2023: A Girl, a Motorcycle, and a Gypsy Soul

Nothing like flying home, sleeping for 12 hours, then getting ready to go to a Disturbed and Three Days Grace concert for a welcome home date! We had amazing seats in a suite - both bands put on a great show! David Dreman gives me an eargasm - and for one song, and one song only, he is hella good looking. I forewarned the group of this ahead of time lol.  After the show we meandered around and eventually headed back to the hotel where we were staying (since we knew we would be drinking, its roughly the same as taking Uber both ways!). While I came back to the US in full force, it was good to be back, be around familiar faces, and be surrounded by Luv.

One of the best parts about being home is seeing familiar faces! Wednesday night has been designated as Bestie night for several years - it was started to ensure that life never got too busy to see and hang with the bestie and to give each other a vent and a laugh mid week!! The bestie and I have seen Post Modern Jukebox before and LOVED them! We decided since tickets were cheap we would go since they were in town this week.  We got tickets spur of the moment and met up at bestie's place for dinner before the show. Bestie is an amazing cook - and I make a pretty darn good observer, if I say so myself! LOL! After dinner we grabbed an Uber and headed downtown for the show at the State Theatre. As we went to scan our tickets at the entry door, the gal said "Oh! You've been upgraded! Go see the box office folks for more info"! Her little scanner said "Go see Bo" and then cut off, so we walk up to the boxoffice window and ask if the name is Bo... all we got in re

Leaving SE Asia - Back to MN... When it came time to prepare to go home, I really didn’t want to. And lucky for me, weather back home in MN didn’t want me to either! It was record cold temps (-50 degrees Fahrenheit !!!) and my flight was delayed and then rerouted all together. I ended up missing the coldest day in 10 years in MN and was pretty happy about that!  One of my last days was spent getting from Koh Tao to Bangkok – where I had to take a ferry to Koh Phag Nan, then another ferry to mainland, where I would fly to Bangkok.   Once in Bangkok I hailed a taxi and headed to get more dental work done. This procedure scored me some stitches which will need to be removed upon return home. I wandered around Bangkok for the last day in awe at just how much I had learned along the way. This was my third time in the city and it had grown on me ever so slightly. I was far more comfortable getting around, things looked familiar, I had no trouble getting a ride to and from my des

 I have been volunteering to bartend at a local fishing derby for 8+ years and I wasn’t going to let a little jet lag stop me!!! (Bartending came 2 days after my return to reality!) I made my way to the ice around 9am and stayed until 9pm bartending the ice bar, watching people catch fish, dance to the DJ, and have fun!!!

Ocean Dives 3 & 4 - and I am officially PADI Open Water Scuba Certified!!!!!! Walking onto the dive boat: Getting the gear set up! Cruising to the dive sites Dive 4 - got to bring my GoPro - these are pictures of my computer screen playing GoPro footage lol That's me! This dive was the least visibility of them all - those are all fish Gun of a sunken ship Setting up my gear for the final dive We all passed!!!!!

What a whirlwind life has been since my return from 2 months in SE Asia. I’ll start with the last few days of my trip – where I went to Koh Tao Island to complete my PADI Open Water Diver Course . The dive site Dive computer My biggest fears about scuba diving were slowly quashed as the course went on, and then as I dove into the ocean. My fears were:   freaking out once I hit the water and forgetting how to breath through my mouth, not being able to pop my ears, and seeing jellyfish… though, there are far bigger things in the ocean than jellyfish, I am legit more afraid of them than I am a shark. Flashbacks to snorkeling with my family back in the day and seeing the welts that my brother had from being stung by a jellyfish…..It was amazing how much I learned in 3 days.  Dive boats I went from ZERO clue what all of the scuba equipment was called, zero clue how to use it all, and zero clue if I would REALLY be able to do this. After day

While in Koh Tao, my goal was to complete the PADI Scuba Diving Certification course. After a ton of google research, I decided to go with Sairee Cottage Diving on Sairee Beach, Koh Tao. There are well over 90 dive shops on the small island, so I simply went with the one that had great reviews (recent), the most convenient schedule, and an opening during the time I was there. I paid 11,000 Baht and was signed up to start 2 days later. The morning of the first Dive course, I was a basket of nerves. I don't know what I was more nervous about - actually learning to dive or remembering HOW to dive once I learned. Turned out, fear was not needed. The class started at 8am the first day and there were 6 of us total. My classroom Our instructor, Aom, was PHENOMENAL! She was funny, patient, and realistic on the training plans. We started with a full morning of video training where we learned the theories behind scuba diving and do so safely. Then we had lunch on our own and recon

To get from Koh Samui to Koh Tao, I had to take another van ride to the pier, then a ferry to Koh Tao. It was only 2 hours via  Lomprayah ferry. Cost of $18.00. Between the van ride and the ferry, I had time to spare so I wandered around and found my way to a pineapple smoothie. I am truly addicted to the goodness of this..... I declined vodka for this one ;)  The ferry ride was uneventful - I found a spot in the sunshine and saw yet another sunrise on the water. I arrived at Koh Tao and had my very own private driver waiting for me at the pier with my name on a sign. I immediately thought he was a creeper. I was simply having a very very large blonde moment.....  Bangrak Pier Those TWO people are wheeling FIVE suitcases full of stuff to the ferry. Meanwhile, I have been living out of a 55L backpack for TWO months… Heaven is finding a spot in the sunshine At a midpoint stop on another island, vendors come to sell you things on the boat.. us