Half a year ago, I was freezing my ass off, mostly miserable in Buffalo, NY. A month ago, I decided the Pink Floyd song “Time” was becoming too much like my reality. Last night, I drank complimentary top-shelf liquor, ate complimentary catered food, and gazed over a large section of illuminated downtown Bangkok from a brand-new rooftop hotel, surrounded by more than a handful of could-be Thai models.

In the words of Anthony Bourdain: “Life doesn’t suck.”