I had an amazing weekend at TEDx Bangkok, the first TED event held in the beautiful kingdom of Thailand. It was such a privilege to listen to our amazing group of speakers from from all around the world. They all contributed to opening/blowing my mind this weekend. And for that I’ll always be grateful. My personal favorites were Daniela Ruby Papi, Colin Gallagher, Zoltan Radnai, Brooke Estin, and Bruce Poon Tip. I really enjoyed the unique musical performance by Ronley Teper, too. It was also an honor being a part of the TEDx committee. On the day of the event we were all running on very little sleep, but were fueled by the energy and excitement that is TED.

On a personal note, TEDx Bangkok gave me the opportunity to finally meet one of my heroes, Bruce Poon Tip of Gap Adventures. Bruce is a truly extraordinary person who’s done a lot of good for the global community. He’s been a big influence in my life and is one of the main reasons why I’ve adventured this great big world of ours. I was really happy I got to tell him this in person. And I especially enjoyed our one-to-one conversations on the long taxi rides back to Bangkok. Great laughs, stories and insights.

A funny thing that kept happening at TEDx was people mistaking us for each other! We’d have a laugh telling each other stories of people chatting us up forever, only to realize that the entire time that person actually thought I was Bruce or Bruce was me. It was hilarious! Hahaha! Awesome. Thanks for being such an inspiration in my life, Bruce. I can honestly say that one of my heroes has now become one of my friends. For those about to rock, we salute you.

Photos: Aloha Lavina and John Berns