Some 10+ hours later we arrived in Bangkok. The first thing we noticed upon exiting the plane and heading down the gangway,was how incredibly different the air temperature was here from Europe. It was a change we had both been welcoming for some time, and we couldn't be happier. Before even thinking of exiting the airport, we went in the bathrooms and changed into our board shorts and t-shirts, which we would wear exclusively the rest of our trip.Zanes funds being what they were at this point in our journey, that is to say, almost nothing... we decided to both exchange a small amount at a time and try and manage it well, so we went with $50 each. We grabbed our bags, exited security and headed for the skytrain, which started underground ironically enough. We got our little plastic chip tokens from the machines lining the wall and stood in lines waiting for the security guards to check the train before anyone got on, then boarded.It wasn't long before we arrived in downtown Bangkok, the heat and pollution was depressing, even in the evening, and we soon boarded the city train heading for the central train station. It was 4:50pm, we had been planning on getting our tickets for an 10:50pm train to Surat Thani, which would have given us time to rest and get some food before trying to go through a 15 hour train ride to the South of Thailand, but just as we arrived and found the office for "foreign speakers" meaning English only pretty much, they told us every sleeper train ticket was sold out until the next day, except the last two tickets leaving at 5pm, which was in 2 minutes...We hadn't slept in the last 50 hours, had been in 3 Countries, six time zones, and had been partying like sailors, used four city trains, two taxis, and three subways, boarded and endured consecutive flights totaling 15 hours, gone from Snow to Monsoon weather, and were facing the sorry predicament of staying in a city we had no intention of being in overnight, or pushing ourselves to even greater limits in a all out push to our destination. This is Daniel Maddox and Zane Davis were talking about here, The "Elite" of exceeding the fun limits...We looked at the classic black and white circular wall clock above the lady selling tickets, the 2 minutes we had to decide evaporating into midair much like our strength and poise, then at each other. With sullen smirks etched on both our faces, but raw determination in our hearts, we nodded in unison and bought the tickets. I was pretty worried we'd have no food on the train, but once we found our seats a catering boy came by to take our orders, we gladly paid.We barely spoke on the ride, mostly all we wanted to do was sleep. What little thoughts we had outside of that essential need, were of what was to come on the "dazzling endless summer isles of paradise" we had so perfectly burned into our minds by the advertising armies of the world. A fiction to be sure, this I knew well from my travels, but a fairy tale I entertained for the sake of convenience in a mad hope that our final leg of our travels on this trip would be more relaxing and charming than that of Europe.As the sun disappeared into the West, the cabin crew started setting up the beds in the sleeper trains. Once ours were set up and our gear was reassuringly stowed away in the racks beside us, our food was brought, which if you can imagine, was super cheap Asian food individually wrapped in Sa ran wrap, on a plastic plate, itself wrapped, and then all of it wrapped in Sa ran wrap again... I suppose they thought it was pretty classy, I didn't, but it did keep our food from spilling all over us while bumping all around on the train tracks, that probably had a lot to do with it. We finished our food and we did what we could to sleep, which, to our great dismay, would prove most difficult.
Knowing your environment
The first thing you do when you arrive in a new country, is get yourself oriented. For those of you who think you need no sense of direction whatsoever because your being guided everywhere you go, I would point out that a sense of space time relation to your experience is of great value, on a tour, on your own, or everyday life, it doesn't make a difference. The ability to lead oneself or others towards your goal, and keep a reliable record of your path is a fundamental skill in life. Without it, you would not be alive here today. Hone it, and it will serve you well. This rule is especially true in megacities, ones so big and complex they are known well not in totality but in speciality to groups of people. So having a map, with your desired locations already clearly marked, is a superb advantage. Yes you can google it, but wheres the fun, or safety, in keeping your head permanently lowered at your screen, with countless dangers surrounding you in an environment you don't know, following directions from a robot voice who could care less about your circumstances, when you can look at everything around you, engaged in the experience, and asking others, especially locals, for help. Not that the locals of such megacities will be too keen to help every single tourist, of which millions come every year, but it is a good strategy in general. There is no better guide than a local after all. My time in Sweden was very short, one full day and two nights. When I arrived at the airport I exchanged $60 into 400 something Krona, which added to my left over Krona from last time. Bought a ticket on the bus with my moms debit card, they don't take cash in many places around Europe now. Digital cash is more and more the choice of the Banks. Less to worry about on their end, but what about mine, what about yours? What happens to privacy when you cant possibly buy something, without a record of it tied to your whole life's purchasing history? You know how any product you look at on the internet comes up in those pop up windows? Well what happens when those things are based on a lifetime worth of data and not just a one time shopping desire? Especially for things you want to keep to yourself. Either way, it will be a much different world than today. Arriving in Stockholm central I figured the general direction of the hostels in town and headed out. The first locals I met to ask for directions to a certain street were just walking away from a taxi they refused to get into. I asked the lady for help and "piss off!" Was my answer. Thinking nothing of it I turned to the gentleman behind her and she swung around to face me as though just realizing I was there, probably true as she seemed quite drunk. "Oh im sorry, I didn't mean you, it was the taxi. What do you need?" All they could muster in their state was what I already knew, the general direction I was to go, and so I went. Soon after that I walked passed a nice looking Hostel, named city backpackers. The hostel was full so I was given two other options. Although the cheapest choice was closest, the desk clerk suggested I chose the latter of the two, which, I was to find, was closed to reservations long before I arrived. The 2nd option was my last. Upon arrival my first impression was that I could relate to the desk hands suggestion, but that for my needs it was superior to more than half of all the hostels I've ever stayed with. I chose to stay one night, and look around tomorrow for better one or remain here. My bed was in a room of seven double bunk beds, with 8 or so people. The most notable thing to say about it was that each bed had its own locker and night lamp affixed to the frame above your pillow. It was 1am when I finally put my things away and got in bed. Two things of note happened between getting in bed at 1am and going to sleep at 4am. First, me and another guy had to tell another room mate to leave the room while talking on his phone, and second, I got out of my bed and turned off a bed light which someone had left on in a bunkbed that wasn't even in use and no one had thought to turn off for their own sake or those of the group to help sleep. Even after 2am! This helped greatly for me to relax, even with the blinding street lamp outside shining through the cracks in our blinds straight on my pillow. By 3:30am my nerves were beginning to fray. I had gotten enough sleep on the planes to keep me alert but not enough to give me peace. So I repeated the following mantra:Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find. This mantra alone is worth 15,000 hours of education, once you understand your power to draw whatever you want to yourself by what you keep in your mind, you become the master of your own creation, how nice that everything you could ever want is all inside to begin with. And so, asking to sleep, and seeking it out, pushing all else away in my mind, I slept. In the morning I set out to find the best Organic shops around town. After buying a gigabyte internet credit for my phone, for which I used the sim card I bought but couldn't use last year when I was here because my previous iphone was locked. Anyways it was very useful in allowing me to finish tasks I had left unfinished at home and look for new places to see in Stockholm and also for my next stop in Amsterdam. The first place I went was closed, but the second was open. This place was very well decorated, with a beautiful atmosphere. I made my own salad and told the owner I run a raw Organic Juice shop in my hometown, he then became very interested in speaking with me. His name was Johannes and shared with me a great deal of his goals to open enough shops to one day, "be bigger than McDonalds" a worthy goal indeed!I got some aloe water and headed off in search of Stockholm's only Cold pressed juice bar. After wondering around the subway for a good hour I finally got to the right area. In this case every local I asked was as clueless as the next about where this juice bar might be. I finally found it though, it looked as though it hadn't been open for a long time, weeks maybe or even months. Maybe its the way it always looks and once they sell out they revert to anonymity, who knows. I returned to the hostel and got some shut eye, the staff let me check out and return my key, while I slept until I having to leave at 3:30am for my flight to Amsterdam, Europe's capital city of legal drugs, sex and mayhem...