Luigi had a revelation as we watched Ko Lanta’s azure ocean behind the “Free Wi-Fi” sign.
“I only need to be supervising the sausage company in person for six months of the year, during festival season…” he murmured slowly, putting thoughts together, “and the other six months I’m just behind a computer, coordinating sausage marketing and production.”
My British sausage-making friend gazed out at the white sand stretching luxuriously to our right and left. “I had planned to rent a tiny [...Read More!]
We had a bus breakdown en route to Bangkok from Ko Lanta, and not a single tourist had a mental breakdown! I’m so proud of our kind.
Indication number one that something was wrong with our bus: the temperature inside was worse than a sauna.
I’m prone to exaggeration, so my brother is likely shaking his head right now, scoffing: “Yea right! It was probably seventy degrees Fahrenheit in there, you wimp!” But I promise you, I have never been in [...Read More!]
I had just gotten back from a swim in the Andaman Sea, and from taking the photo to the right, of which I am mighty proud.
I had a jaunty bounce to my step and a song on my tongue as I swaggered into my hotel room. Perhaps I would get some laundry done and then meet friends to eat dinner. Lovely!
“Tra la la!” I sang happily as I picked up my bag of laundry, “Tra la– EEEKK!!!” A [...Read More!]
Epiphany: It only took 4.5 months of travel to get to this point, but suddenly… I’m looking forward to working again! GASP!
“I was wondering if it was all starting to get old,” my friend wrote to me, “all that wandering.”
Across the oceans right now, former students are pulling all-nighters to finish term papers and raise those GPAs up before Winter Break.
Across the Earth, former co-workers are bubbling in Term, Behavior, and Effort Grades for each of their one hundred [...Read More!]
“What does your status update about “consequences” mean?” I typed yesterday to my A+ superstar former student. “It’s really scaring me. I thought everything was going well for you in college!”
The student took a little while to respond, but at last he did: “I got kicked out of school housing for ongoing violations of school rules.”
“WHAT?!” I gasped aloud, startling the entire Thai island. “Please explain what happened,” I typed. “What violations?”
“Noise violations, alcohol violations… mostly [...Read More!]
Ethelred the Unready re-filled the inflatable pool in the trunk of the pick-up truck. Denzel, Luigi, and I hopped in the vehicle, and we were off! Destination: the lighthouse at the very Southern tip of Ko Lanta, Thailand.
The British boys were on their tenth 80s mix CD since they departed Bangkok a week ago, and the synthesizer bass of “Take on Me” oompah-ed the hot metal of the truck as we rolled down the dirt road.
“This tune [...Read More!]
I was just informed by the owner of this stunning Ko Lanta beach restaurant that business in Ko Lanta is down thirty percent so far this year, partly because a rumor was started that tourists shouldn’t come to this island because it is majority Muslim.
This is RIDICULOUS!
I have been traveling for four months around Southeast Asia, now, and Ko Lanta is one of the best places I have been. Nearly all the other tourists I’ve met agree.
If you [...Read More!]
When I returned to my table from the cafe bathroom, a sausage-monger had stolen my seat.
“Oh, sorry!” said the British chap, “Were you sitting here?”
But the table was big, so we both could stay. Even when the gentleman’s two British friends arrived five minutes later, it was a comfortable fit.
“You’re kidding, right?” I said, when the man introduced himself as Dave and explained he created sausage for money.
“Oh no, not kidding at all!” said Dave. “Sausage is very big business [...Read More!]
Due to the Recession, many folks I know have been laid off and are now collecting Unemployment. It’s lucky that we live in a country with safety nets! But how, exactly, do the ethics of Unemployment Benefits work?
Last week I overheard the following conversation on a bus in Southern Thailand:
British Carpenter: “So what do you do for work back in the States?”
American Woman: “Nothing now, but I used to work in finance. Now I just collect [...Read More!]
The moment I set foot off Ko Phi Phi and onto the ferry to beautiful Ko Lanta, my fever eased and my heart relaxed. But the final night in Phi Phi was quite the debacle!
It was four o’clock in the morning in our Phi Phi hostel dorm. Our new roommate, Andres, had finally stopped vomiting and was now presumably passed out on the floor of the communal bathroom in some state of undress.
I could make out my friend Brian [...Read More!]
