Koh Samui, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pai, Chiang Mai, and Bangkok again — I’d been all over Thailand in just a few weeks. It was time to go home. This pier always makes my heart swell. Photos by Heather Holt. Returning back to Koh Tao post-Yi Peng wasn’t in my original plan. But once I fell back…

In a life that sometimes feels like a never-ending parade of amazing experiences and beautiful moments, I’m the first to admit I’m grateful — and the first to admit I can get a little jaded. To shake me out of those occasional weary times, I need one of what I (and, granted, Oprah) call our “aha…

“Heather. Don’t move. Your leg is covered… in leeches.” Heather let out a guttural cry as I looked down and saw that I, too, was covered in bloodsucking parasites. We frantically picked them off our limbs as our companions, a Thai guide and his Hmong sidekick, just laughed in reply. We were deep in a remote…

Oh Chiang Mai. I always claim not to be a fan yet I seem to find myself here once a year or so, and do enjoy myself every time. I can’t seem to shake my “meh”-ness about the city itself, but I can’t deny that every time I pass through I hang with some fantastic friends…

Part of what makes Pai special is that it’s not just an idyllic hippie town — outside the borders of the village map lie an almost overwhelming number of natural attractions to explore. I’d seen several on my previous adventures motorbiking around Pai, and was excited to see something new. That said, I wasn’t really attached…

“Well that was amazing…” “… but I couldn’t have taken another day of it.” We laughed in agreement, snuggling into our sleeper bunks on the night train to Chiang Mai. Heather and I were more or less fleeing Bangkok after five hectic days of hanging with an award-winningly rowdy group of guys. As much fun as…