I was looking for something out of the ordinary and although I have had the chance to travel a lot, I was yearning for an incomparable kind of experience. Having a desire to find new ways of experiencing culture and travel, I didn’t feel the need to stay in five star hotels with exotic restaurants and heated pools.
This type of adventure had to be extraordinary and needed to have real world situations which would eventually alter my perspectives on life, allowing me to appreciate life a little bit more. As a strong believer in the phrase ‘All we have is now,’ I found the same mentality with Free and Easy Traveler (FnEZ). I’m here because I believe you all deserve to feel as alive as I did when going through this experience.
FnEZ is a Canadian backpacking company based out of Alberta. The organization offers trips to Southeast Asia, the Mediterranean, and South America. From my experience travelling with the company, they offer a perfect balance of culture, thrill, nightlife and exposure to real world realities.
What if I could share an experience with you that altered my entire life in a matter of just 20 days? Six flights, two overnight trains, one jungle and a few too many Mai Tais; I lived completely in the now. Overall, it was three weeks to explore both Southern and Northern Thailand.
Alongside this journey, you are accompanied by group leaders who are passionate and educated about their surroundings. As a member of their backpacking group you are treated as a friend, travel companion, and an extra set of eyes on hikes.
They say a picture paints a thousand words, yet none of my photos did my journey through Thailand any justice. You will stay in floating lake houses in the middle of Northern Chiang Mai and you will bathe elephants in your bare feet. You will travel by bamboo rafts down the lazy river as if it was your average Uber ride. You will release burning paper lanterns into the black, starry sky while admitting your darkest fears to your new found family in complete comfort. You will soak up the sun on the beaches of Railay and dip your toes in the Indian Ocean at midnight. You will forget what day of the week it is, you will forget to charge your phone and most importantly, you will forget all headaches or uncertainties you may be feeling back home.
Photo provided by Abby McCorriston
You will be exactly who you want to be and maybe even who you never thought you’d be (you may even get a couple of tattoos, sorry dad). You will live in the now, and above all by doing this, you will be investing in memories for yourself that will last a lifetime. Travel, to me, will never go out of style.
I was lucky enough to embark on this trip with one of my best, hometown friends. But I’ll be honest, I was still hesitant to get on a plane and meet up with a random group of complete strangers on the other side of the globe. Besides just meeting them, I was intimidated by the idea of having to spend the next three weeks with them. Those 20 people are now who I consider my FnEZ family. They are my friends who are spread all the way across Canada and even some internationally.
These people were a group I instantly connected with, all in their own individual ways but at the end of the day we were collectively and together, a family. These individuals gained my trust, educated me, experienced with me, laughed with me and even cried with me. There aren’t many days that go by where I don’t find myself missing each and everyone of these weirdos, almost as much as I miss the Thai street market mangoes in the morning.
Photo provided by Abby McCorriston
The late Anthony Bourdain once said, “Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you – it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, on your body. You take something with you . . . hopefully you leave something good behind.”
Regardless of whether you choose to travel with a group like FnEZ or on your own, the best decision you will make in the first place is to go. And when you do go, I hope you think of me while you’re living in the now, and living free and easy.
And as for me, I’ll be getting ready to open a new door of possibilities in Peru this spring, with nobody but my Free and Easy family, of course.