I just got back from a 10-day trip to Japan. I was able to visit Osaka and Hiroshima – and the cities of Kobe and Okayama between – and had an excellent trip. While it’s fresh on my mind, I wanted to share some tips on how to make the most of your trip to Japan by saving you time and money.
Thai Life
Thai Language: Three Tips on How to Learn Thai
I am fluent only in English. I grew up with Cantonese spoken in my household, and it’s one of my regrets not to have attained fluency in Cantonese. So one of my goals in mini retirement is to learn Thai. Two years into my stay here, I can say I’m still a Beginner. I can order drinks and food – and or give some basic direction to my Grab driver or masseuse – but that’s pretty much where I’m at. All of this to say: I’m still learning and this post is certainly a work-in-progress.
I want to share three tips I have picked up in language learning. Note that this post covers only conversational / spoken Thai, not reading or writing (which I believe to be completely different). I have focused solely on speaking/listening, so that I can make basic conversations in the few years I have lived here.
Nesting: The pros and cons of parents rotating homes
My children’s mother and I have a co-parenting arrangement called ‘birdnesting’ or ‘nesting.’ Nesting involves our kids staying in the same house at all times, while their mother and I take turns living in the house with our kids. We have been using this co-parenting arrangement since re-locating to Thailand. Currently, we are on a two-week schedule during which I live with the kids for two weeks, and then switch with their mother for two weeks, etc. This post outlines what I see, given almost two years of this co-parenting schedule, as the pros and cons of nesting.
Hacks: Top 5 Travel Hacks Across Asia
Traveling across Asia has been one of my key reasons why I took my mini-retirement. Almost two years into my mini-retirement, I have traveled 13 Asian countries, now totaling 33 across my life. I speak from experience when I say that travel can have its fair share of headaches. Whether it’s long delays or uncomfortable climates or technology hiccups, some times I debate whether it’s better to simply nest in Chiang Mai – and avoid flights and hotel nights altogether. I believe, however, that with proper planning, I can reduce some of these headaches and focus my time and energy on the reason why I want to travel in the first place – to experience what this beautiful world has to offer.
With this life-enriching goal in mind, I would like to share five of my travel hacks that have served me well, especially in the past two years as I have traveled across Asia. In no particular order:
Globetrotting Part 2: Where I have traveled in East Asia since mini retirement
This post continues from the Part 1, in which I covered where I globetrotted in Southeast Asia for the year and a half I have mini retired. This post covers where I have been across East Asia.
As with the prior post, I have listed next to each destination: 1) an estimate of how long of a flight it is from Chiang Mai (unless otherwise noted), 2) how much it cost me last time to fly there (one way), and 3) a quick listing of the experiences I had while traveling there.
Globetrotting Part 1: Where I have traveled since mini retirement
Wanderlust. It’s the word that comes to mind when I describe this feeling I have had since my early 20s. After September 11, 2001, I took some time off from college – and decided to teach English in a rural village in southern Thailand. It was during these few months as a volunteer teacher when I realized how large the world is and how much I wanted to explore it, to experience its opportunities, to live life fully.
I spent the better part of two decades repressing this wanderlust. I was raising a family, saving up and investing, and grinding away in corporate America. Oh, how I looked forward to the 3-4 weeks of vacation I had. My ex and I decided to spend half of those vacation days traveling as a family, and the balance traveling as a couple. And oh, how much I relished those days of exploring. We traveled everywhere – from closer spots like San Jose, Costa Rica and San Juan, Puerto Rico to more remote locations like Brisbane, Australia and Budapest, Hungary. Sure, these precious days spent with my family quelled some of my hunger for travel, but at the same time, it planted a seed in my mind: if we could travel for longer periods of time, where would we go?
China Tips: 6 Essential Tips for Navigating China
My family and I just got back from China. This was my second time in China, but my kids’ first time – and I wanted to make sure I was prepared. We took advantage of the 144 hour transit visa, which gave us five days (four nights) to explore Beijing and cross a bucket list item I had for the year: hike the Great Wall of China. While I would say that Americans really have nothing to fear with traveling to China and exploring the country (I think this fear illogically stems from media coverage and our current nationalism attitudes) I would say that China is not the most convenient place for Americans to visit and navigate, given technological restrictions and few people able to speak English. This post covers several tips I have if you are planning a trip to China and want to be best prepared.
144 Hours: My Experience Using China’s 144-Hour Transit Visa
It was super easy to get the 144-Hour Transit Visa in China for my family of four. In this post, I’ll highlight some need-to-know FAQs so that you can also obtain your 144-Hour Transit Visa for your trip to China.
CM F&B: What to eat/drink when you visit Chiang Mai
Many of my friends across Thailand and abroad visit Chiang Mai – and I often get the question, ‘any recommendations on where to eat or drink?’ It’s a tough question to answer because everyone’s tastes are different, but I can recommend what I like the most, broken up by category:
- If you want to eat Khao Soi…
- If you want to eat Boat noodles…
- If you want a cheap, tasty meal…
- If you want vegan/vegetarian western food…
- If you want vegan/vegetarian Thai food…
- If you want pizza…
- If you want a cafe-hop stop…
- If you want to drink some latte art…
- If you want to enjoy some espresso cocktails and latte art…
- If you want to drink tea or matcha…
- If you want to drink a beer and hang out…
Health Insurance: What health insurance I have for my family
Part of ‘adulting’ is to purchase insurance for yourself and your family. As the sole bread winner for my family, there was significant risk in a scenario in which I could no longer work or provide for my family. And this becomes readily apparent after making the decision to move to Thailand; if I were to get into a major car accident here, would I have the financial means to weather the associated medical costs and care for my family in the mean time? Or given my heavy travel schedule – going to >10 countries last year – would I have proper medical attention in a foreign country outside of Thailand?
This post discusses how I evaluated health / medical insurance options for my family living here in Thailand – and outlines why I selected the insurer that I did: Cigna for our first year and Allianz Care for our current policy.