Koh Tao — The Vacation That Taught Me How I Like to Travel
Some trips begin with excitement.
This one began with us showing up at the airport a full day early.
After weeks of debating islands, routes, buses, boats, and budgets, Sean, Pink, and I had finally settled on a trip to Koh Tao — one of Thailand’s beautiful southern islands, famous for its snorkeling and turquoise water.
The plan sounded simple enough.
Fly from Chiang Mai to Bangkok.
Taxi across the city.
Night bus to the docks.
Morning ferry to the island.
Easy.
Except for one small detail.
We arrived at the airport on Sunday only to discover our reservations were for Monday.
Somehow, between all the planning and excitement, we had managed to leave for vacation an entire day early.
So instead of boarding a plane, we climbed back into a taxi and headed home laughing at ourselves and trying not to let the disappointment ruin the mood. We made a game out of it — every good thing that happened that day counted as something we would have missed if we had actually left on time.
It also gave us a chance to grab all the little things we had forgotten.
The next morning, we tried again.
This time we actually made it onto the plane.
The trip south unfolded in stages.
A short flight to Bangkok.
Hours wandering near the bus station waiting for departure time.
Then the overnight bus ride that promised “comfortable reclining seats.”
That description turned out to be highly optimistic.
The seats reclined just enough to make you think sleep was possible, but not enough to actually sleep. Somewhere around the middle of the night every muscle in my body began negotiating surrender.
Still, by sunrise we finally reached the docks, exhausted but excited. Koh Tao was just one boat ride away.
And that was when the real adventure started.
The sea was rough.
Not “a little choppy” rough.
Not “hold onto your coffee” rough.
This was full amusement-park-ride rough.
The ferry pitched side to side as waves slammed against the hull. Half the passengers turned seasick almost immediately. I escaped to the upper deck hoping fresh air would help while I took photos of the sunrise breaking over the water.
For a few peaceful minutes, it was beautiful.
Then the waves got bigger.
One violent roll of the boat sent me stumbling completely off balance and directly into the lap of some poor unsuspecting passenger. Somehow I managed to crawl away, grab a seat, and hold on while the ferry continued throwing itself across the Gulf of Thailand.
It reminded me of being a kid at amusement parks — those rides where the second they start moving you instantly regret every decision that brought you there.
“Stop the ride! I want to get off!” I would yell every time I passed the ride operator, but of course they never did stop.
Except this ride lasted nearly two hours.
Meanwhile below deck, Pink was discovering that rough seas and enclosed cabins are not an ideal combination.
When we finally reached Koh Tao, the world immediately slowed down.
A pickup truck from the hotel carried us down winding island roads to Chalok Baan Kao Bay on the southern end of the island. After nearly twenty-four hours of traveling, collapsing onto a real bed felt like luxury beyond description.
The island itself was beautiful in a quieter, rougher way than I expected.
I had imagined brilliant turquoise water like Koh Samed, where I had snorkeled the year before. Before this trip I had even bought underwater camera goggles, convinced I was about to return with incredible photos of coral reefs and tropical fish.
I had already imagined the new section on my website filled with underwater photography.
Instead, the sea was colder, darker, and rough from the weather. Visibility underwater was poor, and the conditions never really allowed for good snorkeling. Sean tested the camera once, but the ocean simply wasn’t cooperating.
Sometimes travel gives you exactly what you planned for.
Sometimes it gives you a completely different story.
One day we decided to explore more of the island.
At first we considered renting ATVs until I took one test drive and everyone collectively realized that was probably a terrible idea. Koh Tao’s roads are steep, narrow, and seem to alternate randomly between pavement, loose gravel, sand, and cliffs.
Taxi it was.
We spent the day moving between beaches, stopping wherever the scenery pulled us in. The island had that rugged tropical feeling where everything feels slightly unfinished — jungle pressing against the roads, steep hills dropping toward the sea, small restaurants tucked into impossible places overlooking the water.
Eventually we decided to walk back to the hotel.
On paper, this sounded reasonable.
In reality, it involved hiking straight up and down what felt like two mountains in tropical heat.
At some point during the climb I remember thinking about the television show Lost and how physically exhausted everyone on that show always looked.
Now I understood why.
Twenty-five long hours after leaving Koh Tao, I finally arrived back home in Chiang Mai.
The return trip was smoother, though still endlessly long, and somewhere along the way I realized something important:
I still love traveling.
I just learned a little more clearly how I like to travel.
I learned that I would rather take a slow daytime bus and watch the countryside pass by than spend another sleepless night folded into a reclining seat pretending to rest.
I learned that being able to sleep properly changes everything.
And I learned that even difficult trips become good stories later.
Back home, the monsoon season still lingered longer than usual. Sean and Pink, who had visited Koh Tao before, noticed how much the island had changed. Beaches had narrowed. Water levels were higher. The weather patterns felt different.
Another quiet reminder of how much the climate is changing, even in places that seem timeless.
Since returning, I have been working on rebuilding my website and reorganizing years of photographs and stories — digging through old images, rediscovering forgotten moments, and slowly creating a new home for them online.
I still never got the underwater photos I imagined from Koh Tao.
But in the end, maybe the real story was never underwater at all.
Koh Tao Wallpaper Collection
From glowing tropical sunsets and quiet island bays to colorful flowers, coastal wildlife, and abstract coral textures, this Koh Tao collection captures moments from one unforgettable journey through southern Thailand.
These images reflect the peaceful beauty, rugged coastline, and tropical atmosphere of Koh Tao — an island where jungle-covered hills meet calm turquoise water, fishing boats drift quietly in hidden coves, and every sunset feels like the end of an adventure.
Explore the colors, textures, wildlife, and island scenery of Koh Tao through this collection of tropical wallpapers and travel photography.
Click on the image to go to the wallpaper page.
