So I was stressed out and my depression was really bad. What could I do to make it better? – Yes, take all my money and head off to my first ever trip alone somewhere. Thailand, the land of the smiling and the most delicious food I have ever had. Here is a guide to where I was, what I liked and recommend and what I did not like.

Previously I said I traveled alone, but that wasn’t the case. My boyfriend came along with me. It was also his first time abroad and his first time flying. So I went crazy on the flights. We had six flights in total. Two to Thailand and two back to Germany and two more domestic flights. The first time we entered a plane my boyfriend went wild and was afraid (poor boy). He got used to it pretty quickly and was fine for the rest of the trip.

Bangkok

We landed in Bangkok on July 1st, 2019 at 5 A.M. Note, we hadn’t slept for three days. Because we wanted to stay awake because our flight was pretty early in the morning – we both thought we could sleep on the plane. Well, we could not sleep on the plane. My boyfriend because he was nervous and me due to the turbulences, we had while over Goa, India. Gladly we landed safely in Thailand. And we immediately went to our hostel, which was about 45 minutes away from the airport. The hostel was in a small Thai village – which was just very sweet and small. I mean, I don’t know small villages inside a huge town.

On the first day, we saw all the hotspots. The Wat Arun and the wat pho (Wat means temple in Thai) Sadly it was a bit rainy on this day but we took a boat tour around the hotspots. I really loved the places but unfortunately, there were way too many tourists and I almost couldn’t get a photo without any stranger accidentally bombing my picture. After that, we went to china town and I have to admit, I did not enjoy it. I don’t know, maybe because I expected some Chinese buildings and there wasn’t any. I wanted to go to a Muray Thai (Thai boxing) Gym but simply forgot it. Well, there is always the next time.

We got almost scammed one time. Never drive with a taxi driver, that just tells you a price and does not switch on the taximeter. Also, always plan beforehand and inform yourself how much something will cost, because some people will tell you a higher price to pay.

Chaing Mai and Chaing Rai

As we landed in Chaing Mai, we were immediately stunned by the view. So many mountains and the jungle! The air was much cleaner and didn’t smell like rotten eggs all the time. I love big cities and Chaing Mai is smaller than Bangkok and less busy but not less beautiful. I liked Chaing Mai a lot because of its random temples all around the town and the old town was STUNNING. We also ate our first Pad Thai here and it was the best on our whole trip.

We also visited an elephant sanctuary. It was really hard to find a company that doesn’t treat their elephants like crap. But gladly I found a company that doesn’t. They were nice and educated us about the elephants and what we had to take care off. We fed them and bathed them in the river. At that day a mosquito flew into my eye and it got infected and I couldn’t see properly for the next four days.

After the elephant trip, we went three hours up north to Chaing Rai. Chaing Rai was the former capital before Chaing Mai became the capital. (After that Ayuthayya became the capital before it got destroyed in WWII). There are the famous white and blue temple. The white temple was built by a Thai citizen, for Thai people. So if you happen to be Thai you don’t have to pay to enter it. Since it is not a Buddhist temple, you will find many other things there. I loved the architecture and it was my favorite among the two temples.

The blue temple was my boyfriends favorite. He is a very spiritual person and he liked just the colors. I liked the white temple more but he thought there were too many tourists. I can definitely agree on that. If you are planning on seeing those two temples, maybe go there really early in the morning, so nobody will be there. Chiang Mai has also the best food in Thailand!

Phuket

I have to admit, I have not taken any photos in Phuket. Well, at least not many interesting ones. Phuket is the party island for all of you who were wondering. We spend most of our days eating and wandering through malls. Huge shopping centers were all over the island and it was pretty easy and fast to get to the other side. We stayed in a quite small family hostel where we got our breakfast for free but we loved it to breakfast in a cat café, which was only a couple walking minutes away from our hostel.

I turned 18 in Phuket and what better place to celebrate it than a Thai strip club, where I got drunk from two gin tonic. Let’s not talk about that. Instead, let me tell you how you can spend so much money on one of those shopping centers. It is far easier than you think, Thai barth is pretty weak and you can spot a bargain almost everywhere. It is also pretty easy to get Korean or Japanese skincare or makeup – so if you are a fan of that, beware. You might spend too much.

For everyone that wants to go to the beach, I would recommend Kata Beach. We were extremely lucky because a friendly taxi driver told us that hidden gem. We wanted to go to one of the more touristy beaches and were afraid that our stuff might get stolen and so he told us about that beach. It was my boyfriends first time at the beach and in the ocean and it was the best decision we could have made. Sadly there was still a lot of plastic that got in our way. Keep the ocean clean, guys.

After all, it was a great first vacation after almost five years and a great first one for me and my boyfriend. I hope we will be abroad again soon!