College Essay # 238

238. If your entire memory were wiped out except for one experience, what would you choose to remember?

In 2002, my family and I took a vacation to the island of Kasamui in Thailand. From what I can remember, it was a beautiful place with a lot of sandy beaches and clear, blue waters. There were many things to go and see. We could go to the crocodile farm, we could go and see the Scorpion Queen, we could go and see old statues of mermaids, we could go and visit rocks shaped as different animals, and we could go Go-Karting. My sister and I were really excited to go and visit all the different places, and we couldn’t wait for the day to start. Usually, my family would go on the travel tours with tour guides, but this year my parents decided to do something different. They decided to rent a car and go driving around the island and exploring things themselves. My father booked a car for four; he asked it not to be too big, but not too small either. My sister and I went to sleep excited. But who knew what was in store for us the next day.

We awoke early only to find that our car was a little red jeep where two people could fit easily in the front seats but the people sitting at the back would probably lose their legs due to numbness. The back was extremely small and my legs weren’t fitting in properly. My dad had let the reception know that my parents have little kids, but we weren’t THAT little. Not even a baby would be able to fit in that back seat. My dad ordered another car, but the receptionist told him that this was the only one they had. There was nothing left. He asked my sister and I what we wanted to do, and being the oldest, I told him that we didn’t have any problem; that we’d manage. But we couldn’t manage. My sister and I had to take turns putting our legs over the other person to let it stretch a bit. My parents kept asking whether we were okay, and I kept saying it was fine. There were too many things to see to be worried about how much space we were getting; I was sure we could manage. And manage we did.

We manage to see the Scorpion Queen’s show, we managed to go and see the crocodiles at the crocodile farm, we ate at a seaside restaurants, my sister and I modeled with mermaid statues (which I still have the pictures of) and we managed to see the animal shaped rocks up close. It was a worthwhile trip. I even fell and bum-slid down the stairs in the crocodile farm after watching a man stick is head in the crocodile. I was also able to feed a baby tiger milk. But even with all this, we managed to get lost on our way back to the resort. I was a kid, I was tired, and I was squished in the back of a red jeep. Life couldn’t have gotten worse, even though we had a great adventure. I was a kid, I whined, I only enjoyed things until I was tired. And I was tired. And we had to get lost. That was just the fate of it all. I started becoming cranky and my dad was getting annoyed because I was whining. But what could I do as well. I was a kid. I didn’t know any better. I didn’t understand how we could get lost. We were on an island. We could only go around in circles so we should have eventually landed up in the hotel in one round, but no. It took us around five or six hours to find our way back. It was nightfall by then.

I was hungry. But when we reached back to the safe haven, the only thing I could think of was getting out of that car. The car stopped, and I jumped out. I landed on the ground, knees first. Though I scraped my knees, I had never been that happy in my life before. I ran to the reception, got the keys, went up to the room, and dived in bed. By the time my parents were up, I was apparently fast asleep.