Sometimes I feel like someone has cast a curse on me, not the worst kind, but a moderate one, where there’s no tragedy, but always something. During travel, there are many dangers, difficulties, and no-win situations. Especially when exploring the East, because not everything is as easily solvable as we’re used to in Europe.
In the last 4 months since I returned to Thailand on Koh Phangan, so much has happened that there was no other option but to sit in a corner and cry, wondering at the same time what I am doing wrong in life and if I should go back to Poland. And such moments repeat themselves from time to time, after all, despite making new acquaintances, I am ultimately alone, surrounded by jungle, haunted by cockroaches and other creatures.
Crying is always healthier than bottling up emotions, which only deepen fear, sadness, and frustration. I even have a dedicated playlist for this on Spotify. It almost always works.
Experiences of a Digital Nomad in Thailand - life on the go
Since I left, I have changed accommodation (for a longer stay) 9 times… Which in summary means moving on average every 1.5 months. And although as a digital nomad, you have to be prepared for frequent changes, the reasons for these changes were often beyond my control (in about half the cases). But anyone who has read knows the story of the oven in Samma Karuna or the nymphomaniac roommate in the dream house by the lake. But let me tell you about one of the “fresher” reasons…
I rented a house on a hillwith a beautiful view of the valley and the sea. Additionally, the only neighbors were a couple in the house next door and the owners who live down the road.
So what this time…? There were two dogs at the owners’ house,one small and the other an Amstaff. I am friendly to animals and understand that they need to get used to me. So every time I had to pass them to get home, the dogs would run up and bark unfriendly. I tried to stay calm and not make any sudden movements or show fear. Unfortunately, the owner, whose role it is to familiarize the property-protecting animals with the new tenant, didn’t care about the situation and only sometimes shouted when I was already forced to ask for intervention…
It was safer during the day because the heat drove the dogs into the shade and all-day siesta. Worse in the evenings when the neighborhood wakes up and the neighboring dogs join into a roaming pack that often chases motorized passersby on the road.
One evening, when I had a dinner date with friends, I typically went to get my scooter parked down the road. However, this time, after starting the engine, the dogs began to react more aggressively than usual, so I decided that the only safe option would be to quietly leave the property. As I started to move, the Amstaff began to get close enough to try to bite the scooter (not me). However, these attempts were so close to the leg cavity that after driving away, I was convinced it would accidentally bite me. The second dog joined, and after 10 meters of riding, stress took over, and I lost control of the handlebars, driving into a 1.5-meter deep roadside ditch. The machine stopped on a fallen tree, and miraculously, I was a meter away from having a branch pierce my face. Finally, I had “only” half my body scratched, and several parts broke off the scooter. A guy from the house by the road and two passing Thais helped me. The owner of my cottage only called the dogs on my shouts to take them away, not even checking on me. It was the first time I encountered such ignorance from the locals.
Therefore, let me give you the first piece of advice here – always travel with travel insurance. Check the price for the destination and travel with peace of mind that if ANYTHING happens, you are financially protected.
The malice of inanimate objects - difficulties of a digital nomad working while traveling
Currently, I have been living in a nice area, away from tourists and noise, for 2 months. Finally, I have a living room, a proper kitchen, including a huge terrace with a hammock and workspace. Everything is great, but in the month I have been living here, I got 3 flat tires on my scooter on the road leading to the house. And each one is a 5-centimeter nail that apparently strayed from a nearby construction site. But at least I made friends with the service owner, who has roots in Thailand but lived his whole life in the Netherlands, so one day he decided to leave everything and return to where he came from.
Moving away from the topic of housing, let’s talk about my luck with electronics… So before I left, I bought a new phone to record my adventures. To protect the smartphone and computer, I specially bought all the cases and covers. Despite this, I didn’t avoid the death of the MacBook screen and touchpad. However, the phone died once underwater (despite Apple’s assurances that the 14 Pro would survive such an adventure) and the second time in a case designed for underwater photography (I do not recommend it, a few drops always get in, which can be deadly…).
The first phone failure happened in Phu Quoc, Vietnam, where my phone completely died, and I left the spare in Thailand, so to get from home to the service, I had to draw my first ever hand-drawn map – quite a funny experience when you return to offline and have to be super careful about what, where, and how.
It wouldn’t be a tragedy if not for the fact that in Asia, especially in smaller locations, the only electronics services are those with unauthorized parts, so my phone is already a Frankenstein (with parts from all over the world…) and has been repaired weekly for a month because the non-original battery keeps failing. Well, I need to plan a repair, e.g., in Bangkok, although I don’t know if there’s anything left to save.
On this topic, from the freshest stories, yesterday I was returning from Malaysia, where I had to renew my visa to Thailand. After 28 hours of travel, exhausted and dirty, I get off the ferry. I go to the parking lot for the scooter, happy that I will soon take a warm shower and rest, but I discover that…
Scooters have an additional anti-theft mechanism, which closes the key slot and can only be opened with the “pin” that sticks out from the side of the key. After a few attempts, I discovered that my pin, which I hadn’t had to use until now, was so worn out that it turned like a screwdriver in a damaged thread. FUCK.
So I stop people on the road, looking for other Honda users to borrow their key and functional pin, but no one wants to stop. I went to 7 Eleven and ask everyone like a door-to-door salesman. Finally, I find the Honda owner among the store employees. Unfortunately, different model, pin too big. With the last of my functioning brain cells, I think about what else I can do besides taking a taxi home and returning for the scooter tomorrow. I went to a nearby scooter rental service, but the lovely owner informed me that each pin is unique. Sigh, so a taxi.
Tip number two – protect your electronics with good quality cases. Regarding the phone, I have been using Spigen for 10 years, and despite the story above, it has saved my phone in many situations. However, the classic cases I used in the past did not work even half as well as the mentioned company. Before leaving, I also bought a Spigen case for my laptop, and it protects me on the road.
From the malice of inanimate objects to the further dangers of the natural world in Thailand
I wrote to you some time ago about snakes falling from the sky, vampire leeches in the Malaysian jungle, and night visits of cockroaches. However, in the current repertoire, I dealt with a mouse family that turned out to be a rat mother with a few-month-old young of incomplete dimensions, which I initially thought were mice… And let’s not hide it, size matters, a mouse, although equally unsanitary, is less disgusting. As a result, I spent the last few weeks looking for traps to humanely capture the non-paying tenants. Mission complete, 3 rats caught, including the mother (or maybe the father…). Caught with beef and chicken, released as recommended by Google – a kilometer from home, a week of silence in the air.
Can anything else surprise me? Of course. A month ago, I was at a party on the other side of the island. Lately, I hardly party at all, and what I’m about to write probably reinforces this decision.
The party takes place in a club on the rocks, which can be reached by boat or by walking through the jungle for about 1.5 hours (if you don’t get lost). My friends and I like to get lost, so since the party lasts during the day, we gather around 9 a.m. and reach the place awake, with morning physical activity completed.
The road through the jungle, although it sounds dangerous, is already so trampled that the risk is minimal. So when and what happened to Patryk?
So after a few hours of a successful party, I leave the dance floor to smoke a cigarette. I stepped on something that hurt, but I assumed I had stepped on a sharp stone or stick. After walking two meters, my foot still hurts, so I reach down to remove what I stepped on and it turns out… That a MANTIS is biting me. Moreover, it had dug its teeth/pincers into my foot so deeply that it didn’t want to let go, and I had to remove it mechanically.
I’m 8,000 kilometers from home, I walked 1.5 hours through the jungle, but it was me who had to step on a mantis, an insect known for eating males. What are the chances?!
Let's move on to the section of injuries, illnesses, and indispositions in Southeast Asia
I probably didn’t mention how in the first months of living in Thailand, I got an ear infection. Yes, not just one ear, but both. High fever, unbearable pain even while eating or lying down. It was only after 2 days that I was able to go to the doctor for antibiotics, simultaneously overstaying my visa by 2 days, which not only incurs a financial penalty but also the risk that you may not be allowed back into the country. Where did the ear infection come from? As it turns out, it’s called “swimmer’s ear,” where an undried ear becomes a breeding ground for bacteria, so beachgoers and others – please dry yourselves.
And speaking of illnesses and visas, what kind of unlucky person do you have to be to get severe food poisoning a week after a scooter accident, exactly the night before a visit to the Immigration Office, where you have to go twice and spend about 1-2 hours in queues and paperwork. I genuinely thought that while riding a scooter in the blazing sun, barely aware of reality, I would simply collapse and die.
I will skip the short story about a strange rash in Cambodia, which fortunately was helped by a local ointment, but I will mention a night swim on Zen Beach, just after sunset. Spontaneously, without swim trunks, just in underwear. Warm water, great company, nice conversations. But out of the whole company, I had to step on a sea urchin. 5 spines got embedded, which were picked out with tweezers by surgeons Evgueni and Iklima. After an hour of howling in pain (inside and out), we went to the hospital, where I got instructions to soak my foot in warm water, which would draw out toxins and soften the skin for easier removal of the stingers. Damn, I still have 2 in my foot, but I hope my foot has come to terms with it.
Tip number three – always enter the water in swimming shoes because you never know what you’ll step on. There are a lot of creatures and sharp corals roaming there. I already have a lot of scars, including a few on my butt…
Summary of my misfortunes in Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, and Vietnam
So it’s day 436 when I finish this article, and on my count, the following:
- 2 snakes falling from the sky
- 6 land leeches
- Night visits of countless cockroaches
- 2 phone breakdowns
- 2 laptop breakdowns
- lost AirPods 2
- 1 scooter accident
- 4 flat tires
- 1 broken keyhole pin on the scooter
- 2 food poisonings
- Stepping on a sea urchin, 5 spines in the foot
- Losing all payment cards
- Inflammation of both ears
In summary, a lot has happened. There were a few mental breakdowns, many doubts, a lot of crying, sweat, blood, and screams. But a new day, a new week always comes, and I feel that each time I gain more strength, courage, and desire for further experiences (knock on wood). Every problem, regardless of its magnitude, teaches me resourcefulness and creativity. I’ve been alone for 12 years and lacked self-confidence, relying too much on others, including a missing other half. Today I am becoming a man who has to keep his guard up because I am 8,000 kilometers from home, on the other side of the world, fulfilling my dreams, continuing my journey outward and inward.
