About Us


We are a married couple who retired and moved to Thailand in 2014. You are welcome to join us and our travel monkeys Sun Wukong and Malcolm Jr. on our adventures! We hope you enjoy the trip as much as we do.

Friday, May 23, 2014

The First Two Days In Chiang Mai

First Two Days In Chiang Mai

Our flights were uneventful and mostly sleepless. We arrived at 11 pm in Chiang Mai, retrieved our luggage and asked for a taxi. The man that pulled up shook his head indicating the luggage and passengers would not fit. So we took the next one which was a mini van size. We were checked into The Dome Residence by midnight and after a quick shower we were off to dreamland.

The next morning I began an online chat with our friend Ursula. She is the one I wanted to surprise and she had no idea we had arrived because August was our original date. She asked to make a time to chat at 9pm Chiang Mai time. I told her that would not work. She thought I was mad at her, which I could never be because she is so sweet! The next message told her we had arrived the night before and would like to meet her. I think she was in shock and could not believe it was true. We finally met for lunch and her face was smiling so brightly it was very heartwarming to see. Before we left the mall I picked up some shampoo, cream rinse, coffee, creamer, hot chocolate, cold tea, and green tea bags. All of the items except the shampoo and rinse were imported and were expensive by US pricing. The hot chocolate was $10.00 and the coffee was $16.

We went to The Antique House 2 on the Ping River for lunch. We were the only people in the entire place and for 2 hours we chatted, relaxed and had a wonderful lunch. We went back to her condo and made an appointment with the woman at the property management company to show us some condo units the next day. We went to Ursula's condo and had a lovely visit until I began to feel like a hologram....I needed to go to our hotel and sleep.

There is a strangeness about being sleep deprived. Ordinary things that your brain handles with ease become tantamount to being in a body with no motor skills or cognitive functions. A little back story here.......Many years ago I borrowed our son's sports car. When I started it up, the sound system was bone rattling and the bass would have re-started a heart! I had to find a way to turn it down! The console looked like the inside of an airplane and having no idea what it all meant I began pushing ALL the buttons. It worked! Peace and quiet resumed and I forgot all about the incident, that is until I got home and he took his car back. I was asked, “What DID YOU DO?” “What do you mean?, I said” With a look that said....”I can't believe you did this”....he said, “I had to completely re-program my sound system.” I tend to do this with other things too and I push all the buttons till something happens. To this day I am lovingly teased about it.

So, back to the story. I was in desperate need for a cup of tea. The room has an electric tea kettle and I happily plugged it in....nothing happened. So I found another outlet to plug it in and still nothing, no light came on and I was feeling frustration and tears behind my eyes. Realizing what was happening I began to talk to the tea pot as if to convince it of my plight and it would magically work. I took it to the bedroom where I found yet another plug....still nothing. I left it on the floor alone in the corner as a punishment and sat on the bed with my computer. Periodically glaring at it I felt some control over my emotions.......It is just a kettle, with water, that SHOULD be boiling by now. Several hours went by and as Vince listened to me harumph loudly every time I looked up he decided to put me out of my misery. He went over to the kettle and pressed the one and only button ...in plain sight...big as life....on the handle!

Our leisurely morning with coffee and fruit before a light breakfast downstairs and then off to the condo. We met Fuang and she showed us 6 units which ranged from 28,000 baht down to 18,000 and were one and two bedrooms. All were different in the décor and layout, but she saved the best for last and she told us she knew we would love it. At our price of 15,000 baht ($456 USD) we are now the proud renters of a one bedroom, 79 meters, open floor plan, two large sliding glass doors with a long large balcony on the top floor 19th with a view of the Ping Rive and Doi Suthep! We move in on Sunday!


Lunch from the market which is a 5 minute walk across the street and meeting Alaia in person for the first time.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Bird Nest Confusion

One week to go! I am standing in my kitchen turning in circles trying to figure out what I am supposed to be doing and the next I wander to the bedroom where my luggage is. It looks like something exploded and scattered artifacts of a female human to all corners of this small room. I stare and forget to breathe. Disoriented and feeling like a Mamma bird returning to see what is left of her nest after a storm. I want to cry but I don't really know why because I am not sad at the thought of leaving. And I want to dance for joy and life because our new adventures await.........So I just sit in my pile of rubble and wait for my breath to return to normal.

I gaze at the chaos trying to understand why this human has chosen these few precious items to haul half way around the planet. And as I do, the smile returns and I am strangely comforted at seeing a large safety pin peaking out from underneath my Hello Kitty bag.


Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Letting Our Inner Child Out To Play

Before we moved out of the apartment we had a few friends over and I gave them free reign on my luggage and we laughed until our sides hurt.




Here are some close ups.





















Yes, While in Chiang Mai I had people in the red songtaw truck laugh, point and laugh some more!  They really got a kick out of it!  






Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Upon Leaving, She Reminded Me To Breathe

In an instant we found ourselves on a very fast moving river with only our wits to guide us. The metaphorical river appeared in the blink of an eye when a decision was made with such conviction the Universe had no other choice but to accept it as already done.

So begins the final stage for our move to Thailand. Our brains were fixed on 16 weeks to go and now it is 3 weeks and only 10 days of work left! Excited as champagne bubbles ready to explode is how we feel and the lists we made are both being ticked off and added to at the same time.

ALL THE FEELS are bouncing around and more coffee is probably not a good idea. So as I sit here at our favorite coffee shop just down the street from the apartment we have been in the last two years I need to remember to breathe! The people here are wonderful and it feels like a safe port in a storm. Our coffee is made as they watch us walk up the street and as we enter the shop the greetings are so heartfelt it is like we have been gone for years! We really love these people!

Our decision to move up the date happened Friday afternoon before going home from work.
Today is Saturday and yes, we woke up several times last night with dozens of thoughts running through our heads. Get passport photos taken for our visas, change our flights and hotel reservations, more items to give away, cancel electric, notify banks.............on and on and on.

The reason this post was not published a month ago was our hope to surprise some friends currently living in Thailand when we arrive. More on how that goes later.