Chiang Mai 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 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...

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....

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...

October 6, 2012

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

Scenes from Chiang Mai: Part 3

Jaime, who I met online a year before we both left to travel, who I first met in real life in Brussels, who I threw tomatoes at at La Tomatina in Spain, who I traveled with for three months through India, finally found his way...

Playing Pool at Deejai Backpackers in Chiang Mai, Thailand

October 4, 2012

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

Pool shark.

I've been spending many of my days and many of my nights playing pool at my hostel in Chiang Mai. I'm not going to lie: I suck at pool. But every so often I manage to win. And every so often out of those times...

Getting a Superman wrist tattoo in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

October 2, 2012

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

Of birds and planes and truth and justice.

Getting a Superman logo wrist tattoo at York Studio in Chiang Mai, Thailand....

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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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Cats Around the World

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

Two weeks of Thai food in Thailand.

October in Thailand.

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

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

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

Scenes from Chiang Mai: Part 3

Pool shark.

Of birds and planes and truth and justice.

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