For the past five days I’ve been in Thailand. It wasn’t all Mai Tai’s by the beach and pretty Instagram pictures if you were wondering. It was soo much more than that. But there is a chance that there was a Mai Tai and some other alcoholic beverages involved. And by other I mean two. This post is going to be more of a travel diary because , well, I really didn’t wear clothes this entire trip! I wore one-pieces every day and even went to sleep in my bikinis. These past few days really humbled me and made me love life again. I think that really had to do with loosing my phone to water damage upon the first few hours of arriving in Phuket.
Basically, we arrived at a time where the Thai people were celebrating Songkran festival. What it means I still don’t know, but basically all the locals celebrate the mark of the new year by pouring buckets of water, or shooting water at/on people. It definetly wasn’t the ball drop, that’s for sure. We did not know that, hell, we had no idea. So excited to share brief video accounts of my trip via Snapchat, having my phone on hand while people began throwing water into our Tuk Tuk was how my phone came to the end of it’s existence.
I wasn't even mad.
How could I be? Riding to Kamala beach in this charming little car, while people of all ages, both children and adults, and people of all nationalities happily sprayed water everywhere is a mental image that I absolutely cannot forget. The smiles on peoples faces, the sound of music playing in the background, the refreshing feel of cold water against my skin under the scorching Thai sun. I hope I never lose this memory. It was so full of life. For the entire day it was as if there wasn't a single worry in the world and that the world was finally at peace. If only.
I've never stayed at a resort before, so I didn't know what to expect. We stayed at one called Ayara Kamala, and it was so incredibly beautiful. We had this insane room with a king sized bed, a bathroom bigger than my bedroom, complete with a shower, and jacuzzi facing the beach.Basically we had our own little house. The best part was that we even had our own view of the ocean right on our back porch.Every morning was a killer sunrise and sunset. What a way to start and end the day.
On the second day we went to Bangkok, and to my unfortunate experience, was by far the worst day of the trip. A second 5am wake up day. Shit, I haven’t been awake this early in well…never. The flight was only an hour which was nothing compared to the 23 hour flight we endured just two days prior. Bangkok wasn’t like New York. While it was a city, there were no massive skyscrapers, there were walkways above the streets where people would walk and cross sides and enter different parts of the mall which was pretty cool. THE MALL WAS 7 FLOORS. I REPEAT, THE MALL WAS 7 floors. I’ve never been to anything quite like it. After all the walking around and falling miserably at using a mall directory map, we finally found what we were looking for. And then my stomach couldn’t handle any more and we needed to get food. ASAP. And low and behold. A conveyor belt sushi buffet. ALL. YOU. CAN . EAT. I wasn’t prepared for what was to come next. My stomach is way too sensitive. Seeing certain things together alone can drive me internally wild, not to mention certain smells are enough to get me queasy. So I load up on sushi and eat all things salmon, shrimp, and tempura, and oh was it so good. Then 15 minutes later and my stomach did not agree, and neither did my brain because shortly after I was on the floor by the bathroom crying,shaking uncontrollably, and having an anxiety attack. I spent the rest of the day drained and internally at a low. It just really sucked and was hard to enjoy after that. Even with Songkran still going strong right outside the mall with people prepared to go to water gun war. We flew back to Phuket later that night.
Day three was amazing. ANOTHER 5 am day. Damn, three days in a row of no phone, and no sleeping in. No phone, who dis or what? The excursion deal was that we were to be picked up by a driver and driven to a marina, where we would take a boat to a few islands where we would do some snorkeling, jump of the boat, see monkeys, and explore the beautifully serene islands of Thailand, which were Maya Bay, Phi Phi Island, and Bamboo Island. It was so amazing. Being unplugged and outdoors just made me appreciate all the simplier things in life. Like real time conversation without distraction, the sounds of life, watching animals in their natural habbitats, getting to see the views through my personal lense and not my iphones. And it truly was something genuine and real. Even personally, I spent my days makeupless, braless, and sporting naturally curly hair. I felt and looked like a new person. I was celebrating life without all the things that in Thoreau’s words ,“ sucked out the bones and marrow of life.” This was real time, and it sure was real. My sun kissed skin was several shades darker, my face felt softer from all the sauna and steam room time, also the salt water played a part as well. This is what it truly felt like to be relaxed and unbothered.
Day 4. I made it sound like we only really had food the second day, I promise, we had three meals every day. Only decided to share about one. So we woke up, got dressed, and had breakfast at the resort. For me it was usually fruit, Thai styled egg, three cups of orange juice, and a waffle with syrup. For you, it was usually fruit, a hardboiled egg and a coffee. We get a cab and decide to go down to Patong beach, where we befriended a local who basically became our personal uber driver for the next 2 days. He took us to go for an elephant ride. Elephants are really big, which naturally means they shit really big, just had to share that. We rode an elephant , or should I properly say, went elephant trekking through the jungle for half an hour. Then went go-karting, where I felt like I was living my favorite game of Mario Kart, minus the banana peels but including several blisters on my hand. I can still feel them as I type this. My shoes are these
Vans, and they were such a perfect pair for vacation.
THEN, WE GOT UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH TIGERS. I really wanted to see a baby one, but it was a half hour wait. Vacation shouldn’t be for waiting around, you have to take advantage of every second, so we saw the “small” tigers instead. You could tell that they were doped up. No wild animal would naturally be that tired, especially in the midst of what could be a potentially filling lunch. Whatever. For experience sake, we saw the tigers, took a few pictures, and went off to the next best thing. Patong Beach.
The best lunch I had all week at a restaurant called the Tiger Inn, suiting being that the last thing we saw were tigers. Then we roamed the streets and there were shops everywhereeeeeeee. Thailand is a great place to get designer knockoffs. They look really legit and are cheap. My inner fashionista was so temped at getting my coveted Channel graffiti backpack while I had the chance. But here, I was a much simpler person, enjoying the basics like watching people interact,and wearing a bathing suit with a towel as a skirt while walking barefoot around town. My appearance was as natural as could possibly be. I passed a ton of souvenir shops too. But for the first time, actually didn’t get anything, for anyone. The one fridge magnet I got myself I left at the airport in China. But that day is entirely a blog post on it's own.
Patong beach was so vibrant and lively. We rented beach chairs and in the distance people were parasailing, jet skiing, riding around on boats, and sunbathing. Two women in specific even topless. But hey, you do you. There were so many activities and so much to see, and SOOO many food options. Needless to say five days in Thailand was not enough at all. But I took what I could get and won’t complain. We went back to the resort where we played pool and tennis. The very last time I played tennis was when my dad came home with a Wii U. How wild. We went to the sauna, and then had a lovely dinner, where I got a little tipsy off a Pina Colada and fell asleep before our night out in town. I’l never know what it was to party out there for now, but what I do know was that my giggly self fell asleep instantly and felt amazing when I woke up.
This one piece from Planet Blue I've been eyeing down for almost a year and a half. At $185, I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend so much on it. But it was beautiful, I felt amazing in it, and slid my credit card away that day in Soho after trying it on and realizing I had waited too long and wouldn't continue to wait any longer. It's sold out online but the website has the same style in different colors.
The thing about clothes is that it shouldn't matter about the brand and the price. As long you you like it, rock the shit out of it, enjoy owning it,and wear it for yourself and not for the attention of others, then you're doing it right.
Day 5. Our last day. We woke up late and missed breakfast. Our friend the local came to pick us up at 8 SO THAT WE COULD GO ZORBING. I’ve wanted to
zorb for years. Surprisingly enough they don’t have it in the US. Getting into a giant plastic ball filled with some water and rolling down a bumpy hill, I don’t recall the last time I smiled, laughed, and unintentionally drank so much water all at once. It was so awesome that we even did it again! We went back to the mall. The driver said that it was really cheap to repair phones out in town. So we decided to try our luck and after three hours, were told that there was too much water damage for it to be repaired. So much for seeing my recent paycheck when I got home.
We went back to the beach where we rented chairs again and ordered a drink each. I got my Mai Tai and you got your Long Island iced tea. I felt a drink was appropriate just to grow a pair of lady balls and go parasailing. I spent weeks researching things to do in Thailand and watched endless videos of random people running off the beach and flying into the air being pulled off by a boat. Of course the girl that’s afraid to approach people I’ve known for years was totally okay with being strapped in my strangers and having a random man stand on my shoulders a hundred feet in the air. The view was stellar and it was one of my favorite things I did the entire trip.
Every single day was an adventure, from start to finish. I don't recall the last time I wasn't reliant of my phone, or spent so much time away from it. And truthfully, I barely missed it. Throughout the course of this trip, I recall seeing couples texting the entire time at dinner, people sitting right next to each other but glued to their own personal little screens, and how much I wanted to yell at them to wake up, and that real life was happening right in front of them. T
here's two types of people in this world, the people that live, and the people that watch other people live. Choose wisely.
Thinking about the past and throwing it all the fuck back to middle school, I want to talk about some things. But I have to start in the present. I originally ordered these flame pants on ASOS to be styled for something “Thrasher” inspired. You know, the skateboarding magazine thats been in existence for years but the general public only acknowledged when Beiber and Kanye started sporting it. The tees that are only $24.95 that parents love to bitch about for being “SO EXPENSIVE.” But you know whats really expensive? Having children. Shoulda thought about that twice. Anyway, I sell hundreds of these tees a week at my store. So I kind of got over it and didn’t want to do something involving Thrasher because I didn’t want to look like a poser or that I was feeding into the hype. Plus, skaters feel a certain type of way about something from their culture being blown up in the blogging hemisphere. I mean I work at a skate shop, have worked at a few really, and cruised around on a skateboard as a kid so I couldn’t possibly be a poser. Hell, I even fractured my foot in half riding in my neighborhood two summers ago. (FYI never a good idea to ride around with loose trucks and canvas sneakers that provide no support in case you do fall. But you have me to tell you that much by experience, so now you can’t let it happen.)
Going back to the past now. When I was younger, I went shopping with my parents EVERY weekend. And my parents were Kolh's biggest benefactors. So every weekend, we shopped at Kolh's and that’s where my shopping addiction began. And now I can’t stand to go there...I never really knew how much of an impact those trips would have on me until later on in life; aka right now. That’s where it all started. Little me shopping for Abbey Dawn jeans (RIP to Avrils clothing label) to finally blogging. Something that I fantasized about forever.
For a while I got annoyed at seeing people that I knew post about their blogs and outfits, or people overdoing it and it made me so incredibly pissed. I was watching them do what I WANTED TO do for years, but never did. Why? I was self-conscious, being on the internet at a younger age gave me problems, and I felt some type of way about broadcasting what I THOUGHT looked cool. What if other people didn't agree? Etc. So I got tired of watching other people live my dream, and eventually, after 4 years, made sonifromconey. After all, a dream is only a dream until you make it real.
My friend Kieran Bammann took these rad shots and I genuinely couldn't be happier with how awesome they came out. For more of her work and to book a shoot, check out her website here.
So I like to take advantage of the few moments that I'm able to enjoy the outdoors, and luckily enough I was able to shoot with my friend Kieran Bammann. These pictures look like something out of a legit lookbook, and I love them and the vibes that I'm getting. Kieran and I met exactly a year ago today, which was completely wild to me. When we first met at a commuter event, she said we should shoot sometime, and exactly a year later, here we were working together. I had checked out her website and LOVED all her pictures, especially the film ones. (These are all digital FYI) You can check out more of her work here, and if you're in the NYC area, deff do book her for your next shoot :)
My headband is about 5 years old, just about as long as my college career haha. Unfortunately you can't find it at PacSun anymore, but you can find something similar at Swell or Free People. In the mood to go to Urban and splurge $129 on this cute open back top and cropped mustard jacket? DO IT. I did ;) The mom jeans are from Bershka which unfortunately is not a store in the US, you can find Bershka in 70 countries worldwide but the United States didn't make the cut. Can someone explain this to me? And my shoes are Sk8-hi Slims from Vans that were sold in retail stores last year, but they have other styles that are very similar.
