It is my last full day in Luang Prabang, Laos. It has been wonderful and saying goodbye is a bit bittersweet. Everyone was right. I did, very much, love Laos.Today was filled with “one lasts”. One last morning at Big Brother Mouse. I brought ice cream for all of the kids and from the look on their faces, you would have thought it was Christmas morning. Who cares if we were all eating ice cream at 9:30 in the morning? One last trip to the waterf...

I signed up to go kayaking down the Nam Khan river today. Paddling down (mostly) calm waters, stopping at remote villages and chilling at the Tad Sae waterfall for lunch. Sounds terrific, right? It was. Mostly. But I guess I didn't realize just how long five hours is when you are talking about paddling a kayak. Let me tell you for those who may not know. It's a bloody long time. The two hours to the waterfall were a breeze. I'm sitting there ...

So I am supposed to be in Vang Vieng right now. Vang Vieng is the party capital of SE Asia where thousands of college and gap year kids come to tube down the river and drink (and sometimes drug) themselves into oblivion. It’s about all there is to do in Vang Vieng. So that’s where I was headed. Ready to relax and hang out, drinking with the kids and playing on the river. I was in. I may be old, but I was ready to, at least for a day or two, let ...

As many of you know, I love my routines. I love the familiarity and comfort of them. They make me feel like all is right with the world. And, as luck would have it, I tend to fall into them pretty quickly.In just a few short days, I have developed a nice quaint routine in Luang Prabang. It goes a little something like this. Wake up and go for a walk along the Mekong River. The mornings here are cool and clean and perfect. Watch the kids splash and play in...

Back in Hanoi post overnight train….the original plan was to chill out by the lake, get breakfast, chill some more, and then head over to the airport for my early evening flight to Laos. In hindsight, this was a dumb plan. I had underestimated several factors. Just how early 4:30am actually was. Just how dark it would be. And just how tired I would be from not sleeping well on the train. Okay…it was time to activate plan B. I didn’t actua...