They say that Bangkok is the Backpacker Capital of the World, but I think that title belongs to Chiang Mai. There are so many things to do in Chiang Mai, especially bucket list items. Below are top ten tours and activities that you should put on your list; you may just have to extend your stay 🙂
Tag Archives: thailand
Can Vegetarians Visit Southeast Asia? An Herbivore’s Guide
Anyone with a dietary restriction may be hesitant before traveling to a new place, especially if you’re already dealing with new languages, new cultures, and new traditions.
I stuck to a plant-based diet while traveling through Europe, but I was unsure of what I would find when I got to Southeast Asia. All I saw on Instagram are people eating scorpions off the street, and I couldn’t find too much information on how easy it was to stick to a vegetarian diet. I’ve been in Southeast Asia for three months now, and here’s what I’ve learned…
The Beat, Broke, Backpacking Southeast Asia Packing List!
Wondering what to pack for Southeast Asia? Look no further. Yogis, techies, and backpackers, welcome!
Koh Phangan: The Full Moon Party (and What To Do Afterward) feat. Hangover Yoga!
Okay. Back to chronological posts that don’t talk about American politics. I won’t mention T**** ever again.
So let’s chat about the Full Moon Party, yeah?
Koh Phangan was at the top of our bucket list. Why? Three words: Full Moon Party. We didn’t know much about it, but we heard it was a big ol’ party on the beach and we weren’t going to turn that down. The overnight bus and ferry from Bangkok to Koh Phangan was an exhausting journey, so we gave ourselves four days on the island before heading back and continuing to Siem Reap. We went to the Full Moon Party. But then we had the question: what else is there to do on Koh Phangan?
Chiang Rai, The White Temple, and Navigating Southeast Asia as an Embarrassed American
Hey everyone! Megan here. My laptop is up and running, so I’ve been working on some posts for you all!
This post, however, is going to be a bit different. My original plan was to write posts about backpacker destinations in Southeast Asia based on the order in which I visited them. This post is more important. This post is long. This post gets into American politics. This post makes me anxious. It addresses tragedy and war and embarrassment. Just a warning. Here we go.
72 Hours in Bangkok: Scams, Surprises, and All the Stuff You Need to Know Before You Go
The Grand Palace in Bangkok
The journey has begun! Andrew and I have spent about a week and a half in Southeast Asia and already have learned so much.
Our first stop was Bangkok.
It’s Bangkok! A view from the Golden Mountain.
This is Andrew’s first backpacking adventures and my first time in Thailand, so we certainly hit some bumps in the road. Luckily for you, I’m collecting all of those bumps and putting them in one place. This is all of the questions we had about Thailand, and all of the things we researched, frantically.
January 15, 2017.
I apologize if this post reads as frantic or a bit rushed.
I’ve been pressuring myself to share the moment I’m living in with you; there’s no Beat Broke Backpacking without my loved ones, faraway friends, and anyone who stumbles upon this blog for whatever reason. The past few weeks I’ve been challenged to think about why I want to go further with this project. What are my intentions? What am I willing to compromise? Can I sum my mission for Beat Broke Backpacking up in a sentence? How has that changed?
(More on that below.)
I have also felt pressured to share because each moment disappears so quickly. Since the New Year, I’ve hit so many turning points that I need something for nausea.
I’m writing this from yoga teacher training (we’re on lunch break.) I could go on and on in additional posts about my love for yoga (and I will, and I have) but I’ll have to focus.
You know that beautiful feeling when you realize you’re actually taking the action you’ve been dreaming up for months, years, etc.? That was present in every moment and every pose during my first flow of my first class. Since I’ve moved to Austin I’ve been saving for this training by working two jobs (one was always full-time.) In hindsight, I could have flipped my thinking into appreciating every moment heading to and from work as taking action toward my daydreams, but hindsight’s 20/20. Every moment from now until July I’ll be taking action toward the big plan (or lack thereof) my thoughts have drummed up since I got back from backpacking in September 2015.
…
My best friend and I purchased plane tickets to Bangkok that leave on July 5. His ticket is roundtrip and mine is one-way. After six weeks backpacking around Southeast Asia, he’s going back to work. The pages in my planner are left blank.
I would still be doing teacher training if I planned on putting a down payment on a house in Austin and staying here for my foreseeable future. But I’ve known for a while that this training is going to take me across continents. Yoga is everywhere, and it serves as the one form of universal expression I am comfortable using to connect with and show my love for everyone I meet.
I don’t want to have set plans for after Andrew leaves Asia; maybe I’ll hit up all of the places I will hear about in hostels, maybe I’ll stay in Bangkok, maybe that’s when I’ll head to Australia.
I am almost finished applying for my working holiday visa…where I hear they have quite a decent market for yoga.
…
Up until now this post is anti-climactic; I’m going to Asia aaaaaand…then what?
That’s why I’m going to revisit this blog. I won’t be posting every week again at first…I’m still working 55 hours a week on top of teacher training. But I want to make myself vulnerable and share my plans for BBB. I write full-time. I would like to use BBB as a project and experiment with making it a full-time job, while still keeping the integrity of what I want to share and promote. I want to explore making a career out of writing, out of traveling, out of being a travel writer. The moment I first picked up travel guides I knew it was possible to pursue my passions and make it a living. So I’m going to give it a try.
Buying my plane ticket to Asia was not as scary as writing this post because in July, it’s pretty set in stone that I’ll be on that plane. (Andrew and I even got seats next to each other after a hot mess of trying to book through different sites.) Trying to manifest my vision for this blog is terrifying because there is so much gray area. What will I consider “successful?” Can a blog that I completely control even “fail?” I know what the end result should look like, but I don’t even know how to begin.
The road ahead is foggy. I’ve been told to expect a lot of rain in July in Southeast Asia. But I’ve made a promise to myself since the beginning of teacher training that I would appreciate each moment and my effort to run (work, stand, fold, plank, downward dog, whatever) toward this new adventure.
So I move forward.