By Lynn Strough
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to move to another country? To be an expat in a foreign land? For six months I had a sampling of what that’s like in Thailand. It’s easier than you might think.
At first it can seem really foreign — different language, even different alphabets, different foods, different religions and different customs. For someone like me, who finds all of these differences fascinating, it’s like living in a dream. People in Thailand are very friendly, polite, welcoming and kind. And in bigger cities or resort towns, many speak some English. As an American, I feel lucky that English has become the current universal language. There are many expats from all over in Chiang Mai, the city where I took up residence and whether German or Korean or Brazilian, all generally communicate in English.
First thing to do when arriving is to secure a place to live. There are options for every budget, from shared hostel to small private room to luxury condo or large house. Being in the budget range of travel, I found a place at Mai Mansion, a bright pink building of single, private rooms for the affordable price of 5600 baht — about $156 American dollars a month — plus utilities. Yes, that’s right, you can rent your own furnished place for under $200.
If you find your place a little too spare, there are fun, inexpensive places to go for a few items to spruce it up, like the night markets. For under $10 you can buy colored lights, a ceramic vase and fabric, among other things to add some splashes of color.
What’s eating like in another country? Delicious! In Thailand, of course, there’s a variety of tasty Thai dishes, including pad Thai and curries. Thais like their food very hot, but they are happy to tone it down for us farangs (foreigners). At small local restaurants you can enjoy dinner for as little as 30 baht, or about $1.
If you get homesick for other cuisines, in bigger cities like Chiang Mai you have plenty of options — Mexican, Italian, Indian, American — for a slightly bigger price tag. Even at $6 for dinner, it’s a lot more affordable than eating out in the U.S. or Europe.
With a severe mushroom allergy I was concerned, as mushrooms are common in Asia but as soon as I arrived, I asked someone who spoke both languages to please write me a note that told of my allergy, which I simply showed to the servers. No allergy emergencies in six months, I’m happy to report.
What about transportation? There are many options there as well. You can hop on a very affordable songtheaw, the little red buses that chug down the roads all over. Or grab a tuk tuk, a sort of cart attached to a motorcycle. Many people rent scooters for around $70 a month, which gives you a lot more freedom or you can rent a bike. And of course, there’s always walking.
What does one do in Thailand once you’re settled in? So many options: take a cooking class or go visit an elephant rescue center (please don’t ride the elephants as it can hurt them, go instead where you can feed and help bathe them). There are beautiful temples everywhere which you can visit, and you can even attend a meditation retreat to explore your spiritual side.
If you’re feeling stressed out, for a mere $6 you can experience an hour Thai massage, but I recommend that you splurge on a two-hour coconut oil massage for less than $20. My new friend Pitt does an excellent job, and will leave you feeling like you’re floating.
It’s fun to just wander around and see what you might discover, including all the unique flora. You might even get lucky and be there during the flower festival. And speaking of festivals, there are many. In April is Songkran, the Thai New Year, with its crazy water festivities, and in November the stunningly beautiful Loy Kratong lantern festival, where thousands of little boats made of banana leaves are set off on the river, while thousands of paper lanterns are sent floating up in the night sky.
Many “digital nomads” go to Chiang Mai for an inexpensive place to live and work, and there are lots of internet cafes and co-working spaces with super wifi connections. And for those who are into shopping of the more modern variety, there are shopping malls as well.
In fact, you can get just about anything you want in cities like Chiang Mai, my home base, and certainly everything you need. If you need medical attention, they have topnotch doctors and dentists for a fraction of the cost of care in the U.S. You may just find your prescription for a tenth of the cost of at home. My migraine pills in the States are $40 each by prescription while in Thailand the same brand is $4 over the counter. And I had a great teeth cleaning by the dentist herself for $27.
But back to more fun — near Chiang Mai you can head out to a nearby park for a day of lounging in little waterside huts, eating and swimming, or if you’re more daring, head to the Grand Canyon of Chiang Mai for some cliff jumping. There are other trips as well, such as up to visit the hill tribes or on the winding road up to sleepy little hippy town Pai, where you can take a soak in the waterfalls.
So much to do, although my main purpose was to work on a book, so I had to hide myself away and try not to get too distracted. It’s easy to make friends in a place like Chiang Mai — whether at the coffee shops or the gym (for $27 a month you can have use of a gym and a pool), the festivals, just walking down the street or at the many meet-up groups.
Whether you’re a student taking a break,or a retiree, have been laid off from your job or just need a sabbatical, I highly recommend visiting a foreign country for a period of time, a month or longer. Can’t afford it, you think? Think again. You can housesit or house swap, or couch surf or do like I did and sell everything, though you don’t have to do anything quite so drastic. You can rent out your home, and I bet for the monthly rental income, you’d be able to afford a plane ticket, room and food in Thailand. You can live there pretty easily for $1000 a month (or less if you travel with someone and share accommodations).
Work? See if you can take a sabbatical, so your job is waiting for you. Or see if your job can be done remotely — wifi is not hard to find, and neither is your own slice of paradise.
Don’t have any savings? Start by keeping track of all your daily expenditures, and I bet you can find a myriad of ways to cut back and stash cash away. Coffee? Lunch out? Cigarettes? Drinks after work? That new pair of shoes when you already have 12 pair in your closet? Speaking of closets, what about cleaning them out, along with your garage, and selling some stuff on eBay? It’s all about priorities. Before you know it you’ll have enough to take off for a month (or maybe a year). In fact, for the same amount that you spend on that one-week cruise or staying at a fancy hotel with a golf course, you can stay for a month in southeast Asia. You may decide not to come home.
Concerned about safety? I’ve felt safer in 15 other countries than I do in most places in the U.S., especially as a woman traveling solo. So take off and explore the world! I think you’ll be happy you did.
About Lynn Strough
Lynn is a 50+ wanderer whose incarnations in this life have included graphic designer, children’s book author and illustrator, public speaker, teacher, fine art painter, wine educator in the Napa Valley, and world traveler. Through current circumstances, she has found herself single, without a job or a home, and poised for a great adventure.
“You could consider me homeless and unemployed, but I prefer nomad and self-employed, as I pack up my skills and head off with my small backpack and even smaller savings to circumnavigate the globe (or at least go until the money runs out). Get ready to tag along for the ride…starting now!”
All images copyright Lynn Strough and Travelynn Tales
Reprinted with permission
There’s so much to see and do in Rome, it’s hard to know where to start. The Trevi Fountain is undergoing restoration, hence it’s dry, but it’s still worth a look. They say if you throw a coin into the fountain, you’ll return to Rome. I threw one in 20 years ago, and here I am, but what does it mean that the fountain isn’t flowing?
We wandered past lines of people waiting to get into the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel — I’d already been there years ago, and Beth decided it wasn’t a priority for her. But if you do go to Rome and want to see them, I highly recommend that you buy tickets ahead on line, especially if you’re there in the summer.
Heading back towards our shuttle stop, we passed the Pantheon, so we stopped inside. It’s a place not to miss. The signs all say “silence please,” and a recording announces it in six languages, while hundreds of tourists keep talking. But despite the commotion and crowds, you still get a sense of the grandeur and spirituality of the place.
About Lynn Strough
About Lynn Strough
There are also plenty of museums to choose from: the elegant mansion cum art museum, Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, up on a hill with waterfall fountains pouring down, and room after room of amazing art, including the religious, the surreal, the old and the new.
Music doesn’t get started until 10 pm or later, and many places stay active until 5 am. Too late for me, but I did catch the first set at a flamenco bar, a tiny basement-like place, which happened to be hidden in the red light district.
Sitges is a cool little beach town, a short train ride away from busy Barcelona. Not that Sitges isn’t busy, but it’s not the millions-of-bodies-packed-into-a-city busy that is Barcelona. We went on a rainy, heavy gray cloud-studded day, only to have the sun come out and brighten our world after lunch — the best of both worlds. Time to savor the local seafood cuisine while the skies unloaded their wet burden, and then time to soak up the sun and splash in the waves as well. You can even shop on the beach.
About Lynn Strough
About Lynn Strough
By Lynn Strough
The day arrived. Astrid met my train in a town south of Paris and immediately informed me that there’d been a change of plans — instead of staying with her in the “beautiful little hobbit house” she’d described (a historic troglodyte), I would live in a tiny, garret studio apartment at the top of several flights of narrow stairs. Fifty steps, to be precise. It was a former maid’s quarters, with a minuscule shower in the corner of the kitchen area and a toilet in a locked closet across the landing. It was small, old, a bit shabby and very, very hot (top floor, no AC during one of the hottest summers on record), but I was actually thrilled to have a space to myself. (I didn’t mind the 50 steps, even when Astrid asked me to clean them after admitting that it was her turn.)
Immediately, she put me to work chopping and peeling for the pot luck. It was a beautiful night, with picnic tables set up all along the street. She left me on my own the whole evening so she could schmooze with the neighbors, but that was fine. I’m independent and meet people easily, and a few people spoke English.
We ran some errands, including to the flower market — two beautiful blocks crammed with booths of petals and plants — and she picked out about a dozen big pots for her historic house’s garden. These were big pots. Huge. And she drove a teeny-tiny vintage car.
Astrid showed me around the two courtyards, the storage cave loaded with tons of junk, the tiny kitchen with a table and small counter covered with dishes, a two-burner gas stove, no fridge, a shower filled with more stored stuff, an old-fashioned dining room crammed with old fashioned furniture — an armoire, a table and chairs, a buffet — all surfaces covered with knickknacks.
holding two sofas covered with white sheets, a few tables, a crate for wine and a large fireplace. Jars turned into candle holders squatted everywhere, as there is no electricity.
I’d barely made a dent, when she gave me some other tasks to accomplish, like hauling the heavy, old, rusted iron junk and rotting rusty-nail-studded wood planks down the stairs from the overgrown backyard.
said it gets slippery when wet and is dangerous, which I understand. I scraped and scraped and scraped, both the top and the sides of all 30 steps, the soft moss falling off in clumps as the metal edge cut underneath, and I swept the steps clear as well.
help plant flowers for a day, a whole sausage, and gave me half, saying, “That’s enough for you, don’t you think?” And when she poured me wine, she said I was costing her too much.
This situation brought to mind an amalgam of fairy tales: where someone baits you with something sweet — the witch in disguise in Snow White with a poison apple, the witch in Hansel and Gretel with the candy house waiting to shove you in the oven, and the wicked stepmother in Cinderella who makes you sweep the ashes, all wrapped up into one.
Lynn is a 50+ wandering spirit whose incarnations in this life have included graphic designer, children’s book author and illustrator, public speaker, teacher, fine art painter, wine educator in the Napa Valley, and world traveler. Through current circumstances, she has found herself single, without a job or a home, and poised for a great adventure.
South
The tour was full of history, about kings and religious wars and assassinations, and royal cousins marrying royal cousins, and how cold the castles were. Personally, I’d much rather have a small cozy cottage than a big elaborate drafty chateau, but then that’s just my preference. They’re certainly lovely to look at, and attending a lavish ball might be kind of fun.
In 1547, King Henri II gave Chenonceau to his mistress, Diane de Poitiers, 20 years his senior, much to the dismay of his wife. When he was killed in a jousting tournament, Catherine de’ Medici, his widow, wanted Chenonceau back, and eventually got it, but only by trading a more valuable property. Diane was not invited to the King’s funeral.
About Lynn Strough
Wax nostalgic as you walk the Midwest’s longest-running home tour Saturday, Sept. 10 (9 am-5 pm) and Sunday, Sept. 11 (10 am-5 pm). The 53rd annual 
After chasing them down to put them in their harnesses — pink for Poppy, Blue for Archie — and hooking them up to their ingenious y-shaped lead which keeps them from getting tangled, we head down the driveway, stopping briefly to make sure Hector is in his little wooden tortoise house in the garden, or at least somewhere nearby. He has full run of a very large garden on a steeply sloping hill, and he sometimes goes walkabout, but all I have to do to find him is to go into the garden with Poppy and tell her to “go find Hector,” which she does, with her little black nose sniffing the ground.
We also pass the cat lounging in her usual spot on a cement fence post out front, ignoring the attentions of the two hyper little dogs leaping up to get a sniff of her.
The dogs are happily off lead again, sniffing at hoof prints of horses, and other things animals have left behind. We play a little more ball, I shoot a few more photos of bees busy pollinating the sunflowers, and then I hook the dogs up as I see the head of a man appear over the next rise. Everything is fine, until I see that he also has with him a big black dog, who is not on a leash. Uh oh, this doesn’t look good. Hopefully the man has control of his beast or he wouldn’t be out walking him loose.
We head across a tiny bridge over a small creek, and up a steep gravel hill surrounded by woods, filled with annoying little bugs, but worth the shortcut as it’s shady and cool. Most days heat up to the 90s by 10 am. We pass the elementary school, empty now as it’s summer vacation, and pass the little butcher shop, the only store in the whole village. I don’t eat much meat, so this doesn’t do me much good, but if you get there early enough, they do sell crusty baguettes and they have a little deli case with a few things like tabouli and potato salad.
This house offers many pleasant places to work, such as the sun porch, the bright, light-filled living room, the island in the kitchen, my bedroom or out by the pool. Sometimes it’s hard to decide where to sit.
This is one of my favorite times of the day, a treat, to lounge by a beautiful turquoise pool, listen to the birds chirp, and finally enjoy some of the few books I loaded on my Kindle that I haven’t had the chance to read.
Only about three times in three weeks, with two dog walks a day, did I hear the sound of parties on the other side of tall green hedges, voices chattering and laughing in French, along with the splash of swimmers in pools, the sound of music on outdoor speakers, and I smelled the smoky scent of meat on a grill. For a moment, I wished I was on the other side of that hedge joining in the fun. But overall, I did not feel lonely and thoroughly enjoyed my solitude. I have to say that three weeks with not talking to people here went by a lot faster than 10 days not talking at the meditation retreat I attended in Thailand, but that may have something to do with sleeping in a queen-sized bed in the South of France, versus on a cement bed in a small cell in the jungle. Both excellent experiences — just very, very different.
About Lynn Strough
Hotel de Ville is another place I’d never been, and I discovered that it’s not a hotel at all, but the City Hall. It’s a place where tons of tourists and locals alike congregate, and I happened by right at the golden hour when everything glowed.
Dame. I was wandering around, trying to find a restaurant I’d gone to seven years before. I didn’t remember the name, only that it was somewhere near Notre Dame and covered with wisteria. I thought about stopping at the famed cathedral, but I’d been inside once on a previous trip, the entry line was long, and I was starving. My head said go straight, but my heart nudged me to turn left, so I followed my heart, right to the wisteria-covered restaurant.
Frederico, the man in charge, said it was almost closing time, between lunch and dinner, but that I’d just made it. He reminded me that this was the oldest building in Paris. It was pricier than I’d remembered, but I had free accommodations and was eating mostly home-cooked meals, so this was my splurge. And it turned out to be the best splurge ever, as Frederico said, “What are you doing next?” He invited me and a couple of American guys to go on a private tour of nearby Notre Dame he’d organized for some of his friends. The two guys declined, but I gave an immediate yes. A few other couples joined us, and one was from my home state of Michigan. Later on Facebook, I learned a friend of mine in Atlanta knows Frederico as well. It truly is a small world.
About Lynn Strough
A bus ride away is the Triglav National Park, including Lake Bohinj, a much bigger body of water than Lake Bled, also very scenic. This park is full of opportunities for adventure – hiking, biking, paddle boarding, fly fishing, canoeing, white water rafting, horseback riding and more. I opted to rent a bike for a few hours and explored the mountains surrounding the lake, where trails wind through beautiful forests and fields, and you might even see some art in the local villages.
Southern Region
Central Region
About Lynn Strough
Muskegon has a great recurring event for wine lovers: The Art & a Glass event is your Thursday Happy Hour! Every Thursday from 4pm to 8pm, grab a glass and check out some of the great art pieces at the 
What do you do when you want to go to Venice, but the hotels are way out of your budget, and you’d really rather get to know the locals anyway, than stay in an anonymous hotel in a crazy tourist area?
I unofficially couch surfed at the beginning of my trip in 2014, staying with a woman in Australia that I’d never met, and then with several of her friends. But this was my first official couch surf using the 
She cooked her grandmother’s pasta recipe for me (I cooked for her as well, although it’s not my area of expertise, so I also gave her a watercolor that I’d painted, and took her out for lunch). She showed me around the city of Treviso, where we dined like the locals in a restaurant full of old phones, checked out the market, and she showed me the architecture as well as telling me a little about the city’s history –- Treviso is known as home of the famous Pinarello bikes.
The area is known for its famous prosecco, and we were told to go to a small, boutique winery known for the best. It’s the kind of place where the owner is also the winemaker and tasting room host in his home, with old family portraits on the walls. His mother and daughter came to say hello, and we were given several wines to taste. We were not only not charged, but when we tried to buy some wine to take with us, he insisted on giving it as a gift. There was even a small sculpture garden nearby that he and his daughter showed us on our way out.
One of the other local couch surfing hosts invited me to a dinner with even more couch surfing guests. We all pitched in to help with the cooking. Francesco taught us how to play cards, a game called Buracco, and we realized that out of the group of us, we were from six different countries, including Italy, France, Romania, Azerbaijan, Albania, and the U.S.
About Lynn Strough
circumstances, she has found herself single, without a job or a home, and poised for a great adventure.
Back on Hvar, we got ambitious and climbed the hill to the fortress for some spectacular views of the harbor and rooftops below. Hvar is a medieval city, with walls started in 1278. There’s a strong Venetian influence in the architecture, as the Venetians ruled here on more than one occasion.
About Lynn Strough