In November I visited Thailand. I'm a fan. Huge fan. Even though I only went to Bangkok and Phuket, I instantly fell in love with everything. The people, the culture, the food...everything. This list is by no means an exhaustive detailing of the entire country but simply a few of my observations from my short visit.

1. Thailand is super cheap. Not kidding, EVERYTHING is dirt cheap. You might have seen me post that I got a full plate of delicious pad thai for like $.75 on Khao San Road.

Prepared on the street by this cute little lady here:

Before we made our decision, we surveyed the other stalls but we should have known that she was churning out the best stuff. She had a steady flow of customers parked right in front of her all night. I also want to admit that I wasn't thrilled about the idea of eating food off the street but I knew that's what people did in Thailand so I went for it.

Everything from the food, the accommodations, to the flights on AirAsia were suuuuper cheap (I'm talking like $30). Cabs were cheap, Uber was cheap, souvenirs were cheap....you get the point right? You won't have to worry about spending too much money here. That won't happen. You can focus on other things, which was refreshing.

2. EVERYONE was super nice. Even the guy trying to coerce us into going to the ping pong shows in Phuket (if you don't know what that is, Google, but don't say I didn't warn you). In Bangkok, we hired a driver for the day, which is really the cheapest mode of transportation if you intend on going to several different places in one day. If I am recalling correctly, after a very full day of sightseeing, which included a round trip 3 hours to the floating market and about 4-5 other stops, we paid our driver, Billy, 1500 baht. 1500 baht is $42. On top of that, Billy was the nicest man ever. He did magic for us and stopped along the side of the road to get us refreshments like Thai coffee and some other Thai snack that looks like a tamale wrapped in banana leaves. We hadn't asked him and he wouldn't let us pay. Of course we considered that there would be some expectation in the way of a tip, but the Thai people don't expect tips. Nevertheless, we tipped him anyway, and not just because he got us a coffee and a snack when we were famished, but because he literally took care of everything for us. He went the extra mile and that was a common theme we noted among Thai people.

3. There is a ton of diversity. I don't really mean in the people. Well, I do mean the people. There are people from all over the world in Thailand, many of whom were not Thai, but were either visiting or who had taken up residence there for one reason or another. When I say diversity, I actually mean in the things you can see and do. The floating markets, the beaches, the parties...its so tropical and beautiful. The little villages on the Phi Phi Islands.....the different shades of blue in the water. The types of fish we spotted while snorkeling, the color of the sand. The food was so diverse! My favorite thing was mango sticky rice! It was a total sensory overload and I loved every minute of it. Even the difference in the weather from one part of the country to the next.

4. You'll see one of the most beautiful sunsets you've ever seen in your life in Phuket. Phuket is one of the most beautiful places you'll see period. But on the day we arrived and took a taxi down to Patong Beach, I wasn't expecting to have my breath taken away. We got out of the taxi right in the thick of things, paid the driver and started walking toward the crowd. It wasn't until I looked to the left that I realized I had been missing it. I quickly crossed the street to the beach, just to get a closer look. The picture doesn't do it any justice. It's pink and purple and blue and....how the?! I can't. Just look. It almost makes you want to cry.

5. You can pet a really big (or small) tiger, sail on a floating market, snorkel with a fearless school of fish, feed monkeys on the beach.....Ok I had to squeeze all those things into this last one. Yep, I did all those things, except feeding the monkeys. I loved every minute. I recommend you do all these things and more.