#also today my bank card got blocked because of the sudden change in location

[conventofpleasure]

being in a new country is sooooo stressful I can’t believe I have to DO THINGS

[roamingcandleinthewild]

Michaely and the Adventures of the Lost Wallet

I’ve been in Thailand for about 10 days now, I spent 4 nights in Bangkok, 5 nights in Kanchanaburi (one including Elephant Haven), and last night I slept on a night bus from Kanchanaburi to Chiang Mai. It’s been a blast so far, some setbacks aside. I got to the Shanghai airport after my first 12 hour flight, in line for immigration I met another girl my age, from BC, going to Bangkok as well. It turned out we were staying about 2 blocks away from each other in Bangkok so we agreed to take a cab together from the airport. It was around 11:30 and everything was going great, except I think the cab driver took the long way around because it was more than expected. We got to Khao San Road where Ashlee was staying, I gave her my share of the cab fare, and I explained to him I was getting off at another spot (at this point we didn’t realize HOW close my hostel was to her), and when he insisted I get out and walk, I wasn’t about to argue. Still not realizing I was only an 8 minute walk away from my hostel (no data or wifi on either of our phones), I decided to take another cab from where we were to my hostel. Once I was in the cab I patted front pocket of my backpack only to find that it was empty. It was where my wallet had been. In the new cab, while he was driving, I frantically looked through every pocket of both of my bags, and my wallet was nowhere to be found. I got the cab driver to stop, we weren’t that far from where we started, and I explained I couldn’t find my wallet while holding back panic-induced tears. In a blur of emotion and fatigue I went to where the first taxi had dropped us off and looked all over the street back to where I caught the second one. Nothing. Ashlee had gone back to her hotel, so I was completely alone. I ran into the Burger King across the street and ripped open my bags again, looking through everything, panicking, and convinced I was going to be homeless in Bangkok my first night traveling. After I came to the conclusion my wallet (which had my license, care card, credit card, and debit card in it) was absolutely nowhere to be found, through watery eyes I was able to ask the Burger King employee for the wifi password (I hadn’t had wifi since the Vancouver airport). My phone went off with messages from my mom and dad asking if I had made it. I immediately texted the groupchat I made with my mom, dad, and sister saying “I’m in Bangkok. Someone please call me.” My mom called me almost right away and I explained to her what had happened, we both had no idea what to do. I messaged Ashlee asking if she had accidentally put it in her bag, she checked all of her bags but she couldn’t find it anywhere either. I believe it fell out of my lap Thankfully, she let me sleep in her hotel that night. We were to deal with it in the morning. In the morning I went to the file a report on my wallet to the police. Everyone spoke thai and they weren’t very much help. I emailed my uncle who is also in Thailand, and he was able to help me out a bit and email the taxi companies and the airport asking about my wallet. After filing a report, my mom was able to wire me some money to hold me over through Western Union until I figured everything out. I tried to call multiple numbers on my banks website, but none of them were working. My dad was able to freeze my credit card though, which gave me a little bit more peace of mind. Finally, I was able to find a place where you could pay to make international calls. I called my bank and explained what happened, and they said they could send me a new debit card in 3-4 business days. The trouble was that they needed and address, I had very little idea where I would be then. I decided to give them the hotel address in Kanchanaburi, I would just have to extend my stay a little bit longer. My bank then transferred me to the visa people to deal with my credit card, mind you I was paying by the minute here, and he was the slowest talker in the entire world. The whole call ended up costing me about $40 CAD. Thankfully though, we were able to get both cards sent to this hotel. Fast forward to 2 days ago, after I had told the receptionist at this new hotel that I was expecting a delivery a few days earlier. They barely spoke any English, so I wasn’t quite that surprised that she had no idea what I was talking about when I asked if my mail had came. She called in another lady who worked there, and she also looked quite clueless to the situation. After about 10 minutes of me trying to use google translate and the most basic English I could, they finally understood I wasn’t talking about an email. When this sunk in, the second lady lit up with a look of realization. She pulled out her phone and showed me a picture of a package with my name on it. Yes!!! She knew where it was!! This was it!!! Wrong. Once I confirmed that was what I was looking for, her face turned into one of guilt and disappointment. “No room number,” she said “I did not accept, did not know who for.” After she understood I was in desperate need for these packages, she ran out the door and said “I help you.” The next morning I woke up, and nothing had changed. I still did not have my cards, and no access to anymore money. I was due to check out this morning, and I was leaving on a bus to Chiang Mai at 7:30 that night. This had to get sorted out today. It was about 8:00 in the morning and I went downstairs to see what was going on. She ran into the room and said “11:00 they be here”. Okay yay great, I’ll have money access finally. At 11:30 nothing had happened still, so I went to check out and the receptionist said it would be 30 minutes until my mail. At 12:00 the lady came in, pointed at me, and said “you come with me, we go get mail, 200 baht.” Considering this was my only option to somehow locate my missing cards I complied. We drove about 10 minutes to a warehouse where there was packages and letters all over the floor, which I guess was a step in the right direction. Everyone was yelling in thai and I had no idea what was going on. We got back on the road and it looked like we were heading back to the hotel, but we drove past it about 5 more minutes to the bus station. I thought she was just dropping me off for my bus to Chiang Mai, and that the cards were gone forever. I began getting all of my stuff on my back but she yelled “20 minutes your mail!!!”. So I stayed there. About 20 minutes later, nothing had happened, we were just sitting in a hot car in 30 plus degree weather, so I went to 7-11 and got a water. All of a sudden she starts yelling out her window to a random guy on a moped. He came over and pulled two packages out of his backpack. I was so happy I could cry. I paid the lady the 200 baht (which was dumb because I didn’t ask you to lose my mail, I shouldn’t have to pay you to find it, but whatever), and left to go activate my cards. Overall, I’m very thankful I got my cards back, but if I learned anything (other than don’t lose your wallet in Bangkok), it would be that life goes on. Super cliché I know, but its true. C’est la f*kin vie.