2017 Year in Review

It's a new year! As my first post of 2018, I would like to recap all that I've been up to over the past twelve months!

2017 Year-in-Review

New Year 2017 in Kanchanaburi

My 2017 began in Kanchanaburi, my favorite province in Thailand. My buddy James was visiting, and we took the three-hour train journey along the infamous Burmese Death Railway to the sleepy little town along the River Kwai. We awoke at the sunrise on New Year's morning to start the year with a brisk hike at Erawan National Park.

Elephants in Chiang Mai

My mom and brother visited me in March. Since it was the end of the school year, I took some time off of work to spend with them. We took the night train up north to Chiang Mai, my first time visiting the famous old city. We explored the historic old town and saw the city's top sites, but the most incredible thing we did was spend a day with elephants in the highlands outside of Chiang Mai.

Visiting Texas and New Mexico

My sister got married this spring, and during the school holiday, Pinky and I both went to America to attend the wedding! It was her first time in the US, and I wanted to make sure that she had a good experience in Texas!

After the wedding, we visited Austin and San Antonio.

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One weekend, we took a trip to Carlsbad, New Mexico with James and his girlfriend. It was shockingly cold and surprisingly rainy!

On my last weekend in Texas, I went hiking with my dad at Palo Duro Canyon in north Texas.

Koh Chang (400th post!)

My passport would be expiring soon, so I wasn't able to travel outside of Thailand (you have to have at least 6 months validity to travel on a soon-to-expire passport). This gave us more chance to explore places a bit further afield in Thailand while I was waiting to renew my passport.

I finally hit 400 blog posts (wow!) when I visited Koh Chang, a large island in Thailand's far east. 

A Weekend in Krabi

We took a weekend trip down to Krabi Province in Thailand's far south! I had gotten a voucher for a free stay at a resort as a gift, and we found a super cheap flight, so it was a wonderful (and inexpensive) weekend getaway from Bangkok!

Heading North

For this year's October school holiday, Pinky and I took 10 days to travel to Thailand's far north. 

Pu Chi Fah

We took the train to Chiang Mai, then headed over to Chiang Rai where we visited a number of incredible sites like the White Temple, Blue Temple, Black House, the Long Neck Hill Tribe Village, a tea plantation, the Golden Triangle, and more! Finally, we made our way to the remotest corner of Thailand to sleep on top of a legendary mountain.

Chiang Mai

Christmas in Cambodia

This December, my mom and brother came to Thailand for a second time this year! I took them to Siem Reap, Cambodia, where we visited the amazing temples of Angkor. You can read my brother's experiences on his blog here and here as well!

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Stamp Quest

It went ok! I visited Erawan, Sai Yok, and Doi Suthep-Pui Natinoal Parks and got three new stamps.

Doi Suthep

My First Two Published Books

I published two books this year! My first, "The Long Road From Pub Street" is about my adventures in Cambodia, and my second, "Across a Golden Land" is about Burma. Both are available for Kindle on Amazon!

My First Book

My Second Book

Happy New Year!

I feel really great about 2018 so far! Let's hope that this year will be the best one yet! From me and my loved ones to you and yours, happy new year!