I’m one of those people that waits until the last minute to pack. Partially because I procrastinate, partially because I don’t usually agonize over what to wear, and partially because I always wear and take the same things with me on travel days. This became really obvious when I was flying a lot in December and […]

Let me first say that I wear Thai fisherman’s pants on a daily basis. I always have a nice sheen going because I’m always sweating to some degree, I never try and fix my hair because I’m just going to put a helmet over it anyway, my clothes now often have white dog hair clinging […]

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 […]

Every trip has its own set of packing requirements. For short weekend trips it’s easy to throw stuff in a bag last minute, long backpacking treks require more planning ahead and items that can serve different duties, and moving to a new country is too overwhelming to to think about. How can you pack for […]

I’m not a very particular packer.  I don’t use packing wedges, I don’t obsess about forgetting things and often I don’t even make lists of what to bring.  However, whether I’m backpacking around Southeast Asia, going away for the weekend or heading out on a road trip, there are a handful of random of things […]

For the final installment of the Chiang Mai Market Guide (don’t miss Part I and Part II) here are three more markets to explore. Saturday-Sunday Flea Market I actually don’t know what this is called, but every Saturday and Sunday in the morning  to early afternoon this is the place to be for second hand […]

While I’m not a big shopper, I do enjoy meandering through the Chiang Mai market streets taking in all the lights and colors and doing a bit of people-watching.  It never fails to amaze me how much stuff is available and how  everything is completely set up and taken down whenever the markets runs, whether […]

Last week I wrote about how much money I made teaching in Thailand and monthly break down of my expenses here.  Today, I want to call out some money sucks of living and traveling in Thailand. While it’s incredibly affordable to live and travel here, I’ve still heard many people complain that they’re spending a […]

So doing my taxes, I realized how much money I actually made teaching in Thailand for 2012…it’s laughable.  Ready? $6,000 After I had a minor freak out (I made more money when I was a teenager!) I took a step back to look at how I could still be so comfortable after making such a […]

Last month I wrote about the Saturday Walking Street in Chiang Mai and am currently working on a round up of all the Chiang Mai markets – there’s a lot!  There are different types of markets in different parts of town opening up and shutting down throughout the day and night.  A few are well […]