Blogs from Nakhon Si Thammarat, Southern Thailand, Thailand, Asia

After experiencing continuous adventurous travel for two months in South America prior to arriving at our destination in Thailand, where we quite deliberately chose not to move anywhere off the relatively small island we would call home for two months, it has been somewhat challenging to write a blog about our recent travels. This because, comparatively speaking, we were not actively traveling, even though we had relocated ourselves from the continent of South America, to North America, and then to Southeast Asia, clearly moving from one hemisphere to the other, and from one side, to the other, of the planet. That is, until I began to consider broader definitions of travel, which is typically defined as a journey to a distant or unfamiliar place. Well, we could certainly check off the first qualifier, as Thailand, Asia, ... read more

There is only one regret I carry with our global travel lifestyle of the past decade: we cannot maintain an animal family member. Simply no pets allowed. We have considered it, but it is not viable when we are out of the country travelling five months of the year. I have had animal friends all of my life. Cats, rabbits, iguanas, turtles, fish, and dogs. Several dogs. Together, Stan and I had a wonderful black lab named Sam, who was part of our family long before our children arrived. We adopted him at four years of age, and he remained with us until he was sixteen. A short while later, we introduced two miniature schnauzers - Magic and Tuxedo - to our family, which now also included our two children. Our schnauzers each lived to be ... read more

We were certainly warned prior to our arrival that Koh Phangan was incredibly busy this year. This proved to be true. There were far more vehicles on the roads, far more scooters, and the vacancy rates were generally maxed out, so that during our time there about 97% of the island’s accommodation facilities were fully booked. Almost all of the tourists were from eastern and western European countries, or other countries whose inhabitants were attempting to escape the realities of war and political unrest at home. I cannot say I blame them, as I would likely make the same choice. Thankfully, I have never had to walk in those shoes. The busy-ness was never a deterrent for us. After three years of too much quarantine and too much solitude behind cold walls, we completely welcomed this ... read more

I am not going to lie. It is challenging to begin to write this blog post, as I don’t quite know how to put into words the diversity of experiences that were had these past two months on this island paradise of Koh Phangan. I fear I shall write a novella in the process, when all I really want to do is to offer a perspective - a glimpse at the experiences through these eyes - not only so that others reading this might open to other ways of engaging with the world, but also, primarily, so that Stan and I will, upon reflection, realize just how valuable these experiences have been, and how much we have benefited from having had them. We arrived back in Asia after a three year absence, consciously repeating our mantras ... read more

FORTY TWO HOURS IN TRANSIT. Let’s just let that sink in for a moment. Forty two hours. In transit. That says everything about our commitment to being here. And now that we have arrived at our busy, but laid back, incredibly beautiful spiritual, musical, back-to-the-sixties love and bliss inspired island destination, where we shall remain for the next six weeks, it is without hesitation that I say every minute of those forty two hours has been a worthwhile investment. Of course this is a rose-colored lens view of reality, as some complain that the island is far too busy, and everything is crowded and booked to capacity, with many Russians and Israelites here escaping political nightmares, and others, like us, escaping the cold, but its an easy, long overdue, and well deserved break from the bombardment ... read more