
Much like my last trip to Europe (which I was a week into as of a year ago today), I haven't much plans. I land in the city of Bangkok around 11pm and will probably be too tired to do anything. I figure I will probably not stay in the city for more then one day and might even leave the next morning.
As luck would have it, my friend Avery is in Thailand. We have emailed each other a couple times and it sound like we might meet up and travel together for a bit. This is great news because she has spent some time there and knows the routine and she is super cool... and will no doubt make a great travel companion. We have yet to establish much except that it would be great to meet up. She was suggestion in northern Thailand city of Chiang Mai which sounds great to me because I definitely want to see that area.
I also plan to spend at least 6 days on a remote amazing beach. Not sure where yet, but thats the plan. Other then that, who knows. :)
This trip is a long time coming. I applied for a 6-month sabbatical from work in 2005. It was denied. Last year I considered going to Thailand instead of Europe, but the time change would have caused problems with work. This trip, is all vacation. I am not even planning on bringing my computer (a decision that didnt come lightly). Actually this time I plan to pack VERY light. I am bringing my Canon Rebel XT camera but thats about the only thing of value I plan to take.
I will try to post often on this blog and expect too considering that internet cafes are supposedly easy to find in Thailand. I will also post photos here and even more on my flickr account.
I am getting very excited. My friend Lisa let me borrow a couple books on traveling in Thailand and I have been going through them. So much to see... 17 days does not sound long enough.
Now I need to buy some clothes for the trip, get my phone set up (with good music and a few videos for long flights) and determine what I want and need to bring.
14 days and counting. :)