We see America differently from having lived abroad, now appreciating some things we used to take for granted, yet also taking taking advantage of other things we previously could not access.

This trip to Germany is not my first, but I’m getting the sense it will be a first. It’s my first time coming here after living in Asia. Where once, from the perspective of a flight from LAX to Tegelhof, stepping on German soil felt exotic and foreign, now it feels comfortingly familiar – so much so I’m often caught by surprise by the fact that I don’t speak the language and that I have to re-learn basic things like how much to tip and to stop smiling so much at strangers.

And this trip to Europe will actually be my longest stay in Europe yet. Instead of just popping by, I’m getting an opportunity to truly immerse. You orient yourself differently when you know you will be in a place for just a few days versus several weeks. It’s a different way of traveling; a different way to be.

Henry Miller once said, “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.”

I wonder whether and how a month in Eastern Europe will change my way of seeing. Already I begin to sense the addition of more cultural milieus into my thoughts, awareness, and orientation. I begin to sense that the more you’ve been everywhere, the less you begin to fit in anywhere.

But that’s okay. If the world is a book, I’d prefer to read the whole story, not just one page.

What moments stole your breath away this week? 

Each Thursday, we come together to celebrate living life with intention by capturing a glimmer of the bigger picture through a simple moment. Have you found yourself in such a moment lately? Share it with us! 

Is it true that travel vacations are kind of like dreams in the sense that we are never so interested in other people’s as we are in our own? Well I’ll try to make this interesting anyway. That photo up there was taken as we were flying over Kabul. As soon as I saw it on the flight monitor that we were flying over the capitol of Afghanistan, I whipped out my phone camera, because hey…we were over Afghanistan. How often does one get a chance to say they’re flying over a freakin’ war zone – and, you know, not be dodging bullets?

Most of the country looked like an endless sea of brown, but right there? It was gorgeous with the Hindu Kush mountain range (a subrange of the Himalayas) extending out into the horizon, dotted by white clouds.

Now, I say it’s the Hindu Kush mountain range as if I know what I’m talking about, but I totally had to wikipedia that. My knowledge of world geography is shameful and humiliating. There were two whole countries (Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) between Afghanistan and Russia that I could not recall the names of – other than to say they were a couple of “Stans.” And as we flew over Khazakstan, I thought it was Mongolia.

But, after a 10-hour flight, we landed in Moscow, which incidentally is remarkably swampy and flat (who knew?)…

…and, desperate for drinks, we grabbed some sodas and a beer at…TGI Friday’s.

The world is strange. But thankfully they took credit because we didn’t pack any rubles.

Anyway, after a 4-hour layover and another 2-hour jaunt, we made it to Berlin – another home away from home. Berlin is just so comfortably western and familiar to me that sometimes I totally forget I’m in a foreign country until I remember that I can’t speak the language and there’s that awkward moment where a salesclerk is looking at me expecting me to say something to them and I give them a feeble smile and they wonder who this dope is that’s just staring and smiling at them. Yeah, that happens often.

Lucky for me, Toby can do the talking.

So far, it’s been a busy vacation though, because every day we’ve gotten up, grabbed some coffee and croissants (with prosciutto and gruyere, or liverwurst, or fresh jam) and hit up at least two museums in one portion of the day, took a break for lunch (asparagus soup is my favorite), and then taken long walks around lakes, or in vast, cultivated castle gardens.

There was one day though, where Toby and his younger sister wanted to go to the computer game history museum. I took the opportunity to go shopping instead.

And oh, the fashion in Berlin is awesome. I could easily spend all my money there.

(I discovered a new photo filter, so please pardon my excitement as I overuse it.)

I’ve been very glad for the long walks, though, because it gives me a chance to work off the prosciutto and gruyere (and marzipan). And yesterday, we went to one castle garden modeled after English gardens, so I spend the afternoon pretending quite convincingly that I was in a Jane Austen novel.

But Toby can always be counted upon to bring things closer to home.

All right, I’m sure I’ve long abused my visit by now. Thanks for stopping by for coffee and a chat. There’s a cappuccino with my name on it. What are you drinking? Tell me what’s going on in your part of the world!

Also linking up with:

I’m clinging to my coffee today like it’s a lifeline, my one-way ticket to salvation. If we were really meeting over coffee today, I’d have the french press filled up to the brim and I’d set it right between us so we wouldn’t even have to get up for a second cup.

But before I get ahead of myself, I should relay the news that the lovely Amy of Lucky Number 13 is no longer hosting Virtual Coffee chats, at least for the next undetermined length of time. I wish her well on her break, but me? I love these coffee chats. I NEED these coffee chats. A little breathe of peace in between here and there. So I’m a gonna’ hold on to my coffee, and if y’all want to join me, there’s a seat here just waiting for you.

So how’ve you been? Last week was stressful at work, the kind of stress that just isn’t worth talking about because I’m just going to get all worked up again and say things I probably shouldn’t. It was HOT, too. The kind of heat where fans do nothing more than just push around the steaming air. One of my coworkers was explaining to me how silkworms produce less in the cold season; as it gets colder they work slower and slower. And I was thinking, I’m just the opposite. The hotter it gets, the slower my brain functions. In the dead of those afternoons, I’d literally feel my brain cells come to a full and complete stop. Please exit the vehicle to your left, and thank you for the ride.

We were hoping for rain to cool things down. Well, we got rain and storms enough to put out the electricity and bend trees over. But it was still hot. I was taking cold showers up to three times a day just to cool down my body temperature. Doing that always reminds me of being a kid and being sick with fever and my parents having to put me in a cold bath to get the fever down. I still remember how much that seemed to hurt, and how sorry my parents seemed to have to do that. I’m sure it probably hurt them more than me.

However, the good news this week is: WE’RE GOING TO EUROPE! We’re heading out for a month to go visit Toby’s family in Berlin. We’ll be there most of the time seeing loved ones we haven’t seen in a year and a half. Plus it’s Toby’s dad’s birthday, so we’ll get in some extra celebrations. But we’re also taking a side trip to Krakow and Prague. It’ll be our first time exploring bits of Eastern Europe.

Part of the reason we want to go to Krakow is because we’d like to see Auschwitz. Well, I don’t know if one can say one would like to see Auschwitz. It’s more like we feel it’s important to see Auschwitz, given the opportunity. Such history sometimes seems so long ago, and yet it isn’t really. Toby’s grandfathers, one German, one American, fought on opposite sides of the war. And the nanny who helped take care of Toby’s father and his brothers, when she was just fifteen WALKED from Poland to Germany, in an effort to survive through the war.

But we’ve also been hearing good things about visiting Krakow. Several friends who have traveled there have really enjoyed the city so I’m excited to see what’s happening there.

Truth be told, though, I haven’t even looked up the slightest thing about Krakow or Prague. We totally do not plan in advance when we travel. We get the basic things down (like flights)…and then pretty much just wing it. Do you wing it when you travel, or do you plan out detailed itineraries? When I arrive, I might put together a list of things I’d like to see and do (and places I might want to eat) while I’m there – and if I’m really organized, I’ll mark out what’s in the same general area to be somewhat efficient about travel time from place to place. But the rest of it is subject to time, energy, mood, and whatever else comes along that sounds interesting.

Even on our honeymoon in Costa Rica, we just booked our flights and our hotel for the first two nights so we didn’t have to be harried and rushed finding a place upon arrival. The rest of the nights in various cities, we just called around when we arrived to see what was available and left things flexible for recommendations from fellow travelers when we were actually there.

But as excited as I am to jetset it to Europe, there’s one thing that makes me sad: leaving Dot for a month! I’m sure gonna’ miss this puppy face.

We’ll leave her at a kennel for the month (which is actually more like this elderly British gentleman’s yard that has a bunch of dogs running around than a kennel), and I know she’ll be fine, she’s not going to die or get lost. But I still feel a wallop of sad and a thwack of guilt every time I think about it. A WHOLE MONTH. {ugh}

But she’ll be fine.

{…right?}

Anyway, I’d better get going. Lots of loose ends to tie up still before we leave tomorrow night. Oh yeah, did I mention we leave tomorrow? Because yeah, we leave tomorrow! Have a great week everyone and the next coffee chat will be in Berlin!

Also linking up with:

At the waterfront, in Stanley

Pottinger Street, Stone Slabs

On the line

Guess where we went shopping

If you are enjoying these, you can find the WHOLE SHEBANG on Flickr. Just click here.

I’m discovering that the problem with Instagram is that now I post a bunch of photos there (and, by extension, on Facebook), I forget which ones I’ve shared here. Anyway, I hope you’re not bored of seeing glimpses of the HK, Hipstamatic-style, because I have more for you to see!

One of the surprising things about Hong Kong was the sheer variety of landscapes. One minute you could be amongst the high-rises and subways, the next, traipsing among color-filled bungalows. Or on waterfronts that look much like San Francisco or Laguna Niguel.

I had to laugh at this Main Street, U.S.A cafe because, decked out for Chinese New Year, it was about the Chinese-est building on the block.

And Toby found his place:

Kind of makes me wish we’d eaten there, just to say we did.

But there were just so many fun sights around the city. I’m pretty sure I just walked around all bug-eyed at everything.

Actually, Toby did have to stop and wait for me on several occasions, as I was too busy gawking to walk.

Isn’t that tree just something? Love all the roots like that.

Those green hooded things? An outdoor escalator! Going straight up a long, tall hill! Crazy, no? San Fran could definitely use one of those. (Except, Toby and I are just lazy enough to note with dissatisfaction that those escalators only go up. You still gotta’ walk your bum back down.)

If I haven’t bored you all yet with these photos, stay tuned, I got one more set coming. They’re less the touristy stuff and more just my attempts at catching something pretty. I hope you’re enjoying these though!

Happy Tuesday everyone! If we were really meeting for coffee today, I’d invite you to meet me for some yummy eats in Causeway Bay because we are in Hong Kong!

(Actually, by the time you read this, most likely I’ll be flying back to Bangkok, but let’s just pretend we’re still in Hong Kong and I’d show you around.)

This was our first trip here, and we fell in love with the city immediately. It has the same vibrant self-made energy of New York – but with British-Chinese structural efficiency and Asian flair. It’s a pastiche of old and new, a patchwork of East and West.

Being a harbor city as well, Hong Kong is very cosmopolitan and it seems everyone you meet has an international background.

One of the highlights has just been going to museums. That’s one of the things we’re starved for in Thailand: no great art museums, at least that we’ve found. It was refreshing just to tap into some slice of culture and history…and there’s no doubt that China has a veritable empire of history behind it, one that sadly, we only know bits and scraps about.

And the food…ohmygoodness it’s amazing. I’d never been a full-fledged fan of Chinese food, but now I’d say, before arriving in Hong Kong, me and Chinese food had just never been properly introduced.

Topping my list of newfound favorites are xiao long bao, which are dumplings filled with a gulp of broth inside. There’s a whole proper method of consumption…but the taste? Exquisite and delicate. Much like my other new favorite: almond pudding. Oh, I’m salivating just thinking about it.

And I even got to meet Buckeroomama and the infinitely adorable Zoë, and we shared a fabulous hour of coffee (and nonstop chatting) together! (I’d share a picture, but the picture is on my hubby’s phone and the internet situation here in our hotel is…complicated…so it’ll have to wait until the next post.)

Anyway, I just wanted to pop in and say hi and share a few glimpses of our trip. I’ll be sharing more photos over the next few days, after we return to Thailand. Hope you’re all having a fantastic start to the week!

Meanwhile…Hong Kong: I’ll be back.

Can you guess?

Azerbaijan.

(I know, right?)

And did you catch that? They’re not traveling to Azerbaijan. They’re moving there. While we anxiously await tales of their trip, she asked a few of us other nomads to post a little bit about our experiences moving abroad. She posed a few questions about what we remember most about the early days, what we miss most from home, what we’ve learned and what we love. So, if you’re curious, you can find me over at her place today!

Actually, you should go to her place anyway and root around the archives. I’m sure if you spend above half a minute over there, you’ll fall in love with her as much as I did. Plus, pretty soon, you’ll find out about their adventures in Azerbaijan!

If we were meeting for coffee right now, I’d have to pass on my cup because we just gorged on a huge seafood dinner. After a crazy fortnight, where we weren’t sure whether we would be headed to Berlin, lounging down south on the beach, hanging at home in Chiang Mai, or forced to go home to the States by now, we’ve arrived. We are visiting my parents in Hua Hin, a sleepy beach town a few hours south of Bangkok.

We’re technically still in Thailand, but it feels more like a cross between Newport Beach and Monte Carlo. I haven’t seen so many Europeans since…well, since I was in Europe. It’s kind of like culture shock after a year of living in Asia. Most people here don’t speak a lick of Thai and the only Thai people here are the ones running shops and restaurants catering to European tourists and expats.

But we are finally on holiday, taking a vacation that, for once, isn’t a working vacation.

(Although I couldn’t resist bringing a few writing exercises along with me, to do some fun writing and flex my writerly muscles in ways I don’t normally take the time to do.)

The funny thing is, I flew down to Bangkok and took a bus from Bangkok to Hua Hin. How did my husband get here, you might ask? He took three days and rode his motorcycle all the way down, flirting with the Burmese border along the way.

Meanwhile, we left our dog at the kennel and I miss her like crazy already. I was depressed for hours before I even took her. (Yes, she’s like my child, what of it.)

Anyway, I just wanted to pop in for a quick hello, though internet service here is less than convenient, as we can only have one device (between four people) hooked up at a time. I hope all of you Stateside had a fabulous Thanksgiving holiday! Ciao for now, loves.

I haven’t been living with intentionality of late. Even when I know how I should act, and how I want to act, I find myself incapable of turning intention into action. Impatience turns my head. Irritation twists my words. Even when I feel gratitude, I don’t exude it. Sometimes I make myself smile in the hopes that my expression will worm its way into my heart and settle me down.

It’s an effort.

Mostly, I think this stems from the fact that in just a week, we’ll have spent a year abroad. First, there are the practical matters: uprooting your entire life and starting anew means a lot of bureaucratic things are up for renewal at the same time. International driving permit renewals, lease renewals, car registration, immigration documents…the list goes on. What was once confusing and nerve-wracking before becomes confusing and nerve-wracking again, and it all takes a lot of effort to sort out.

And then there’s the heart renewal: where you realize you’ve survived a year. One year is ending and another begins. The honeymoon is over and you are no longer new transplants. You don’t make mistakes nearly so often, but when you do goof up, people cut you less slack because you’ve been here longer. You should know better.

But moving to Thailand in the first place was an act of living life with intention. It was a demand we placed upon ourselves to live exactly the life we wanted, not one prescribed for us. And I am grateful for the freedom we have to make such choices. In gratitude, we wanted to make the most of our freedoms. We pushed ourselves out of our comfort zone to remind ourselves exactly who we were when all else was stripped away. We questioned our most basic assumptions and molded a foundation of our own making. We created our blueprint for life.

But that blueprint is not a one-time deal, or we would negate the very action that helped us create it in the first place.

Living with intention is not something you do just once. It’s a habit of thought, a daily challenge for the soul.

So today, one week before our year anniversary of living abroad, I want to renew my vow to live life with intention. In gratitude, I seek to remember the purpose of this day. Let me not turn over the keys to my autopilot. Let me steer my own ship. And when the waters grow rough, let me guide my vessel with a steady hand and leave the waters smoother in my wake.

Join in celebrating this month of gratitude with the Bigger Picture community!
This week, you can find us at Alita’s!

There’s no place like home.

Hi everyone! I missed you all. This has been one trying week. I went down to Bangkok to meet my parents, who were flying in from the U.S. It was so good to see them walking towards us after they got off their flight! But soon after they arrived, one of my mom’s very good friends (who lives in Bangkok) gave us the news that her husband had passed away that day. So what was supposed to be a quick jaunt in Bangkok and back up to Chiang Mai by the weekend turned into a frantic scramble to rearrange our flights, pop over to the mall and buy fine funeral wear (which must be either black or white) for several days’ worth of Buddhist ceremonies. Plus the condo where we stayed didn’t have hot water for showers, so we had to take cold showers. (But we cheated and went to the hair salon to get our hair done in comfort at least.)

We also had to take care of a bunch of business for my mom: getting her national ID card, setting up banking for her, getting internet and cell phones set up, and a few other sundry things.

Also we wanted to get a chance to visit family, which was complicated by the fact that they live nearly an hour outside of where we were staying in the city. Oh yeah, and it’s flooding in Bangkok.

But we made it. After a mad shopping spree, we got what we needed and were able to attend the funeral services. We went three separate days. The first day involved a viewing of the deceased, where each person would pour a tiny bit of holy water on the deceased’s hand in a symbolic washing away of sins. Our friend’s husband was the former deputy minister of the Department of Transportation, a position that is considered to be a servant of the King of Thailand. So representatives from the King’s Palace brought holy water from the palace and, on the behalf of the King, poured the holy water on his hand. Then the body was interred in a coffin, while drummers and a flautist from the palace played a traditional beat.

Traditionally, Thai royalty used standing coffins and the circular umbrella-like things you see in this picture below are symbolic of royal processionals.

Following that, there was a group of monks who came in to chant and give blessings. The second day involved more chanting by monks, followed by a final set on the morning of the third day.

The third day was a full-day affair, starting with the monk’s blessings and a light lunch. Then the coffin was moved to a special temple that housed the incinerator for cremation. There was a royal processional that circumnavigated the temple three times. Then the vast majority of the guests arrived, including several current and former officials.

We each were given one of these flowers carved from a special wood to place, with our final respects and blessings, in the incinerator where they light the fire to burn the body.

It was quite something to see and I’m glad my mom was able to be there with her friend during this process. Then, finally, on Tuesday night we arrived back in Chiang Mai – a full week after I had left. The whole time we were gone, we really didn’t have internet service. We managed to get a short term aircard for my mom’s laptop so we could take care of the most important business, but it didn’t leave enough time for any of my usual work.

Then, just on the day we were coming back up to Chiang Mai, I caught a bit of a cold. So since we’ve arrived I’ve been trying to catch up on what I’ve missed, but it’s been a bit difficult with a head cold and while trying to get my parents settled in and situated, plus showing them around our city. I logged into my feed reader and found 980+ posts I’d missed. Nine hundred and friggin’ eighty. I started to go through it…and got to about 600 then just marked it all as read. I’m going to try to go to individual blogs and see what I missed, but if there’s anything in particular you’d like me to see, just leave me a link in the comments and I’ll be sure to check it out!

Ok, I’m beat. But I missed you all and just want to say hi. I hope everything is going well for you! I missed out on Virtual Coffee this week (and didn’t even get a chance to link up last week either), but if we were really meeting for coffee, I’d tell you how much I want to hear about what’s going on with you. So drop me a line and tell me what’s going on in your part of the world!

Love,
Jade