Reset search
2024 Great Globetrot2024 Great Globetrot
SatelliteEdit route

2024 Great Globetrot

February - May 2024
An open-ended adventure by Reed Read more
Currently traveling
  • 8footprints
  • 5countries
  • 90days
  • 102photos
  • 4videos
  • 18.8kkilometers
  • 11.3kkilometers
Follow Calendar Share Bucket list
Date ascending
  • Traveler2024 Great Globetrot
    Day 18

    Chobe Nat’l Park - Botswana

    February 22 in Botswana ⋅ ☀️ 38 °C

    Day trip from Vic Falls Zimbabwe. Drove 1.5 hrs to this park which is just across the border in Botswana. Went on a 3-hr game drive on land, had lunch at a nearby lodge, and then spent 2+ hrs on a boat in the Chobe River which is the backbone and lifeblood of the park.Read more

  • Traveler2024 Great Globetrot
    Day 19–22

    Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

    February 23 in Zimbabwe ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    World’s largest waterfall- Victoria Falls. Located on the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia, the grandeur and power of this natural wonder are truly indescribable. We stayed in the town of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.Read more

  • Traveler2024 Great Globetrot
    Day 38–41

    Bangkok (Round 1)

    March 13 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 34 °C

    We started our Southeast Asia exploration in Bangkok, the capital and largest city of Thailand. Though we were excited for our long stay in Northern Thailand, we decided to take it easy and give ourselves a night or two of proper sleep in a comfy bed in Bangkok after our red-eye-and-a-half from Kenya. I’m SO glad we did. Our first day there we went to CentralWorld Mall, one of the largest in the world, and out of the blue, bumped into a dear friend I hadn’t seen in years. Yawei, who is from northern China and now lives in Shanghai, was a fellow university recruiter and one of my favorite traveling companions during my time at IU. We hadn’t seen each other since 2019, when COVID brought US-China recruitment to a freeze that’s only now starting to thaw. It was a unique thrill to see a familiar face so far from home and to journey, in a matter of seconds, through shock, confusion, and disbelief into delight. After the double-takes, hugs, “what-the???’s” and laughter, I introduced him to Chloe (whom he’d only heard tell of on social media), we briefly shared what we were up to (he was there for a tourism marketing conference), and immediately made plans to meet for a proper catch-up over dinner and drinks. We found a particularly spectacular spot for cocktails after dinner (see picture comments), for which his industry connections may or may not have scored us a sweet discount. 😇Read more

  • Traveler2024 Great Globetrot
    Day 39–41

    Chiang Mai + Chiang Rai, Thailand

    March 14 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

    Arriving in Thailand, we knew we had 2 choices: intense heat (down south), or smoky air (up north). We opted to take our chances on the smoky air, having had our fill of sweltering heat in Kenya and Zimbabwe over the last few weeks. We hopped on an 8-hr bus from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, which was surprisingly comfortable. After a stimulating and satisfying dinner adventure through one of Chiang Mai's buzzing night markets (we kept it simple, in light of the option overwhelm-- $1.50 pad thais), we called it a night to prepare for an early-morning day-trip up to Chiang Rai.

    Chiang Rai is most known for its two 21st-century temples known in English as the "Blue Temple" and "White Temple,” and a quirky museum (for lack of a better word) called “Black House.” The temples were truly spectacular as architectural and artistic feats, showing virtuosic skill and unbridled vision. But something felt a bit superficial to us, especially in the White Temple. It seems that these buildings, both built in the 21st-century and funded by a combination of the artists' own funds and government money, were conceived less as places of worship and more as displays of the artists' extravagant skill and as money-making tourist attractions. They certainly succeeded at both of those. Lines at 10AM wrapped all the way around the massive (and stunning) White Temple, and employees on megaphones hurried people through the main passages of the complex. Between the two temples, we did prefer Blue Temple by far. The White Temple does not allow photography inside, but the walls in the main temple are covered in murals that populate somewhat traditional-looking religious landscapes/scenarios with famous characters from Western (and probably Eastern) pop culture-- think Batman, Darth Vader, Elvis, various Pokémon, etc. This could totally be a well-thought out spiritual commentary that's over my head, but I mostly experienced that imagery (which was EVERYWHERE inside) as a distraction from the stillness and contemplation that many other Buddhist temples (in my very limited experience) seek to inspire.

    The Blue Temple was slightly smaller, slightly less busy (though certainly still humming with activity) and while extremely bright, extravagant, and colorful, was more traditional on the inside. The walls depicted scenes from the earthly life of the Buddha. It's also centered, like most Buddhist temples, around a shrine featuring a huge, elegant Buddha statue. Here we saw some non-Western folks reverencing the shrine/statue with bows, incense, and gifts. Thinking back, I don't recall a central statue or shrine in the White Temple at all. But then again, I was distracted by the Joker and Charizard being dragged to hell.

    Black House was the legacy of a famous Thai painter who also designed houses and collected all kinds of animal remains (bones, horns, skins/hides, etc.) and built very uncomfortable-looking furniture with them. Since we did all three of these sites as part of a paid day-trip tour and this was our last stop, it felt kind of rushed. There were several buildings with incredible architecture, but not much guidance about what was where, so I went away wishing I'd spent MORE time at the first building, which featured most of the artist's painting, and less at the others, which were mostly just more skull and horn chairs and alligator-skin tables.

    Chiang MAI, where we decided to spend another night, was a place we left wishing we had more time. We had some of the best food from our whole Thailand trip there- Khao Soi is my new favorite Thai food, as it's basically a chicken curry with NOODLES instead of rice. Yum. We also found a stellar speakeasy-- the White Rabbit-- where they constructed delicious cocktails riffing on classic recipes using local ingredients like Keffir Lime and Pandan Leaf. Bonus points for the location, hidden away such that we had to literally "follow the white rabbit" down an alley, through an antechamber, up some creepy stairs and through another few creaky, barely-lit, abandoned-looking rooms into this sleek, intimate bar.    Read more

  • Traveler2024 Great Globetrot
    Day 41–45

    Chiang Dao, Thailand

    March 16 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 36 °C

    Chiang Dao is a small town in the mountains of Northern Thailand. We went there hoping for cooler weather and some quietude after a few days in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. We got the quietude, for sure! Chiang Dao's landscape is lush and stunning, dominated by a forested mountain range that includes Doi Chiang Dao, Thailand's 3rd-highest peak.

    I doubt Chiang Dao is ever *bustling*, but it's not unknown to regional and even some western tourists. There are a decent helping of quaint hostels, rustic-chic boutique hotels, and plenty of Starbucks-esque coffee shops (free wi-fi, A/C, and bean origin statements!) in the area, and a strip of the highway that includes Western-style hotels as well. What was eery was being there in March, which was the peak of this year's "burning season," where many farmers burn their fields after harvest in order to clear the ground for next season's planting. The smoke from these fires pervades the atmosphere of the entire region for weeks, or even months. Naturally, this is a LOW season for tourism in Chiang Dao. I don't know if I've ever been to a town/city, as a tourist or otherwise, that felt so abandoned. I was reminded a bit of some of those liminal public space excursions for necessities in various periods of COVID lockdown (or even pre-lockdown, when even many Trumpers were afraid to go out)... but everyone running the shops, restaurants, etc., was happy (if a little surprised) to see us, and we felt very welcomed.

    The main thing we came to Chiang Dao to do was to hike, but the parks turned out to be closed for smoke season. Thus most of our time was spent cruising around the country roads on a scooter, visiting the myriad temples, and sitting in any of the myriad cafés reading, writing, planning, etc. Quite pleasant, really. While the temples here weren't as visually stunning as those we saw in Chiang Rai, they did feel more lived-in and authentic--one could tell that they actually functioned as places of meditation and worship.

    Two highlights: 1) Wat Tham Chiang Dao, a temple complex built around/in a natural cave that's been filled with buddhist shrines. 2) Our visit to Hoklhong Coffee, one of the best coffee shops I've visited on this trip. I hope to write a full piece on the coffee scene in SE Asia, but this spot in particular deserves special attention.

    I read about this spot in a blog post from 2019 where the author described both exceptional coffee and a really friendly, engaging owner/operator by the name of P'Yuth, who was proud of his product and really eager to share his knowledge. I'm sad to say that we only made it to his café on our last day in Chiang Dao, since it's a few km outside the town itself, and it was closed for our first couple days there. When we did get there, not only was the coffee amazing, we learned that it's grown, processed, roasted, and brewed right there in Chiang Dao by the same people. The roaster/café combo is common enough here (more common, I'd say, than in the US, actually!) but this is the first time I've come across a café where the same company is GROWING the coffee just down the road. When I told our barista I was loving the natural-processed drip coffee she'd just made, she recommended we go say hi to the roaster, who was in the back (another open-air, thatched roof traditional building on the property) roasting as we spoke.

    And so there was P'Yuth, who showed us his roaster, told us the story of those beans and his story of getting into the business, and insisted on making us a fresh cup (on the house) of the stuff he was currently working on -- a honey-processed local bean, which he brewed with an AeroPress. Chloe complemented the label on the coffee bag, and he said "oh yeah, that's by my friend, he also does posters for Khruangbin. He does all our designs." (Khruangbin is a favorite band of ours, an American world-fusion group with heavy Thai influences.)

    He loves coffee, he said, but what really excites him is how it connects people. I couldn't agree more. I asked if his beans were for sale anywhere else in Thailand-- maybe Chiang Mai (an hr away) or Bangkok? Nope. He responded that he used to distribute to some places in Chiang Mai, but it was too much trouble. He's totally happy growing, processing, roasting, and brewing coffee for folks right here in Chiang Dao. It's refreshing to hear someone finding happiness in just making something good and sharing it with the people around them without needing to perpetually expand it out into a greater and greater scale. And P'Yuth does really seem happy. He is one of those people that just exudes peace and warmth, and I'm extremely grateful that we were able to sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee with him.    Read more

  • Traveler2024 Great Globetrot
    Day 45–48

    Bangkok (Round 2)

    March 20 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    We came back to Bangkok after Chiang Dao to meet up with a couple American friends who were in town.

    It was great to connect with Sam, whom I'd become friends with as fellow recruiters. She had just moved to Bangkok this year as a high school guidance counselor - a career move that many recruiters in my (former) field set in their sights. It also just so happened that a tour group of recruiters was coming through Bangkok and visiting Sam's school, so she arranged a dinner and we got to meet with *several* old friends of mine, and they got to finally meet Chloe, which was all a great delight.

    Another highlight was reconnecting with Zack, one of my best friends ever and former bandmate from our Bloomington days. Zack moved to China in 2017 for a teaching job right as I was starting my travel job for IU, and was in Bangkok for an international education conference. In addition to a few meals and drinks together, we stumbled into an opportunity on our last night in town to not only play but *perform* music together at a club/bar we visited. The entertainment that night was a band of local guys doing a mighty fine job covering classic Western hits like Pink Floyd and Hendrix.

    After taking some requests from the crowd, they asked if anyone wanted to join them on stage to sing. Somewhat jokingly, Zack asked if we could play, too, and to our surprise, they said "sure!" So we hopped up and borrowed guitars from the two frontmen, and suggested the most popular song we knew to play together-- Sweet Virginia, by the Rolling Stones. Though the rhythm section said they didn't know that particular song, they sure knew the Stones, and eagerly pulled up the chords/lyrics on their phones and away we went!

    It certainly was far from a polished performance on our part, but what a thrill to play with a group again, and on-stage, no less! Before that night I hadn't spent much time playing the little travel guitar I'd lugged around with me all this way, but that really reignited my craving for music, and I've picked it up far more frequently since then.    Read more

  • 2024© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Blog
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Support
  • Legal notice
  • English