“It’s called Bangkok, not Bangcunt, honey.” – Ladyboy from The Hangover II Though not quite relating to the quote above, I found myself in Bangkok last month with a funny bit of time between meetings. You know what it’s like like when you don’t have enough time to go back to your hotel but have too […]

“…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 […]

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’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 […]

It’s that time of year again…Songkran is almost here and that means high temperatures and lots and lots of water. I wrote this post last year, but the information and recommendations still hold true. (I’ve also added in some more tips as well as a section featuring posts from other bloggers who know Songkran well.) […]

I’m going home next week for the first time in more than a year and the entire thing kind of scares me. I want to go home.  It’s time.  I need it.  I want to see my family and friends and eat cheese and Mexican food and bake and sleep in my bed and see […]

Everyone knows the Land of Smiles is filled with sunshine, lady boys, cheap eats and tuk tuks…but there are several things, especially when it comes to what is actually legal or illegal, that may surprise you.  Here’s what you don’t know about Thailand:

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 […]

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 […]