Hi! I'm writing from Chiang Mai, Thailand, digital nomad hub of the world. This city is catered to people who work remotely, which means there are minimalist coffee shops and breakfast is offered all day.
Last year I wrote a kind-of-monthly email update. This year I'm going to write observations about backpacker culture, solo travel vs. couple travel, being a USAer abroad in the Trump era, etc. I have thoughts, people! I'm not looking to document my travels specifically but for this first entry I want to get up to speed because I've been a mysterious leaf in the wind due to the time difference and bad wifi connections.
I left from Nicaragua in the fall to go home for the holidays and vote for my girl Hil. I cried for the subsequent month and then returned to Latin America because I am addicted to Salsa music.
When I got to Mexico I awoke spiritually in the mountainside as one does and then got my very first studio apartment in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca state. I made two friends, below, who taught me how to night surf. They became my ~ride or dies~ mostly in the sense that surfing at night makes you feel like you'll ride the wave or die. Just kidding mom.
I could have stayed in Mexico forever and who knows, maybe a wall will inspire me to pick a side, but for now I have left. I came out on the other side with Mexican slang, a surfboard, and a boyfriend. Surfboard had to go but, by the grace of G, my dude and slang are both here in Southeast Asia.
Leaving Mexico involved multiple goodbye-mexican-food ceremonies:
Yorckh (pronounced George obviously) and I are able to travel indefinitely because our jobs allow it. He is a muralist so guess what, he's painting murals. I'm an online literature instructor for homeschoolers so guess what, I'm doing something no one really understands.
We landed in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam to visit the woman I am married to on Facebook, Rebecca Gant-Bogart. Vietnam! I've wanted to go to this country since I saw photos of Ha Long Bay in high school. The landscapes are varied, the food is fresh and bountiful, the people do their best not to lose patience with foreigners who cannot hack Vietnamese. Yorckh and I kept walking in on workers asleep in our hotel rooms but there was so much to see we were never in our hotel rooms anyway. I say hotel room even though we only used Airbnb - when did Airbnb become booking.com? It is all hotels. So many in fact that we were had and accidentally booked a sham account from China. Travel Hack: Don't book an airbnb with a lakeview when you know there's no lake in the city.
Here are pics of us blending in:
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Learned how to scoot in the scooter capital of the world!
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just being local |
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| low key caving |
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| Ha Long Bay |
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| Sapa Valley |
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| that sweaty glow |
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| construction workers invited us to share a pot of tea on their skeleton building. notice that the stairs are also skeletal |
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| the day Yorckh learned the phrase "living your best life" |
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| classic vietnamese tiny chairs with our breakfast of yogurt oatmeal and oreos |
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| photo taken by paparazzi |
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| who is She |
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| traffic has good flow when everyone's on a moto. that building with the plants growing out of every window :) |
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| mekong delta!! those sunglasses died three sunglasses ago |
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| put our wishes in a candle put the candle on the river. i'll keep you updated |
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| remixing beach traditions |
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| view from airbnb - the neighbs were monks |
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| Hoi An at night |
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| Hanoi, situated inside an oven |
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| boat porch |
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| nature makin' it work |
Sending love and passion fruit smoothies out to you all
Johannah
this is amazing
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