Getting a Thai massage has been at the top of my TO-DO list every day, but for some reason or another, I’ve been unable to succeed in this seemingly simple task. I mean, all it takes is an hour of interrupted time while I lay in silence, but alas, I’ve failed. Blame it on Chiang Mai. I seem to have fallen into the black hole that is Chiang Mai, where people are kind, food is cheap, activities are plenty, and fascinating travelers are the rule rather than the exception.

If I had five cents for every time I heard the phrase “digital nomad” in the past week, I could probably upgrade to a penthouse suite in my hotel.  Unbeknownst to me, all the cool work-from-home kids have been living here, and I’ve been stuck in an RV traveling around the U.S.  That’s about to change!

In the past few days, I’ve run into bloggers, writers, retired westerners, computer programmers, and interestingly enough, professional poker players.  I’ve run into more programmers in a week, than I have in the last year– in the States– and I make a living writing code!

From what I gather, excluding the native population, everyone here (in order of prominence) is either an English teacher, a techie of some sort, or a poker player.  Surreal.  The expats are friendly, fascinating, and after only a week, I turn down more activities than I attend.

I’ve met a myriad of interesting folks, but here are just a key ones from the past few days.

I met the cool folks from Go Curry Cracker, who retired in their late 30s to travel the world and have beautiful babies on the way :). Jeremy and Winnie were kind enough to meet me for coffee, and pontificate on early retirement, traveling, and life in general. I got great tips on diving, sailing, and managing a broad-market portfolio of index funds ;-). It was like talking with financial Buddha. If you’re curious about never paying taxes, traveling the world, or calling it quits while being financially independent, you should head on over to their site.

The Go Curry Cracker Team

Meeting them in turn led me to Captain Liz, a fascinating girl (she said I could say “girl”) who at 25 is captaining vessels across oceans I didn’t even know existed. Anyone who can fix anything and whose motto is “repairing things right (away)” gets my attention. I wish more people in the software industry took that to heart.

I have met more bloggers than I can shake a stick at:

It would be impossible to remember them all, but I found particularly interesting Jennifer and Simon at Square Hippie, two Ph.D’s in chemistry who left the luxurious life of chemistry researchers to join the ranks of us nomads. Take a look. They have some great tips on taking the plunge and finding creating work abroad.

Finally, I’ve been spending time with Leoni Van Leeuwen and her band of elves at the Bandekdee Orphanage. Leoni is a Dutch expat who has been living here for 5 years and raising awareness on disenfranchised children in Thailand. Below are some pictures of the The Loi Kathrong Festival (lantern festival), where we spent the afternoon at the orphanage, eating, playing games, and setting things on fire. What’s not to like?

So yeah, I’ve been a little busy for a massage, but it’s still on my short-term list. Though not today, because I’m going to a Thai boxing match in a bit.