Looking Back – One Year Since we Packed our Bags

The past year has just flew by! Last year on the 10th of September we boarded our one way flight from Dublin to Beijing. We had a rough plan in mind and we had sent ourselves some goals to achieve. We were both openminded to changing our plans as we traveled and we tried to remain as flexible as possible.

Some of the best moments and decisions we made were the ones we did not plan or think too much about. For example, if someone had to tell us this time last year we would be where we are today (working as teachers in Thailand during a global pandemic) we would have just laughed ‘yeah right’. One year ago we thought we would now be picking fruit in New Zealand, not teaching in Chiang Mai. Click below to read all about how we decided to move to Thailand to work as teachers.

It is crazy to look back at all the adventures we have had, all the amazing cities and world famous sites we have seen. If you are new to our blog here is a quick breakdown of our year of travel:

On the 10th September we left Ireland for Beijing China. We spent one week in Beijing before we boarded our second flight of the trip to Seoul South Korea, where we spend one week. Next, we traveled to Japan where we spent 7 weeks traveling the country and taking in the atmosphere of the Rugby World Cup.

Next we traveled to Bangkok for 3 days before making our way to Perth Australia via Singapore for a 24 hour layover. We spent 2 weeks in traveling Perth and Western Australia before we traveled to Bali for 2 weeks of relaxation. After Bali we flew to Cairns where we began our 2 month trip along the east coast of Australia.

At the end of January we made our way back to Asia to begin our one month journey backpacking around South East Asia. Starting in Vietnam we made our way to Cambodia, Laos and finally to Chiang Mai Thailand. We got jobs apartment just in time before Thailand went into lockdown and closed their boarders.

During lockdown we taught online. By the time summer came, Chiang Mai was slowly opening up again. We started working our way though the cities must see sights and eating our way through all the delicious restaurants. At the beginning of August we took a trip to Chiang Rai. Since mid-August we have been working at school in the classroom.

Life in Thailand is good and we are excited to see what the next year has in store for us. Thailand is fully open for local tourism. We are excited to make the most of our school holidays and travel and see as much of Thailand as possible before the tourists return. It has been over 6 months now since we last boarded a plane. Fingers crossed we will be traveling to the southern beaches of Thailand in October for a week of relaxation. Hopefully 2021 will be the year when we all can get back on track with all our travel plans. Click below to read all about our future travel plans post pandemic.

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