Phang Nga Bay

How do you say goodbye to a continent?

The answer, of course, is that you can’t. We’ve spent half our lives in Asia. We met each other here. Our four boys were born here. Over two decades we’ve made friends, built careers, learned languages and explored this huge, diverse, amazing continent from Uzbekistan to Sri Lanka, Sumatra to Kyushu and Harbin to Kathmandu.

Read more

We Really Needed Koh Kradan

Our last few months in Bangkok had been intense. I resigned and started informing clients, some of whom I’ve known almost 20 years. Nori sold our beloved “Black Bull” van, most of our furniture and a good share of our books, toys and art. We moved out of “Baan Brixen”, our Gatsby-esque triplex apartment in the sky. We cancelled our broadband service and extended our international driver’s licenses. There were leaving drinks and leaving dinners, occasionally with the same people multiple times. By the end, the organizing, pre-packing, packing, unpacking and repacking had drained us completely.

Read more

Koh Kradan Beach

Buriram MotoGP

Buriram: Ancient and Modern, United

Our family of six was sitting on flimsy plastic stools and eating ba mee moo daeng (egg noodles with barbecued pork) from a Chai See cart parked in front of a 7-11 located beside a large wet market. We were somewhere in rural Buriram Province – all flat fields and big skies. Apart from us, the scene was pure, provincial Thailand. It put a smile on my face. Bangkok is amazing, but I love the “upcountry” – and we were going to be seeing a lot of it.

Read more