Thailand was calling, and I had to go! Three and a half years after my last pre-Covid adventure abroad, I finally managed to get out of Australia for a short media trip to Thailand. I'm home again now and celebrating that trip along with the milestone of the three hundredth episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast seems very appropriate. In this episode I'll tell you a little bit about my trip to Bangkok and Chiang Rai - more to come on these destinations in future episodes - and about how I felt to be leaving Australia. I've also included an extract from a chat I recently had with my friend Jean, who took her first post-Covid trip to Iraq a couple of months ago, and had lots of similar thoughts about this "new" travel experience. Of course, I always try to be a thoughtful traveller, and like to divide ways to be thoughtful into before, during and after a trip, so in this episode I ponder how well I did with this, considering it was a trip that arose at fairly short notice. And finally, I ask our Bangkok guide Suree for her tips on how we can be thoughtful travellers in Thailand, and she has plenty of advice for travelling and, to be honest, for life in general. Disclaimer stuff: I was hosted for this trip, which means the Tourism Authority of Thailand covered my travel costs. However, my opinions - and my love of Thailand - are all my own, honest truth. Links Amazing Thailand - https://amazingthailand.com.au/ How to be a thoughtful traveller - https://www.notaballerina.com/2018/01/thoughtful-travel.html  Previous chat with Jean about her trip to Iraq - https://notaballerina.com/297 Jean's site Traveling Honeybird - https://www.travelinghoneybird.com/ Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/300 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.