Happy 2025 everyone! Can you believe we are already a quarter of the way through the 21st century?
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| Where I've Been - 1 January 2025 |
This has been a pretty good year - it's been a lot better than the mixed bags I had during the COVID years. This year, Pinky and I moved into our new condo, and it's really nice to finally have our own home. I visited a new country, had a huge adventure with my mom and brother, and explored some of America's most famous national parks with my parents.
The year began with a short transit through Istanbul and a meetup with a friend.
I entered on a tourist visa-exemption stamp, so by February, it was time for me to go on a visa run to a neighboring country to apply for my 90-day marriage visa. Bored of Cambodia, I decided to try something new, taking a bus to Savannakhet, Laos on the northern border. The bus ride was really pleasant, and I enjoyed getting to visit a new town, especially one as chilled and laid-back as sleepy Savannakhet.
Unfortunately, the consulate was swamped, and I was not able to get the visa that I needed without waiting for more days than I wanted, so I crossed back over the border again on a tourist exemption.
Luckily, it didn't matter so much, because I would be leaving the country again soon, this time for an incredible 2-week adventure across Sri Lanka with my mom and brother.
A few years back, we had signed up for the Rickshaw Run, a tuk-tuk rally organized by The Adventurists, and after months of planning and preparation, the time finally arrived. We all met up in Colombo, the Sri Lankan capitol city, where we toured for a few days, getting over our jet lag and getting to know a country which was so different from anywhere we had ever been.
After a few days of practice driving, we set off on the road across Sri Lanka, driving from Negombo, a beach town just north of Colombo, to Kandy, the ancient royal capital. Mom had gotten ill, so she went on ahead to meet us a few days later in Nuwara Eliya, an old hill station in the cool, verdant Sri Lankan tea country.
We celebrated my brother's birthday at a beautiful hotel located inside a historic tea factory, trekked through the countryside, and drank lots and lots of world-famous Ceylon tea.
Back on the road, we drove on to the backpacker haven of Ella, then down to the coast at Tangalle, where we crossed the finish line victoriously without ever having a single breakdown or engine issue in our trusty tuk-tuk, whom we christened "Abigail".
The Rickshaw Run in Sri Lanka was one of the best experiences of my life, and I'm so happy to have shared it with Mom and Kyle. We had so much fun that we are planning another adventure together soon... more on that in a future post.
But of course, you can't just stay in Thailand forever without getting a visa. After returning from Sri Lanka, it was time to finally take care of business. I flew to Phnom Penh, a city which I've gotten to know quite well over the past few years due to my constant visa runs. It's a fine city, but I've seen and done pretty much everything there is to do. This time, I decided to spend my time reading, visiting cafes, and taking a food tour, which ended up being a lot of fun.
Cambodian food isn't as well-known as Thai or Vietnamese cuisine, and it was cool to get to learn about it.
A few months later, Pinky and I took a short trip to Georgetown, a cool old colonial town on the northern Malaysian island of Penang. Georgetown is famous for its architecture, its rich multicultural history, and its food.
The Blog of Michael Desrosiers: Back in Georgetown, Penang
In October, I flew into Salt Lake City, Utah. I was going to meet my parents in a few days to travel around the state's "Mighty Five" national parks, but I got in a few days early so that I could deal with the jetlag.
My old college roommate is living there now, and I stayed at his place for a few days. Dominik's dad is German, and we met through the German program at Baylor, so it was only fitting that we celebrate Oktoberfest (a tradition we had back in college). On his day off, we drove up into the mountains above Salt Lake for beer, food, and live music at Snowbird, one of the nearby ski resorts.
My parents had been planning a vacation to Utah to visit some national parks. When I was stressed and feeling down about some stuff at work, I mentioned that I might come back to the US for a visit. They told me that they weren't going to be in Texas at that time, but that I was invited to meet them in Utah to tag along. I'm so grateful that they let me join them!
We met up in Salt Lake City a few days after I arrived, rented a car, and set off down the road towards Canyonlands, our first destination.
Canyonlands was stunning, and the world-famous Arches, one of the country's most iconic parks, didn't disappoint either.
Capitol Reef was beautiful, but most of the roads were closed for renovations when we were there, so we didn't get to explore it as fully as we would have wanted to.
Zion, one of the most visited parks in the country, was too crowded. We didn't really get to see much of it, and although I know it's beautiful, it was a little disappointing due to the crowds of people and heavy traffic around the park.
Bryce Canyon was an incredible, otherworldly landscape, and I've never seen anywhere else on earth like it. I would especially love to visit Bryce again someday.
We flew back to Texas just in time for some big celebrations.
In November, I returned to the Big Mango. Pinky and I hosted a Thanksgiving party (courtesy of Sunrise Taco, a Bangkok institution). The party doubled as a housewarming, and we had some friends over to visit our new place. Even though I couldn't be home for Thanksgiving this year, I still got to have my turkey and pecan pie.
Just before Christmas, Pinky took a few days off and we headed north to Chiang Mai to experience the relative cold of the mountainous northern province. We stayed for a day in the old city before driving up into the highlands to Chiang Dao, the "City of Stars".
And then, before we knew it, it was Christmas Day!
The year seems to have gone by fast, but I'm excited to see what 2025 has in store. I have one big adventure planned already, and hopefully more to come.
As always, thanks so much to those of you who still follow this blog. I wish you all a wonderful, warm, and happy New Year, and I hope that 2025 brings you nothing but joy and good fortune!
