Hello Tropics, My Old Friend

1:40 in the morning and I am standing in a Bangkok humidity that would make a swamp feel like a dry sauna. People back home complain about August. This is what August is afraid of.

So. Liz. Beautiful woman, sitting right behind me on the plane. Works for Bayer in clinical trials. Was originally heading to Nepal, decided it was too cold, pivoted to Bangkok. I, apparently, have not lost whatever it is I think I have — because somehow we ended up talking the whole way off the plane and she gave me her email address. Then she was gone, off into the Bangkok night, sensibly avoiding frostbite while I press onward toward it voluntarily.

The Rama Garden Hotel is legitimately nice (small miracle). There was a brief moment of panic at check-in when the desk couldn’t sort out my Kathmandu ticket — I couldn’t make myself understood and they couldn’t make themselves understood and for about ninety seconds I was mentally charting a course home — but it got sorted. Room is solid. TV is garbage. Classic trade-off.

It’s 1AM and I cannot sleep. So I’m going to wander around the outskirts of Bangkok in the middle of the night like a completely reasonable person.

Fast forward to 9:18AM and I’m back, caffeinated, and the KTM flight is almost here. I’ve been in transit so long that I’m actually starting to get excited instead of nervous — which is progress, given that thirty-six hours ago I was white-knuckling it through existential dread in a Japanese airport lounge.

I spent part of this morning trying to learn a few Nepali words from the back of my guidebook. I don’t know how much of it is going to stick, but the effort feels important. Pat says our guide is excellent. I’m choosing to believe that.

The weird thing is — I’m happy. Like, simply happy. Moving from A to B. Small challenges, small wins, big stupid grin on my face. I caught myself wandering the terminal singing Christmas songs. Out loud. To no one. That hasn’t happened in a long time, and anyone who knows me knows that a sign of good cheer in my heart… I’m genuinely okay.

Boarding soon. Kathmandu, here comes your problem.