My 4 weeks in Thailand from Rags to Riches

How do I even describe this adventure... To start off with I traveled with my boyfriend of two years, Samuel, the love of my life. Together we booked this trip one cold evening almost 9 months before the departure date. Both of us scraping our student bank accounts to meet the bill. Together we volunteered in the northern most part of Thailand next to the border of Burma in a little tiny village called Lesu, that mostly consisted of people that had fled the harsh life in Burma. We hand mixed cement until our backs felt like they were breaking and together our group of 12 built a cinder block and concrete wall around the town church and volunteer "house." We visited an integrative agricultural farm that was breaking the tradition of herbicide and pesticide use to better the environment. We drove to the local hot springs in the back of a truck enjoying the warm wind in our faces, the smiling people we passed and the heavy exotic smell of all the tropical plants. The village was small and poor, most people had no flush toilets and there we chickens EVERYWHERE and I mean everywhere. You don't understand the crow of a rooster until you've heard the dammned noise of 300 of them crowing at the same time!!!! After the two volunteer weeks of sleeping on a mat in a dirt floor shed we engaged in the adventure tour side of the trip. What a change, it was culture shock, we stayed in 4-5 star hotel on the beach with showers, beds, air conditioning, warm water, pools, paved roads, american-ish food, running water, all this unbelievably grandeur that was completely eye opening after the past two weeks of absolute minimalist living. We visited Elephants at a conservation park, went zip lining, snorkeling, horseback riding on the beach, beach time, swam in the ocean, kayaking, boat rides around Kao Sok national park, kickboxing, cooking lessons.... and so so so so much more. Thailand is a beautiful country, the food is manageable for a picky white girl and a digestively challenged white boy so i'm sure anyone can survive it. Would go back in a heart beat.. just need to not be a broke ass student.... <3