. . . . I ended up staying at the Phumin Hotel that night. It looked nicer than Otto’s, and after what I had just been through, and what I knew was coming next, I needed nicer. Although the Phumin Hotel was a lot more expensive than Otto’s, it still had cold showers. For 500 baht I […]

***Before you read “A Border Crossing Adventure, Parts 1&2”, let me just say that it’s been a while since I’ve written them and I’ve since regretted some of the ways that I tried to save money on this trip. I now realize it was uncool, and I feel bad about it. But at the time […]

***Before you read “A Border Crossing Adventure, Parts 1&2”, let me just say that it’s been a while since I’ve written them and I’ve since regretted some of the ways that I tried to save money on this trip. I now realize it was uncool, and I feel bad about it. But at the time […]

First, I’d like to thank everyone for reading my blog, and/or individual posts. And also thank you to those who have commented. I know I’ve hardly replied to any of them, but I do see them, and appreciate them. Also, if you are a common reader of my blog, you may want to go back and […]

Previously, I’d said that I was on my own again, and about to head south to the beautiful beaches of Thailand. Well, I was on my own for about 2 days, but June could still not let go, and I caved. It’s not that I don’t want to be with her, I wish she could […]

One odd thing I’ve noticed about Thailand is: There are no squirrels here. At least I haven’t seen any. I’ve been in Bangkok most of the time, but, although this is a metropolis, there are parks and trees and other places loved by all the squirrels I’ve ever known. And I have also been to […]

This blog is called “Mark’s Vagabonding Blog” and, honestly, so far I feel I have not done much vagabonding or growing. Yes, for more than a month I have been a world removed from my home, but for the most part, I have been staying comfortably with June. Someone whom I have initially known from home, […]

I have a feeling my last post was a little to difficult for some to take (Although I think it was some of my best writing) , so I will lighten it up here. I lied earlier when I said I was only using my camera for the clock. I did take some pictures, but not […]

Bangkok, Thailand Nov 10, 2005, around noon. In all the literature I’ve read on doing a vagabonding trip to Southeast Asia, one thing was Unanamous: You will get sick. Yesterday I had diarrhea, my skin was tingly, and I felt very lethargic. The last time I felt like that, sans the diarrhea, was when I had […]

Bangkok, Thailand Oh man. I lost my pen!!! How can I have been so careless? What a bonehead! How am I going to survive here without my pen? Oh, why couldn’t it have been my my sunglasses . . . or even my wallet? Those I can live without. But that was such a valuable, […]

Bangkok, Thailand It’s been a while since I’ve writen anything, but that doesn’t mean there is nothing to report. Oh man, is there something to report. I learned a $500 (U.S.) lesson this week, maybe more. I never though that I would be one to have to write about this. It’s only supposed to happen […]

If there are any Barnes and Noble employees reading these, I was in a department store yesterday in Bangkok, Thailand which has a bookstore within that sells new books. I was looking at the books in English (I’m still illiterate in Thai), and one of the books had a B&N 20% off sticker in the […]

Would you rather take a warm shower with very weak water pressure, or a cold shower with decent pressure? These are the choices a vagabonder must make. For some, whether to take a shower at all. For those old enough, do you remember what Exxon was before it was Exxon? The differences between Asha Guesthouse and Suk […]

Bangkok, Thailand I was sitting at the free breakfast at the Suk 11 hostel about a half an hour ago. A cute girl asked if the seat across from me was free (British accent). I motioned for her to sit. It seemed she was alone. She seemed shy. I caught her stealing glances at me, […]

Oct 27, 2005, Bangkok, Thailand. I lost my sunglasses already (clip-ons actually, but they were the reason I got those glasses. Magnetic, polorized sunglasses. I liked them. I lost my eyeglass case along with them). When we returned to Bangkok on the 10 hour bus ride from Lampang a couple of days ago, I noticed […]

Well, I leave for LAX Airport in about 15 minutes for my year long vagabonding trip to Southeast Asia, and I’m finally starting my blog now. My whole preparation for this trip has been last minute. I’m currently at my cousin Mary’s beautiful home in Irvine, California. I’m visiting her and her husband Marty as […]