I left Cambodia today after 16 days. I loved Cambodia. I don't know why I left.

Actually, that isn't true. I do. There were a variety of reasons:

1. Fear: still recovering from feeling bad and didn't want to risk going somewhere remote where I may not run into other travelers whose company I enjoy.

2. Laziness: two days to get there and two days back to go see a lake and some waterfalls. In retrospect, the journey is part of the adventure and the people in Cambodia are great.

3. Poor Planning: I was thinking about extending my ticket and going to Malaysia. Instead of looking into it in Cambodia, I decided it would be better to come to Bangkok and go to the airline office. As it turns out, I am just going to call anyway.

4. Mild Concern: I seem to be in some sort of record race for ailments. My most recent one is what I think actually qualifies as a boil on my thigh. Yes, that is gross. It started as a welt and I thought I just got stung by something in the water, but now the welt is disappearing as the blister thing gets bigger. It is not like a foot blister. It is about the size of a quarter, yellowy brown, very filled with liquid and has a bit of redness and small blisters near it. Lovely. I have been the poster child for delicate femininity this trip. I'm off to the doctor after I finish here. I expect it will just go away, but I am curious as to what it is and it is in an inconvenient location and I keep brushing it which hurts.

5. A Freakish Burst of Religiosity: I thought I might be able to celebrate Passover in Bangkok. Why I am chose one night of Passover with a bunch of people who speak Hebrew over an entire country, I do not know.

The whole way on the bus, I realized that I was making a mistake. Then suddenly, I was in super modern, English everywhere, crowded Bangkok and I realized that the intrepid part of my trip was over.

It vanished in a bus ride.

I could go back, but I don't like going backwards. I just need to make the best of the situation.

If I do extend my trip I will probably stay in Thailand the whole time. I might go to a yoga retreat and to volunteer- tsunamivolunteer.net. If I don't extend, I will have to choose between the two as they are at opposite ends of the country.

We'll see. It is incredibly easy to be here and I could easily stay. I know it is going to be difficult to adjust to getting home, although being in Thailand will probably ease that adjustment.

I love not knowing what day of the week it is and rising when my body tells me to instead of when an alarm clock does. I love that everyday is something different and that there are always new people to meet.

The main reason I am thinking about extending is b/c i have realized that leaving 2 weeks between my return and my departure for back east is probably not the best idea.

I had thought I would hunker down and start researching a new career, but now I realize that without being settled, that is not happening. I might as well just wait until I return from back east.

So, it makes more sense for me to be here then putzing around SF and burdening friends with my unproductive, slacker self taking up space in their homes.