In 1999 National League for Democracy leader and Nobel Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi, called for a tourism boycott in Burma believing that money spent by visitors would be supporting the military regime and show international support for its practices. In November 2010, right before I first moved to Thailand, she called for a lifting of the […]

“…Then, a golden mystery upheaved itself on the horizon, a beautiful winking wonder that blazed in the sun, of a shape that was neither Muslim dome nor Hindu temple-spire…The golden dome said, ‘This is Burma, and it will be quite unlike any land that one knows about’.” – Rudyard Kipling, Letters from the East In […]

In just one week I took about 1,000 photos of Burma. While I finish working on some posts about the country here a few of the thousand that seemed to epitomize what I saw of the “Golden Land”. (You can see even more on my Instagram feed!) As the most important Buddhist site in Burma, […]

Tonight I walked down a street in Chiang Mai I’ve been down a hundred times before. I’ve been down it a hundred times because I’ve now been based here for four years. It’s the longest time I’ve had the same “home” since high school and feels like a lifetime ago that I was working in Seattle and […]

I’m always hesitant to write a post about a place I don’t know much about. Travel blogs can be great sources of information, but too often bloggers tend to share information and tips for a place they’ve barely spent time in. Instead of their posts really being about the “Best Places to Eat in…” wherever, […]

One of Thailand’s greatest dichotomies is how centuries-old traditions seem to live alongside high tech trends. Thais are tied to their smartphones, clamor to buy new cars and seem to use an unnecessary amount of plastic bags and bottles. Yet at the same time, a large portion of the goods I buy and use are […]

There’s something about water that’s recharging for the soul. Even more so when it’s the bright, crystal clear waters of the Andaman Sea. After weeks of searing heat, smoky skies and Songkran splashing, escaping to Koh Lanta on the west coast of Thailand for five days was a welcome change. In this funny time between the […]

This week’s guest post for the ‘Day-to-Day’ series comes from Alison, a Canadian woman who’s currently working and living in Kuwait with her husband.  When I tell people that I live in Kuwait, most of them vaguely nod not knowing exactly where it is.  Then I clarify and tell them we’re neighbours with Iraq and Saudi Arabia, and eyes usually go […]

I’ve been back in Thailand for more than two months now (I swear time goes more quickly in Chiang Mai…). I never meant for this site to become a ‘living in Thailand blog’ but then again, I never expected to be staying here so long with. The questions and my answers/experiences below are a follow […]

There’s a ton of information and resources out there about traveling in Southeast Asia, butI tend to find a lot of it generic or outdated. Whenever I’m traveling around Thailand or the rest of the region however, I always consult these websites and resources because I know they will be helpful and and accurate as […]