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22 Sep '11

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I'm a New York native who left my home to explore the world slowly and thoroughly. I’m just a little obsessed with photography, scuba diving, and reading guidebooks to countries I have no immediate plans to visit.

Back off Bahamas! Did you know Thailand has a Pig

Back off Bahamas! Did you know Thailand has a Pig Island of its own? 🐖

Using some good old travel detectice work we discovered it IS in fact possible to visit independently, without a tour!

PS: Just kidding about the Bahamas — I’m actually headed to their own Pig Island this month so stay tuned for a comparison!

Koh Mat Sum is a private island off the south of Koh Samui. Apparently the family that owns it was on the mainland at a livestock market when they came across some piglets that they just fell in love with, and couldn’t help but bring back to their island to live out their lives in pork-free peace. Today there are dozens of pigs of all ages and sizes that are truly living the beachfront dream!

I saw several tours, but they were expensive (anywhere from $50 from poorly rated budget versions to over $100 for those with decent reviews) and would have involved spending tons of time in a huge van, picking up other tourists from all over the island, plus stops at what I assumed would be mediocre snorkeling stops.

I was certain I would be able to find a blog post or other guide to reaching the islands independently, but came up empty.

I asked around to a couple locals and the concierge at our accommodation, but all tried to get us to take a tour.

I located the island on the map and zoomed in to look for the nearest pier and guessed that if we made our way there on motorbikes, we would find a longtail willing to take us out.

So after a 45 minute drive from Bophut to Thong Krut Pier, stopping along the way for viewpoint, temples, and whatever else caught our eyes, we arrived to the pier and I almost cried when a boat driver immediately approached us.

I was worried the whole thing might be overhyped, but we truly had the best day! There was so much room for the piggies to run and play, and it was hysterical watching them in their natural habitat interacting with each other, us, and some of the other wildlife on the island. The beach was beautiful and the boat ride was too!

Overall, it was a super unique and quirky little Thailand adventure, and I was super proud of us for doing it without a tour.

Price breakdown in comments… hogs and kisses! 🐽💕

Completely relephant content ✨🐘😉 Wow is t

Completely relephant content ✨🐘😉

Wow is this really the final post from my Thailand @wanderwomenretreats, a mere lifetime after they ended?! Sure is!

We offered both of our Thailand retreats the opportunity to reunite one last time for the Elephants Extension, which brought us over to the island of Koh Samui for a final farewell.

We had the BEST TIME and while I’m always a little nervous to run an experience for the first time, this one was pretty magical!

We experienced a truly ethical elephant encounter at @samuielephantsanctuary, we toured the island’s colorful Buddhist temples, we did a funky animal flow yoga and a send of slow flow, we ate smoothie bowls with our names (or an adjective describing us 😂), and toasted to an epic adventure at a chic new beach club.

Stay to the end for my Nat Geo footage on slide 6, ha!

PS: It’s been a very transformative year for my small business and on this #smallbusinesssaturday I want to say a huge thank you to all of you who are part of the Wander Women family, from those who have joined our trips to those who dream of doing so to those who follow and cheer along our @wanderwomenretreats account!

I’m very proud that we are over 50% sold out in pre-sale on our latest release… which is going out to our mailing list in under an hour, if you want to scramble to join it! Hint: it’s the second edition of our most popular trip ever. You know what it is!

Sawasdee pi mai! 💦💙 Jumping into a new year

Sawasdee pi mai! 💦💙

Jumping into a new year… again! I’ve been sharing loads about our @wanderwomenretreats Aerial Thailand trip, but one super cool thing we did this year was run two Thailand retreats at the same time — which overlapped for two days to form a big mega party crew for the Thai New Year, Songkran!

The other retreat was our signature Koh Tao Dive + Yoga retreat, with a new twist — divers got @paditv certified on the trip.

Songkran is basically a big country-wide water fight! We kicked off the day with a massive sip n stretch yoga class by @goodkarmajess, featuring the signature buckets that Thailand is famous amongst backpackers for. We also spoke a bit about the history of Songkran and the ‘merit making’ aspect, for which @wanderwomenretreats donates to various local charities.

And then we’re off for a day of splashing through pool parties, hopping along beaches, and just having the most equal parts wholesome and debaucherous day haha with locals, expats and travelers alike!

Love this life of chasing new years and fresh starts all the world over ✈️

A shellebration of all things Koh Phangan 🐚 Th

A shellebration of all things Koh Phangan 🐚

This was my first time bringing a @wanderwomenretreats to Koh Phangan, which I’ve been eager to do ever since I took a one week aerial yoga training with @uluyoga in the early days of 2020! We were able to use their private beach and bamboo rig for an overwater photoshoot, which was really full circle (omg! a lyra joke!) for me.

This island went through a lot of changes between now and then, and there were times when I wondered if I was gonna be able to pull it off! But we were able to support an incredible beautiful new aerial space, work with a long-standing circus arts hub, explore the beautiful little beach we stayed at, and spend a night at a nudity friendly projection-mapped steambath that I’m obsessed with and think really represents the hippie dippie side of this island in the best way possible hah.

We did a silks and lyra workshop here, an aerial overwater photoshoot (the behind the scenes video of that in here shows how it really does take a village ha ha!) and my absolute favorite, a closing aerial yin yoga class with the sound of light jungle rain falling outside.

Thank you to my co-host and beautiful instructor @goodkarmajess and our photographer @izaviolaphotography — who actually lives on Koh Phangan so gave us an expat perspective! — for their warmth and sense of adventure.

Speaking of adventure, we had guests, as we sometimes do, get their very first passport to come on this trip with us! I can think of no bigger honor than being able to facilitate someone’s first international journey. (We also have guests who have been to more countries than me and wow me with their wild adventures — both inspire me in different ways.)

Thank you Koh Phangan for showing us such a beautiful few days. I love deepening my roots in this country that changed my life when I was 19 years old and has been a part of it ever since ✨ I’m blessed.

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