Our 50 Day Thailand Itinerary
Bangkok
1 week—A bustling city that never sleeps.
For it being our first time in SE Asia, we weren’t sure what to expect (except what we were told:
It’s not America, so don’t have the same expectations for where you stay compared to how you live back home. Be ready to shift when things don’t go your way.
So naturally, I mentally prepped to adapt when our flight touched down in Thailand. There’s always a fear that the photos and descriptions are fabricated to get people in the door (flashback to the Airbnb in California I walked into with moist towels, an occupied trailer in the driveway, and dog hair all over the bed and couches).
We exit the boisterous airport and slide into the van our hotel had scheduled to pick us up. After 26 hours of airports and flights, arriving at Gecko Eye Hotel was the best feeling ever. It was so peaceful, despite being in the midst of downtown activity on a Saturday night. I didn’t realize how central the hotel was on the map, nor how happening Bangkok is. We opened the door to our room and there was more space than expected, with an entire wall of ceiling to floor windows that overlooked the BTS Skytrain and EmSphere Mall, couches facing a smart TV, and a coffee table in the center of the living space. “This is quite the first impression,” I thought to myself as I kicked off my shoes and dropped the heavy backpack.
The morning after, we had our first Thai massage experience & tasted mango sticky rice for the very first time at Makkha Health & Spa in Bangkok. Exceeded all expectations. We will forever ask for a Thai massage anywhere we can find one. After, we stopped into the coffee shop right next door to enjoy high speed internet and coffee.
Side note: The link I attached brings you to a platform called Klook. This is the app I have used to book all my excursions through during our travels. You can create a wishlist if you create an account! We also used Grab, the equivalent of Uber, for most of our transportation.
There was no issue with internet anywhere we went. In fact, there were zero issues finding our typical daily amenities. The water served at restaurants, drinkable. I mention this because we were given a tip to only drink/brush teeth from bottles. I remember visiting Cuba in 2008 and hearing the same advice—to which one person didn’t heed to and was stuck in their hotel room for 72 hours paying the piper.
It wasn’t a conscious decision to test out the water. I just found myself accepting it at a restaurant in a hotel and waiting for something to hit, and it didn’t. I tend to order zero-sugar sodas, so my opting out of water stems from simply craving that instead. Also, I think restaurants serve water from bottles. It’s the ice to use discretion on. We’ve been asked multiple times if we wanted ice with our drinks, and we’d make up our minds then.
Although the hotel didn’t offer laundry service, we found a company via Google search that would pick-up and drop-off our load from the hotel within 24 hours. We originally searched the area for laundromats, but concluded it was worth the money (not much honestly) to use a service than to spend 2 hours stuck in location.
Another side note: Kanchanaburi was the only location we had to walk our laundry somewhere, and even then we only had to drop-off and pick-up rather than DIY the cleaning process.
We were okay taking it slow in Bangkok; I anticipated it’d take the whole week to adjust to the chapter change of living abroad. Neither of us have experienced anything like this so we were on the same page with not trying to cram every sight and excursion as if we were pressed for time. With that expectation and the pace that reflected, I got to take in the city in a way different from the average tourist. It was easier to be more present because I wasn’t stressing myself out about booking tours. If we got around to it, great. If all I experienced was a glimpse into the day-to-day activities of Bangkok residents, also great.
So what did we get up to in Bangkok, besides the usual cafe reading/writing blocks, massage appointments, gym sessions, and restaurant visits?
Attended our first digital nomad meet-up and learned how to cross Bangkok-crazy traffic (you just gotta go for it). Explored the ginormous mall across the street from our hotel. I had my first aesthetics experience abroad (facial blemish removal). It was great; I was comfortable; reasonable pricing and the recovery was successful (little over a week to fully heal).
For only having a week in the city, we felt sticking to our usual habits was the best way to adjust and experience this new way of living.
Kanchanaburi
1 week—River town with tasty local restaurants and chill cafes.
So quiet and calm. Our stay: Monaz River Kwai
There wasn’t much happening in town, so it became week of reviewing what we hope to experience during our time abroad; what we need in and around each place we stay. I scheduled the rest of our stays and flights within Thailand during this week because before arriving, I only had the first two weeks booked.
We did visit to Erawan Waterfall National Park, which was an hour drive from our hotel on the river. We hired a taxi through our hotel and had to bring 300 baht per person for park entry. Bring extra cash if you want to grab a drink, snack, or souvenir at one of the entry shops. There are guided tours people book, but we did a self-guided hike. It was very easy to navigate and there are guides stationed throughout the trail in case you need to ask for directions.
There are 7 waterfalls along the trail, and you do have a few stair-master moments on your way up. Pools are at each tier starting at the third waterfall, where people will pause on the hike and dip in (it’s freezing btw, but a sweet cold plunge experience). For the swimming areas toward the beginning of the trail, they require you rent and wear a life vest.
Note: you have to rent one at the start of the trail because there are no other spots to pick one up. If you want to skip lugging a vest during your hike, you can wait to swim at the last waterfall (the coolest one of all of them, tbh) since it’s shallow enough you don’t require a vest. At the last waterfall (tier 7), you’ll find people climbing the big rock under the waterfall and taking photos. I thought it’d be slippery, but the surface of the rock provided a surprising amount of grip for my feet. There are spa fish that do not ask for your consent before nibbling on your toes (if you stay still long enough, like Peyton, you’ll summon the big fish in the pool and it’ll really start to tickle). Every time I got a nibble I freaked out and pictured loosing a toe, so I stuck to the edge of the pool for a quick escape route. All in all, it was fun, a good work out, and quite beautiful.
I wasn’t sure if we’d run into anything else and wanted to avoid feeling rushed, hence the week-long stay. But with the national park as our only true point of interest, we would have booked for only 4 nights instead of 6. On the brighter side, I did appreciate the slow week to do the rest of the travel planning before moving on to the next location.
Koh Samui
3 weeks—Chill beach vibes with vibrant nightlife.
We were thriving here. Having picked a hotel right on the beach, we could roll out of bed and enjoy our fruit and coffee in the morning sunshine, take midday breaks from sitting at our laptops to enjoy the crashing waves, then wrap our days up with a sunset stroll along the shore.
The Hive on Lamai Beach was our spot for 3 weeks, in the center of so many incredible restaurants and shops (and the offered laundry service).
If you’re looking for a busier location with more bars to hop, Chaweng Beach is your spot.
We learned here to pick hotels that are close to the shops and restaurants, but maybe not right next door to a bar. Flashback to waking up at 4am to the bass.
We went on a grueling hike, Phra Buddha Dipangkorn, right after Muay Thai class (a mistake, the hike is not for beginners or faint of heart). I was moving very slow for the rest of our time there. It’s humorous now, but I sincerely hate not having the same bounce back from physical activity as I did in college. Sigh.
It didn’t stop me though, because we connected with a couple on their honeymoon and joined them to the Koh Samui Elephant Sanctuary and Smile Cooking Class. Only until we were face to face with these huge animals did I realize I had never seen one in person. They are huge. And they’re kind—known for their ability to empathize and nurture.
This is the post I wrote about our experience on that day:
Our time on the island was wrapped up with a day trip to the stunning Ang Thong National Marine Park. This trip gave us the best panoramic views we’ve ever seen. It was absolutely gorgeous and well worth the slightly nauseating 40 minute speedboat ride to the archipelago. The marine park as a whole has 42 islands off the coast of Thailand, home to limestone cliffs, turquoise water, colorful marine life, and the Emerald Lagoon. If you’re going to do anything while on Koh Samui, you definitely need to book a tour to this place.




It was really hard leaving Koh Samui, because of how aligned it was to the lives we want to have long-term. We learned how essential it is to have easy access to a spot outside we can hang out with our shoes off.
Chiang Mai
2 weeks—Historic mountain city with bountiful coffee shops, markets, and wellness classes.
This is the place things really clicked for us. We knew we needed more socializing abroad so I took the advice of someone we met at the Bangkok nomad meet-up and booked a stay at a co-live/co-work hotel, Alt_Chiang Mai. If you’re a solo traveler or have to keep up with emails while abroad, I highly recommend this place.
It’s like I didn’t know what I needed until I was there: likeminded, driven individuals with a passion for travel, connection, and the work they do. I felt this same enthusiasm when meeting new friends in Orlando who had their own businesses. Finally, a group of people on the same path as us.
Chiang Mai was back-to-back and possibly the best experience of work-life balance I've ever experienced. On Mondays we had a community meeting, where admin would share events happening that week and residents can propose more events or to host free workshops. An outstanding way to get some public speaking and workshop presentation reps in for personal businesses. I originally offered to lead a sunrise yoga class, but had gotten sick the day before. To make up for it though, I offered to host a Digital Vision Board workshop before the New Year hit.
I made it out to be super casual, which eased whatever nerves that did exist and increased my natural enthusiasm to plan for the activity. It was perfect, because I ultimately want to create a community for people to engage in thoughtful activities and creatively take charge of a brighter future.
The location of our hotel was also perfect since they had coworking space as their main lobby, a coffee shop attached to the entrance, and a cafe with fresh fruit smoothie bowls I enjoyed every single morning (hello happy gut). We made solid friends from day one and hung out over coffee, dinner, hikes, and nights out over the holidays. I took some Muay Thai group classes with a friend. They had us do more work because we giggled the whole time and took turns winning and losing games so neither of us had to do more sit-ups/push-ups than the other.
We wrapped up our time in Chiang Mai by grabbing dinner with a couple from the hotel, then visiting the elephants one last time with another nomad friend. More than anything we did or saw, it was the people that made Chiang Mai my favorite spot so far.
But all good things do come to an end, and we experienced our first wave of quick good-byes. I’ve come across content since; talking about how magical it is to cross paths with one-of-a-kind friends, and how heartbreaking it is to continue onward not knowing if we’ll ever see each other again. There is a mixture of sadness and gratitude in the end. Social media makes it a little easier. It has challenged me to be more present with the people I interact with, now that I better understand how brief these moment are.
Of all the people, times, and places, how cool is it that it was us?
The Philippines
Looking back on our time in Thailand, I remember being shocked over how slow the weeks moved by. Now it feels like it all passed in a blink of an eye, and our chapter back in the states feels like a lifetime ago.
We have officially left Thailand and spent our first week of the Philippines in Manila. This city is very busy with the traffic and commotion similar, if not more boisterous, to Bangkok. I’ve done a ton of journaling, since I’m half Filipino and 2nd generation raised in America. There are parts of Filipino culture within my childhood through cuisine, relationships, and lifestyle. I’ve already come across many similarities. It’s interesting to see the things I once deemed specific to my family in the states as the norm throughout the city.
We leave for other islands tomorrow, which I’m particularly excited for since I thrive with a beach town pace of living.
My in-depth digest of being in my grandmother’s country with only myself and my husband is in the making and will be released soon, so keep an eye out for that!
I’ll leave you here and will see you in the next post!
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