First of all, I like people enough to be curious about their ways of living, culture, and their life stories but sometimes there are days when it’s just too much.

“ I have a higher tolerance for people” I said to an acquaintance at the hostel as he complained about another person who was obnoxious.

I agreed with him about the obnoxious person. That person can be annoying and acts like he knows everything. Having to interact with that person multiple times and going through all the bullshit, you have to have higher tolerance and not eye-rolling, everytime that person says something ridiculous. But lately, I found out that I had enough dealing with that person and people in general, and I also know that I needed to conserve my energy. I realized this when I started becoming grumpy and didn’t like the sight of people as if I wanted to avoid them and hide.

I have built some sort of routine and I normally work from the common area. In the common area, it is quite refreshing to see some greenery and people pass by. However, sometimes, people will come and try to make conversation. Though I like it, at times it hinders my productivity and also ruins my concentration. It was fine at first as my social energy was quite on the higher side but as it runs out now, I really don’t want to talk to people that much. So, instead of working in the common room, I decided to retreat to my own room and spend my day inside. I suppose that I even make resolutions to be more social but it doesn’t matter how hard I try, there are days when the presence of others feels suffocating to me.

A small dose of interaction is enough for me because then I have enough interaction just to add a balance into my life. I also pick up “energy” and “vibe” from people. So, I tend to gravitate towards people who have more positive energy than the negative ones especially when my social energy runs out. However, there are days when I can’t escape and I would be quieter and just avoid talking too much.

In this wandering, I learned that though I like socializing, everything must be balanced. I like people enough but I also have to prioritize my alone time where I do things by myself, at my own pace, and just do things on my way, not someone else’s way or what’s right/wrong to them. This is why, solo traveling is never really a problem to me nor working on my own as I prefer my own ways of doing things and I can tolerate other people at smaller but frequent doses.

In another note about my first wandering tale rant about Bangkok, there are also parts of the city where it is less fast-paced than the ones I was staying at. I've been enjoying strolling around 7/11 a lot more and in much slower pace. They really sell everything and I could even make a rice bowl with sausages and many things just by mix matching ingredients from 7/11. It's like a sleepy area where if you are extroverted and enjoy lively atmosphere, you would definitely be bored. However, places like that traps me where I can have my privacy while still occasionally being social.