Traveling around countries where English is not spoken, you often see various signs, information pamphlets and menus employing some interesting uses of the English language.  Sometimes silly, sometimes poetic, sometimes confusing and sometimes downright nonsense – funny English signs in Asia rarely fail to amuse. My favorite menu item that I’ve seen so far was […]

…is difficult.  I guess that should come as no surprise – trying to order food in a foreign language is difficult enough,  so obviously dating should be a bit tricky.  Communicating in any sort of relationship is always complicated at times, even when you do speak the same language.  Add to that a different culture, […]

Thailand is 94% Buddhist – 94% – and it shows. Temples are everywhere, monks in their bright orange robes can be seen walking down the street at all times of the day and people regularly tum boon, or make merit, by giving donations, food and flowers.  Every week in connection with the moon cycle there […]

Chiang Mai has many markets running throughout the day and night.  You could find an open-air market crowded with people at any hour if you knew where to look.  The most well-known night markets for travelers include the overbearing Night Bazaar which is open nightly and geared solely to tourists, the quieter (though still busy) […]

Thailand has arguably some of the best food in the world – the ingredient and flavor combinations are unique and enticing.  Add to that the ability to find high quality, fresh, affordable dishes throughout the country – about $1 for a full plate cooked to order – and Thai food becomes pretty hard to beat. […]

Lately I’ve been having people ask me how I made the decision to leave home.  It wasn’t easy, and a lot of thought and planning went into it, but the turning point came when I stumbled upon this quote.  Cliche?  Maybe.  But I scribbled it down in my planner and kept returning to the phrase […]

It’s no secret that I love all the Buddhist temples or wats.  I go to new ones every week, can’t stop taking photos of the same ones over and over, and have even gone on a 7-hour motorbike ride to visit one that’s supposedly special for my birthday.  On New Year’s Day I spent the […]

I hate saying it, but I felt kind of apathetic about the New Year.  I didn’t even hear the countdown to midnight though I was in the center of it all in Chiang Mai – one moment I knew it was getting close to 12:00 and the next moment fireworks were going off – but […]

Despite my last post being a little…questioning…I love Chiang Mai – I mean, I’ve stayed here about a year longer than I initially expected.  I’m kind of a fan.  But the town it itself can be…dingy.  There are some really charming, even beautiful, spots and the city is relatively clean, but there are also a […]

I first visited Thailand more than three years ago for a quick trip.  Before those two weeks were even up, I already knew that I wanted to return and spend more time soaking up this country.  It felt so alive – dirty and beautiful – somewhere that felt completely new to me but where I […]