Roughly where I've been up to Summer 2026

 

Where I've Been

Granted, this doesn't have everything because I'm not willing to pay for a subscription to get a full account of where we've been but it does a pretty good job of showing 90% or more.

This makes me realize I need to go to South and Central America as well as Africa.

Plain of Jars in Phonsavan, Laos

 

First off, I just learned that it's pronounced as Lao - no 's'.

The French added the 's' and it just confused people. 

It still does. Mainly because the locals will say LaoS because they know us falang - foreigners - will call it that.

Moving on.

JARS!

There are 3 main sites for the Plain of Jars and since most tourist only have a limited time, they only go to Sites 1-3 or in some cases only Site 1.

Site 1

• closest site to the city
• easy to get to with taxi, tuk tuk, motorbike (we drove motorbikes)
• out in the open - definitely bring sunscreen (I'm brown and I still got Sunkissed but that was mainly from riding the motorbikes all day no long-sleeved shirt to protect my arms)
• lots of Jars and Cave

Site 2

• Roughly double the distance of the town to Site 1
• FAVORITE SITE
• can walk a longer trail if you have time - we didn't 
• Jars in the Forest - LOTS of shade
• Jars on a beautiful hillside with a gorgeous vista as a backdrop - some shade
• Warning or Point of Interest *for me Interest* - Lots of BUGS!

Site 3

• 10 mins walk through beautiful rice patties
• under tree cover but not as much as Site 2
• Great place to wide down from a long day of seeing...Jars.

This is Site 3 - our last stop of the day of driving in motorbikes. We just took pictures, sat around the jars and listened to the cows.

This is Site 2. The Best site in my opinion and with such a different setting from the other two sites.

This is the Site 1, the 1st site we visited that pretty hot since there isn't much tree coverage here. Still a great site, but I'd say knock this one out first and foremost but don't spend all your time here.

This pic and the pic below are of the cave at Site 1. The coolest thing I've ever seen was the bees seen at the entrance of these wild hives. I've never seen wild beehives!

Not only that, they are pretty gentle. 
How do I know, well, you can stand directly below - as shown below - and they won't attack you.

If you were near a hive with African Bees, a.k.a 'Killer Bees,' you wouldn't be able to stand that close without getting stung.

Just don't be a dick and throw something at them. That'll piss 'em off and then you'll get attacked.

Jus' sayin'.

You can walk into this cave and see two holes at the top - manmade or blown.

What We Did:

• We had 2 full days in Phonsavan
• 1 FULL day of just Jars - all 3 main sites
• rented 2 Motobikes from Kong Keo - I think it was 300,000 kip per person.
• Put it into perspective 100,000 Kip is 15 USD. It's worth it.
• BRING sunscreen, long sleeve shirts (preferably breathable ones), snacks
• coconut biscuits
• mama noodles or any other noodle brand that you can sprinkle the salt pack, mix it up and eat dry - yes, dry! Great to satiate you for the day and gives you electrolytes (Did this on the Annapurna circuit in Nepal and it worked well)
• bread
• water
• Find a pharmacy and get electrolyte packets to put in your water - keeps you better hydrated
• Hat
• Sunglasses
• Camera
• Power Bank and cord
• Towel - can use a bit of water to wet it and use it to keep you cool

I mainly go to these sites to take pictures and I hope to make a photobook of it soon. Site 1 was our first one and I highly recommend getting this one out of the way because it's HOT! Get there early in the morning and explore, by the time it's the heat of the day, you can leave for the other sites, both of which are a LOT cooler in temp because there is actual tree coverage.

I was pleasantly surprise that there were TONS of bugs in all the sites.  You just have to look harder.

Site 2 and Site 3 are about 2x the distance and takes some time to get to. I thoroughly enjoyed Site 2 because of the forest the Jars were situated in and there were tons of cool bugs to see. Lots of Spiders there so if you have arachnophobia, just be warned that these jars have a decent amount of them just chilling - They won't do anything but look intimidating to some, neat for entomology hobbyist like me!

Leave 2 hours before sunset if you want to drive out before dark. We left Site 3 around 4:30 and sunset was at 6:10ish. We didn't make it in time but I also stopped at the site of the road and took some pictures of the water buffalo traffic (! :D ) and sunset.  I actually was caught in a traffic jam of cattle because them come home at the end of the day of grazing the neighborhood.  

Account for Cow Traffic -->  Cowfic. 

Go at your own pace, or if you feel more comfortable, get a taxi.  I think the taxi was around 450,000 kips but I can't honestly remember the costs.  This is mainly to give you a ballpark on what to expect for costs.

Delights of Being a Host

I've been hosting people for a long time, whether it be family and friends visiting Hawaii for the first time or our guest from all over the world Couch Surfing at our place.

Flying in a Helicopter over Hilo.  LOL, you can actually see our old house on Derby Lane

One of the delightful things to see is how they react to new things.  It's almost like watching kid's open up a gift for Christmas.  There's suspense, shock, glee and excitement...or disappointment.

Yap, those are goats from the other side.  Don't know the name of the place so I dubbed it "Goatyville"

Most of our hosting experience happened to be in Hawaii, and because it's a tourist destination, we know what our guests were expecting out of our hometown.  We also threw in the added bonus of making recommendations based on our guests interest and likes.  As very proud residents of Hilo, we knew almost every nook and cranny, every hole in the wall and most every secret swimming hole.  We delighted in seeing our guest enjoy our recommendations, often times going with them to our secret spots because we enjoyed them as well.

Now that we are living abroad in Thailand, it's a whole new ballpark and we get to be the ones experiencing things for the first time and finding delight and joy in simple things, like cheap fruits and delicious food made in a food stall before you.  I've had four months for acclimation but my husband has been here for almost a year and he enjoys taking me to new things that I haven't seen yet and we have fun exploring different parts of Thailand together.  Living in a bigger city - or, at least having access to it besides getting on a flight - opens up a whole new experience of art and amenities that we didn't get living in a small town.  Now we can see concerts or shows, go to special art displays/exhibits and enjoy the city life is we so choose.  Granted we do live in a smaller more remote part of Thailand just outside of Bangkok, but a 45 min taxi drive and 20 min train ride takes us to the heart of Bangkok.

Our first guest from home arrived yesterday and I'm excited to see how they react to Bangkok.  We live in a small, one bedroom apartment with a living room and fold-out couch and one bath.  It'll be interesting living in such close quarters again with someone else for the next three weeks as we've not had a roomie since our last roomie left in May and we moved out of our Hilo house.

When asked about the taxi drive, their expressions were rather amusing because let's face it, the rules of driving here are way different compared to the US.  Rules are like cautionary notes or guidelines and not really set in stone and speed limit.

Pbtt!  Don't make me laugh! What speed limit?

Cost of living is so much less here and one of the appeals of living in a country like this.  We had fruits aplenty waiting for our guest's consumption and though we lived in Hawaii, where fruits were abundant, they were not cheap.  Over here, you can get a huge bowl with a variety of fruits for less than $5 USD.

I can't wait to see what their reaction would be to all the new experiences they are going to have here in Thailand!

10 Things I Recommend Doing When Moving to a New City/Country

7 years ago, I moved to Japan to study abroad for a year.  It wasn't that long but then again, it was VERY LONG!  However, I'll be moving to Thailand (only ever spent 1 week there) on the 22nd of this month and there are things I have to remember to tell myself to do when I get there.

UPDATE (12.03.15) :  Upon seeing this published, I realized that my pictures were not showing up.  I will be adding new pictures of my new home by the end of January and have this post up and running again.  Sorry for the inconvenience.

Things I did to make time go by a lot faster and make my transition easier.



1. Explore Your New Home.

I was living in an apartment complex called the "Exchange Student Building".  The one good thing was that a LOT of us were new and just moved there at the same time.  It meant that a whole flock of us would go explore Saitama and Tokyo together and it was really helpful because I didn't have good Japanese but a few of the students had exceptional Japanese skills that came in handy.\


2. Journal/Blog/Keep a Diary

I have to say that this is a VERY crucial part to your whole experience because if you are very diligent about your journaling, when you go back to it after some time has past, you'll be able to look back at everything you're felt and did and realize how much you went through.

When you move to a new country, you'll find that you're sad and lonely and miss home but you can also talk about the random market of plants and animals that you passed and it shocked you and made you forget about your sadness.

I've found that writing is VERY therapeutic - hence why I have this blog - and it also help you sort out and realize some of the things that you are currently facing.

You're stressed?  Why...?  Maybe it's the constant bombardment of a language you don't know how to speak and it's frustrating and confusing and makes you wish you were home.  What do you do to solve this? Well, that's for you to decide but 3-10 should help you decide what course of action to take.

That sort of thing.




If you're curious, I have my clothes hanging indoors this particular weekend because a typhoon was going on outside.  If you journal, you can remember random things like that :P


3. Make Friends

This helps to make #1 VERY easy because sometimes, no matter how safe a place is - and let me assure you, Japan is REALLY SAFE - I tend to like the buddy system when exploring.  It also makes for a great time if you can experience things together rather than alone.





4.  Stave off Home Sickness by Keeping BUSY.

Sometimes when you're in a new place, it can be daunting to try and do things, especially if you move to a new place where your first language is not the predominant language.  As I mentioned in #1, a few people would have great language skills and it would help us get around but that doesn't mean hole yourself up in your new home if you or your friends don't speak the language.

I had some really great experiences going on excursion and exploring places by myself or even joining a group to meet new people.

Sight See, Running in new locations, GeoCache...Anything!


5. Learn the Language and Culture of Your New Home

If you're just moving to a place that speaks the language, GREAT!  You're ahead of the game!

BUT if you move to a place that is speaking a different language and has a different culture, I think it would be silly not to explore that.  Maybe even arrogant as well and you owe it to all the people you're going to be interacting with to learn about them.

It's great to know why people are the the way they are.  What is their history?  Does a religion heavily influence their daily life?  What holidays are celebrated and why?

TRY their food!  It may be odd or too different but slowly test your comfort zone and expand your horizons.  You never know.  You just may like what you eat.

Your new neighbors and friends will be grateful that you took the time to learn more about them, too!

6. Join a Club/Activity of Interest.

This was actually one of the best advise I got from my mentor.  She told me to join a club and STICK with it for the full duration!  I was the only foreigner in the Kyudo club and yeah, it was difficult but at the end, I made such great friends and learned a REALLY old skill.

I have some of the fondest memories in that club but I wouldn't trade it for any of my other experiences because it made such an impact on my personal growth.







7. Talk to Random People

It may sound weird but random people will likely strike up a conversation with you - so hopefully you did #5 - and make a new friend #3.  It's a curious thing when you're talking to a foreigner or in this case if you're a foreigner and they are the local, there is usually no shame to ask a complete stranger any questions you may have.  Whether it's where is the nearest supermarket or why are those people dressed like that?  I found that there seems to be an understanding for someone seeking knowledge and someone that has it and there is no shame between them.

It's best if you ask in the local language but if you must ask someone in your first language:
A) Talk REAL SLOW.  Just as you're having a hard time with how fast they talk, keep in mind they will with your language as well.

B) Be prepared to write it down because sometimes they may read better than they speak and they can also be shy.

BONUS: Ask an older person.  Most times, if it's someone around your age or younger, they can be shy and may not have the confidence to talk to you and may just tell you, "I don't speak" or the like just to save themselves the embarrassment.  If they look to be in their mid to late 20's and older, I'd say it should be fine to approach them.

Getting back on topic, if you talk to random people, they may tell you something that only a local will know.  Like great places to eat, a hidden sanctuary, etc.

It's work it.




8. Join Couch Surfing

If you like to adventure or just meet new people - whether it's locals or other expats - this is the group to join!  I always recommend that people join, especially if they like to travel.  It's a cheap way to travel because you stay a complete strangers homes with the understanding that it's just plain kindness of their heart.

It's also a great way to do #1-7 all in one meeting.  You'll learn from one another and have a network of other travelers or friendly people that will offer you advice or tips for your new home or for a place that you maybe visiting in the near future.

9. Travel

You're in a new place and enjoying your new home but I think you should travel around the different areas by or outside your new home.  Compare and contrast it to your old home and your new home.  See if there are any famous locations that all the locals recommend and also just wander and get lost in a new area.

You being in a new place is like your extended travel until it becomes home but one of the odd things I found out about traveling was looking forward to coming back to your new/current home.

It's an odd realization that you've finally started to relate your new place as "Home".




10. Take Pictures and Enjoy Yourself

Self explanatory!

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Preview of Little You in the Global World - My New Pet Project

My new project is actually a compilation of stories, not just from me,  but from others that traveled through UH Hilo's study abroad program and some of the not so glamorous aspects of traveling like culture shock.  I'm going to apologize ahead of time if I offend anyone but I'm writing from my naive 21 years old perspective and I'd like to think that I've definitely matured a lot since then...maybe not by much.  I swear a bit in this one - then again, I do in most my posts but you've been warned.  The whole point of writing this is to make our readers aware of what they could expect when traveling to a new, unfamiliar location.  Since this is my first draft, don't expect to see it exactly as is once it's printed.  I'll also be adding photos to this blog just to make it less boring to look at because the book will mainly contain text.

"What I Know Now"

I grew up in a large city until the age of 12 before I moved to Hilo where I reside till this very day.  I had never been anywhere on my own and when I finally got tired of only looking at people’s pictures as they traveled, and listened to their stories while abroad, I knew I had to assuage my curiosity.

I bought a cheap flight after more than a year of saving to go to Thailand and planned for my trip to get to my dream destination, Angkor Wat.  What all those travel blogs and guide books don’t tell you when you’re planning a trip on a shoestring and with no help is that it’s extremely hard and time consuming your first time doing this!  Here I was researching everything I could about safety for women backpacking alone and what to expect culturally and financially.  It was a lot of work but I stumbled upon a few great sites that gave me pointers that I use even today.  I sorta-kinda winged the majority of my scheduling, hoping my timing would work out. 

Luckily, it did.

Yes, it was a stressful way to travel, but I’m also okay with that sort of stress because I wanted the flexibility to stay longer at certain places if I needed to.  It also taught me a lesson on planning in general.  I had to plan out my budget for each day, my trips to the next town and other details to get the best out of my short stay.  Every day, when the sun went down after exploring, I hunkered down in my room - I was paranoid after watching movies like ‘Hostel’ - to plan out my trip for the following day.  While I’m out and about sightseeing, I would find a small local travel agency to ask recommendation for the next big town and also book the next shuttle down for the next day.  That was my cycle for about three weeks.  I had to make sure I made it on time to my shuttle and not get lost wandering - as I did in Trang looking at the White Temple and ALMOST missed my shuttle - but I found out by accident that they have something similar to Hawaiian time and I’m ever so grateful that translates to other tropical areas.

It turns out, South East Asia (S.E.A) is pretty safe but a lot of my learning happened while on my trip.  When I first arrived in Bangkok, Thailand.  I knew it was a huge city and I would be overwhelmed but getting out of the airport and finding a cabby that spoke enough English to understand me was something I didn’t expect.  There was this safety notion in my head that everyone spoke or learned English at one point or another in these countries. When I had a hard time finding someone that would understand me saying “Yaowarat”, the name of their Chinatown in their language, I started to get scared.  I went to the hotel I looked up on Lonely Planet - that's what it felt like! - and showed up with no reservations and so Lo and Behold! - no vacancy.

I caught another cab and decided to go to a train station to make my way down south towards Malaysia for a rendezvous with my host through Couch Surfing (CS).  In that cab ride, I broke down and cried because I really felt like I had bitten more than I could chew and what was I going to do?!  

Well, long story short, I found a travel agency that was open late, made reservations for a flight to Phuket and a hotel for a cheap - or at least what I considered cheap - rate and felt better about it in the morning.  Yeah, I felt a bit defeated after a rough start but once I had my day planned and my next destination booked, I knew I would be okay.

Another thing I'd like to point out that travel shows will not tell you about is how exhausting it is to go from town to town, city to city everyday!  I was ‘gogogo’ mode from the time I landed in BKK until I reached Malaysia and I was on a tight schedule because I made arrangement for with my CS host to be at a certain place by a certain time.  It was also my first time really using CS outside of my host country so I wanted to be sure everything worked out perfectly.  My itinerary was BKK→ Phuket → Krabi → Trang → Hat Yai → Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (KL).  I essentially need to get to KL in 6 days and so I hopped in a shared van and traveled all the way down to Malaysia that way to.  I was really bad about reading up on news in general back then and apparently when I was there, southern Thailand had just had a huge coup de tat due to conflict between a Muslim group against the local government.  I had just missed a huge bombing in Pattani and it was a huge selling point for me to take the Hat Yai route down to KL via bus.  Moral of this segment of travel: make sure to know what is going on in the news and the political climate of the area you are visiting.

There were a few points during my month travel that I felt overwhelmed just as I did on my first day arriving to BKK.  I remember after being in KL for a few days of exploring, I took the wrong bus to a very politically enthusiastic part of the city and I was just shocked by the propaganda all over the place.  You know when you watch presidential election and speeches and you see banners everywhere in that stadium, banners and flags waving all over the walls.  Imagine that stadium was hit by a typhoon and blew everything up all over a town, covering it with a parties colors and a person's image. It felt almost suffocating and oppressive in a manner.  I don’t think I’ve felt so uncomfortable by a communities...fervor for a certain party as I did in that bus.  Luckily, the bus driver noticed I hadn’t gotten off - how could he not? I was the only one on it at that point! - and kindly directed me to the right bus stop. He was kind enough to make sure I was in the right place and advised me what bus to take. As odd as it sounds, I was a bit shaken by that experience for some reason and I still don’t know if it’s because of conditioning or a prejudice of what I see in the media about fervent political ideologies or the combined feeling of being lost and surrounded by something so foreign.

By the time I got to Cambodia, I was a bit hardened and felt like a seasoned traveler - though I was far from it - but I still managed to get swindled!  When I landed in Phnom Penh, I was extremely exhausted from all the traveling.  I just wanted a driver that spoke English and would take me to a hotel.  I asked this persistent motor bike driver if he speaks English - mistake #1 - and asked him can he take me to a hotel - mistake #2 - which he readily replied, "Yesyesyes" to.  Previous drivers were honest and turned me away so I was probably too hopeful that this guy would be honest and do the same.  This guy started to rattle on nonsense about where he was taking me and I kept on reiterating I just wanted to go straight to a hotel and rest.  

Well, he started to take me to some random shack that was in the middle of bum-fuck-nowhere, didn’t explain why he needed to stop there and I was almost afraid that that was the hotel that he was suggesting. Honestly, I didn't know what to expect from Cambodia and if he had said it was my hotel, I was so tired at that point that I probably would have taken his word for it. Thankfully it wasn’t but he then took me to the Killing Fields - very eerie place, a shooting range, and a market before stopping at a decent hotel.  He had quoted me $15 when I first talked to him and at the end, his quote turned into $50! WTFF?!  I was fuming and told him off because I only wanted a hotel and I gave him $25 because he failed both of my interview questions on whether he knew English and can he take me straight to a mother fuckin' hotel?! (rant over)

When confronted with Angkor Wat, you are awed by the beauty, scale, and history of these temples but something that no one likes to mention is the destitute poverty the Khmer people live with.  Their lean-to tents and homes against the ancient site was an eye opener for me and then the panhandling from the children was more than I can handle - especially for a sucker like me.  In a way, I’m grateful for the brief trip to the Killing Fields because I was schooled on the despotic rampage that Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge inflicted upon the Khmer people - check it out if you don't know but it's pretty fucked up.  They are still trying to rebuild from those four years of his premiership that lead to the death of 25% of Cambodia’s population due to executions, lack of food and medical attention, harsh working conditions and political uprisings.  These children out here accosting vulnerable tourist like me, selling and begging were also missing parts of their childhood because they had the obligation to make money for their family. I don't know about you, but it was opening since my childhood was filled with school and playing and enjoying first world amenities. But not these kids.  They had to work at a young age and yes, I did break down and buy stuff from them - many guides will tell you, DON'T DO IT! you'll just perpetuate a messed up systems but you try and look at these kids and say, "no". Despite my bleeding heart, after a while, I become desensitized to their haranguing .

My senses were on overdrive over in these countries and you don’t realize how you’re used to certain sights and smells until you go to somewhere completely different.  Sure, guide books will warn you about really spicy hot food in Southeast Asia but will they tell you about the tent in the middle of an open market where it smells like old and drying blood remnants from when they butchered the meat earlier in the morning? No, they won't!  I remember staying at a motel in Ho Chi Minh City and sitting on the couch resting when the owner of the motel comes out with a duck and held it by the body and proceeded to hit its head against the floor because it was dinner.  I was shocked to say the least but I just watched in quiet horror because I knew that was how they did things over there.  They didn't have regulations like we do in US about fair treatment of animals as well as humane deaths.  She sees it as food and a means to an end and she only knew one way to kill it.  She then proceeded to take the dying or dead duck and scared the poor dog watching her by shoving the limp duck in its face before it ran off. Yeah, I was shocked to say the least but I wasn't going make a huge production of it and I schooled my expression to make sure my shock wasn't completely evident - I'm sure my eyes were all bugged out though. I almost wonder if the old woman had a sadistic side to her and wanted to see if the shock value of her killing the duck would affect me. I almost thought she was waiting for some kind of reaction from me. Oh, well. I guess I disappointed her but I wasn't going to be her entertainment at the expense of that poor duck - now I do sound like a privileged '1st Worlder' (not a word but I don't care! I'll just coin it!).

I caught a bus on my way back from Viet Nam to Thailand and we made a stop through Cambodiato get there.  The bus stop had a stall of bugs - and mind you I'm not that picky of an eater - I am more than willing to try a few different bugs but not a whole cart of roaches the size of my palm!  I draw the line at roaches and really squishy bugs unless they are cooked but I still won’t try a roasted roach.  Traumatized by them as a kid.

My travels abroad was one of the most exciting, scary and hands-on educational learning experience I’ve ever had in my whole life.  I’ve traveled to places with family but unless you are on your own and have to rely on your own instincts. I, personally, don’t think you’ve really traveled unless you’ve had that bit of fear and a bit of triumph over your own prejudices and overcoming these challenges.