The Gulf of Thailand.

Nearly capsizing on a longtail boat ride and sharing a bathroom with a spooky-looking grossly oversized gecko were small situations to deal with in order to have a relaxing week in paradise with my sister and best friend. Yes, another week in a different paradise, my life is nothing shy of simply fabulous!

There are three islands in the southern Gulf of Thailand. Ko Samui is the biggest and must have been hit first with the crash of tourism. It is littered with luxurious resorts and overpriced taxi rides. Needless to say, after my month of Yoga and Meditation on Ko Samui, I was ready to see one of the neighboring islands. Ko Phagnan is the kid sister island to Samui; a backpacker's haven with charmingly inexpensive bungalows, gorgeously intimate beaches, and the infamous Full Moon Party. I took a ferry to the pier, a sathorng (pick-up truck with seats in the open cab) to the full moon party beach where I met a long boat owner and arranged a lift to a beach 10 km up the shore. When I jumped in the boat with my gear I gave him a serious look and double checked that this ride would not get my belongings wet. I am not a woman who fears water. When I was wet in the Arctic for 36 straight days and nights I learned that everything I own will always dry, and skin dries quickest of all. Actually, I love water, but I just began a relationship with this book with keys that shines light at me and it- does not like water. Or so I hear...

Today the ocean was alive. Waves were restless and taking ownership of the small boat that dared to enter the vastness of power. My belongings are definitely getting wet, but the

computer was well outfitted in a plastic bag, in a bag, in a bag (to be honest, I fear computers way more than water). The vulnerability makes me sit tall, the lower mind immediately goes to expecting the worse... would the universe challenge my level of attachment to my only expensive belonging? The higher mind fights off these thoughts and I begin to chant inside my head the words I had been chanting for the past month. I stick to the Gayatri Mantra, the prayer for protection and guidance as the little wooden boat worms over each rolling swell. Saltwater splashing on my face, blazing mid-day sun scorching my skin, and the wind whipping my hair in all directions, I am defenseless and exposed. I close my eyes and fall in love again, for the millionth time, with the universe and its governance over every moment! We close in towards a beach, about 50 feet away from the safe and motionless shore we pick up speed. We ride the crest of a fast wave heading directly toward the lone boat on the small part of the beach that must be the only safe spot for docking. I look back to see what my man is doing back there at the same time he makes a quick turn and bellies up on a bed of rocks. The bow of the boat is reaching for heaven as I am grabbing the backpack that is heading towards the sea. Human body weight counterbalancing, shouldering the tackling waves, is the only reason that boat did not tip over. A man the size of my big toe jumps off the boat and wedges himself in between man and nature to free us from our current situation (whoa- putting it that way, I should have given him a tip.) A few waves to really shake things up and then we were off the rocks as fast as we had swung onto them. I smile in thanks, enjoying the exhilaration, the fresh flush of adrenaline, the emphasis on the lack of control I have in certain situations. My calves shaking, what a thrill...

So I keep on moving, excited to find a place to stay for the next few nights followed by dipping my overheated body into the ocean. I discover Beam Bungalows and the lady-boy receptionist brings me to my hut.

I drop my belongings, put my blanket on the bed, toss on a suit and a sundress and spend the next few hours swimming in the ocean's fantastic waves and eating at a delicious vegetarian restaurant, enjoying my first drink of the month (a yummy mojito!). As the stars came out in the open dark dome above, I walk home with the tingle of good food in my belly and a sun kissed body! Smiling, loving the independence and thankful for my strength, I unlock my bungalow and start to set up shop. I grab my toothbrush and swing open the bathroom door to see a 12" fat-ass lizard in my toilet-flushing water bucket. I quickly shut the door. "OH, EW!" The conversations in my head are real loud at this point.

"That is fine, I am a big girl... I will brush my teeth and pee outside."

"No. Stop being a freak, it is only a lizard and it is probably gone by now."

I check, nope. Now it is on the wall, the sucker moves, and is looking at me with its freaky googley eyeballs.

I can't seem to convince myself that this harmless amphibian and I can coexist for the moments of my pre-sleep bathroom rituals. I step up, take a breath, and we talk it out. He's going to man the bathroom and I will get the bed... I wrap a towel around my head (for protection) and enter his space for the few moments I need to pee in the squatter full of ants and wash my toothpaste down the sink with the brown water coming out of the tap.

Minor freak out, I calm myself down and move to shut my front double doors... One of the doors doesn't shut, nor will it lock. Why would it? I knot my H & M fashion scarf around the

door handles and think...

"if someone rips my doors open to get in (not that they would because I have the dragon in the bathroom protecting me) they are going to ruin a really cute scarf. I toss the blanket that the ladyboy receptionist gave me onto the floor to block the four inch gap between the bottom of the door and the floor boards ("mosquito expressway") and take a few minutes to decided if I really need to sleep with the light on all night. I love sleeping alone, but tonight I am just not feeling it! I go out to find a man- just kidding, I fall asleep faster than I thought would be possible.

The power went out around midnight, the fan stops. The hot night combined with the bed that feels like I am sleeping on an empty juice box, keeps me restless. Finally 5 a.m. rolls around so I can feel okay about starting my day. Pranayama and asana practice are scattered, the mind is distracted by mosquitoes, thick heat, and the excitement for traveling companions! Leah and Lexie will be here by mid-afternoon and I am so excited to have family on this journey

For the path that I took alone for the past several months...

will now be shared with a few that I love!