We travel the world with carry-on luggage and backpacks, but we have room for pickleball paddles. Our travels have taken us to five continents, and on that journey, we have had a whirlwind pickleball adventure. Our pickleball odyssey began in Costa Rica back in 2020. The owner of our hotel in Tamarindo invited Michael to play pickleball. Soon enough, we…
We planned our ten-day stay in Chiang Rai because we booked an experience in Laos called The Gibbon Experience, and Chiang Rai is only two hours from the Laos border. The Gibbon Experience project began in 1996 to help stop illegal logging, commercial cropping, excessive slash-and-burn practices, and overall pressure on the forest in Laos. The Gibbon Experience works with…
Chiang Rai was founded in 1262 as part of the Lanna Kingdom (modern-day northern Thailand). It was the first capital of King Meng Rai’s principality. It is not visited as much by tourists, who usually only go as far as Chiang Mai. We spent ten days in Chiang Rai because we made plans to be in Laos, and it is…
We rang in the New Year in Chiang Mai, Thailand. 2023 was an incredible year. It started in Italy and took us to Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Cypress, the U.A.E, Oman, Egypt, the U.S., Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. We met amazing new friends. We spent a lot of time with family. New Year’s Eve was low-key for most of the day.…
We have explored a lot of Thailand on our South East Asia tour (Bangkok, Hua Hin, Krabi, Phuket, Ko Tao, and Ko Phi Phi). Northern Thailand was on our list, so we spent a month in Chiang Mai over Christmas and New Year’s. Chiang Mai is a large city with a population of about 1.3 million people. The city is…
Cambodia is the third country we visited on our South East Asia tour. We took a short flight from Bangkok to Phnom Penh. The immigration on-arrival process was fast and easy. Navigating immigration in each country is interesting. The hardest country we entered was Bolivia. Cambodia is either an e-visa or visa on arrival. We did visa on arrival and…
After getting back from Ko Tao, we were exhausted but happy. We had a few weeks left in Hua Hin and made the most of it. Lucas, Henry, and their friends learned about CPR at Elate. They participated in an all-day training session. We had a Friendsgiving. All six families, 24 people, gathered at our friends Helen and Ken’s house…
On our last Friday in Hua Hin, we hiked in Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park to the Phraya Nakhon Cave. Phraya Nakhon Cave isn’t just a natural wonder; it’s a place of historical and cultural significance. The pavilion is dedicated to Phra Phuttha Chai Chanasongkhram, a revered monk, making it a serene space for contemplation and reflection. The cave…
A few families packed up for the weekend and headed to Ko Tao for scuba certification. Lucas, Henry, and Michael got a taste of Scuba diving in Vietnam with a try dive in Cham Islands. Lucas and Henry loved it and asked to get scuba-certified. Michael is nervous about scuba, but he is getting certified too. I am already scuba-certified,…
Our second week in Hua Hin started with a trip to Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT). It is an animal rescue located about 1.5 hours from Hi Hin. It was founded in 2001 by Edwin Wiek with the help of the local people from Petchaburi province. The mission of WFFT is to rescue and rehabilitate captive wild animals and provide…