Back to Normal Life for a While

Four months of traveling seems to be the point at which life on the road starts to wear on us. Although it’s interesting to have new experiences all the time, our brains are feeling full to bursting from navigating a new country every month and trying to learn about its culture, history, and language. We’re tired of having to figure out so many things each day—where to go and how to get there, where to find food and what to eat, how to communicate with people around us.

There’s a new adventure on the horizon at the end of this month: A friend from home and her baby are coming to join us in Vietnam to spend a month touring that country. Before that happens, we need to recharge.

So we’ve rented a comfortable apartment in the city of Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, a place beloved of expats for its easy lifestyle. There’s a 7-11 and a laundromat on the ground floor of our building, a grocery store down the street, and lots of restaurants and coffee shops within a few blocks. We have a kitchen (so we don’t always have to eat out), a closet to put our clothes in, a big couch, and a TV with a few English-language channels amid all of the Thai ones.

For the next three weeks, we’re going to hunker down here and try to live a more normal life. Maybe we’ll see a few sights; maybe we’ll write a little or take some pictures. Or maybe we won’t. (Don’t be surprised if this site goes quiet for a while, other than a gallery or two of places we’ve been recently.)

Our priorities are to work and read and rest and enjoy having our own space for a while, but mostly to let all of the things that we’ve learned and experienced sink in, so we can be ready for the next adventure when it comes.