Thai Life and What to Expect My Entry for Blocktrades Road to STEEMFest Contest 5

In the @blocktrades RoadtoSTEEMFest Contest 5, @anomadsoul asks us to:

Share what would you love to do while you are in Bangkok! Are you looking forward to eat certain dish or street food? Are you dying to visit a specific monument or to cruise to a specific island? What are you looking forward about the Thai life?

Bangkok and all of Thailand is my home.

Even though I cannot live there and have not been everywhere, I feel at home anywhere I go in the country, and the Thai people are the reason for this.

I am a nomad since birth, and had a stop in Thailand for two and a half years before I moved to Malaysia in August 2018. Never in my life have I ever felt so welcomed as in SE Asia, and in Thailand particularly.

I lived in four different Thai locations in my time there and all of them were instantly home. My practice is to stay in local neighborhoods no matter where I end up. As an old white lady alone, I stick out like a sore thumb in SE Asia. This means everyone is curious, they all know me, and as soon as they realize I am staying long term, Thai people tell me “You are Thai now.”

I was just back in Bangkok last month after a year of being away and went to yet another Thai neighborhood I had never been to before. It was just the same. Smiles and offers of food and peace and tranquility.

I am thrilled to be going back for another Visa run in November, and with STEEMFest at the same time, I feel so fortunate.

Here are my goals for my time in Bangkok and a side trip at the end!

• I am going to find a Tesco and get two pairs of 40 thb flipflops. We have Tesco in Malaysia but my special flip flop need is not for sale here. I have one pair of these comfortable jems now and lost another in Laos.
  Why I did not buy more when I had the chance is a mystery. All of the Tescos I ever saw in Thailand had them, so I know I will fulfill my dream.

• I am going to ride escalators during rush hour and smile like a beauty queen. The Thai smile is not like a fake California smile or the non-smile of Europe. It’s a smile like the passing stranger is your long lost best friend and shows all your teeth, and holds eye contact longer than you would ever believe. I thought they were faking it when I first got to Thailand, but they are not. They are 10X more happy when I smile first and a packed escalator ride is one of my favorite things to do.

• I will get a few 10 thb sunflower seed packs in one of the three airport 711’s immediately after clearing Immigration at Don Mueang International Airport and get the clerk to open them for me and eat them like a wild animal. Thus will begin my feast of cheap and delicious food. It will mostly come from the street vendors and they will be so happy to see my joy in finding the foods I have grown to love. More smiling!!

• I will go to the main branch of Bangkok Bank and get help so I can finally see my banking activity online. I have tried to do this multiple times and it never has worked. So I am in the dark about how much money I have at all times. This might be a plus since the answer is usually zero, but I still will try again.

• I will see my family of best friends in Bangkok and have a wonderful dinner and friendship in their kitchen/dining room by the street. They were gone up to their village for my recent trip and I was so sad to miss them.

• I will meet other STEEMers I have already met in person and those I only know online. Some of them live in Kuala Lumpur like me and it will still be the first time we meet since this city is so huge. Some other STEEMers I know travel incessantly and I have already met them in SE Asia. Regardless, I cannot wait to see them all.

• I will finally see the Mall complex at Siam BTS Station other than from the platform of the train stop. This spot has always reminded me of my favorite movie, Blade Runner (the old one) but I have never had a reason to linger there. Now STEEMFest is having the first day of the conference in that location, so I will get my chance.

Unless I win a conference ticket, STEEM moons, or I get much better rewards, I will not be actually attending STEEMFest. But I will get there early, stay late and see, meet, and photograph the STEEMers coming and going.

Then for the rest of the time, I will be photographing the Mall area. This photo time should be very good for future posts and I am so happy to get the chance.

And here is my big surprise!

I am going to Chiang Mai for the week after STEEMFest. The people behind travelfeed.io are organizing this to see if we can lure other digital nomad travel bloggers onto STEEM.

I am not a big fan of recruitment in general, with our 95% kill rate. I feel like my efforts are better placed in trying to help those already here and trying. But in this case, with travelfeed and their STEEMpower willing to support people who already know the ropes of travel blogging, I am willing to try.

I am also excited because I know so many people living in CM, have never been there, and really was sad to leave the country without making the trip before.

This is probably an additional $75 added on to my trip cost. I will be investigating costs further and publishing a third STEEMFest budget projection soon.

That’s it! No temples, beaches, boat or motorcycles rides, or shopping other than food and flip flops. Just feeling like I am home will be more than enough. I will try not to blink for the entire time I am there.

STEEMFEST Information

If you want all the details about STEEMFest

Read @roelandp's announcement.

The official STEEMFest web page is here:

https://steemfest.com/

Conference tickets are on sale now:

https://steempeak.com/steemfest/@roelandp/steemfest-updates-first-names-announced-ticketshop-open-let-s-go-bangkok

The conference ticket price will increase monthly, so get yours now if you can.

STEEMFest Contests:

@actifit:

Step your way to STEEMFest

@smooth is giving away 2 free conference tickets so get in on that too.

https://steempeak.com/steemfest/@smooth/2019-steemfest-ticket-contest

Enter this @blocktrades contest too.:

@blocktrades is holding 16 contests in advance of STEEMFest, and this is the fifth one. I'm vert late, so get your post out now!

https://steempeak.com/busy/@anomadsoul/the-road-to-steem-fest-or-the-thai-life-and-what-to-expect

My RoadToSTEEMfest posts:

Information

• Introduction to My RoadToSTEEMfest
• Hotel Ideas if Not Staying Onsite
• STEEMFest Planning - Thai Visa and Travel Information You Need to Know!
• Do you need a Yellow Fever Vaccine for Thailand?
• Immigration Money Changers Don Mueang Airport
• My RoadtoSTEEMFest Revised Budget
• Promoting STEEM in Chiang Mai Thailand after STEEMFest with TravelFeed

Contests I have entered:

• Blocktrades Contest 4 - Why am I on the RoadtoSTEEMFest? Help me fund my trip!
• Blocktrades Contest 3 – My (Original) Budget Information for STEEMFest In Bangkok Thailand
• Blocktrades Contest 2 – Who do I want to meet at STEEMFest Thailand?
• Blocktrades Contest 1 – Planning to Come to STEEMFest