This week was low on activity, mainly because I got sick with a mild cold that progresses through the week. Later in the week though I was feeling better, and we took a guided bike tour of the old city (day 217 below). I also joined a great gym (day 213 immediately below), and we made some new friends from China (day 218).

Travel Log: Day 213 (1/26), Thailand

I woke up feeling a lot better today in general, and got an 87 sleep score last night.

We started watching the Broncos vs Patriots in the AFC championship game at 7am, so as to not accidentally see the score before watching it later in the day. The game was a real dud with the cold weather and snow preventing any real action. The Broncos losing was no surprise with Bo Nix out, but I can always fool myself into thinking they might win anyway in situations like that.

After the game we got a late start to school. After math I went to the gym (The Wall) and lifted upper body. The gym is tight quarters and there were around 8-10 people there, but it was really good overall. I didn’t have to wait for anything, and did my full routine plus a couple bonus exercises. I’m looking forward to getting there a little earlier tomorrow to see if there are fewer people.

In the afternoon JC and I walked to the grocery store and restocked. This run was only $30, following the usual pattern of the initial run being very expensive, and subsequent runs being far less. While we were at the mall I looked at hats and actually found a few I really like. They are expensive though, at around $50-$60. I’m pretty sure that’s more than I’d pay in a US mall for the same hat.

For dinner we went back to Boat and all had something different. After that AC BC and I watched half of a Stranger Things because it was a super long episode.

Travel Log: Day 214 (1/27), Thailand

Through the night my throat was feeling scratchy, and I woke up feeling like I’m getting a cold. I’m not 100% sure though, it could be some weird allergy thing. Through the day though it felt like the normal course of a developing cold.

Despite that I went to the gym and lifted lower body. It wasn’t my best day, and everything felt difficult. The tight little gym continues to impress though. They have a true leg press machine with plates where I got a much better pump than the machine in Vietnam. I also threw in some hamstring curls. The last thing I did was use a treadmill just to walk a bit and they are excellent machines.

We ate all three meals at home today. I just didn’t feel like going anywhere or doing much of anything. In the afternoon I was going to enjoy some sun and sit in the shared backyard, but I was greeted by a beheaded rat. Not sure what would have taken that rat’s head clean off like that. Needless to say it wasn’t very relaxing and I went back inside. JC and I took a small walk a little later.

I spent a good chunk of time observing the power of the chi (sitting in silence), and another good chunk practicing Spanish in Duolingo. Hoping to shake this cold or whatever it is quickly so we can get back to exploring.

Travel Log: Day 215 (1/28), Thailand

Today is the seven month mark on our trip. I predicted that time would feel rapid around now, and I can see that happening. We’re almost a week into Thailand and it seems like we just arrived. We will have to book the next location following Sri Lanka very soon, and before we know it we’ll be in Sri Lanka.

I slept decent last night despite this mild sickness I’ve got. My sleep score was an 82, and I definitely felt more capable physically and mentally today compared to yesterday. I went to the gym and did core, and then JC and I went to lunch at a hole in the wall place that she found. They had panang curry which I was excited about. The food was delicious and the panang was exactly what I hoped for.

AC and I nap bro’d in the afternoon. She BC and I watched Stranger Things a little before and after dinner. We had stir fry at home, and we went to the food market to get something to go with it. Spring rolls is what we were hoping for but we couldn’t find those this time. We ended up getting meat sticks which were decent.

Travel Log: Day 216 (1/29), Thailand

School and gym in the morning like usual. We took the kids to the new little restaurant that JC and I ate at yesterday. They also liked the food, and it seemed like the owner was happy to see us back there.

JC and I spent a lot of time dialing in the plan for after Sri Lanka. We’re pretty well set on South Africa and just sucking up the long travel to get there and then again to Europe.

Travel Log: Day 217 (1/30), Thailand

The day started with a field trip Friday to bike around the old city of Chiang Mai. We took a Grab over to the meetup point. We had our own guide for the four of us. It was sort of fun to ride a bike again, but I had mixed feelings about the tour as a whole. Our guide didn’t speak the clearest english, so we had a hard time understanding him at times. He was also hyper conservative in crossing and merging with traffic. We ended up seeing a couple temples, a city square area, and a food market. We tried some sausage and pork rinds at the food market. It was not worth the ~$140 in my opinion.

After the tour we ate at this food stand right beside it. We had things like a Philly Cheese Steak, fries, hot dog, etc. Then we Grab’d back to the condo and relaxed for a bit.

In the evening JC and I went on a walk and then went to 7-Eleven to get our dinner. FAC followed that, AC’s movie pick and she chose an Avengers movie.

Travel Log: Day 218 (1/31), Thailand

New Friends

JC and I slept in until almost 7am today. We had coffee and went outside to drink it, and ran into our upstairs neighbor. I couldn’t figure out her nationality so I said “sawhatdee krup” (hello), and she responded with “good morning”. She was with her eight year old daughter, and they came over to talk to us. She is from China and spoke pretty good english.

We talked to her for a long time and learned that she is from the Shandong province of China, and her name is pronounced Schwen. She said we could call her Kathy but I have no intention of doing that. Eventually her boyfriend came out and he seemed nice, although he spoke little english. Schwen works in the office of a medical clinic and is here for eight days total. They were heading out for a long day of activities. I was feeling elitist in a bad way the rest of the day thinking about how hard she works and how little time off she gets. Meanwhile, here we are on infinitely sustainable international travel without needing to work, and having the luxury of spreading our activity across four weeks.

Exercise And Budget

Later in the morning I went to the gym to run. After that I ate, played a Jenga tower smashing game with BC, and did the January budget reconciliation. The budget was a bit of a bust. We ended up having to pay for all of our food not at home and discretionary out of discretionary savings to keep our withdrawal rate at 3.8%, which is necessary for South Africa to work out financially. More on that when I post the January budget.

Date Night

JC and I went on a date night. We walked over to the Nimman area of Chiang Mai, which is the main tourist area. It was not what we were expecting. The old city that we biked through seemed far more touristy with restaurants and shops geared towards tourists, and I guess that’s what I thought Nimman would be. We wandered around for a while, and then we ended up at “One Nimman” which is a square with shops and restuarants and live music. We had some drinks at a restaurant there, and sat outside to listen to the live music. They stopped serving alcohol at 6pm, I think because elections are happening.

At that point we walked back toward our Airbnb area, and I bought somosas along the way at an Indian food stand. I had chicken and veggie somosas and thought they were pretty good. For the main course though we walked over to the food stalls by our place. I had a chicken curry with rice dish, and JC got Pad Thai. We both thought it was mediocre at best.

JC and I finished the night watching 11.22.63.

Travel Log: Day 219 (2/1), Thailand

This morning I worked on our taxes, and then we ate breakfast and prepared to leave the condo by 10am for cleaning. When we left the condo Xuan (Schwen), our new neighbor friend, was outside so we stopped and talked with her and her boyfriend for a long time. We ended up exchanging info with them.

JC and I installed an app they can use in China called WeChat. It’s a lot like WhatsApp, but it’s more of a super-app that they use for a ton of stuff. Besides chatting and calling they can pay for things and even get rides I think. It’s fairly untrustworthy though from a privacy standpoint, because China can access all of the data it contains. We limited our permissions down to only the essentials, and started a group chat with them. We already got an update on their afternoon of crepe eating, and it will be fun to have friends in China that we could stay in contact with.

Around lunch time we went over to T-Ten and had lunch/coffee and used their wifi. We were filling out the visa information for Sri Lanka with the intention of going to the mall to print them. The site was a piece of garbage though and it took a third try back in our condo before we got it submitted. We received the approval just minutes later. I’m not sure if we will actually print them.

In the afternoon I worked some more on our taxes, which are much more complicated now with a rental property. I’m probably about 5-6 hours into it. I think I basically have them done though, with the exception of the Schwab 1099 composite forms that are not yet available.