“Cabin crew please prepare for take off”

An overwhelming hum fills the airplane

Our backs pressing against the seats

Here

We would sit for the next 15 hours

The time changes

The smells change

More sitting, more planes, more waiting

Here

We land

Chiang Rai, Thailand

Fast drivers, spring rolls, and Buddha statues

Here

The hotel

is colder

lighter, than the air outside

The lobby is made of glass

Sunlight overflowing the space

Here

Our rooms

Two beds with hard mattresses and white sheets

A tv that doesn’t work

A bathroom with cold tile floors

Here

We would spend the next 6 days

River walks, cold pools, and muggy air

Orphanages, refugee camps, and schools

Elephants and bananas

Waterfalls and forests

Here

I love it

I let it soak in, flooding my memories

The sights, the smells, the people

I will never forget it,

Here