Sorry I haven’t written here in the past week. I had meant to, but life has a way of traveling it’s own direction despite our intentions and planning. I moved on from India to Thailand because I wanted to spend a little time with my father and his wife before heading back to the states. India was just what the doctor ordered for me and I am so glad that I decided to stay there. I love that place, even though it can be difficult at times. On my last day there, I ended up with a little scrape on my hand and stopped in to see an Ayurvedic doctor and as he was cleaning me up, he asked how I like India and I told him I love it. He asked me why and I explained to him that for me, India is a place that holds your spirit and cares for you at a much deeper level than other places that I have known. Other places may care more for you physically, but on a spiritual or soul level, it’s as if I can’t be harmed while there. I’m not sure if you’ve ever done that exercise where you close your eyes, fold your arms across your chest and fall backwards blindly into the arms of someone standing behind you. It is a powerful exercise in trust. India feels like that to me, but it’s more a feeling of closing one’s eyes and falling back / letting go on a more spiritual level. If you do this, in my experience, India will catch you. There aren’t any other places I know of that I can say that about.
From India, I moved on to my 
father’s with a 4 hour bus ride on an anything-but-special bus, a 3 ½ hour overnight flight to Bangkok, a connecting flight to Chiang Mai and another 4 hour bus ride to my father’s. After time in India, Thailand seemed almost genteel. A very sweet taxi driver warmed my heart on my arrival. He went out of his way to help me get some baht onto my mobile phone, and walk through the bus station to help find the correct bus for me. Just kind generosity. There is such a sweetness to the Thai people. Quiet, unassuming, smiling, often bowing, gracious. Once I got to my father’s it was very nice to see them again. They have created their own tropical paradise, growing their own jungle around their home/grounds. We just relaxed and spent simple time together for a couple of days 
until my father took ill with some severe cramping in his abdomen. These last several days of the trip were spent in the hospital , first in Mae Ai and then in Chiang Rai where he successfully underwent surgery to remove some abdominal adhesions cutting off the functioning of his small intestine. I’ve never seen someone so capable of dealing with such discomfort. The pain was extraordinary, but he never complained. Winced and groaned yes, complained never. It was an unfortunate way for us to spend our time together, but I’m so glad to have been there during this crisis of sorts. I just wanted family time and that is what I got. And what defines a family more than being there for each other naturally in times of need. Whatever time each of us has with those we love is very precious and again I was reminded of that.
And so today I am moving onwards, on to Bangkok this evening in anticipation of flying back to the states tomorrow morning. While I do look forward to being back there, I will miss Thailand, India and Ukraine and those I love in all those places. Sri Lanka and Istanbul not quite so much, but as I had written before, those places were troublesome not in and of themselves, but rather that I was troublesome within those places. No reason not to go back except of course that I would still be traveling with myself! I’m just joking in a way, as I very much appreciate any opportunity to learn more about myself and witness myself reacting to my surroundings. Life can be so very rich when attended to.