With the help of a traveling family who visited Ubud just before us, we located an awesome rental in Ubud, Bali for the 3 1/2 weeks that we were visiting. It was located on the outskirts of Ubud in a quiet neighborhood where nearly everyone is related to their neighbor (families tend to build their own mini-communities). Our rental cost about $1300 per month, and was a newer two-bedroom home that was beautifully designed and furnished! The...

Bali wasn’t exactly on our radar during this visit to Southeast Asia. But soon after arriving in Thailand and meeting up with our friends from A Kings Life, as well as meeting additional traveling families who make a home base in Bali, our 7 year old was begging to go and visit her friends in Bali. “Can we go to Bali for my birthday?” she asked. We realized it was a ridiculous request…made even more ridiculous by the fact that we...

Finding a good house rental in Chiang Mai can be a cumbersome task. Sure, there were options—but most of them only had 1 or 2 bedrooms, no kitchen, and absolutely no yard (high-rise condo-style). That’s not our idea of living!We knew we wanted to be outside of the city so that we could have a yard, access to a swimming pool, and an overall quieter pace. Thankfully, we finally ran across a great couple that has great house rentals in...

If you spend any decent amount of time in Chiang Mai, Thailand, you will find yourself searching for some play places to entertain your children. Suan Buak Haad is a public park in the southwest corner of town with some grass, a pond, and dilapidated playground equipment that is still perfectly sufficient and entertaining for kids. However, you will soon be melting in the heat and humidity, so I’ve found you an alternative—an indoor...

With such a large expat community in Chiang Mai, Thailand, I thought it would be easy to track down a recommendation for an eyeglass store. Instead, a quick Google search flooded me with warnings about who not to buy from (for quality reasons, unfulfilled warranties, etc). My old glasses were 5+ years old, no longer had most of their paint, and were pretty scratched up. It was time to go shopping! I finally found many referrals sending me...

When Jared’s parents and brother visited us in Chiang Mai, we decided to splurge and visit the Old Chiang Mai Cultural Center. Tickets for our family of 5 (kids were half price and toddler was free) were 1560 Baht ($54 USD). Not the cheapest adventure in Thailand! We arrived to a large spread of seating on the ground around a central stage (some seats were available with chair seating, but this must be by special request). We had assigned...