Location: Ao Nang, Krabi, Thailand

I woke up this morning and despite having another day booked in Phuket, I decided I was ready to go. I packed up my stuff, came downstairs to find a bus and I was only sitting in the lobby for about 30 seconds when a woman with bright red hair and a huge smile goes ‘Are you solo travelling? Can I sit with you? I just got here!’

Um heck yes please be my friend! Remember not to yell that at people though Savanna, it scares them. We already went over this in Taiwan.

Well it turns out I probably could have yelled ‘FRIEND?’ right at her and it would have been fine because that’s practically what happened. Her name is Annie, she’s from Saskatchewan, and she is lovely and fun and enthusiastic to the point that within literally like fifteen minutes of meeting each other she cancelled her plans in Phuket and decided to come to with me to Krabi.

We caught a bus and chatted almost the whole way, getting to know one another and constantly transitioning between surprise and delight at finding each other. The landscape turned from beach and mountains to huge limestone karsts covered in jungle brush and trees, jutting straight up out of the blue and green water. When we arrived in Krabi we immediately met Sunni, a young German woman who was totally happy to tag along to whatever we were doing. The three of us grabbed dinner and then found Stuart, a Brit (with the longest mullet I’ve seen in awhile) that Sunni had met earlier that day. The four of us walked up the street to buy fresh ‘roll up ice cream’ down the road, at my sweet tooth’s request. I was already happy to have found Annie, but she seemed to magnetize people in to her orbit and I was so pleased to be a part of it. The four of us decided to go for a drink, which turned into joining Stuart’s Italian friend Giuliano for a pub quiz night. Stuart is staying in Thailand for another week as he prepares to adopt a Vietnamese street puppy he found a few months ago, whom he named Muffin.

And suddenly there were five.

We spent the rest of the evening drinking Thai beer, playing Jenga, and dancing, all the while making plans for the next few days. Did I find a little crew? After a late night snack and some loose plans made we shuffled off to bed, tired from the long day. Maybe a little sleep in tomorrow will be necessary…

I hope I get many more days like this.

Sav