Sawatdeeka, a few short days ago, we left the hustle and bustle of Chiang Mai and ventured out further north towards the hill tribes. Our 3 day trek entailed hiking for 15km, staying with both Koren and a Lahoo hill tribes and spending our final day bamboo rafting. But that doesn't even begin to explain the things we saw and experiences we shared on this leg of our journey. As… Read More
The hustle and bustle of Old Chiang Mai has become a familiar homestead for me. It's the constant place we come back to after new experiences with home-stays, farms, long treks and elephants. Void of my family it has me feeling a bit homesick. Dodging the cars, motorcycles and tuk tuks has become second nature to me, and I surely am going to miss this city. The long alleyways that… Read More
Hidden in the Thailand fields far away is a community farm, home to peaceful self-reliant leaders, as well as divine food and sustainable harvests. The journey to Pun Pun community farm was a transformation in landscapes, from the chaos and the noise of busy towns, to the serene hum of birds and insects living in harmony with nature. Our visit to Pun Pun was bittersweet, we spent the few days… Read More
We are getting ready to say goodbye to the people who have kindly cared for us in the past 9 days. It seems as though we have been here for much more time. Personally, I have had a great time getting to meet my host family & learning from them. The first few days were somewhat of a struggle, but after a few Thai language classes, we have begun to… Read More
It's been two days in this bustling city. The mosquitoes are biting, the birds are chirping, the blenders are blending smoothies. It's a good time. We've been spending a lot of time talking and living with the locals. Some of the more outgoing members of our group have been known to get caught up in interesting conversations with complete strangers. It's surprising how much a bitter old man can teach… Read More
It's Iris here–I'm still alive. We're doing to scavenger hunt now in Chiang Mai and Hannah and I are totally gonna win. This is my first computer since Hong Kong and its all in Thai so I'm completely dumbfounded as to how to navigate anything. So far we've paraded around the city trying not to get hit by passing cars or motor bikes. The food has been AMAZING and nowhere… Read More
We are having a blast in Thailand!! So far we have been getting to know everyone and finding our way in the hectic city of Chiang Mai, trying not to get hit by the countless motorcycles! We have been looking at some of the temples here and learning about how to be respectful of Thai tradition and culture. Today we are doing a scavenger hunt around Chiang Mai, so far… Read More
Today is my third day in Thailand. We have been in the city of Chiang Mai the whole time, and it has been so fun! We have gone to food and clothing markets, visited a bunch of temples, and eaten the most amazing food and fresh fruit smoothies. Today we did a partner scavenger hunt throughout the city. We got to talk to monks, get massages, search for a post… Read More
What's up guys, Emily S here checking in from Chiang Mai, Thailand. I'm having a blast already! We've been here for almost 3 days now and it's so beautiful and amazing. Getting here took forever, but honestly it was so worth it. We've already had the chance to do so many cool things like ride in these backless vans and go to all these cool night markets. We've visited Buddhist… Read More
Hello, today was such an interesting day! walking around Chiang Mai visiting temples has been awesome. Getting to meet monks was possibly the most exciting thing today. They shared their everyday life with us and suggested we visit Doi suthep temple, which I really hope we have time to do later in the trip. We will be leaving Chiang Mai pretty soon to live with our host families (and learn… Read More
Sawatdee friends! We have been in Chiang Mai for just 3 days and already have learned so much! Everything here is so beautiful, and refreshing and upbeat- it's like a whole new world. We have been staying at a cozy lil' guest house while familiarizing ourselves with the exciting new territory. We have been starting our day at 9 am and after adventuring all day, by 8 pm, everyone is… Read More
Sabai has landed and made it to Chiangmai Thailand. We have checked into our guesthouse and after our lunch break will be jumping right into orientation! Spirits are high 🙂 You'll hear from us soon … Read More
Amidst smiles, handshakes, hugs, and a whole lot of excitement – the Southeast Asia team have all rendezvoused and are getting ready to head through security at SFO, and into the adventure that awaits… Stay tuned to the blog as we will post again when the group arrives safely in Thailand! We wish you all the best on the journey ahead! – Drew Edwards, Executive Director … Read More
Sawasdee Krap from Portlandia! We here at our stateside Headquarters are filling our pre-SEASIA days with copious amounts of coffee, daily yoga routines, lots of delicious pie and more workshops on how to make this an overwhelming success for all of us than there are noodle shops in Vietnam. WE ARE SO EXCITED!! As we become increasingly familiar with our upcoming itinerary and begin reaching out to our first week… Read More
Lindsay and Topher here, checking in from Ho Chi Minh city, all by our lonesome after seeing our group of lovelies off at the airport this afternoon. Tears were shed, a final dice game was played, laughter was shared, and Topher serenaded us one last time before the plane to Hong Kong boarded. As Shannon mentioned in her last post, we spent a paradisaical last week together on Vietnam’s coast,… Read More
It’s been a crazy last week to say the least. We had some unexpected early goodbyes, but didn’t let the decrease in numbers keep us from enjoying our final days in paradise. After a couple of days of adjusting to our new group dynamic, we were more than ready to start the last part of our adventure. We’d already trekked through tree-covered hills and burned rubber through busy city streets,… Read More
Hey hey everyone! Indy here. After the hassles we experienced trying to cross the border into Cambodia, I’d say the country has now redeemed itself for me.
After a few days exploring Siem Reap and the magnificent Angkor Wat, we took a what-was-supposed-to-be-a-7-hour-bus-ride-that-I-think-actually-took-nine-because-of-traffic to Phnom Penh, from where we immediately went to New Hope for Cambodian Children, an orphanage and elementary school for kids living with HIV. Unfortunately, as soon… Read More
Well it’s been quite a week! We took a bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, a trip which was supposed to take 6 or 7 hours and ended up taking 10. We made it to the New Hope for Cambodian Children orphanage late on Monday night, and quickly passed out in our dorms. Over the next few days we made good use of the bathrooms, as most of us… Read More
Sooooo, this is the first time I have actually been required to write a blog and it’s funny that now of all times I would rather remain silent. We have had quite the interesting last week or so. Bangkok flew by, Plum Village literally danced and sang its way in to the past and now here we are, Siem Reap.
Bangkok, gave us the ability to act like we were… Read More