Our Canadian Christmas

Can’t believe that it’s the end of December already.  We’ve been traveling in SEA and surrounds for over 11 months now but from the planning stages of this trip, it had been our wish to spend Christmas with our Canadian family in Vancouver.  While we were looking forward to seeing Aunts, Uncles and cousins again, some of whom we had not seen for over 2.5yrs, and to experience a ‘Canadian Christmas’ we were a bit wary about this leg of our trip too.

Hong Kong-- Bright Lights, BIG City

In the scheme of things, the 6 nights/5 days that we spent in Hong Kong was a decent amount of time to spend in a city, especially with 2 kids in tow.  But for precisely that reason, we wish we had another 3x that amount in order to have really explored the city.  There is just so much to see and do there, that you don’t even know where to start.

Stuck On Koh Phangan

We don’t know of many travelling families who have been moving as continually as we have in the 10+ months that we’ve been on the road.  We’ve never stayed in any one place for longer than 12 nights or so.  But especially after our travels through India, we are a tad bit tired.  Yet still surprisingly (to us anyway) we ended up staying on Koh Phangan for 26 days, and loved every minute of it! 

So what did we do there?

Dear Santa, For This Christmas We Wish...

Christmas is a time of mixed feelings for us. When we were kids, Jim and I remembered it being an exciting and magical holiday, mostly likely due to the gifts from Santa and from our parents. But giving was fun too, and as kids that usually meant making something for our parents at school. As adults, it became a time to buy that special gift to show our loved ones how much they mean to us. But above all, Christmas meant visiting with family and friends.

But maybe it’s the times we live in, or simply ‘getting older’ but somewhere along the line, it seems that the magic has given way to pure and frenzied consumerism, especially in Western Christian societies. It now seems only about ‘what to get whom’, and how much we are going to spend on gifts and the size of the present. Instead of ‘warm and fuzzy’ get togethers, social events are instead often tense and attended with feelings of obligation. As you can tell, we’ve become quite jaded by Christmas—some might even say ‘scrouge-like'!

The Thai Visa Run--Shall We Dance?

Imagine a dance where you can either pay for someone to show you the steps, or you can try to learn it yourself.  The dance itself seems pretty straighforward.  Among long-stayers and expats in Thailand, this dance is known as the Visa Run.

After 10 Months of Living With Less

We’ve been almost 10 months now, living on the road, being 'location independent'.  Until now, we’ve not been in one place for longer than 11 nights.  And still, all we have are our 2 backpacks and 4 day bags.  This is the travelling lifestyle—having to ‘live with less’ in order to ‘get more’.    

November Full Moon on Koh Phangan

Full-Moon, 10.11.11

There are 3 islands in the southern Gulf of Thailand:  Koh Samui, Koh Tao and Koh Phangan.  Of these, Koh Samui is probably the more popular one, is the largest of the 3 and even has its own domestic airport.  Koh Tao is a scuba diver’s haven and is a popular place in SEA to get certified –in fact, we completed our Advanced Diver there 10yrs ago.  As for Koh Phangan, well, it has a certain reputation which would not make it an obvious choice for most families visiting Thailand.  But of course, we are not most families.