I think I saw 2 people in love today

(On my way home from basketball and to try and pick up my laundry that is almost never on time (it wasn't ready) I saw a maybe 20ish year old Thai girl on the back of the bike of her I'm guessing bf and she just looked very comfortable and didn't seem to care where they were going, just happy she was hugging the person she adores. I found it very lovely)

Have 10 min before my bed time so here we go. Last time I posted I just got into Phuket. Not everyone loves Phuket because it is super touristy and somewhat seedy. I liked it!! The island is crazy big, if you want a laid back beach, baam Kamala, if you want a party scene that is honestly crazy, somewhat illegal in most countries and surprising, Patong. Want a real thai city, Phuket Town. My hopes were very low for Phuket because I didn't hear great things but I was pleasantly surprised. All about keeping your expectations in check..My mom abandoned me one day for an 8am round of golf which produced this great picture:

  I ended up seeing another teacher from my school randomly in the thousands of people on the main street which went well with the theme of seeing teachers from Nakhon in Chiang Mai. If you are thinking about visiting Phuket, I would try and go to a few different places to get a real feel for the place or if you find the right spot right away, just stay. It was nice spending 10plus days with my mom, I think she really enjoyed Thailand and spending time with her only/favorite son. She was a great travel partner and was good to see a percentage of your family. Highlights were 1-being away from work/real life for almost a month 2-Seeing my mom 3-Chiang Mai 4-Phuket 5-Driving around Pai 6-Doing whatever you want all day long.  7-Buying about 25 Christmas presents. So if you think you cracked my top 25....you will find out in December. 8-Fantastic weather.

Back to normal life feels good though, missed my kids and nice being back into a routine. Looks like the rain is here to stay for awhile, I was telling people here that I think the rain is going to get me down a bit but people gave me some good advice and the last few days I just look at the rain and think "You aren't snow and I can deal with being a little wet" however m;y mood is known to change so will keep you updated on this ongoing battle. Future holds no Europe summer unfortunately so looking into things to do next year, going rock climbing in Railay at the end of November so gives me something to look forward to.

2 quick thoughts: 1-While traveling is fun and new, there are some downsides so if you do decide to travel with someone, make sure you like them because being another world away and having to deal with constant decisions about hotels, food, itineraries, flights, tours ext can get exhausting even if you do like the person. If you are thinking about getting married and haven't done any extensive traveling, you might want to give it a go, you might be (un)pleasantly surprised. I have a feeling a few people on their honeymoons quickly realized they might have just made a big mistake.

2-My hair is getting very long. I went to my barber when I got back and the girl who did it sort of made a motion to touch up the sides of my hair, I nodded. So she did a little more than touch it up, hard to explain but the words uneven and bizarre come to mind. A few kids in my class have the same basic haircut as me. Just sayin.

Brick walls are there for a reason. They're there to keep other people out. They're there to show you how bad you want something.