This Substack is one month old!
I’m celebrating by savoring the sun being out!
A new discovery of preferences:
We would almost pick cold weather over rain. Almost.
A crazy discovery, because we loath winter. We also learned to STAY AWAY from outdoor tile stairs after it’s rained. Saying this as I look over at Peyton’s bruised leg. All is well, no disastrous damage done. We just take our shoes off and walk barefoot down the stairs from our room now. Lesson learned.
Duration of stay in one spot is decidedly 2 weeks, if not shorter.
One week in Bangkok was good. One week in Kanchanaburi was long.
We opted for three weeks on Koh Samui, then extended it another week because we thought we’d fill our time with Muay Thai. That expectation was halted after coupling a Muay Thai lesson and 10-mile hike in one day. It was the first high intensity day I had done in a while (I injured my back in July and have been cautious with my tolerance ever since) and while the hike didn’t cause another injury, I knew I had hit my limit and needed appropriate rest to avoid hurting myself again. While I made up my mind that I’d reached my limit, my body and weather made sure I stayed in bed because I was soon taken over by congestion and the island taken over by constant rain.
We feel most at home in a mountain town
Since arriving in Chiang Mai, we have said more than a handful of times, “This place is amazing. I can see us staying here until our flight to the Philippines.”
It’s chilly in the mornings and evenings, and warm at the peak of the day. To our surprise, it is really inexpensive over here (making the area even more enticing to come back to). It’s the perfect balance of quiet and eventful—plenty of activities offered by Daily Chiang Mai meet-up groups on WhatsApp: coffee, yoga, hikes, special events, restaurant hopping, etc.
I feel antsy to get up and get going at the start of everyday!
Christmas Eve is tomorrow (for me)
So that means I have Christmas Lofi Radio in the background of all my laptop tasks.
We are currently sipping lattes, enjoying the natural lighting of our hotel lobby (which operates as a lounge/ workspace/ coffee shop). This stay is different from the past ones, because they have a very active community of visitors who like to do things around town together. Many are students and teachers on holiday, planning to go back home once the spike of New Years celebrations are through.
Two days ago, Peyton and I were up at 5:40AM and in a taxi headed to the Ko Samui Airport by 6:45AM. Once we were all checked-in, Peyton initiated our very first hike in our new location. I was ready to prep for bed (it was 12:30PM), but drudged up the energy to put on my shoes and head out with him (because I suffer from FOMO & I also knew getting in some exercise would be good for me).
A 10 min drive to the coffee shop near the start of the trail and we were off in search of the entrance. This search ended up adding 2.6 miles to our hike because the entrance specified on AllTrails was impassable. Making our way back to the coffee shop to ask for another entry point, we finally made it to the start of the best hike we’ve go on since arriving in Thailand (we won’t count the trail in Ang Thong, because it barely took us 10 minutes to reach the viewpoint).




The place we are staying has a WhatsApp so residents can announce that day’s evening plans:
Meet-up in lobby at 6:30PM to visit a jazz bar
Meet-up in lobby at 7:30PM to attend a Christmas cocktail/dinner with a DJ and afterparty at karaoke bar
At the start of our hike, we were a “maybe next time.”
By the time we had food in our stomachs, we became a “if we speed walk back to the hotel & can get ready in 5 minutes, we’ll make it to the 7:30PM group.”
And that we did. It became the night we met some super cool people from around the world, rode in a rod daeng and tuk tuk for the first time, and I got to sing some Christmas karaoke (really reaching to be as festive as possible, here).




A good night and worth breaking our 9PM bedtime.
The next morning, my new friend Nana and I attended a free yoga in the park. I felt so happy and calm throughout and the rest of the day!
I told her about my past-life of being a yoga instructor in college. She began encouraging me to bring it up at the community meeting happening tonight, since the hotel has opportunities for residents to host events.
“You should host a yoga class on the roof! Do it! I’ll go!”
Her excitement made me so excited, so I laughed, “Alright, I’ll do it! It’s been a while, but I’ll do it!”
Later that evening, I spent some time journaling in Day One on my laptop and wrote the following:
“[Nana] told me about the community meetings that happen every Monday night, where residents discuss potential events for the week to get together for. That’s when I’d bring up my desire to teach a class and they’d make it happen. Thinking about it makes me nervous, but there is a deep calm that echoes back, saying, ‘This is a good thing.’
“It’d be good to put myself out there, to do something I used to enjoy, and share it with others. I would offer it for free, so there’s no expectation or commitment or risk. The only thing that would stop me is myself... and I think that’s why I feel inclined to make it happen. If the only reason is because of fear, then I should definitely do it. I must! So I will.”
So for the next chunk of time, I’m going to dive back into what I learned when I was just starting out as a yoga instructor. I’m excited about it! :)
What I’m Up To
(The Midlife Diary, Paid Subscription)
Before leaving for our trip, I had been mulling over idea after idea of how to ground myself in work while away. Though I got my degree in Psychology and was on track for a Master’s in Mental Health Counseling, I knew I needed more time to “grow up”, as they say. I knew that where I was in my emotional maturity at that time needed more tending to, and it would have been irresponsible of me to be in a position of caring for others at the level counselors are called to.
All this to say, I never stopped loving to learn about Psychology and how it applies to awareness, self-perception, relationships, and character development over a lifespan.
Three years later of contending with unhelpful beliefs, establishing boundaries, and doing what I can to create consistency between thoughts and behavior through routine, I feel a sense of readiness to take on the challenges that come with pursuing purposeful work.
That readiness led me to create this publication on Substack, offering free travel updates to the friends and family who desire to keep up with our ever-changing plans and adventures, as well as a paid subscription for those who want to dive deep into the psychological application of general and personal thought processes and experiences.
Check it out:
The Midlife Diary is currently a little baby, which means those who are here now are a part of a very special group, fresh with ideas and new lessons.
There is nothing but pure excitement for what’s coming, and I would love for you to be a part of it—to learn, to relate, to discover who you are and who you want to be for yourself and others.
No matter what, I am so happy you’re here. I’ll see you in the next post.
x