After being in blissed out in Chiang Mai, arriving in Bangkok was a bit of a shock. We’d gone from walking around on foot in a peaceful little city to being back in the throws of a huge, buzzing metropolis.
We checked into our hotel and I started to get ready for the next day’s events. The team at Air Asia had invited me to come to Bangkok to take part in their Air Asia Bloggers Community (AABC) 2nd Anniversary Celebrations. The invitation alone meant a great deal to me because it was recognition of all the hard work we’ve put into LGB and part of making me feel like I’m really doing it, I’m really making this dream my reality!
If you’re an introvert like I am, you’ll know there are a few different levels of anxiety that come into play when you’re preparing for an event. I knew I was going to meet 100 bloggers and share a room at the Eastin Hotel, organised by Air Asia, with someone I’ve never met. I also knew that I was the only Australian and that I didn’t know a single other person attending this event. This sent my mind into overdrive.
I was really nervous about all of it, but my co-introvert husband kept reassuring me it would be fine and I’d have a great time. He was right. I have never met so many genuinely lovely people at an event before.
To be honest, sometimes when I go to events with other bloggers or people in the same industry there’s a feeling of competitiveness. You get the feeling you’re judged on how many Facebook Likes or Instagram Followers you have, you get looked down on and people are very, very hesitant to talk about what they do, who they know and to share any kind of information. I often leave events feeling really uncomfortable, like I’ve just gone back in time to High School!
The AABC event was NOTHING like that. All the bloggers were from ASEAN, so places like Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea and more. Everyone was so open and friendly, talking and sharing and connecting. My roommate, Ruby, was from Malaysia and absolutely wonderful to me. Everyone I met already knew who I was because Ruby had told people I was her roommate and didn’t know anyone, which made people look out for me and come say hi. Being the awkward person I am, I would not have met as many people as I did without her help.
We spent the day of the event divided up into teams, racing around Bangkok with a pre-paid transport card, 1,500 Baht and a list of 5 selfies we had to take in different places all over the city. It was probably about 38 – 40 degrees and we were all incredibly hot, but it was so much fun! I connected with one girl in our group in particular, Sunny from South Korea. Not only was she beautiful and kind and really fun, she was just so easy to talk to and get along with. It’s so cool when you have so much in common with someone from a totally different part of the world.
The event ended with a party in the evening and I represented our fair country well by drinking lots of red wine and eating as much delicious food as I could.
The next day I woke up tired, but really happy I’d pushed myself WAY out of my comfort zone and, as Matt had predicted, had a really great time.
Now that everything we had planned to do on our trip was done, both Matt and I found ourselves aching for our home. This is why we’ll probably never live abroad for a long period of time again, we both crave Brisbane and our home. It’s definitely where our heart is. Without wanting to wish away our time, we both started to feel that happy, wonderful excitement of seeing our house again, sleeping in our bed and settling into our own pace.
Going home means a lot this time, it’s the actual start of Matt and I both working on LGB together full time. As of tomorrow we’ll be waking up in our house, walking downstairs and setting up at our dining room table, ready to spend the day working. It’s exciting because neither of us knows how it’s going to work or what it’s going to feel like, only that it’s going to be freaking awesome.
There’s some fun stuff happening this week too, I have some big news I’ll be announcing on my social media this week, so keep an eye on Facebook and Instagram for it. I also have some phone calls and discussions organised with some travel companies I never thought I’d work with, but may just get the chance to. I guess it’s time to refocus my mind and really sink into the thought that ‘I’m living it, right now’ rather than feeling like I’m moving toward living it. If that makes sense… ?!
The past six weeks have been wonderful. It felt so good to get away for a while and visit so many new countries, meet amazing people, eat delicious food and capture what I need to create content for LGB. We’ve both had the best time and I’m excited to see what the next few months holds for us. Thanks for coming along on our trip with us, guys. I have so much more to share and can’t wait to create it and share it with you!
