FEATURE, EXPLORE, TRAVEL
INTERVIEW: GRACE HAMMOCK
HOW DID THIS TRIP COME ABOUT?
"This trip began as a tiny idea. Maya (one of the girls I was traveling with and go to school with) was graduating and as a gift her parents were sending her to Asia to backpack. She had posted on a Facebook page that I was part of about her trip and was opening an invitation for anyone else who would want to do Thailand with her. I immediately jumped at the opportunity but never really thought I would actually get to go. My parents were obviously skeptical about me traveling with two other college girls and getting to Thailand was expensive. But I was persistent in my plan to travel and eventually my parents agreed to allow it. As soon as I was sitting down with my Dad buying a plane ticket, I knew that my life was getting ready to change."
WHERE DID YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS TRAVEL THROUGH?
"We traveled to 6 different places in about a month's timespan. We met up with Maya in Chiang Mai because she had been traveling for about two half weeks prior to meeting with Brooke and I. We then took a bus ride to a hidden town called Pai that is known for it's hippie dwellers and relaxed feel. Here we hiked the Pai canyon that had the most breathtaking view. After Pai was the infamous Bangkok. Despite being Bangkok and known for it's wild nights, we found the most amazing temples here. The temple Wat Pho that we discovered while walking around was the most intricate, and perplexing structure I had ever been in. Rows of golden Buddhas surrounded the outskirts of the temple, each one carefully constructed, all very much the same but if you look closely, all very different. After Bangkok we traveled to the islands where we were to spend the rest of our time. Koh Samui, Koh Tao and Koh Phangan."
WHY DID YOU GO ON THIS TRIP?
"Going on this trip was something that I felt like I needed to do to prove to myself that I can and will take advantage of this life. I felt like I had sheltered myself and needed to extend my horizons again but didn't know how to go about it, and then this trip appeared in my life and I knew I needed to do it."
DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING FROM YOUR TRIP?
"Thailand was everything and nothing that I thought it would be, if that makes sense. I had my expectations and an idea of what to expect only to find out that I was completely wrong. Thailand was everything I needed in my life. It was a culture shock but at times it also felt like home. Leaving the United States is something that every American should do, it opens your eyes to so many possibilities and broadens your mind to places you've never thought about before.