Thailand… the beginning
After two years on the road, I was exhausted. I had sworn myself to slow travel, but it wasn’t slow enough. Sometimes you have to move. A month in Morocco sounds chill until you realize to get a feel for the whole country, you have to move — which meant renting a car and spending weeks driving long distances from town to town.
Thailand was my next destination. And maybe, this time, I would put on the brakes.
Big Buddha
I started my adventure flying from Casablanca to Phuket — a popular tourist destination nestled in southern Thailand. Of course with lingering Covid still rampant, it wasn’t crowded when I arrived.
Phuket is a large island in southern Thailand. It’s popular with tourists craving the beach. Also my long-time friend Bruce has lived there for many years. Like me, he is a world traveler and mentor to me. I was looking forward to spending time with him.
I hit the ground with a mission. Two years of travel left me carrying too many extra pounds. I’ve always known that the key to health as you get older is to stay slim, which was the exact opposite of where I found myself. Another friend Matthew told me about a health resort in Phuket that might help me focus on losing weight.
So I found Phuket Cleanse. It is run by fellow American Mel Proctor — an amazing woman who landed in Phuket many years ago and transformed her life by a system of eating properly, exercising and mindfulness. I was lucky enough to sign up during Covid, so I got an amazing deal. Travelers from around the world also descended on Phuket Cleanse to lose weight and get stronger while meeting like-minded people.
When I arrived, I was a little uneasy. I’d never stayed at a health resort before. But people I met were nice and seemed comfortable with the routine. I tagged along and jumped in feet first.
Up early for a strenuous hike. Then pick what you want to do for the rest of the day. HIIT classes. Spinning. Muay Thai boxing. Meditation. Yoga… the list goes on. And then there was the food. Very healthy. It used to be all vegetarian but Mel discovered that some people (like me) needed meat protein. So the kitchen would often serve salmon.
They also encouraged fasting. Mel suggested that I try Intermittent fasting (where you usually skip breakfast and limit your eating to an eight hour window). I also did a clear soup fast for five days and a three day water fast. The pounds started falling off.
Mel puts out a weekly schedule. There are classes all day long, so you can easily fill your day from 6 am to 9 pm, yet you were encouraged to go at your own pace and set your own schedule.
But what really stood out for me at Phuket Cleanse were the people I met. They were an international crowd — India, England, France, Switzerland, Israel, the list goes on. And there was a nice range of ages and sizes, from robust to small. There were oldies like me and fit youngsters in there thirties. It’s not particularly cheap, so many are successful, though others scrounge for years to come here for change. I mean, why else be here if you weren’t looking to change something about yourself.
Since we all had similar goals it was easy to make friends. Being used to my solo travel bubble, I didn’t realize how I missed being around people to talk to and hang with on a daily basis. As I made friends, I found it easy to share about myself, my thoughts and experiences. And a curious thing started to happen.
I began opening up — pulling upon my experiences and wisdom.
You see, for many years, my focus was on raising a family and my strenuous work life in LA. But through my travels, I began shedding this past. I began to feel younger, like I did in my twenties when my focus was less on accumulation and more on self-discovery. With my new friends II began sharing thoughts and ideas that had been hibernating deep inside of me. And people eagerly responded.
It was profound.
Five weeks later, I walked out a new man. I lost over twenty-five pounds. But that was on the outside. Inside I felt re-connected to my inner spiritual side. And along with that, my desire to share that part with others.
It didn’t stop there.
One morning after a walk on nearby Nai Harn beach, I dove into the surf. The water was refreshing. The sun warmed me. I looked around with a full heart and thought to myself that Thailand is truly a special place. A place where I could stay healthy — great food, easy access to gyms and exercise, and friendly people everywhere. Why not stay for a while? In fact, why not make this my home base? Instead of hopping from country to country like I’ve been doing, maybe I should come back here between trips. It would give me a chance to rest, share my adventures with my growing friend group, then head out again. My friend Bruce has been doing exactly that for thirty years. Maybe he is onto something.
So, there I was, floating in the warm seas off Nai Harn beach. It felt good to be alive. To have a place to call home… kind of.
Thailand is big. There’s Phuket. Ko Somui. Ko Phangan. Chiang Mai. Oh my.
