1st day was a blur. Due to travel complications (missed my flight from Dallas to Japan, so was rerouted back to London before connecting to Hanoi), I didn't get to Hanoi until 6am this morning (instead of arriving last night).

I got into the hotel and tried to rest for 2 hours - the rest was not good as my AC wasn't working well (it has since been fixed).

I got a Banh Mi at Banh Mi 25 which was very good (i'm not sure I've ever had one before), and then basically proceeded to walk aimlessly through the old quarter and around Hoan Kiem Lake, stoping at cafes to grab coffees.

I was wiped from the day, but instead of going to bed early, I pushed myself to go on a 3 hour food tour with a local tour. There were 5 other young people (some traveling solo, some couples - from Ireland, Whales and Oregon) on the tour which was nice to have some social interaction. The food was also phenomenal.

See below for some pics of the day:

Not going to sugarcoat it, today was really difficult. I'm still mega-jet lagged and only slept like 2 hours last night. I tried to explore more of the city this AM, but just really felt like a zombie.

I switched hotels today and took a 2 hour nap, but only felt worse when I woke up (foggy, weak stomach, etc..)

Not much to share today, but see below for a couple highlights / interesting things:

Not much to say about yesterday as it was mostly travel. Woke up feeling sick / anxious - debating on whether I was going to go through with the next few days of my itenerary. The plan: taking a ~7 hour bus to a hostel in Ha Giang and embarking on a 4 day / 3 night motorcycle journey through the northern most part of Vietnam.

In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have planned this at the beginning of my trip (more time to relax / adjust), but yolo

I was pretty much on this gigantic sleeper bus from 10am - 6pm. Crazy to drive by all these non-visited towns w everyday life going on

Motor tour starts at 8:30am - wish me luck

Ha Giang Loop: Day 1/4

Today was the start of my Ha Giang loop motorbike trip - it's a four day tour through the most northern part of Vietnam.

Originally I wanted to drive myself, but I decided to go with the more popular "easy rider" option (hire a Viatnamese local to drive while you sit "nuts to buts" with him). Not that I need to justify my decision to my 4 readers...but I will: 1.) I have felt shitty since I arrived, 2.) I've never driven a semi-auto bike/scooter, 3.) everyone else on my tour is doing it and 4.) this is rated the most dangerous road in SEA.

There are only 2 others on my tour (both from Holland..."isn't that vierd"). We drive from about 10am - 5pm with stops every hour or so. Needless to say my butt hurts and I'll probably have a pretty raw ass by the end of day 4

See some content below:

Ha Giang Loop: Day 2/4

Another day going "nuts to butts" with Doy on the loop. Today we had some pretty bad weather, but nothing to do but drive through it (and other reason i'm glad I'm not self driving).

We end the night in a homestay that is 1,600 meters above sea-level (everyone is from Europe and doesn't use metric system, so i'm adapting) and 1km away from the Chinese border

Content below:

Ha Giang Loop: Day 3/4

After day 2, which was very rainy, we were praying for a day of warmer/dryer weather. Unfortunately, we woke up to a torrential down pour, but such is life.

The homestay from night 2 was 1km from the Chinese border, so we hiked there to see what that was all about.

After the weather settled down, we rode the bikes through more mountain passes and scenic terrain. We were 2000km+ above sea-level for much of the day, so we spent a lot of time in the clouds.

We also got to get off the bikes for a bit to jump on a boat down some beautiful river that I can't pronounce. We ended the day in Meovac (one of the larger cities/villages that we have passed on the loop.

Content below:

Ha Giang Loop: Day 4/4

On the final day of the loop I was defeated; The pain in my tushy finally became too great to ignore, of course it was also the longest ride of the trip at ~160km. I was counting the kilometers; I kept trying to shift my weight thinking I would discover some new secret position that would lead to my salvation - there would be no salvation. At least I knew I wasn't alone in my misery - at each stop, Ho (the only guide who spoke a little english) would get off the bike and shout "owww my ass".

As we descended from 1,000km above sea level, the views naturally became less dramatic and this would be our least scenic day. However, we took a non-traditional route and ended up traveling through a region that gets very few western visitors. People seemed very surprised that we were there and all of the local kids were very excited by our presence.

We got back to the starting hostel at \240around 5pm with soar butts but good memories. Overall, I thought the experience was amazing. Some of the most breathtaking scenery and a few authentic-feeling glimpses into cultures that I never even knew existed. I would reccomend to anyone who has a sense of adventure and an ass of steal (or the resolve to deal with pain).

A few pics/videos below:

Not much to share since the entirety of the day was spent traveling.

I took a 7 hour sleeping bus from Ha Giang to Hanoi and then hopped straight into a cab headed towards airport. Next stop - Bangkok (but not before Viatnamese Burger King in the airport)

I arrived in Bangkok at midnight and within 5 minutes was able to find a J (hence forth referred to as "broccoli") and some 7/11 dumplings (dumplings were decent - tasted like trader joe's, but cost $0.30)

Only picture from yesterday:

Bangkok + Dad = fun time

I woke up in Bangkok and before I even had time to finish my coffee, my dad was pulling up to the hotel and was ready for fun.

After a quick walk around the neighborhood, we geared up for our first meal. It quickly became apparent that I was going to love the food scene in Thailand - every corner of this place has food and 95% of it looks really fucking good (btw it's also very cheap).

Following a very good meal and looking to escape the heat of the city (everything here is FL-summer hot) we went to MBS center, which is an 8-story mall monstocity. The level of overstimulation can't be understated. Every floor has a theme (designer clothes, vintage clothes, electronics, food, etc) and every corner of these floors is packed with hundreds of stalls and shops. I initially didn't think it would be interesting to me, but you would be shocked at how much time you could kill here (even someone who isn't a shopper, plus everyone needs a respite from the heat).

We ended the night early (I think Pop's brain was scrambled from 24 hours of travel) and went to a neighborhood thai restaurant - easily tied for best thai meal i've had; we ordered a mountain of food and some beers - the total bill was ~$25.

I didn't take a lot of photos today (I think probably less as I spend time w dad or Mia), but see some below:

I like Bangkok

Most of the European travelers I met swore that Bangkok was just "another big city" and that I won't need much time there. Idk lots of good food, lots of shopping, lots of everything all at once - what's not to like?

It gets hot and sticky here as soon as the sun comes out, so after getting coffee, we took a pre-lunch pool cool-down (hotel has a roof top pool)

Around noon we met a guide for a thai food tour. We tried some good food, but experience lacked that same je ne sais quoi and thoughtfulness as the tour I did in Hanoi (not the only thing but he couldn't remember / fully contemplate that dad was looking for seafood, not meat). That being said, we did get to march around a huge market and look at food, groceries (tons of fruit i've never heard of), fish, alligator meat and other normal things like that.

On the way back from the food tour, I stopped for some street snacks at the main drag in the neighborhood where our hotel is. I got fresh thai donuts and a super presh watermelon for like 30 cents - byah!

After another cool down session at the pool, we headed back out for a night that went wrong. After a couple incorrect transfers on the subway (still new to Bangkok rail system), we ended up at the Chatuchack weekend market - surprise, it closed just before we arrived. That being said, we managed to scrounge up a couple dishes / street treats...all pretty good. We also found a 6 floor vintage market that was very cool (Mia / Jackson would have loved)

I finished night with nightcap / walk. More on that later

Content front the day below:

Bangkok - Last full day (for now)

It's the last day my dad and I are in Bangkok (I'm coming back with Mia), so we tried to jam in a few of the highlights

We woke up early and traveled to the Grand Palace by river boat. The grand palace is essentially a few important temples in Thailand and a now uninhabited palace constructed for the the president a few hundred years ago. Notably, one of the temples has the most important Buddha images in all of Thailand (no photos allowed). The whole experience was very cool / interesting but it's just sweltering heat, especially considering 1.) it's inside walls, so there is no breeze and 2.) you have to wear long pants to enter the temple (we bought cheap fun-pants for 3$ before going in).

We beelined from the Grand Palace to Chinatown to check out some of the street food scene there. It was really cool - 1000s of vendors in every big street and tight alleyway - but honestly, I think the food is sort of offered everywhere in Bangkok (there is no shortage of street food in every neighborhood), so I wasn't wow'd

After heading back to the hotel to cool down (not before we stopped at a mall to go purse hunting for my mother), we headed to dinner. My dad had researched and booked this luxury buffet in some ritzy hotel - it did not dissapoint. Picture the bellagio buffet, but the food and service was on an entirely different stratosphere. The fish / seafood was amazing quality, the cooked food was so good, the unlimited drinks slapped. I ate until I was full, and then took a smoke break, and then ate some more. I have no regrets

Content below:

Bangkok to Chiang Mai

Warning: Today was one of those days where I just forgot to take many photos - srry

I woke up late and groggy this morning - perhaps it was the metric shit ton of raw fish I ate the night prior - I guess we'll never know. Given the state of my body, I really didn't have much time to do anything other than get a coffee and banana bread before heading to the airport. Dad and I are headed to Chiang Mai

We get to our hotel in Chiang Mai around 4pm and instantly go out for a little walking. Before getting very far, we agreed we needed a cold drink and a hot snack. We stopped in a more western sports bar and ordered gigantic beers, fries and stir fried morning glory - all for less than $10...thanks alot, Joe Biden

We kept on the move, checking our temples, statues and monuments - we didn't linger anywhere, just trying to cover some ground. My first impression of this place is that it seemed very touristy (I know i'm a tourist), like the entire city was built for me. There are weed stores, bars, massage parlors, and food options everywhere. We ended up at a night market with a lot of snacks. I just got a spicy papaya salad and a pork bun - lots more I want to try, but I decided to give myself a one day break from overeating.

We ended up back at the hotel and decided to take a quick dip in the pool to cool off. After some beer and broccoli at the pool, I decided to go out for a walk around the neighborhood - wanted to see a little more since we will only be here a few days.

Few pics below:

Chiang Mai: Scoping out the place

Way too tired/lazy to post something good, so gonna do it short and sweet.

We woke up early, had some cheap ass breakfast (Like 2$ for eggs, toast, coffee, juice, etc), then headed to Doi Suthep - largest temple / most important place in Chiang Mai. The temple is a 25 minutes drive out of the main city, up into a nearby mountain / national park. We took a taxi, but it's basically like a pickup truck with benches and people can hop on and off. Once you get there, it's 305 steps up ornate stairway before you get to the temple complexes - plenty of pics below.

After a hot morning in the temple, we headed back to rest, swim and have some broccoli & potions (shout-out @birchy gang...probably only my brother gets that. Good est to see if he's actually reading). Then we headed to Nimmnan road area (supposedly like the trendy more upscale area) - the area was fine, but a little spread out / it was hard to know really where to go. We did stop at a random place and got traditional thai massages - it was all really good (they stretch your body in crazy ways)...except for the fact that my dad was lying five feet away from me

Dinner was good too - went to some random seafood place in the old town. Like every other meal, it was very good and very affordable.

Pics below:

Chiang Mai - last 2 days

I told myself I really wanted to post everyday, but I'm going to combined the last 2 because the food finally got me. From about 6pm last night until 5pm today, I was in the bathroom fighting for my life (jk it wasn't that bad, but still pretty bad). You may be wondering how I ended up in that situation...rewind

Yesterday morning, my dad and I got picked up early to go to a cooking class. It was honestly a great experience, we got to go to a market beforehand to check out ingrediatants, then we were transported to this cooking school / farm place. The property was really cool, instructor was great, food was awesome. We are back at the hotel by ~2pm and relax in the pool for 90 minutes before I start feeling weird.

The rest is history - until about 5pm today, I didn't go more than 100m from our hotel. Whatever - better days tomorrow

A few pics (nothing graphic...):

Back 2 Hanoi:

Not a lot to report as the bulk of today was a travel day. We woke up in Chiang Mai, got some breakfast / coffee and headed out to the airport. Flight was relatively east and uneventful; they did try to serve my dad a meal though (plane-pad thai...maybe not the best move after being sick for a day)

We didn't settle into our hotel in Hanoi until about 5pm. Before going out for a long exploratory walk, we had some a snack/linner at the hotel (they gave us a shocking amount of free credit to the hotel restaurant) and it was surprisingly good - we just ordered spring rolls and salad.

During our walk, we ended up at the Ho Chi Minh moseleium / Ba Dinh square (where Ho Chi Minh declared independence for Vietnam from the French). Turns out history of Vietnam pretty interesting...no shit

Just a few pics / videos:

Hanoi - Gettin' into the food again:

1st full day in Hanoi with my pops and after a leisurely morning filled w breakfast and stretching (for him) / golf simulator (for me), we went into the Old Quarter for an all day food tour we booked. I had previously been on a night food tour when I was in Hanoi ~10 days ago, but it was such a great experience I was excited to go again.

We met up with our guide, Mint (?), in the bustling old quarter and she began whisking us from destination to destination. We did our best to pace ourselves and not eat the entire portions, but math would tell you that 6 half portions is still ~3 meals. We had a great time and my dad tackled some of the smallest stools / eating in scooter-filled alleyways (2 of his trepidation before arriving) like a champion. Also, shout out Mark Wiens for inspiring some of the faces we made after tasting the food.

This activity monopolized the entire day, and we were so full from our food romp that there wasn't much dinner to speak of:

See below for some food content:

Hanoi: more and more

Got lazy again - so i'm gonna toss the last 2 days into this post. To sum it up, we walked and walked and walked. We walked all around the old quarter, the french quarter, the night market, botanical gardens, different neighborhood and probs some other stuff i'm forgetting.

I think i'm just gonna dump a bunch of photos / videos below:

Hanoi - 2nd to last day:

Slow morning of gym and breakfast before we headed out to the Hanoi Hilton (aka: Hoa Lo Prison) and explored some more of the city

The prison was a pretty cool way to kill a few hours. It was built by the French and initially used to hold viatnamese communists. Later it was used to house American pilots shot down during the Vietnam war - famously, this is where John McCain was imprisoned for several years. The museum would lead you to believe that the POWs were treated very well, but hard to say if there is spin.

We did some more trekking through the French quarter and Old quarter, got some great summer roll snacks and just rambled about. I also got one of those insta-cameras, so look out for that (gotta figure out how it works first)

After getting back to the hotel for a nap / swim - we discussed the possibility of having a nicer meal. Little did we know, there is another one of those luxury buffets at the huge marriot in Hanoi (similar to what we had in bangkok). The food was incredible, the dessert selection was unreal and the cognac was flowing (if you remember, Dad lives henny)

Some pics below:

Hanoi - Last full day with Dad:

For our last full day in Hanoi, we woke up pretty early to go see Ho Chi Minh. It's kind of crazy - inside this huge mausoleum (had pictures of it a few days ago) lies the fully preserved / embalmed body of Unce Ho. It's a pretty strict process to get in (no shorts, no camera, no laughing, single file line, etc); it's also amazing how many people they shuttle in and out of this mausoleum. I don't know the preservation process, but it's pretty crazy how good it is - it looked like he was just taking a nap (he died 50+ years ago).

After seeing Uncle Ho, we went back to the old quarter to hunt down some pho. We stopped in some random place on the street and my dad proclaimed it was the best soup he had ever had - Adam Driver would probs agree...good soup. Then we went to the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum - this was actually a great museum and a good way to kill an hour or two, especially if during a hot afternoon (gotta love aircon).

Dinner was a little rough. Our plan A didn't work out, by which time we were starving; we ended up stopping at the first place we saw, which was a seafood buffet. This was not a buffet like the ones we had been to prior, it was meaningfully cheaper and meaningfully "less nice". We were the only Western people there and nothing was labeled. That being said, I write this post from the next morning and no one has gotten sick

Dad & I go our separate ways tomorrow. He heads home and I head to a nice little golf weekend near Da Nang, Vietnam. Mia arrives on Sunday night!

Not that many pictures, because I was fiddling with my new insta camera for most of the day (i'll try to remember to keep getting digital content, but maybe light for a few days):

Hanoi -> Da Nang -> Hanoi: Solo Thanksgiving

I know what you have all been thinking - where the heck is Scott and why hasn't he been posting?! Or no one is actually reading this, but either way...my dad headed back to the states and I flew down to celebrate thanksgiving in Da Nang. I knew I would be solo for turkey day, so I planned myself a pretty nice golf weekend.

I stayed 2 nights at Laguna Lang Co and played a round of golf there - the course was very unique and unlike anything I have played before (it screamed south east asia). Side note, on the last night I met 4 people from University of Florida at the bar who were there for a wedding - there would be 30 other UF alumni arriving the next day, all of whom graduated the same year / a year earlier - small world.

Next I made my way down to Hoiana Golf Resort which was also very nice. It was a links style course on the beach and unfortunately the weather was ass, so I played the round in 20mph wind and downpour rain.

Fun weekend and one of the more "luxurious" parts of the trip.

Before I post some pics, I have a special announcement: Mia will be meeting me at my hotel in Hanoi in less than an hour. To say i'm excited is the understatement of the decade. She also may guest write a few posts...TBD

Pics from the weekend below:

Hanoi - Mia has arrived

whaddup bitchesssss 👻 mia here with today's blog post ✌🏽

I got in at 12am Vietnam time. scott was a very good boy and ordered me a car from the airport and when the car didn't show up he went full Liam Nissan in Taken mode and tracked down my driver, making sure i arrived safe and sound. Scoot & Schmia we're officially reunited 🥰🥰🥰

we spent the morning exploring the old quarter. we walked around the famous lake we went to see a famous taxidermied turtle who apparently gave his claws to use as a sword to a king to win the war - so this turtle is the GOAT.

Hanoi / Ninh Bin: A little delayed, but just because we are having a good time

Yesterday we took a day trip to Ninh Bin - the old capital of Vietnam (before it was moved to Hanoi) - which was about a 2 hour drive each way. It is much quieter and more bucolic as compared with Hanoi; everywhere you look, there are limestone mountains rising from the ground and fields of harvested rice paddies.

We went to Ninh Bin as a part of an organized tour which included: biking through village, lunch, boat tour and a hike up a mountain. While all really cool to see, like most other places in southeast asia, it was quite crowded with lots of other tourists vying to see the same thing / take the same pictures; of course there is a reason for that - it's beautiful.

The following day, we spent our last full day in Hanoi bouncing around the Old Quarter. We did a little shopping (by "we", I of course mean Mia), visited the Temple of Literature (oldest university in Vietnam), met the family of a celebrated local artist (can't say too much on that just yet) got massages/facials and ate some good food. I know that Mia would want me to specifically give a shout-out to the coconut coffee that she had.

Tomorrow we head to La Han Bay for a 1 day / night cruise around the bay

See some pics / videos from the last 2 days below:

Ha Long Bay: finally leaving Hanoi in the dust

Mia and I got picked up from our hotel 1st thing in the AM and drove 2-3 hours to a port near Ha Long Bag. We would be embarking on an overnight cruise through the bay. Ha Long Bag is a bay surrounded by a collection of ~2,000 limestone islands / rocks - the largest of which is Cat Ba island. \240Not knowing what to expect (especially because the port seemed abandoned - walking dead style), we were pleasantly surprised at each turn how great the boat, scenery and service was. In addition to enjoying the amazing scenery / fresh seafood, we got to go on a hike through this large limestone cave and kayak around the bay.

I'll just post some pics / videos before because they will do it far more justice than my words:

Hoi An: two days, too much shopping

We had a long ass travel day from Ha Long Bay to Hoi An (1 hour on boat, 3 hour drive, 3 hours at airport, 1 hour flight, 1 hour car) - in another life, we probably could have broken up the trip with a night in Hanoi, but FUCK IT!

We arrived the first night in Hoi An late, so didn't do much other than eat. The next morning, Mia woke up on a mission - straight to the tailor. Hoi An is known for their tailors and ability to spin-up custom clothing in 1-2 days; Mia showed up ready to rock with a powerpoint slide show full of ideas (for the record, I also participated and had a few ideas myself). The process is a follows: 1) you arrive describe your ideas/show them pictures, 2) they create some drawings and take a lot of measurements 3) you come back like 6 hours later and they have a rough cut of the physical clothes for you to try on 4) you go back every ~2-4 hours for an additional fitting where they tweak sizes / details to your liking (we went to the shop like ~4 times over the course of our 2 days). I won't embarrass anyone on this blog, but let's just say that someone (cough mia cough) has an entire dufflebag full of new clothes.

In between the custom clothes experience, we also explored the beautiful old town of Hoi An, ate more local food than what would be considered appropriate and went on a 4-hour tour of a neighboring island which was exclusively filled with local residents / craftsmen (the 10 people we did the tour with were the only other tourists we saw) and got to observe some traditional Vietnamese life.

Overall, we really liked Hoi An and it's a must visit for fashion boys and girlies. That being said, would definitely say that it's a 2-day destination, you really don't need much more time than that as the town is not that big. Next stop: Thailand - heading to Bangkok tomorrow!

One more key update (if you are still reading after the last 3 paragraphs): Mia got me drunk and she convinced me to extend our trip, so after Thailand, we are going to Japan LOLZ

Some Hoi An content below:

Bangkok w bae

Bangkok was a flurry, mostly because I didn't plan enough time in Bangkok (which is a theme of this trip) - thanks everyone who told me that "Bangkok was just another city". We loved the place and deff hope we get a chance to come back. It probably helped that between just us friends, Mia and I were able to stay at a very nice hotel courtesy of an old holiday gift from my prior employer (shoutout Sal) and boy was it lux.

Anyways, the first night evening we went to a night market - Jodd Fairs - to meet a close childhood friend of mine who also happened to be traveling in BKK with his wife. The night market was huge and cool and wierd and better than I expected (I had tried to experience this with my dad, but the one we went to was sort of a dud - I had heard that the markets were not the same post-covid). Better yet, it was such a cool feeling and great memory to be somewhere so far with an old friend who I grew up with (good energy in the universe I guess?)

The next morning Mia and I woke up super early to head to Wat Pho, one of the largest temples in Bangkok and the oldest university in Thailand - it also happens to have the largest statue of reclining Buddha (Buddha when he reached nirvana) in the world. The complex's was really cool, but it was super hot and I was sort of melting in the heat.

For a respite from the heat, we headed to a 6-story vintage flea market in Bangkok. It was pretty cool as it felt like mostly locals there and there was some pretty sweet clothes / deals to be had. We also had a really good lunch at a stall inside this market. We were nearing 4pm and then decided to head back to the hotel for an hour of pool / relax before getting ready for dinner. The pool area is sweet and the service was over the tip (staff coming over and offering us homemade coconut popsicles).

For dinner, we went to this over-the-top (see 20 days ago with my dad) at the Athene hotel. The buffet is so nice and it's just "silly in a great way" according to Mia...I knew she would like it - bt, we were celebrating her birthday that night (pt. 1/2 which she wouldn't realize until the next day).

Bangkok was basically only 1.5 days, but it's regrettably all we could fit in this trip. We were leaving on a 7am plane the next day for something else fun - cya l8r Bangkok

Khao Sok: No phone service

We woke up at 5am to fly out of Bangkok to Suratthani, where we caught a 2 hour van ride to Khao Sok. Khao Sok is a national park towards the South of Thailand - it has a pretty wild history both in the last 300 million years and the last 60 years..I won't bore you with the details, but just know that it's wild. We stayed one night in a jungle tent (it was a nice tent) \240and 1 night in a tent that was floating on the water.

In the jungle, we got to go on a boat tour down the river and then got to help prepare food for and feed elephants. The elephants were anywhere from 30 to 80 years old, but regardless of age, they all loved eating fruits. Thailand has a long history of using elephants to work (move logs, pull farm equipment, etc..), but at a certain point that became illegal, and then there were a bunch of domesticated elephants that are very expensive to care for. The solution became that the tourist economy could support the elephants care. While some of the tourist / elephants economy is "ethically questionable" at best, the sanctuary that we went to seemed to take very good care of the animals and kept interactions with the elephants at a minimum (obvs no riding, forced baths, etc).

The following night we went to stay at these overwater tents in the middle of Cheow Larn Lake (this is actually a man made lake and has a very interesting history). We spent the day relaxing, swimming and kayaking around to spot animals). Through the woods you can hear elephants, gibbons, hornbills and all types of other wildlife. We loved spending time here and it felt very in touch with the nature.

Railay Beach & Koh Lanta: ~5 days on the beach & goodbye Thailand

I just got too behind on the blog, so I'm combining our 2 island stops into 1 post. This really doesn't do any of these places justice as it was truly fucking awesome.

We left Khao Sok and took a van to Ao Nam in Krabi, where we caught a long tail boat to Railay Beach. Railay Beach is a small beach town on the coast that is not accessible by land due to the landscape surrounding it, thus you have to take a boat to get around some of the huge limestone mountains blocking road access. The town is very small, walkable (no cars or motorbikes) and a bit "touristic" (as the Europeans say), but for good reason - it's beautiful. The beach is surrounded by dramatic limestone cliffs and the water is crystal clear - when I googled Thai beaches / islands, this is exactly what I imagined.

The first day in Railay, we explored the island. There are two main beaches, with a strip of restaurants / bars / shops separating them. It's the kind of place wearing a shirt and shoes makes you over dressed and weed / mushrooms are sold openly everywhere ("you want a ticket to the moon my brothaa"). The crowd is a mixed bag of families, couples and delinquent youngin's there to get after it. Also, there are a ton of monkeys - they are everywhere and we would see them climbing all around the outside of our room.

The second day in Railay, we hired a boatman to take us around on a long tail boat to see a few of the neighboring islands and do a little snorkeling. The whole area is stunning and sort of looks like a screen saver. I had heard mixed things about how crazy overcrowded some of these places can be, but I think we lucked out on the seasons - we didn't think the amount of people took away from the experience. I also stepped on a sea urchin and our boat driver widdled a pointy wooden needle for me and suggested I "dig out the urchin spines" (extra points for being crafty); instead of digging at my foot with a makeshift needle on a moving boat, \240I waited to check with an urgent care office on the island - they said it was fine to do nothing...all good!

The following day we took a large ferry from Railay Beach to Koh Lanta. I had heard Koh Lanta was a very different vibe - less crowded, more local life, much large - and it did not dissapoint. I will need time to digest this whole trip, but this location is a front runner for favorite part of the trip. The island is so big that you really do need to rent a scooter to get around freely (only like $10 per day to rent+gas). We scootered around and explored endless empty sand beaches, great food / restaurants on the beach, and interesting local life happening all around.

For two days we explored the island: going from beach to beach, taking inpromptu swimming dips, hunting the perfect sunset beach bar or a fresh watermelon shake. Again, hard to explain / capture how I felt about Koh Lanta (I guess "total freedom"), but I want to go back for a much longer stay - it would be the perfect place to camp out for a beach month...or 3

Railay content below:

Tokyo a-go-go, baby! Yeah! (austin powers voice): 4-5 days in the biggest city in the world

I know all 7 readers have been missing my posts - but I was too busy living my best life in Tokyo.

Day 1: We took a ~5 hour flight from Bangkok and landed in Tokyo around dinner time. After checking into our hotel in Shinjuku/downtown Tokyo (we are staying at the famous godzilla hotel), we headed to Omoide Yokocho (aka: piss alley / aka memory lane). Piss Alley is a set of smokey, narrow alleyways in Shinjuku that are littered with tiny 5-10 seat yakitori bars/restaurants - historically a place for Japanese salarymen to blow off some steam during work. Mia and I (being the salarymen that we are) sat down at a random bar and ordered a bunch of yakitori (bbq grilled meat on sticks) - like clockwork, some older Japanese gents sat down next to us and proceeded to buy us drinks and chat with us. We spoke no Japanese, they spoke no/little english, but we still had good time - shoutout to the homiez.

After some food and drinks, we headed to another "alleyway neighborhood" called Golden Gai - this was similarly a set of very narrow alleys, with 100s of mini / themed bars (i.e., heavy metal, film noir, etc) each with ~4-12 seats. We only lasted a few drinks as we were pretty tired from the travel. We would deff go back here and considered the 1st day a huge hit

Hakone: 1 day break in bath heaven

We took 4+ trains (although all super easy) to get to Hakone, a popular onsen town; on the train we got very lucky to see Mt. Fuji in all her glory (apparently it's commonly too cloudy to see). Our only real Hakone plan was to relax in the Ryokan that we were staying at. Some quick terminology lessons - onsens are traditional japanese baths where they pump hot mineral water out from the earth (said to have healing properties), ryokans are japanese bed and breakfasts that typically include traditional japanese design/living features (public onsens, tatami flooring) and includes all meals.

Before getting to our Ryokan, we stopped in central Hakone where Mia happened to have friends staying (small world - friends in faraway places). After a quick hangabout with Mia's friends, we got to the Ryokan and immediately changed into the traditional garbs provided, which we would wear for the rest of our time there (outfit pics below).

We spent the next 18 hours mostly just taking baths (I clocked 5 baths during our stay). We had a private outdoor bath in our room and there were two other public onsens on the property: one that was basically an infinity pool on the top floor and one that was essentially in a waterfall on a lower floor. I wish I could share pictures of the public onsens, but cameras are a big no-no considering onsens are clothing-forbidden. As a result of the naked-policy, the onsens are gender separated and switch every day (i.e., infinity-style onsen for men on day 1 and waterfall onsen for men on day 2)

In addition to the baths, the food was also fabulous. We had a traditional Kaiseki dinner in the evening and a luxurious buffet the following morning - the food was A+ (shocker!)