Damn, putting on shoes isn’t fun anymore.

I’ve somehow managed to burn my skimpy Thai visa (only 28 days!) between Bangkok and Koh Tao. Life could be worse, I suppose, but leaving an island after nearly two weeks is a difficult thing to do.

I just indulged the Air Asia pirates by buying a ticket to Medan in Sumatra, Indonesia. They advertised $99 and somehow I ended up paying $157 after all the fees and nonsense tacked on. How can they sleep at night?

I’m a little nervous returning to Indonesia after two years, both great and horrible things happened there in 2009. Regardless, I stand a much better chance of fulfilling my bucket list goal of being shot with an arrow by an indigenous tribesman (hopefully just a flesh wound) in Sumatra than I do here in Koh Tao.

The plan is to visit Lake Toba — the largest crater lake in the world with a small island in the middle — and see some more wild orangutans as I did last year in Borneo.

The saddest part? After hours of deliberating over which knife I should buy to play survival in Sumatra this year, some bastard stole it on the bus. I never even got to cut a piece of fruit open with it, let alone be tied at the wrists in an epic battle!

Before heading out of Bangkok, I plan to meet up with my editor who also lives a location-independent lifestyle for the NY Times; I guess going back to Bangkok isn’t all that bad, although trading white sand for spit-splattered concrete is never a bargain.

May there be a road.