Our family’s recent trip to Taipei was nothing short of amazing. Taipei is a clean city that is easy to navigate. The metro and bus system make it easy to get around. The garbage trucks play Für Elise to let residents know it is time to bring out their trash. In many other countries we visited, the garbage sits on…
Arriving in Taiwan after spending a month on the small island of Panglao was a bit of a shock. We arrived in Tapei late at night. It was raining and much cooler than the Philippines. We spent one night in a hotel near an MRT station and then took the train the next day to Kaohsiung. We took the slow…
Lucas and Henry dove into scuba diving in Panglao. Diving is why we chose to spend a month on the island. They completed two try dives in Cham Islands, Vietnam, in September. That introduction was all they needed to get hooked on diving. After that, they completed their scuba certification in Koh Tao, Thailand, in November. Michael did too. In…
The Philippines consists of more than 7,000 islands. In our research, we came across dozens of amazing islands that are “must-visit” places. We ended up choosing Panglao Island to spend a month. It is touted as Bohol’s best beach destination. The main deciding factor in choosing Panglao was Sierra Madre Dive Center. The dive center was open to creating a…
Many of our family and friends think we lead an unusual life (OK- they think we are batsh*% crazy). I acknowledge that what we are doing is not the norm but, to Michael and me, it makes the most sense. For as long Lucas and Henry are school-aged, we will constantly be asked, “How are they learning?” and “What ‘school’…
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…