I’ve been meaning to start journaling for a while now but let’s be honest, there’s no time for that too. I remember doing that every single day whilst on the 16 days Annapurna trek in Nepal and I loved every second of it but daily journaling is close to impossible for me to fit in. So, how about weekly? When Alexis and I were doing the looks back on last year, we quickly realised that wow! we do A LOT. So much of what we go through, see and experience gets lost in the busyness of life that I want to give myself this space to reflect on each week for just a few moments. Actually it’s not just that but I also realise that I make it quite hard for anyone who’s interested in what I’m up to, where I am and how I’m doing to stay updated. Despite my good intend, I don’t post nowhere near often enough on Facebook or Instagram. So, this post series will be all my “fans'” haha go-to-place if you just want to peak into my adventures for a moments 😊
Here’s to 2022 Week 1
The New Year kidded off pretty amazing, with a massive breakfast feast at Cafe 8.98 in Ao Nang and scootering and adventuring pretty much from Day 1, in true traveler’s style haha. Before taking some time off work during the holidays, we were rushing quite a bit most days so we didn’t really spend too much time just idling around Ao Nang. So the first day of the year was that day exactly … just wandering around, taking the walks we were hoping to take but never found the time for before and squeezing as much as we could out of Ao Nang. We knew the 9th of Jan will come round quick, and before we know it we’d be leaving our Krabi home to head to Chiang Mai, so the time was now to make sure we weren’t gonna leave with any regrets.
So we took a few walks on and along Ao Nang beached, and scootered around town with the sole purpose to discover even more tiny pretty streets we’ve never been on before. We even discovered what’s known as No Sunrise No Sunset which is a monument built right on the shore by Ao Nang-ers to eternalise the life of a Thai woman who one saw off her fisherman husband for the daily catch and never saw him returning again. Legend has it that the Thai woman spent the rest of her life waiting for her husband to come back on the very spot she once saw him him off. Pretty tragic but how awesome is it that Thai people felt so strongly about this woman’s story, they created an entire monument to celebrate her love, hope and commitment.
When I reflect upon it, I definitely think this start of the year was the most adventurous I’ve had so far … ever! Most years I would take a few days off at the beginning of the year to chill before going back to work. This year, however, was the first that started in a warm place and with super cool things to do around that didn’t see me freezing my nose, fingers and toes haha! So we made the most of it. Alexis and I went off-roading with our scooter, going through the dense palm forests of Krabi, in search of drinking water, only to find the coolest water canal in Krabi with Thai people jumping in and out of the water, kids splashing water everywhere, screaming, swimming, kayaking and having a blast. We didn’t quite joined in the fun because we were totally unprepared but Alexis had a quick kayak around and totally discovered how much bigger the canal was than we originally thoughts, with mangroves making a pathway for all adventurous kayakers. With only a few days before leaving Ao Nang, we also finally organised ourselves to hike up the Dragon Crest which was a pretty cool jungle hike, just 20 min drive away from Ao Nang, which we did with Carlos (our new best friend from Gran Canaria). The hike actually reminded us of the 8 hour jungle trek we did with Alexis over the Christmas holidays in Khao Sok National Park, but luckily this one came without any leeches haha!
You know how when you live in a place you keep on delaying seeing this one things because … well, you live there so what’s the rush. This place for me was the Chinese Temple in Ao Nang which we used to see every time we were going groceries shopping at Makro but never went to explore because “let’s do it tomorrow”. And like that … nearly a whole month. So this week was my final chance and wow! delayed gratification is A thing for a heck of a good reason. It felt like such a reward to finally explore this temple and take in the views from the top. It’s definitely one of the most magnificent temples we saw in Krabi and one that’s worth waiting to explore until the very end of our stay for what a reward it felt to end our Ao Nang adventures with it. Definitely check it our if you’re in the area or are planning a trip to Krabi.
When the work week kicked off, we were back to our Ao Nang routine – gym, work, hop out for a sunset walk along the beach and a dip in the sea (for Alexis), grab some treats from the markets and pay a visit to our favorite local food places. This week was different for a few reasons, though. When we got back from our holidays to our home at The Rocco, the guy running the place told us cheerfully that for the last 5 nights we have in Ao Nang, he’s upgrading us FOR FREE to a sea view condo. Say whaaaaaat?! And not only any sea view condo but the best one in the whole building. From Day 1 when we moved to The Rocco, we wished we could stay at one of the studio with a sea view because it truly was special to experience having that gorgeous view for a limited amount of time. But we didn’t want to be too posh so didn’t pay the surcharge for the sea view at the beginning and went with a jungle view instead (cheaper and still pretty special). But wow! didn’t that make us appreciate the free upgrade now even more.
The new condo honestly was a dream home, with magnificent views over the sea but also the mountains so we were getting half sea half mountain views from every single point in the flat (apart from the bathroom 😂 ) and of course, we were loving it … me especially who’s chronically obsessed with natural light 😄 Not only were we sooo touched and surprised by the kind gesture of The Rocco, but we also got the coolest neighbors who, funny enough, lived just across from us … in our 1st apartment. What started as a conversation over coconuts 🤣 (classic Thailand conversation starter) and how we (I mean Alexis) opens them himself at home (he’s perfected his craft now haha), turned into a date night with a stranger couple haha (didn’t even know each others’ names at the time but that didn’t stop Alexis from asking them out hahaha), cool chats and the discovery of one of the quirkiest cafes in Ao Nang. Check it out if you’re in the area or are planning a visit. It’s called Baan Suan Cafe & Bistro.
Our new friends turned out to not only have the coolest Canadian accent, and sooo many adventure stories we spent hours exchanging but they’re also the very first YouTubers we ever got to meet in person. We even got along pretty well haha. It was so nice to hear their story, tell them ours, and chat about this crazy lifestyle both they and we are trying to make sense of and figure out without burning out from the stress that comes with it (believe it or not it’s not just about sitting under palm trees & soaking in tea-warm sea waters haha). So, without asking their permission, welcome to my blog stage Shelby and Chase, the coolest and most down to earth soon-to-be HUGE YouTubers couple, owners of 📹 chase matheson. Sorry guys if you wanted to keep this private but you’re now internet stars so gotta shine on 😄.
This week also saw us going to the immigration office to apply for a Covid extension which once secured, would give us the right to stay in Thailand for another 2 months. Before going to Chiang Mai as planned, we had to have this sorted out. We didn’t want to risk getting there, renting a place for 2 months, only to be told we have to leave by mid Jan as was the case before this extension was granted. Luckily, there were no issues and we got the passport stamped for another 2 months (wohoo!).
Before leaving Ao Nang, however, it was time for our first date night. Ever since we co-founded a start-up together, Alexis and I spend pretty much all of our time together and (most days) that’s amazing haha. But juggling between working and not working together is difficult so in 2022 as part of our goals, we committed to taking each other out on a date once every week. This was my idea and still at first I thought … wow are we THAT bad to have to put this in our annual goals but reality is, otherwise we wouldn’t do it because … yes you know this, life gets in the way! And just like that Thursday night saw us dressing up and driving to Mountain View restaurant for our first date night of the year. Week 1 was my week so I had my fun getting Alexis to drive the scooter without any idea of where we were headed. Eventually he guessed it but I think we both loved the little secrecy. Despite having most dinners together, this one sure felt special because of the meaning we had given it. The food was great, the vibe was great and the service (in the end) was great so we ended up pretty happy with the idea and so it stays on 🥰
But the weekend quickly came around and so we went on … said our goodbyes to our cafe Dot Cafe where we spent a lot of hours working away on workdays, went together in the water for one FIRST AND LAST time, packed the bags and indulged in our Rocco sea view one last time.
And just like that on Sunday morning we said our goodbyes with The Rocco guys who really did a lot for us, we got on the scooter, and drove away in the direction of Krabi Airport. Who would have thought that both Alexis and I would feel so nostalgic about Ao Nang and everything we had and lived here, that we both teared up as we were looking out to Ao Nang beach and the streets we used to scooter along every single day as we were going by our days. But so is the adventurers’ life … we come, we make good friends, meet fantastic local people, get on adventures, experience the place to the fullest we can, we learn whatever lessons we had to learn and then we cry as we leave. Best part of it though is that is all remains … in the stories, the pictures, the memories and future reunions with new close people, one of which is coming up as early as next week.
So we dropped our scooter at Krabi Airport, had a nice flight to Chiang Mai (on which we were told to put OUR volume down because people are trying to sleep … at 11am 😂) and 2 hours later, we were … home, or rather were about to get on adventure to find our next home!
Whether we’ll find a place or we’ll wander the streets of Chiang Mai for days …
Stay tuned …
