Learning to walk around the streets in the Old District of Hanoi is like learning to dance…the only catch is if you make a wrong step, or lose the tune…you’re dead on the road. When I first arrived I would stand on the sidewalk, looking across the road to where I wanted to go, for a good 10 minutes before getting up the guts to take that first step into the traffic. By the time I left, it was like instinct. I just put myself out there, the first step is always the hardest, and danced. It’s amazing how easy it is once you get the hang of it. Hanoi was good, if a little overwhelming. I discovered Bia Hoi on my second to last night there, and it caused me one of the worst hangovers ... read more

My month in Laos has come to an end; I head to Vietnam in the morning. I am real excited about Vietnam. Since I have been out here I have heard mixed reviews about the country, but after the extremely mellow atmosphere of Laos, I think I’m ready for something a little more fast pace. I am alone again, and that is a good thing as well. I had a great time with Neal and Claire, but we had our last night a few nights ago in the south, and I feel more adventurous now that I am on my own again. Back on my journey. So Southern Laos…hot. Real hot. Suck the life of me hot. Beautiful, but hot. Somebody said one day that it was 41 degrees (around 106 F), with about 30-40% humidity. ... read more

3 farang walk into a Starbucks, an American, a Brit, and a German… Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, but it’s actually a scene I witnessed this morning that made me realize that it is time to leave Thailand. I am not really sure of the nationality of these men, but I was sitting on a bus heading to the Golden Triangle when I witnessed three Western men walk into Starbucks pulling roller laptop bags. They ordered their coffee, sat down, opened their laptops and started working (the traffic light was that long!). It seriously gave me chills. I could almost see co-workers faces through the window…this could have been any of the hundreds of Starbucks in Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, LA, Phoenix...all those place where I used to do the same thing. I don’t ... read more

I am writing this from the top bunk of a 2nd class cabin of a train on it's way to Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. I should probably be asleep like the Korean Christian Missionaries in the bunks around me, but I slept until noon today, so I am just not tired. My Tylenol PM are in my luggage beneath the bottom bunk, and I'm afraid if I try to get them I will wake Jin-Hu and that would mean the risk of an attempt to convert, which is a risk I am not willing to take right now. It's funny how things happen when least expected. When I got back from Peru and went to work for MetiLinx, I really thought my dream of leaving everything behind and traveling for a extended period of time ... read more

I have been in Bangkok for 4 days and I feel like it! My head is pounding because I had a few too many Sanghas and White Russians with some Swiss people I met at the Volk Bar (a small bar made out of a converted Volkswagon Bus) last night. I woke up this morning in my little box of a room, which was about 120 degrees, and really wanted to die. Even my daily freezing cold shower and American breakfast couldn't make me feel better. But oh well...it was a good night! The trip has been good so far. It took me quite a while to get out here though. I flew 11 hours from Honolulu to Taipei, Taiwan where I missed my connecting flight to Bangkok. No big deal though...it's funny how less stressed ... read more