2006. My first great sojourn abroad alone. I was a college student at the time, on my way to spend a semester studying abroad in Thailand. What could be more harmless, right?
It was a wonderful 5 month semester, one that included visits to 4 countries, countless bus rides, 5 train rides, numerous boats, a coup, 7 simultaneous bombings, some lessons in Thai language and a surprise wedding!
All that said, you’ve stumbled upon the oldest posts on this site. They date way back to very early days of me having a blog, which, at the time, was primarily focused on keeping in touch with friends and family. Fair warning, these posts are unedited. My writing has come a very, very long way since then (it reads a bit like a journal) and many lack images like you’re used to seeing around this site.
That said, I’ve also included some links to newer posts I’ve written about some of these instances.
So, without further ado, I give you a journal of my 2006 trip in Asia!
- Day 4: “First Day in Laos–Huay Xai” (Huay Xai)
- Day 8: “Huay Xai to Luang Nam Tha” (Luang Nam Tha)
- Newer Post From This Time: “The Day the Lao Bridge Collapsed (VIDEO)” (Near Udomxai)
- Day 10: “Luang Prabang” (Luang Prabang)
- Day 11: “Meeting a Monk in Luang Prabang” (Luang Prabang)
- Day 12: “A Waterfall” (Luang Prabang)
- Day 13: “Pak Ou Caves” (Luang Prabang)
- Day 25: “Bangkok Trip” (Bangkok)
- Day 26: “Bangkok Trip–Day 2” (Bangkok)
- Day 28: “Welcome” (Hua Hin; this was actually the start of the blog)
- Day 33: “Ayutthaya Trip” (Ayutthaya)
- Day 39: “Back in Bangkok” (Bangkok)
- Day 40: “More From Bangkok” (Bangkok)
- Day 41: “A Day of Royalty–Bangkok Day 3” (Bangkok)
- Day 46: “Another Bangkok Quest” (Hua Hin)
- Day 50: “COUP D’ETAT” (Hua Hin)
- Newer Post From This Time: “There’s No School Today, The Government’s Been Overthrown” (Hua Hin)
- Day 51: “Political Turmoil??” (Hua Hin)
- Day 52: “4 Hours in Bangkok” (Bangkok)
- Day 58: “A crisis averted…but for the better?”(Hua Hin)
- Day 65: “Return to Normalcy…or at least as normal as it gets in Thailand!” (Hua Hin)
- Day 67: “Monkeying Around in Phetchaburi” (Phetchaburi)
- Day 71: “Vietnam Bound”(Hua Hin)
- Day 72: “One Night in Bangkok” (Bangkok)
- Day 73: “Good Morning Vietnam!” (Hanoi)
- Day 74: “Uncle Ho–Modern Art Style (Hanoi Day 2)” (Hanoi)
- Day 75: “Hanoi–Day 3” (Hanoi)
- Day 76: “A long, long night into the mountains–Sapa Day 1” (Sapa)
- Day 77: “Trekking into the Hills–Sapa Day 2” (Sapa)
- Day 78: “A Restful Day in the Peace and Quiet–Sapa Day 3” (Sapa)
- Day 79: “Mourning a loss, though I keep on going” (Halong City)
- Day 80: “‘The Last Night of the World’ (well Vietnam, that is)” (Halong Bay)
- Day 81: “Wrapping Up With POW’s–Last Day in Vietnam!” (Hanoi)
- Day 82: “Calling All Tech Nerds!” (Vietnam Wrap-Up & Bangkok)
- Day 83: “The first day of class all over again!” (Hua Hin)
- Day 85: “Flip-Flopping My Schedule” (Hua Hin)
- Day 86: “My New Digital Toy!” (Bangkok)
- Day 87: “Riding the Rails of the ‘Death Railway'” (Kanchanaburi)
- Day 88: “‘Bridge on the River Kwai'” (Kanchanaburi)
- Day 89: “Taking the Train Back to Hua Hin” (Hua Hin)
- Day 93: “Off to the City of Angels (Again)” (Hua Hin)
- Day 95: “Long and fun night” (Bangkok)
- Day 97: “Back from the weekend” (Hua Hin)
- Day 109: “Sukhothai” (Sukhothai)
- Day 110: “A Bike, A Bus, and Bangkok” (Sukhothai & Bangkok)
- Day 111: “Return From Sukhothai” (Hua Hin)
- Day 114: “Bangkok Part…VIII?” (Bangkok)
- Day 115: “Off the Tourist Trail!!” (Sri Racha)
- Day 116: “Bangkok Sightseeing” (Bangkok)
- Day 117: “Military Oddities?” (Bangkok)
- Day 118: “A Day in Limbo” (Hua Hin)
- Day 122: “Phetchaburi–The Field Trip” (Phetchaburi)
- Day 127: “Father’s Day” (Hua Hin–The King’s birthday)
- Day 135: “This is it…” (Hua Hin–Last day of school)
- Day 136: “Departing Hua Hin…for the last time” (Bangkok)
- Day 137: “Cooling Out in Bangkok” (Bangkok)
- Day 139: “Playing Tour Guide (again)” (Bangkok)
- Day 141: “A Short Hop to the Mountainous North” (Chiang Mai)
- Day 143: “A Day in the Hills and a Day in the Gardens” (Chiang Mai)
- Day 144: “Filling Up the Sky” (Chiang Mai)
- Day 146: “From Chiang Mai to Kungthep (Bangkok)” (Bangkok)
- Day 148: “One Year…7th Country!” (Siem Reap)
- Day 149: “…Wow…” (Angkor Wat & Angkor Thom)
- Day 150: “From Sunrise to Sunset” (Sunrise at Angkor Wat, Ta Prom and other Angkor temples)
- Day 152: “Again in the headlines” (Bangkok–7 simultaneous bombings on New Year’s Eve)
- Newer Post From This Time: “We’re Getting Married Tomorrow…at a (Thai) Buddhist Temple” (Bangkok–My parents wedding!)
- Day 153: “January 1, 2550” (Bangkok)
- Day 155: “This is it…my last night in Thailand” (Bangkok)
And there you have it! 5 months of posts on one page!