![]() Its legacy as a major stop on the Silk Road gives it a deeply historical feel, like Xi'an or Istanbul. The Skinny on Azerbaijan - With a population of four million people, Baku, the capital, is as beautiful as any city I've visited. Three Nights In The Land Of Fire - A Travelogue Whomever catches our ear first will shape the narrative (and the way we experience truth). Unconscious biases develop from hearing single stories and limited perspectives. Governments can act in benevolent ways that are truly good for their people. International conflicts and century-old beefs cannot be remedied in a few conversations over drinks or at a conference table. We need to step outside of our comfort zones or explore less popular destinations to open our eyes to other ways of thinking and being. Travel, particularly on an American passport, is one of the great privileges that exists in the world. We can have a sense of pride in our people, history, and society without putting down othersīorders and boundaries are social constructs that in effort to define a people and place, bulldoze and silence communities. We rely too much on socially constructed identities as if they are fixed and others are fixed to these categories, assigned to boxes they cannot get out of. Race, culture, language and all the beautiful things that make us uniquely diverse are also the things we can use to alienate and isolate ourselves from others. The vastness and diversity of the countries that exist on this planet are mind boggling. With that said, a few things–in no particular order and yes, in somewhat contradictory fashion– I’m mulling over. I’m toying with a few different takeaways from our trip but haven’t found the time to sit down and flush them out just yet. Nate wrote a beautiful piece in his recent newsletter (btw, you should subscribe as he writes every single week), about our weekend trip to Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. Time and again, I am grateful for the opportunity to hop on a plane and head somewhere I’ve only seen in a National Geographic magazine. By no means, am I here to wax poetic about #yolo but I do think moving abroad is part of our seizing a moment (not the moment, just a moment). But the fact of the matter is that our days aren’t promised to us. I can’t think of how many times I’ve put off an experience, a trip, or a call to someone. Instead, you can branch out to lesser known experiences or choose to get two massages on the beach in one day just because you feel like it. The best part of visiting somewhere more than once is you don’t have the “have to do” or “you must see” pressure or guilt. From the generosity of Thai people (sweet) to the gorgeous beaches on every coastline (salty) to the sweat trickling down your back as you sit in traffic (sour) and the som tam filling your stomach (literally spicy). ![]() In many ways our experiences in Thailand are much like its cuisine-a perfect balance of sweet, sour, salty, and spicy. This time, we limited our 12 days to three stops– Bangkok (central), Chiangmai (north) and Koh Lanta (south). Then, we hopped over to Malaysia exploring Penang and Kuala Lumpur before we flew to Cambodia spending a week in Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville. We wandered the streets of Bangkok and sands of Phuket and Ao Nang. That summer we let the spirit lead our trip. Someone said "I could teach the mess out of those kids" and by the end of the summer, we had our applications in at Search Associates. Thailand holds a special place for us because in 2018 we were sitting in the back of a songthaew (Thai bus for medium length trips) and adorable uniformed Thai children jumped on. ![]() Combine that with films such as Anna & the King (1999), The Beach (2000), Ong-Bak (2003), Beautiful Boxer (2003), Tropical Madald (2004), and Love of Siam (2007), many in the West were inundated with the sounds, sights, and smells of Thailand. In the early 2000s, the Thai government engaged in “ culinary diplomacy: winning hearts and minds through the stomach”, sponsoring thousands of Thai restaurants launched across the globe. The thing about Thailand is once you're there you don't want to leave. ![]()
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