Why You Should Fall in Love With Asia

I grew up there, which probably makes me biased. But honestly, Asia doesn't need much help selling itself.

There are places you visit and enjoy. Then there are places that make you want to book another flight before you've even left. For me, Asia has always been that place. I grew up in Bangkok, so I probably didn't appreciate how incredible it was at the time. To me, it was just normal life. I could jump on a motorbike taxi, stop for a bowl of glass noodle soup and a Thai tea in a plastic bag, then take the BTS to school. I thought every kid grew up that way. They don't.

That's one of the things I love about Asia. It completely changes your idea of what normal can look like. You can be in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the world and still find a tiny restaurant where someone is making food that has probably been perfected over 30 years. You can walk out of a shopping center into absolute chaos, turn down a side street and suddenly find yourself somewhere completely quiet. You can spend the morning eating incredible food, the afternoon exploring a temple or market, and the evening sitting on a rooftop looking out over a city that seems to go on forever.

And then there is the food. Thai food, Vietnamese food, Japanese food, Korean food, Indian food, Cambodian food, Filipino food. Even within the same country, you can travel a few hours and suddenly everything tastes different. You don't need to find the most expensive restaurant either. Some of the best meals I've ever had have come from places that look like they shouldn't be capable of producing anything more complicated than a plastic chair and a Coke. Bangkok taught me that.

It also taught me that cities can be fun. Really fun. Bangkok is loud, hot, chaotic and completely addictive. It has this ridiculous mix of old and new where skyscrapers sit next to tiny street stalls and massive shopping centers sit a few streets away from neighborhoods that feel untouched by time. And the people make it even better. When I was a kid, Thai people were incredibly kind to me. I remember restaurant waitresses taking me into the kitchen to play while my parents ate. I remember people looking after me, talking to me and making me feel welcome. That warmth is something I have noticed again and again traveling through Asia.

The variety is probably the biggest reason I keep going back. You can spend a few days in Bangkok eating your way through the city, shopping, exploring neighborhoods and watching the whole place move around you, then head to Vietnam and trade the city for Ha Long Bay, Hanoi or the countryside. In Cambodia, you can spend the morning wandering through ancient temples and the afternoon sitting somewhere simple eating an incredible meal.

The Philippines gives you beaches and water that look almost fake, Bali gives you that mix of jungle, beaches and great restaurants (anyone who knows me knows I hate Bali, but even I have to admit there is some incredible beauty there once you get past the commercialized tourist slop), and Japan can feel like you've landed in another world entirely. You can ski in Japan, dive in Indonesia, surf in the Philippines, trek through Nepal or spend an entire afternoon doing absolutely nothing on a Thai beach. You can keep coming back and have a completely different trip every time.

One of the things I didn't realize I loved about Asia until I left was how much life happens outside. In Bangkok, you don't need to make a plan to experience the city. The city is constantly moving around you.

And don't get me started on the air conditioning. I know this sounds ridiculous, but moving back to South Africa was one of the first times I realized how much I had taken it for granted. In Bangkok, you could walk into a shopping center and get hit with that blast of freezing air after being outside in 35 degree heat. It was glorious. Then I moved back to South Africa and walked into a shopping center and thought, where the hell is the air conditioning? I genuinely missed it.

I also missed 7-Eleven more than any reasonable person should miss a convenience store. The little sound the door makes when you walk in is still one of my favorite sounds. In Thailand, 7-Eleven was everywhere, and there was something comforting about knowing that no matter where you were, you could probably find one nearby. A cold drink, some snacks, something hot to eat, air conditioning for five minutes and you're sorted.

Bangkok also exposed me to a level of multiculturalism that I didn't fully appreciate until I left. There were people from everywhere. Expats, locals, travelers, families, businessmen, students. You could go into one neighborhood and feel like you were somewhere completely different from the one you had just left. I loved that. I still do.

The Philippines gave me another version of Asia that I fell in love with. There was a warmth to the people that stayed with me, and it was another place where I felt like you could actually connect with people.

My favorite thing about Asia, though, might be the cities at night. I love being somewhere high up, looking out over a city after dark. Give me a rooftop and a view and I can sit there forever. I look at all those windows lit up across the city and start wondering about the people behind them. Someone is eating dinner. Someone is working late. Someone is having an argument. Someone is getting ready to go out. Someone is probably falling in love. Thousands of completely separate lives happening at the same time, all around you. I think that is what

Asia does better than almost anywhere else for me. It makes you feel like you are in the middle of something much bigger than yourself.

Maybe growing up in Bangkok is why I notice these things. Maybe I am just nostalgic. But every time I go back, I find myself getting that same feeling again.