After leaving Poland in June 2017, the adventure didn’t end there. In fact, it just begun.
There are too many stories to share from then until now, but I wanted to share this video, which was shot over the course of my sabbatical.
After 26 countries and 2 years, here is the result:
* This post is LONG overdue, but I’m sure you’ll forgive me 🙂 I hope.
Several months into our relationship, I planted an idea in Weronika’s head about a summer trip to Montreal. And every once in a while, I watered that idea, promising sunnier weather, happier & friendlier people and a high quality way of life.
So it was a pleasure to notice I was a catalyst in her decision to sell her dance studio. She had been the owner of an exotic dance school for 9 years, bringing pole dancing and twerk to Poland. She also was the organizer of the yearly Miss Poland Pole Dance competition, which had 80 participants this year. However, the last few years became increasingly stressful and she wanted to focus on her online store, which sells pole dancing and fitness clothing. (By the way, her handmade sportswear clothes rival those of Lululemon).
The sale went very smoothly, and one of her dance instructors became the new owner. Of course, the staff was initially shocked with the news, but then encouraged her. Everyone imaged Canada to be exotic and dreamy, or maybe they were just thinking about Justin Trudeau. Either way, with the school behind her, Weronika became a digital nomad, able to work anywhere and on her own schedule (like me). I was the lucky guy to be her guide for the next chapter of her life 🙂
A few weeks before Thailand, Weronika brought me to a cozy cafe in Warsaw that’s tourist-friendly. In talking with the owner, she mentioned they regularly have travelers present an upcoming trip or share pictures of a past trip. She asked if I would be willing to do a presentation on my sabbatical, and I gleefully accepted.
With Weronika’s help, I made an splendid speech with lots of images, keeping to the theme “The deeper meaning to travel”. Most people are aware of the impacts and benefits of short term travel, say 1-4 weeks, but traveling for more than a year is a game changer. Aside from sharing a few pictures, I wanted to encourage travel enthusiasts to push their comfort zone and seek out their passions.
The two hour presentation was made to an audience of about 30. People seemed to be fairly impressed with my performance, so it looks like all those Presentation Skills courses I took a few years ago paid off. A few even approached me after the speech to thank me and wanted more details and recommendations. Overall, there was a great energy to the evening 🙂
A few days later, there was a goodbye party for a few close friends, including a new couple I met at the presentation. Overall, saying goodbye was easier than previous times, because although I had been in Poland for 10 months, it really is a second home to me. Everyone knows I’ll be back soon enough, so it was more of a “see ya later” instead of a “goodbye”.
A quick note about Stefan and Ola. It was a wonderful pleasure to spend so much time with one of my best friends and his incredible wife. They have always treated me like family, and their laid back yet fulfilling lifestyle is something to be admired. Love you guys!
Sadly, leaving Poland marks the end of my sabbatical. The moment when this realization fully took place was when the plane touched down in Toronto, and I became very emotional, but I’ll get into that in the next post. Suffice to say, my life as a world traveler is far from over, and I’m curious how my new worldly views will be applied to day to day life in Montreal.
See ya later, Poland.
It felt like the last two weeks in Thailand passed fairly quickly, so I’ll keep the final update brief to match the mood.
We covered a lot of ground, travelling by plane, boat, scooter, bus, and train, and time spent on the islands was generally more enjoyable than on the mainland. Except for the bugs, those damn bugs that feasted on my skin regardless how much repellent I applied. By the end, my arms looked like the beginning of a zombie infestation.
A boat trip to a nearby beach was the best part of Krabi.
We ended up three nights instead of four on Phi Phi, because although touristy, the area was lovely. The famous Maya Beach was over-run with people on tours, but for understandable reasons.
Clear blue-green waters and great food everywhere. Huge beach parties at night, banging loudly into the night’s sky.
We stayed clear from the overly-tourist part of Phuket and kept mostly to the old town. Then I abandoned Weronika for two days and one night to go diving in the Similan Islands, which are rated some of the best diving in the world. And they were.
From Phuket, we traveled over 10 hours all the way to Samui Island, only to have Weronika’s stomach vehemently disagree with something, and she spent a few days lying in bed suffering. Luckily she picked the best time to be sick, as it constantly rained for three days straight.
No pictures worth sharing.
For the second to last night, we traveled 12 hours in an overnight train back to Bangkok. It was a cool experience, and more comfortable than I expected.
Once in Bangkok however, I wanted to treat Weronika to a much greater comfort level of comfort, so we checked into a 5 star hotel for our last night in Thailand. We skipped the 2700 Bhat massage in the hotel, and walked a few hundred meters down the street to a blind massage parlour, where a two hour massage was 700 Bhat.
Then it was cocktails at the top of the hotel, on the 61st floor. The 360 degree views were spectacular, but hard to capture with our phones.
Thailand is a welcoming country, with exceptionally friendly people (except for taxi drivers, who are impatient and really try to screw you as much as possible; I guess business is business).
Unfortunately, although we had a great time, it didn’t quite match our expectations. Perhaps too many people told us how amazing it would it be, and how cheap it is, and it simply wasn’t able to keep up with it’s own reputation. Although Thailand is cheaper than Poland, it’s nowhere as inexpensive as I thought it would be. Sure, the beaches were great, but the local food looked the same after a while, and the overly hot weather and zombie bugs spoiled my mood.
For me, the highlight of trip was the motorcycle day on Route 1148. Pure magic.
For Weronika, it was the last night in Bangkok, at the hotel, especially at the rooftop bar.