19. Arriving Somewhere New

My first time staying in a dorm room - backpacker life properly beginning.

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19. Arriving Somewhere New

I arrived at Krabi bus station just before 8 am.

It had been a long journey overnight, but honestly, it wasn’t anywhere near as painful as it probably sounds. 

If anything, there was something calming about it. 

Something reflective.

Bangkok already felt far away.

And straight away, this place felt different.

The chaos had gone.

Not in a bad way — Bangkok had its own energy, and I’d loved that — but this was quieter. 

Slower. 

Softer.

You could feel it immediately.

The morning air felt fresher. 

The roads less frantic. 

Nature already visible in the distance. 

And as the sun continued rising, lighting up the limestone cliffs around the area, it honestly felt like I’d arrived somewhere completely new.

Because I had.

From the bus station, I made my way to Ao Nang, where I’d booked a hostel for a few nights.

This was going to be another new experience for me.

My first time staying in a dorm room.

Shared beds. 

Shared space. 

Backpacker life properly beginning.

I arrived early, well before check-in time, so I dropped my bags and sat down in the common area.

A Scottish guy checked me in. 

Turned out he was volunteering at the hostel rather than actually working there. 

We got chatting for a bit, and I asked him how long he’d been there.

“A few months” he said.

He only had good things to say about Ao Nang too. 

Said he came for a short stay originally and just… never really left.

At that point, I still didn’t fully understand why.

But first impressions were definitely good.

Even though I’d arrived too early for breakfast technically, the hostel staff told me to help myself anyway, which was a nice touch after the overnight journey.

So I grabbed some toast and a coffee and sat down with a few other travellers.

Again, that same feeling.

People from different places. 

Different stories. 

Different journeys.

But all crossing paths for a brief moment.

I ended up chatting with three solo travellers sitting nearby. 

All girls. 

All travelling alone. 

And all doing completely different trips.

One of them told me she’d just finished a solo motorbike trip through Vietnam on her own.

That stuck with me.

Because even though I’d already pushed myself a lot by coming here alone, hearing stories like that made me realise how big this world really is — and how many different ways there are to experience it.

Everyone seemed to have their own version of freedom.

And sitting there that morning, tired from the journey but feeling completely alive, I started to realise something.

This trip wasn’t just about places.

It was about people too.

I’d arrived somewhere completely new.

And already, it felt good.

After chatting more with the girls in the hostel, I heard more about their journeys. 

As I mentioned earlier, they had all arrived in Thailand travelling solo, on completely different paths, but had met here at the hostel and were now sharing parts of the experience together.

Day trips. Beach days. Meals. Conversations.

It was nice to see.

Comforting, actually.

Because even though everyone was on their own path, nobody really seemed alone.

That immediately put me at ease.

It also made me realise pretty quickly that I’d probably chosen the right hostel.

I was enjoying my own space and my own thoughts, but of course, I didn’t want to spend every day completely alone either. 

Part of the reason for travelling was the people you meet along the way. 

The random conversations. 

The temporary friendships (who knows where they’ll lead to…)

The stories shared between strangers.

And this place already felt open to that.

After sitting there for over an hour, the girls headed off for a day trip they already had booked.

They invited me along too.

Honestly, had I already been settled in and checked in properly, I probably would’ve gone.

But after the overnight bus journey and just arriving that morning, I decided against it for now.

Instead, we agreed to meet later that evening for dinner.

That alone felt good.

A small plan. Something simple.

And somehow, after the wobble I’d felt in Bangkok just days earlier, even something as small as having people to meet later on gave me a strange sense of stability.

Not long after, I was able to check in early, around 10:30 or 11.

Eight-bed dorm. 

Bottom bunk. 

Small locker beside the bed. 

A little space to store my backpack.

Simple.

Clean.

Perfectly fine for what I needed.

I unpacked a few things, had a shower, changed clothes, and freshened up properly for the first time since arriving.

And honestly, I felt re-energised.

Around midday, I headed back out.

I walked up the hill from the hostel and started making my way down towards the beach, finally getting a proper look around the place I’d just arrived in.

On the way, I stopped at a small local restaurant for lunch and ordered another massaman curry. 

Chicken, potatoes, rich sauce, rice. 

Beautiful.

And being a southern Thai dish originally, somehow it tasted even better being down here.

After lunch, I continued walking until eventually I reached the beachfront.

And wow.

That moment stopped me.

The sea. 

The long stretch of beach. 

The limestone cliffs rising in the distance. 

Longtail boats drifting across the water.

It honestly felt surreal.

One of those moments where you pause without even meaning to.

Just standing there, taking it all in.

And in that moment, I realised again that leaving home and starting this journey had been the right decision.

I guess this is something I’ll be feeling a lot more as time goes by.

Not easy.

Not always comfortable.

But right.

For the next couple of hours, I just wandered.

No rush. 

No plan.

I grabbed a fruit smoothie from a street stall, walked along the beachfront, and simply absorbed everything around me.

By late afternoon, around 3 or 4pm, I slowly made my way back up the hill towards the hostel.

I was tired.

But in a good way.

The kind of tired that comes from actually living.

And as I headed back to get ready for dinner, I could feel something shifting again.

The uncertainty was still there somewhere in the background.

But now, excitement was beginning to take over.

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