Chapter 2: The Diagnosis

Buddhist Temple. Chiang Mai, Thailand

Chapter Two

I arrived in Chiang Mai, Thailand on January 12, 2020. After 30 hours of solo traveling, I stepped into the CNX airport for my first experience in Asia. I breathed in the smells of sweaty travelers, curry, dusty luggage, airliner fuel, and old coffee. I had never felt more alive.

My biggest worry was that my checked luggage would be stuck somewhere a million miles between Minnesota and Asia but fortunately, I spied my large black case turning the bend on the carousel and let out a small smile of relief. Next up was finding my name on a private driver's hand-written sign; my lovely AirBNB host had arranged for a private shuttle to the apartment I had rented out for the next 5 weeks. I found the driver with the sign, “Courtney,” the only word on it. He spoke not one word of English, I spoke not one word of Thai. We drove silently 10-15 minutes through urban Chiang Mai until we reached a slightly run-down apartment building on the edge of Nimmanhaemin Road with a gorgeous view overlooking Doi Suthep mountain. My host escorted me to my apartment, which to my surprise, looked 1000% percent more beautiful than the pictures online with tons of natural light, two spacious bedrooms, and a deep-soaker bathtub (my favorite guilty pleasure). I thanked my host, set down my luggage, and let out a squeal of pure joy. I had arrived.

Ironically, prior to my departure for Thailand my recent hobby outside of the medical field had been challenging myself to write a book. I was around 100 pages into, in my own personal bias, a pretty decent coming-of-age adult fiction novel about a young woman who finds that her brain is playing tricks on her. You'd think I'm joking, but this is how crazy your brain is people! It works in crazy mysterious ways. Anyways, part of my plan on my arrival in Thailand was to find some inspiration to continue writing my novel. I figured I might have a fairly decent draft ready to show off by the time I returned home in a few weeks. To get the creative inspiration flowing, I started journaling when I arrived in Chiang Mai. I could edit these journal entries through the retrospectoscope of a new brain tumor diagnosis, but what fun would that be? The next few blog posts are honest, unadulterated reflects of my initial few weeks in Thailand, before shit totally hit the fan.

Fondly,

Courtney

© CB2020