I’ve been struggling for a way to start this final blog post since last Tuesday. To come up with a conclusive piece that sums up all that I’ve learned in the past five months living in Southeast Asia and not sound cliché, is actually a lot harder than I thought it woul...

Traveling is hard. It's worth it, but it's hard. Without a doubt, travel stories differ with each person you talk to. But, whichever way you look at it, traveling is one of the truest learning experiences one can have. You see things abroad that you could never truly u...

Pushing myself out of the most secure comfort zone I’ve known means something entirely different to me now than I originally thought it would. Normally, if I’m ever stepping away from my usual habits, it requires me to physically do something that I typically would re...

“You should know that prostitution has been illegal in Thailand since 1960. Still, it’s estimated to be worth US$6.4 billion a year in revenue.” Ever since I told people that I was moving to Southeast Asia for a semester, studying abroad in Bangkok, I heard a number o...

There are an innumerable amount of things that confuse, yet still intrigue me about Thailand. Only a couple of days into my new journey, I discovered the fad of skin whitening, where people deliberately bleach their skin using mercury-containing lotions, laser treatme...

Is your hometown the setting for a movie that earned five awards and sixteen nominations? No? That’s probably because you don’t live in Bangkok. It’s okay; we can’t all get this lucky. In The Hangover: Part II, Thailand was depicted as a place jam packed with obscene a...

Usually I’m pretty skeptical about sporadic day trips that require me to give 1,500 Thai baht to a woman at a makeshift travel agent’s stand. But, today was different. Amanda, Kate, and I had just gotten to our hotel in the Krabi Islands, ready for a weekend of relaxa...

I might cry. I can’t feel my stomach. No; actually, I feel everything. Tenfold. My body is shaking from the core. All senses are heightened. The bus tires clash into road bumps as my head bounces repetitively against the rusting windows. I can feel my knee swelling thr...

It is 9pm on a Thursday night and vendors are just beginning to set up shop for an evening of endless food. As my friend and I approach Ramkhamhaeng Soi 24, I am reminded of that familiar, somewhat fresh scent. Women sit on broken rocks, thoroughly rinsing the buckets...

I honestly couldn't express all my anxiety and excitement and worry about moving to Bangkok for five months in one post... So I guess this blog is a pretty good idea, huh? 

Okay. SO. Lemme give you a quick back story of the past five months of my...