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Day 1Bodega inn,  Patong Beach. ( lying in wait for our rooms)

Phuket: Day 1, Patong Beach

DAY 1: exhausted from our travel we all plop our packs down as we are greeted by the awesome bar-keep at the Bodega hostel in Phuket. Bodega Hostel is a quaint store front hostle with a warm and welcoming staff and front porch lounge. The vibe is eclectic with a display vibrant art by local artist. Island music plays in the background of the ice shaker and the chatter of newly met friends and backpackers make you feel safe and at rest. However, as our rooms were not ready for us when we arrived, we decided to have our drinks in the upstairs lounge and past out.

From Taiwan to Thailand and going forward

 Eat / love / Pray

I had the most wonderful time traveling with my friends. From Taiwan to Thailand and going forward was the experience of my lifetime thus far. It's funny when you travel with your friends, you are able to turn to the person beside you and say "Did you see that?" It's awesome. My girl Kelsey and I planned to first go to Africa for the Chinese NY, but then decided to do something neither of us had ever done before, we decided to backpack through a few countries in Asia. Kelsey invited her girlfriend Jessey and her roommate Alex and we took off.  For me it was a way to give myself a birthday gift I would be able to cherish for the rest of my life. Traveling is my greatest passion along with photography and great food. My theory about travel is to "choose where you want to go based on the food"  The three passions combined was a chance I just could not pass up. I always imagined photographing far and distant places but being able to photography the ruins of Angkor Wat, the Beaches of Phuket and everything and everyone in between was WOW!.  The people of Phuket were beautiful and exotic just like the beaches and Islands, and the food was spicey and delicious in a way that made you fall in love it.  We even did some elephant riding along the villages and streams. Elephants splashed us with water as they cooled themselves and slowly continued to carry their amazed cargo (us ) to a breath taking height on the rocks where we could see the beaches below and watch the waves crash on the ankles of those playing at it's edge.   Please enjoy the photos and comments over the next few days as I continue to post and as I take you through my journey. From Taiwan to Thailand and going forward is the kind of travel I wanted this blog to be about. 
Enjoy...

From Taiwan to Thailand and moving forward.

From Taiwan to Thailand and going forward.

Happy New Year 2012

Happy new year to all you travelers out there. Keep in mind while you are living life to the fullest to also stay safe, look both ways when you cross those streets, dusty roads or Mountaintops and keep a quarter to call home (skype). Bless you all and I wish you a fulfilled journey where ever you may be headed.

Holidays in Taiwan

My second year as a teacher in Taiwan has begun, as well as my second year of holidays. This Thanksgiving and Christmas are proving especially difficult for me. The newness of Taiwan has worn off and the excitement of being in another country doesn't have the same effect as it did the first year. How is the weather today? gloomy, cold, rainy and eewwwww. But, this had been the weather for the past few days and it had gotten me so down that not even the children's Christmas singing was able to do the trick. And finally after reading several inspirational notes from the 100 or so friends and family who's Christmas cheer hadn't been stolen by the Grinch I felt even less spirited I opted not to call my family or any friends back in the states and I got under the covers with my computer and bottle of wine and decided to watch an insane amount of Christmas comedies and drink wine. And that was my holiday.

Getting out of my FUNK!!!

Then, on December 27th the sun came out, and on December 28th the weather was sunny and cool, with tiny drops of better feeling and positivity. This is all to say that when traveling outside of the country for the holidays it is often common to feel the blues and want to withdraw for a while. It is also true that you will feel a lot better given time and better weather. So, I would like to say MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR.

No christmas pic will be included with this post. But stand by for the NEW YEAR:)

Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. 14Days and TONS O FUN!

I'm going to hike through Asia with friends on a Chinese New Year/ Birthday Celebration. It's gonna be AWESOME. We are going to hit up Phuket first then Bangkok and end in Vietnam before finding our way back to Taiwan. If anyone out there has any suggestions on where to stay or what countries to hit up please post your comments. I would love to get some input from fellow travelers.