Switching Hemispheres

After exactly 4 months here in Thailand, I am leaving today to go back to the western hemisphere (but not the US, yet…). We are Mexico bound!

It was always our rough plan to stay in Asia for the spring and while we initially envisioned also being able to go to Indonesia to spend some time in Bali and farther east to go diving, that just wasn’t in the cards. While most of southeast Asia is now in varying stages of reopening to tourism, it all happened a few months too late for us to make any reliable plans around. Back surgery also threw a wrench in things because the main reasons to go to Indonesia were to practice yoga (I’m still very limited in what poses I can do) and to go diving (I’m still not comfortable with going underwater yet given the healing process). So while my time in Asia looks different than what I originally expected, it has come with the gift of spending 4 consecutive months in my favorite country in the world without leaving and that has been wonderful.

Quick Thailand recap:
- December - We spent a blissful month on Koh Tao in December staying at a steeply discounted private pool villa, diving, scootering around the island, snorkeling, and relaxing.

- January - I spent a month on Koh Phangan completing my yoga teacher training course - more on that here and I still owe myself (and you guys) a written recap on the end of the experience as well. Parker was in the US during this time skiing and visiting friends from Washington to Jackson to Salt Lake to Denver.

- February - I went back to Tao for a couple of weeks to relax, learned that I needed to get back surgery, spent a week in Bangkok dealing with doctors appointments, then we rented a car and spent 10 days traveling northeast Thailand including Khao Yai National Park, Lom Sak (where Parker used to teach english), Khao Kho, and Phitsanulok.

- March - Received back surgery (minimally invasive endoscopic discectomy to remove herniated disc material between L4/L5) in Bangkok at Bumrungrad Hospital and then spent a week in Bangkok recovering. Headed back to Koh Tao for a couple of weeks to continue to recover, then did another Thailand rental car tour through Phuket, Khao Sok, Khao Lak, Chumphon, Prachuap Khiri Khan, and Samut Songkram. We are ending our time in Thailand in Bangkok and going to my favorite place in Asia - Chatachuk weekend market.

Quick back surgery recap:
After making the really difficult decision to get back surgery, it turned out to be a GREAT decision. The entire hospital and surgery experience in Bangkok was literally 5 star service, I am now in zero pain after surgery, and the recovery has been a breeze. Yes, it’s been difficult to essentially do nothing for a full month so far, but the alternative of pushing it too hard and reinjuring it isn’t tenable. I’m exactly a month post-op as of today and I can sit for long periods of time, have zero pain walking, have restarted my yoga practice, and started doing some body-weight strength exercises + my PT exercises. I will wait a couple more months to begin both running and scuba diving again, but that’s a small price to pay for living a life pain free again. Once I can run and dive again - I will consider that to be a “full” recovery for me personally (run, hike, sit, dive, yoga are the basic 5 physical tenants of my life.)

What’s Next?
Short term - We fly to Mexico tomorrow and will be spending a few days in Mexico City then will stay put in Puerto Escondido (west coast of Mexico in Oaxaca state) for a full month! We are both feeling pretty burnt out on constant travel / packing up our stuff every few days so a full month in one place will be wonderful. After a month in Puerto Escondido we will rent a car and do a month-long tour of the western coast of Mexico, spanning Puerto Escondido to Sayulita. After Mexico our plans get a little bit looser…

Medium term - We will be back stateside a couple of times this summer to meet my friends Kyle and Becca’s first baby in Colorado, attend Parker’s brother’s wedding, and throw another Rave in the Woods in Washington. Depending on how we feel and what we want to do next, we will likely base our summer in Central or South America (Costa Rica? Honduras? Colombia?), go to Santiago, Chile to ski in July or August, then head to Europe in the fall (Barcelona, Munich for Oktoberfest with some friends, London to visit my friend Maddie). All of these plans are subject to change based on whatever we feel like doing at the time!

Long term - After almost 10 full years of being generally nomadic and not staying in any place for more than a year, I finally want to settle down (well…my version of settling down). I have gotten preapproved for a mortgage and am planning on buying a house in Denver in the fall of 2022 so I have somewhere consistent to call home. I want to get back to working contract jobs so that I can both grow my career and also leave chunks of time open to achieve some personal goals including hiking the Colorado Trail in the summer of 2023 as well as a potential motorcycle trip through the “‘stans” in fall of 2023. For the first time ever in my life I am feeling called to spend a majority of my time in one place (Colorado) and it feels good.

Finally (I am writing this down mostly to hold myself more accountable) I want to focus a good chunk of my free time this year on writing. Writing on this website, continuing to write my book On My Twenties, and keeping an ongoing journal of the thoughts that come up on daily basis.

Finally finally….if you have recommendations for any of the places I’ve mentioned - please feel free to reach out and share! It’s always great hearing from old and new friends.

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Yoga Teacher Training: Final Thoughts

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Back in pain on Tao…