I Get by with a Little Help from My ... Frodo

Location: Soi 1 Guesthouse, Soi 1 Sukhumvit, Bangkok

Adventure of the Day: Braving the busy, bustling, Bangkok.

Bang! Kok

I’ve been in Bangkok more than one week, and it both feels like I’ve been here forever and that I’ve only just arrived. I’ve seen so much and yet only a fraction of the city. That, compounded with being completely on my own in Asia for the first time, job hunting, and the general hum of anxiety over the impending floods hanging in the air, and it’s been quite a wild ride.

It’s so surreal to think I’ve been in Asia for six weeks now. The culture shock/emotional freak out was bound to hit me sooner or later, and it chose this last week or so to do just that.

What really set me off was walking away from the Triangle Lodge last Friday, away from half of our little group, David, Hannah, Hayley, and Meghan. And I was walking toward Bangkok and the split from Joe and Kate to be completely on my own.

But what comforted me in that time of uncertainty? Of course it was those oh so familiar words of the sage Frodo and Bilbo Baggins.

Yes, as is the case in most big moments in my life (and let’s face it, most every moment in my life) I got a very sound piece of advice from LOTR.

And look at it this way — no matter how bad the possible floods in Bangkok might be, they can’t be as bad as Mordor.