For three days in April, Thailand celebrates the New Year, or Songkran. Businesses are largely closed. Kids are out of school. Half of the people in Bangkok leave town, returning to their homes and families all over Thailand to celebrate and make merit. The other half don their tropical shirts, grab a water gun (or … More Celebrating the Thai New Year Thai-style
Pai is a small town in northern Thailand. It took us three hours by minibus ($6 per ticket) to get here from Chiang Mai. We had heard many people talk about Pai as a chill and laid back place to hang out, and they were so right. Many people described it as a much smaller … More Sabbatical Days 299-300: Make Time for Pai
We love the island of Koh Samui. It’s the perfect balance of laid back activity and just plain ol’ laid back. And it was the perfect place for Trent to say goodbye to his thirties. Trent saying goodbye to his 30’s on Chaweng Beach What did we love most about our time here? Duh. The … More Sabbatical days 271-285: We ❤️ Koh Samui
We finally made it to southern Thailand for a bit of island hopping, and, no, I never thought I would say those words. Not sure if it sounds cool or gauche, but no matter because it’s what we are doing. Koh Lanta, our first day at the beach I’ve long told myself that if one … More Sabbatical days 248-271: Island Hopping around Thailand
Spicey dicey, Thai food, How you put me in the mood To eat. They say to know a country, you must embrace it’s cuisine. Sometimes, though, it feels like you’re stabbing my spleen. You had me. From the moment I sucked down that first icy Thai tea. Lovingly you fill my nose with desire and … More Thai food. A love story.
A few days ago, I saw a post on Facebook (thank you, It’s Better In Thailand page) that showed a video of the most amazing Wat (aka temple) built high on a mountain ridge. Trent saw it and said, “We have to do that!” Yahoo! I love my adventurous hubby so much because I was … More Sabbatical Day 225: The Temple in the Clouds (Wat Chaloem Phra Kiat)
Elephants are depicted everywhere around Thailand from decorative ornaments in the night markets to textiles in clothing stores and sculptures and artwork in temples. So not surprisingly, before we came to Thailand, I said I wanted to have an elephant experience (like so many tourists do). At first I thought that might mean going on … More Sabbatical Day 217: Elephant Nature Park
If you had told me a month ago that visiting Wats (temples) would be one of my favorite activities in Chiang Mai, I would have smiled politely and thought “no way.” Don’t get me wrong, I was looking forward to visiting a few Wats to see the relics, learn about the culture and history and … More Sabbatical days 208-214: A Week’s Worth of Wats
Where to begin…I’m a novice cook at best, and Trent’s specialty is scrambled eggs and bacon, which is awesome don’t get me wrong, so taking a Thai cooking class could have been intimidating for us. Except that three weeks in to our 6 month adventure abroad, we knew that the Thai people are so kind … More Thai Cooking 101: You are what you roll, Sexy Pepper!
Having never been to any part of Southeast Asia before, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. There have been so many things that made me go “Wow” or “Oh my” or “Hmmm” or “Ha!” Here are just a few of my favorites. 1. The traffic is utter chaos but no one honks If we … More 7 Cool Observations about Thailand
The Found Year 