Tuesday, 25 October, 2022 – Elias planned to go to Lyon today, I think, but then he texted, “I kind of messed up and forgot to book a place to sleep in Lyon until tonight so it’s gonna be sort of a pain, but I’m booked out to Thailand which is exciting – 4 nights, 4 nights and I leave.”
I hope that “sort of a pain” doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a place to stay for the night. That does not seem possible but when I tried to find Elias, Ian, and Kelsey a place to stay in Paris, in just a few minutes, the place I found was a dump. They stayed there, but I think it was one of those situations where you don’t want to lie down on the bed, or touch anything in the bathroom.
Annika and I checked into a place like that in Milwaukee in 2020. It was so gross, we stood up while I searched for other nearby hotels, because we did not want to sit down on anything. So, 15 minutes after checking in, we walked out. All I am saying is, I hope he does not have to deal with that situation. Yes, he’ll survive, but he won’t get much sleep. Yucko, as my mother used to say.
Who knows if he will have to move on to Plan B, where Lyon is concerned, but I looked up the train route, just to see where he will be, in relation to Paris. It is a longer travel day to Lyon than it will be when he goes from Lyon to Paris, I think – assuming he gets the high-speed train.
Now Elias has turned his attention to the details of traveling in Thailand. And if navigating street signs and menus and train schedules is hard in French, it is a whole different challenge in Thai. This is what the word “train” looks like in Thai: รถไฟ. And here’s Google’s helpful transliteration of it: Rt̄hfị. Get it? Nope, me neither. Yes, he will be fine, especially if he learns a few phrases like, “Thank you” or “Excuse me” or simply, “Please”.
He texted: “I need to look at it again, or have you do a little research but Ko Chang is looking like a good option. I found some places to stay for super cheap by Lonely Beach which is supposed to be a big backpacker area with a nice beach and parties and stuff. Sounds a little touristy/like Cabo or something like that but I don’t think it should be too bad. But also I’m 22 and figure I can have a week like that for once.”
I chuckled a little at the “I’m 22” part. Of course he should have fun at the beach! He should finish this trip having fun, right? And sometimes, when you are 22, a place like Cabo can be fun.