Here is the new travelogue of sorts, kap kun kap for your interest

We have been in Thailand now for just over a week, seemingly in constant transit. After settling in to a laid-back guesthouse in Bangkok, complete with a pool and one warm shared shower (savior of Lauren’s induction into Thailand), we almost immediately absconded to Kho Samet, a bustling bourgeois island only four hours away from Bangkok. Here we plotted our next steps in finding respectable volunteer placements, or meant to at least. Instead, we drove around on our moped and tried unsuccessfully to find some small snorkel site within swimming range of the island. We then returned to Bangkok for a day, proceeding then by night-train to Chiang Mai, the unofficial capital of the north. Outside of the mostly tourist-inhabited central city, there is little of the charm or character that we had been anticipating. On account of the massive tourist throngs and considerable expat population, one could very easily lose track of it being a Thai city. Without much luck in finding a responsive organization (it would appear Thailand is too developed for many of our purposes – offices schedule small meetings weeks in advance, demand letters of intent in writing, and most grievously, many expect stiff weekly fees, upwards of $500, for the privilege of paying to travel to a foreign land and work for free. At what point does free long-term labor become objectionable?), Lauren and I left for Chiang Rai, four hours to the north, in hopes of greater access to organizations. Yesterday we had some luck in contacting a few offices that arranged meetings and contacts, but we have accepted that no real progress is imminent in the near future; Lauren has, on the side, undertaken to play with elephants as soon and as often as possible. With any luck, we will have found and joined organizations within the next two weeks; in the meantime, the border town of Mae Sai, nestled up against Burma/Myanmar’s underbelly, seems like the next logical stop in our foray into begging to assist people.