Lions and Tigers and Elephants? OH MY!

 Most people who leave the country for the first time go to places like Mexico or Canada, but I’ve never been one to do what everyone else is doing. You know the saying “Go big or go home”? Well that’s exactly what I did on my first time out of the country by flying halfway around the world to Thailand.

A year ago if you would have said, “Chloe, one day you will adventure in Thailand.” my immediate thought would have been, “In my dreams you crazy person!” Thailand is exotic and beautiful, but most of all totally different from anything I’ve ever known.

I grew up in the south where it’s normal to ride things like horses, maybe a donkey, and for the extreme redneck potentially a cow. In Thailand I cruised around on an elephant. And it wasn’t like I had someone “driving” my elephant for me. MY CHAFFEUR JUMPED SHIP AND LEFT ME TO STEER. (Eventually he hopped back on, thank goodness.) But in the mean time, I was left to lead our crew through the jungle…on a well stomped out path.

Riding an elephant is a pretty unique experience. But have you ever been in a cage with not one, or two, but THREE GROWN TIGERS? Because against my better judgment, I have. Don’t get me wrong, it made for some cool pictures, but oh my goodness did it scare the mess out of me when I was in it. Once I was able to move from my state of paralyzed shock, I got to hold a liger. A baby liger. You know, like Napoleon Dynamite’s favorite animal? 

Go against your better judgments and climb in to a giant tiger cage or play it safe and just ride an elephant, but regardless, hop on a plane to a different country and adventure!

And She's Going, Going, GONE!

Flying... most everyone has spent some time in the sky before they're 21, but not this girl. Since December 2015 I've flown to Thailand, India, Japan, LA (a few times), and Florida. I've actually even jumped out of a plane in that timespan too. With the amount of flight time that I've put under my belt in a little less than a year, you would think that I had flown for the first time long before I actually did. MY FIRST FLIGHT WASN'T UNTIL I LEFT FOR THAILAND IN DECEMBER. (Only a month before I turned 22.)

Once everyone got past the shock of the fact that I'd never been on a plane, they flooded me with advice on how to cope with my first flight. (Because taking flight is such a dramatic and terrifying event. *insert eye roll here*) I got everything from, "OH MY GOODNESS you better get your doctor to write you a prescription for Xanax!" to "Just get yourself a neck pillow and everything else will be a piece of cake."

If you don't know me, I'm an easy going person who isn't worried about small spaces, riding roller coasters (you know, for living through the take off and the landing), sitting for extended amounts of time, watching lots of tv shows/movies, or sleeping in just about any place at any time. So I had a feeling that flying across the world probably wouldn't be as big of a deal as everyone was making it. 

This was the view from my first flight at 6:00 a.m. from OKC to Houston. At this point I was thinking, "THIS IS SO AWESOME!""Why are people so dramatic?""Did I miss something and that's why I think this is fun?""Will the clouds go away so I can see what all of those tiny little ants are doing?" But, there was no fear. Not an ounce. Only an addiction. A new love of traveling through the air. 

Each airport I went through on that trip (Houston, Tokyo, and Bangkok) felt life a new adventure. New people to see. New architecture. New culture. New experiences. It wasn't stressful, overwhelming, or even the least bit intimidating. It was thrilling. 

Maybe I loved it because I was sleep deprived and delirious. I did stay up the night before our flight was supposed to leave so I could sync up my sleep schedule for what it would have to be for the following week. Only for our flight to be delayed a day because of weather. So of course I stuck with my brilliant idea and stayed up a second night. Which was all worth it because I got an awesome picture of myself looking high waiting on our plane. And guess who didn't have jet lag, ME ME ME!

This one flight has sparked a fire in me. A fire that can only be tamed by more travel to new places for  new adventure. So next time someone tries to instill pure terror in you about flying or exploring a different culture, embrace it and experience what the world has to offer you!

Get to Know Me, Chloe!

Hey! I am Chloe. I spend my days working on a degree in professional media, nannying four boys, or traveling the world. I find humor in just about every situation, which means occasionally I can be caught laughing to myself. (Sometimes even in my sleep...oops.) I tend to end up in situations that my mom always warned me to stay out of and they've left me with the best memories. I love inviting people along on the adventures of my life and this blog is going to be my new medium for that. So I hope you enjoy reading through the journeys as much as I love experiencing them!