• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Wandering Carol's

Luxury Travel Blog

The Unpretentious Guide to Luxury Travel

  • Home
  • About Wandering Carol
  • Destinations
    • Asia Travel
    • Caribbean Travel
    • Europe Travel
      • Austria
      • Czech Republic
      • England
      • France
      • Germany
      • Hungary
      • Ireland Travel
      • Italy
      • Spain
      • Switzerland
      • Wales
    • North America Travel
      • Canada Travel
      • Mexico Travel
      • USA Travel
  • Spas and Wellness
  • Experiences
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Romantic Travel
    • Sacred Places
    • Adventure
    • Solo Travel
  • Contact

Soul searching in Thailand

Luxury travel blog » Solo Travel » Soul searching in Thailand
January 28, 2013 by Carol Perehudoff

This post may contain affiliate links.

This running-away-to-Thailand holiday is going very well. While I do feel a bit guilty about ditching life at home as well as my poor beleaguered fiance (sorry, honey!) who is slogging through winter all alone, but on the plus side, I’ve successfully proven that a person can arrange a major trip on 8 days notice. A trip I think of as my soul searching in Thailand trip.

A health trip to Thailand

I’m staying at a little place called The Spa Resort on the island Koh Samui and feel – as I so rarely feel when I travel – content. And isn’t that what soul searching is all about? Not so much finding yourself, as no longer being fuelled by the need to search.

Soul searching in Thailand on the beach
it ain’t fancy, but it’s home

 

Just what does soul searching in Thailand mean?

I have no desire to explore. I feel a bit guilty about that as well. How can I come to Asia and not run around at a frenetic pace? So much to see! Pai! Koh Lippi! But this trip is different. It’s not about much except writing, clearing my head and giving my frost-weary body a break. Soul searching in Thailand, or anywhere else for that matter, is as much about the inner journey as it is about places you are seeing.

So I suppose you could do a soul searching trip from your living room. But soul searching in Thailand is a lot more fun.

Looking for other great places to stay? Read Best Resorts in Thailand

Why we need to get away

It’s amazing how you can wake up one morning and feel you need to get away. My body felt all sludgy and the grey skies were depressing. I thought I couldn’t run off on such short notice – that I couldn’t simply get up and take off without, you know, planning.


 

I thought of all the reasons I shouldn’t go. Too much to do at home! But then …. I decided to do it anyway. Because sometimes you just need to be alone, to take stock of where you are in your life – especially when you have just gone through, or are about to go through a life-changing event.

In my case it’s getting married. In fact, the morning that we signed the contract to hold our wedding at the Park Hyatt Toronto, is the same morning my fiance had to drive me to the airport. Coincidence? I think not.

Soul searching in Thailand, walks on beach
Best time to walk on the beach

 

Soul searching in Koh Samui, it’s hard to find a better place

Koh Samui, a southern island in Thailand, is a good choice for running away, though many would say it’s overdeveloped. Hey, I’m not arguing it, but there are many layers here and you can find what you want. It’s friendly. I like the people. And there is health food galore.

And what did you eat today?

When you go on a trip for soul searching you don’t need to dwell on the big issues or questions all the time. Soul searching means concentrating on the simple things, in hopes that the big questions will sort themselves out when you can get yourself into a calm state of mine.

So I think a lot about healthy food. I started off the morning with (okay, I know this sounds gross) a Faster Blaster with Spirulina, which is something like coconut, prune juice and hm, can’t remember what else, but it sounded hearty enough to get me through the torture of morning yoga.

Plus, I was running late and had no time for buckwheat pancakes with goji berry sauce and fresh fruit, which would have been my first choice. Since then I have had a spicy Tom Yum Goong (spicy shrimp soup) and a platter of papaya and watermelon. And a watermelon juice. And this is making me hungry … is it dinnertime yet?

Soul searching in Thailand, new friends
Yum. Let’s have something disgustingly healthy!

 

Soul searching in Thailand means tranquility

So for now, besides eating, this soul searching journey in Thailand is about peace and quiet. I’m having lots of herbal steam baths, lots of beachy walks, too much hideous deet repellent and a whole lot of coconuts and fried shrimp with basil and chilli.

No shopping. I’m too blissed out and deep for that. (Haha, I lied. I bought a $12 dress and feel a major shopping expedition coming on).

Soul searching in Thailand, relaxing beach
Lots of quiet time

 

But while I’m doing these mundane things, what I’m really doing is soul searching. Maybe because I’m getting married I needed one last hurrah – at least that’s what I said to Mark. (If you can call going to a health retreat in Thailand a hurrah. We all have our own ways of having fun.)

“You make marriage sound like a prison sentence,” he said.

But that’s not what I think at all. I just needed to revisit somewhere I spent a lot of time being single. And Koh Samui is it. It’s kind of like I’m introducing my past self to my future self, and guess what? I’m pretty sure they’ll get along.

 

 

Read more about Thailand:

Escape Winter with Wellness in Thailand, Travel and Escape magazine.

Am I the only person who hates yoga? Yoga on Koh Samui

Life lessons learned on a beach in Koh Samui

Choosing a hotel in Bangkok in Bangkok

Read more about Luxury in Asia

 

 

Category: Solo Travel, Spas and Wellness, Thailand

About Carol Perehudoff

A former freelance travel columnist for the Toronto Star, Carol has won more than 30 writing awards and honours. A spa and luxury travel expert, she’s written for top travel publications around the globe.

Previous Post:Choosing a hotel in Bangkok
Next Post:Life lessons learned on the beach in Koh Samui

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lesley Peterson

    Wow, such lovely colors and atmospheric effects in the two first photos, Carol. And such happiness reflected in photo 3!

  2. Carol Perehudoff

    Har har har, Michele. No, I plan to spend at least $15 on my wedding dress. Must have the best.

  3. Michele Peterson

    Sounds fabulous! I hear it is -10 in Toronto so perfect timing. I’m just hoping that $12 dress isn’t a wedding dress…

  4. Carol Perehudoff

    Hi Ian, So great to discover your blog. Plan to soon eat pizza under a bridge. Thanks for writing.

  5. ianord

    Sounds like you’re having a great time! :) Welcome to Thailand! Now you can see why so many of us call it home, some just to escape the winter blues, others for much longer!!

  6. Carol Perehudoff

    Super nice trip, K&K. How are you both? Been in any poetry parades lately?

  7. kandkadventures

    Nice! Sounds like a great trip!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Sidebar

luxury travel blogger wandering carol on train

About Wandering Carol

In my 10+ years as a travel writer and columnist I've seen the best of what the world has to offer and written for some top publications around the globe - and now my goal is to bring this expertise to you. For more blah blah blah, visit my
About page.

Book Your Next Adventure

Booking.com

Connect with me online

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
Carol Perehudoff published in top media, logos for newspapers and magazines

How to Use This Site

  • Use the SEARCH BOX if you’re looking for something specific.
  • Click on the ‘DESTINATIONS’ tab on the top menu to see the countries we write about.
  • SUBSCRIBE to keep up with the latest articles and get tips to make your next journey inspiring.

Caribbean Travel

golden sand beach in Saint Lucia

14 Fun Things to Do in St Lucia

golden sunset in the caribbean

5 Ways to Budget and Plan a Luxury Caribbean Vacation

Paradisus Palma Real Beach, Dominican Republic

Paradisus Punta Cana and Paradisus Palma Real, tale of two paradises

Beautiful beach, affordable luxury Caribbean

Affordable luxury Caribbean – vacation tips and tricks

Welcome to this luxury travel magazine

Click around to find some top destinations and fab adventures - and put a spark in your life through travel.
Carol Perehudoff on the media, logos
Restored chapel in The Jaffa that shows why this is one of the best hotels in Tel Aviv

Hot Hotel Alert – The Jaffa in Tel Aviv

The Jaffa Hotel Review Once you leave The Jaffa, a ‘hip-meets-history’ luxury hotel in Yafo Tel Aviv, it’s all downhill. At least it was for me when I cycled down to the seafront promenade from the hotel’s perch above the Old Port of Jaffa. The bike, being from The Jaffa, was no ordinary battered rental …

Inspiration

“Who says you can’t run away?”

Share

  • https://www.facebook.com/pages/WanderingCarolcom-A-Luxury-Travel-Blog-for-those-who-Love-to-Laugh/1503397106575455
  • https://instagram.com/wanderingcarol/
  • http://pinterest.com/wanderingcarol
  • https://wanderingcarol.com/feed
  • http://twitter.com/WanderingCarol

Copyright © 2023 · Wandering Carol’s Seeking Elsewhere Magazine · All Rights Reserved · Disclosure and Privacy Policy