Asia Archives • Choosing Figs

Hostel cat on Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua.

March 1, 2018

in Asia, Bangkok, Cali, Cambodia, Cats, Chiang Mai, Colombia, Cusco, Darjeeling, El Nido, Ephesus, Europe, Flores, Gili Trawangan, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Isla de Ometepe, Istanbul, Koh Phi Phi, Lago de Yajoa, Laos, Latin American Adventure, Leon, Lima, Luang Prabang, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Round the World, San Blas Islands, Sihanoukville, South America, Thailand, travel, Turkey, Vang Vieng

Cats Around the World

Last year, I went on date to see the movie Kedi at The Music Box here in Chicago. Kedi, in Turkish, simply means "cat," and the film documents the cats in Istanbul who rule the streets and seem, all at once, to belong to everyone...

February 22, 2016

in Asia, Koh Samui, Thailand, travel

Samui

I didn't particularly love Koh Samui the first time around. Nothing against it, it just wasn't the most memorable place. But that's where I ended up for my last few days of vacation in Thailand. I was having a terrible time deciding on where to...

February 19, 2016

in Asia, Chiang Mai, Thailand, travel

Chiang Mai & the eternal question: can you go home again?

If you walk about a block from my hostel in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and then turn right and walk another two blocks, past the woman selling fried chicken and meat on a stick from a cart, you'll find the closest 7-Eleven. If you turn left at...

Me and the boys. They were pretty much the reason I went to Thailand.

February 9, 2016

in Asia, Bangkok, TBEX, Thailand, travel

Same Same, But Different: Returning to Bangkok.

There's a smell to Asia. A mix of lemongrass and coriander and durian and mango. A mix of incense and sweat and fermented meat. Something like that. It's a scent that's enhanced with the sticky humidity. Intensified. It's a scent that's just there, saturating the...

Pad Thai with Prawn - because you absolutely can not visit Thailand without getting at least one Pad Thai.

November 6, 2015

in Asia, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, food, Koh Samui, Thailand, travel

Two weeks of Thai food in Thailand.

I have a lot to say about my two week vacation in Thailand. I just haven't yet found all the right words. So instead, for now, I'm just going to share with you all the Thai food I ate. Because, really, food was one of...

November 1, 2015

in Asia, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Koh Samui, Thailand, travel

October in Thailand.

I've been trying to recap my months, every month, in Instagrams, a platform I've been at least somewhat diligent in keeping up to date (follow me here), so I can collect for you all the things I haven't gotten a chance to blog about yet....

October 11, 2015

in Asia, Thailand, travel

To Thailand.

"Two weeks is more than most Americans get for vacation each year." I reminded myself of that in my Chiang Mai hostel, two weeks before leaving. I'd been traveling for fifteen months, eleven of those in Asia, and it was time to go home. Two weeks, at...

The Journey Home - Get Picked up by someone with a sign with my name on it.

October 9, 2012

in Asia, Chiang Mai, Life List, Round the World, Thailand, travel

Life List #127: Get picked up at the airport by someone with a sign with my name on it.

CNX > BKK > AUH > ORD Photos from my journey home from Thailand. Get picked up at the airport by someone with a sign with my name on it was number 127 on my life list. ...

Val and her cat at Deejai Backpackers in Chiang Mai, Thailand

October 7, 2012

in Asia, Chiang Mai, Round the World, Thailand, travel

You can checkout any time you like, but you can never leave.

I'm sitting at BKK and have started and stopped writing this post about ten times. I'm not sure what I want to say. Maybe because I'm not sure how, exactly, I feel right now. I've been traveling for the past fifteen months. And, today, I...

October 7, 2012

in Asia, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, food, Round the World, Thailand, travel

I will miss you, $1 Pad Thai: What I ate in Thailand.

On my last stint in Thailand, my last stint in Asia, before heading home after 15 months of travel abroad, I spent a month in Chiang Mai and Bangkok. And I ate. A lot. $1 in Thailand goes far, with most of my meals costing...

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Hi, I’m Val. I spent most of my 20s in a standstill, unable to pick which path in life I wanted to take. I wanted the nomadic life of a traveler but also wanted the husband, the condo, and the teal couch. Unable to decide which life I wanted more, I did nothing. I lived my life in limbo. When I turned 30 I’d had enough of putting my life on hold and decided to start “choosing my figs.” So, I quit my job and bought a one-way ticket to Europe. After 3 years on the road I’m back in Chicago, exploring the city, learning guitar, decorating my apartment in too much teal, cuddling my cats, and planning my next adventures.

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