I think the trick, while traveling around the world for the next nine months, is going to be creating temporary homes wherever we go.

For the first couple of days we were constantly on the move – two nights here, two nights there – and it was exhausting. We didn’t feel like we could find our place anywhere.
This week, though, we’ve been in one place – beautiful Chiang Dao, for five nights and six days, and really made a little home of it. It’s been so wonderful to get to know the area, and the people, and to have a sense of familiarity about our surroundings.
I’m really quite sad to leave.

Even more than the familiarity, though, this week has been full to bursting with incredible experiences. We’ve explored the monastery down the road (it was amazing), hiked through the forest (it was very muddy and steep!), discovered the inner workings of the Chiang Dao caves, cooked our own Thai red coconut curries and, this morning, rode an elephant through the Thai forest, followed by a bamboo ride down the river.
WOW.

I feel, especially today, but all week, really, like the luckiest girl in the world. The sun has been shining every day (despite it being the rainy season), we’ve eaten such good food, met some lovely people, and really got a sense of what Thailand is really like. Chiang Dao is such a special part of the country, it’s away from the hustle and bustle, and away from people trying to sell you things and crowds of tourists everywhere you look. When we’ve walked through the forest, we’ve been the only ones there. Riding the elephant this morning, we didn’t see a foreigner for hours. It’s been simply wonderful.

Being in one place has also made it easier for me to assess my blood sugar control, and I’m pleased to say it’s doing well. Slightly high when I over-compensate for the amount of exercise I’m doing, but I’d rather it was slightly high than risk going low when I’m out in the wilderness, or experiencing something amazing and then have to feel that horrible disorientated feeling. The one thing I’ve really noticed that’s different about how we’re travelling now and how we’d be travelling if I weren’t diabetic, is that we have to plan meals ahead a lot of the time. Before I would have been quite happy to set out for the day not knowing where we’ll be at mealtimes, but now I have to be quite specific about when I’ll be able to get food, and if it’s the right kind of food.

Still, if that’s the worst of my worries, I’m not complaining at all!!

(If you’d like to see what I mean when I say we’ve been having some incredible experiences, please check out our 30 to 40 second videos of The Best Moment of the Day, here: http://bit.ly/FIlv9 )