I landed in Bangkok early Saturday morning.

Suvarnabhumi Airport. Eighteen hours of travel. Tired, but excited. It was my fifth trip to Thailand, so nothing felt completely unfamiliar, but I still had that buzz you get when you know something’s about to start.

The plan was simple enough on paper. Bangkok to Hua Hin. Hua Hin to Chumphon. Chumphon to… somewhere else. Surat Thani, I think. Then Surat Thani to Ranong. And a few stops in between that I can’t fully remember without checking.

Saturday afternoon I got to the hotel around four. Checked in. Dropped the bag. The idea was to get an early train the next morning. Sunday. Seven a.m.

That didn’t happen.

I ended up meeting some friends in Bangkok that night. One thing led to another. I got back to the hotel around five in the morning. Safe to say, the train was gone by then.

Sunday turned into a write-off, in a good way.

I stayed around Bangkok. Got some food. Picked up a few things I’d forgotten to bring from Ireland. Wandered around a bit. No rush. Just killing time and letting the travel catch up with me.

Monday morning came and it was time to actually move.

I didn’t take the train. I got a taxi to the bus station and took a bus to Hua Hin. It wasn’t a great journey. Long. Uncomfortable. One of those buses where you just sit there waiting for it to be over. But it got me there.

As soon as I arrived in Hua Hin, I went straight to the motorcycle shop. Bag on my back. Helmet and jacket with me. No hanging around.

I rented a Benelli 502, got everything sorted, and got ready to head south.

This was the real start of the trip.

The next leg was Hua Hin to Chumphon. About two to three hours, depending on how things went. This was my first time riding a motorbike on highways in Thailand. I’d ridden plenty before, but this felt different. Bigger roads. Faster traffic. More commitment.

Pulling out onto the highway, I remember thinking, Right, here we go.

It took a bit to settle into it. Getting used to the pace. Watching how traffic moved. Figuring out where I fit into it all. Once it clicked, it started to feel steady, but it definitely kept you alert.

This wasn’t zipping around the city anymore.

This was covering ground.

By the time I’d been riding a while, Bangkok already felt far away. The noise dropped. The roads opened up. Less chaos. More space.

Day one wasn’t dramatic. No big moments. No stories worth exaggerating.

But it felt like the start of something proper.

The point where the trip actually began.