It has been an emotional week on Koh Tao. At one point, my dad reminded me of a wise quote from a community recovering from tragedy decades ago. “We will laugh again, but we will never be young again.” This island is dusting itself off from a great blow. For me, the solution to working my…

As many of you may know, two days ago, Koh Tao woke up to news that rocked this tiny island to its core. Almost anyone that calls Koh Tao home works in the tourism industry, as I once did during my year here in 2011. For us, it is a joy to show our slice of…

I want to start by thanking you all for the outpouring of compliments and kudos on the new site — I’ve been walking on air reading them! I feel a lot of love from you guys right now and believe me, I’m beaming it right back at ya. So, sappy stuff aside, how is it possible…

Welcome to my new series: Earning Abroad! I am often asked for blogging advice from readers eager to make a living overseas. Yet the percentage of truly successful bloggers is so low, promoting it as a viable income source to the masses feels a bit like peddling a course at the Barbizon School of Modeling. Plus —…

Since I left home for my Great Escape, I’ve been doing monthly roundups of my adventures filled with anecdotes, private little moments, and thoughts that are found nowhere else on this blog. As this site is not just a resource for other travelers but also my own personal travel diary, I like to take some time…

While back in Koh Tao for one more week of island fun, I tagged along on a few dives with Lindsay and MM, who were both getting their Advanced Open Water certification. I did my own advanced certification back when I was living in Cayman in 2010, and I was so excited for them to do…