Race for Freedom

We are so excited to be back in Indiana in just a few weeks! We are looking forward to spending lots of time with family and friends, and visiting churches and other groups who have supported us this year. We also have quite the list of food items that we plan to eat!

Another reason for our visit is to raise funds for our second year in Thailand. Our sweet family has organized a 5K race and kids' run to help us do that!

Race for Freedom will happen on Saturday, July 1, at World Gospel Church in Terre Haute. The kids' fun run will start at 8:30am, and it is available for all children up to age 12. The 5K will begin at 9am and is open to all ages. Our friend DJ Rerum (Darren Wagner) will be spinning some tunes to get our feet moving! Some local businesses have made donations toward the race, including Chick-fil-a sandwiches!! If you sign up by June 24, you'll even get a t-shirt out of the deal. All the proceeds from this race will go directly to our family, to help with our expenses during our second year in Thailand.

We would love to see each of you in person, to tell you about our time in Thailand and all the important work that International Justice Mission is doing. You can register using this link. Please consider joining us as we celebrate our own independence, and raise money to help those across the globe who can only hope for their own.

Ten Reasons You Should Visit Thailand

Now that we’ve committed to staying for a second year, you have plenty of time to plan a trip to visit us! Even if you’re not able to visit in the coming year, you should definitely add a trip to Thailand to your bucket list. Here are some of the things we love about Thailand, and we think you’ll love them, too.

1. The Food

One thing I love about Thailand is the huge variation of food available. Sure, rice is a staple in a lot of dishes, but you can certainly avoid it if it’s not your thing. There are noodles, soups, and vegetable stir-frys that will keep you satisfied for days. Thai food is so flavorful, too. You can get dishes with plenty of spice or none at all, with really rich flavor or something more bland. The northern part of Thailand, where we live, is also home to some unique dishes that you aren’t likely to find in other parts of the country. My favorite local dish is khao soi, a rich soup with delicious egg noodles. I never pass up an opportunity to eat some good khao soi!

Khao soi gai

If for some reason you can’t find a Thai dish that suits you, there are also dozens of international restaurants to choose from. We regularly eat Indian, Mexican, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese food. There are even U.S. favorites like McDonalds, Subway, and Starbucks. Even the pickiest of eaters can find something they like in Chiang Mai!

2. The People
Our office staff are some of the loveliest people you will ever meet. They are kind, compassionate, and dedicated to their work. We’re blessed to be able to get to know them during our time here. Our experience with people outside the office has also been great. Most Thai people we meet are very kind and gracious when we speak our broken Thai, and eager to help us if we have a question. Many Thai people love children, too, so our kids get lots of attention and treats, even from passersby. Thailand is known by many as the “Land of Smiles”, and we have found that to be very true!

X getting his picture taken by one of his many adoring fans

3. The Weather

If you’re a person who enjoys warm weather, it’s hard to think of a better place to be than Thailand. The coolest it has been here in Chiang Mai is the upper-70s (Fahrenheit) during the day, dipping only a little cooler in the evenings. It does get pretty hot during hot season, reaching around 100 on a typical day, but many locations have air conditioning available, and many neighborhoods have beautiful pools, which make swimming a very common and affordable pastime. Chiang Mai is near the mountains, so the heat is not nearly as sweltering as it might be in places like Bangkok. Rainy season lasts almost half the year, but even then it’s not usually a constant rain, just occasional rains during the day.

4. Elephants

There are many opportunities to see elephants in Northern Thailand, but our favorite is Elephant Nature Park. You can read more about our family’s experience here. Elephant Nature Park gives you the chance to get up close to elephants and learn more about how they should be cared for. Our kids loved being able to touch, feed, and bathe the elephants. Every time I see one, I am in awe of how amazing they are. They really are majestic creatures!

5. The Mountains
Before moving to Thailand I had visited various mountain ranges, but never lived near the mountains. To be honest, I was initially a little sad about how far we are from the beach, since I love the water, but living near the mountains has been better than expected. The mountains here are beautiful! They are similarly sized to the Appalachians and totally covered in trees.

It’s so fun to take a drive up the mountain and see all the beautiful views of the city and surrounding countryside. The weather is also milder in the mountains, making it a nice break from some of the heat of the city. Our family loves to go hiking in the mountains, and the views are hard to beat!

6. The Old City

When most people visit Chiang Mai, they stay in or near the Old City. We live about 20 minutes away and only go there about once a month, but it’s a great place to visit. If you stay in the Old City, you can walk everywhere you want to go. It’s home to tons of great restaurants, both Thai and non-Thai. There are plenty of tourist and historical attractions to see within the Old City, too. You can also see the old city wall that is still standing in many areas, with the moat surrounding. And it’s the best place to do souvenir shopping. Definitely a must-visit!

7. Outdoor Adventures
If you’re looking for some outdoor adventures, Thailand is the place to be! The most common ones are ziplining, bamboo rafting, and snorkeling. You can also ride ATVs through the jungle, hike a mountain, and climb a waterfall. These are just a few examples of all the fun adventures you can have outside of the city.

Ziplining with Flight of the Gibbon

8. Unique Celebrations

Once we knew we were moving to Thailand, we began to learn about Thai culture and were looking forward to lots of new experiences. The two things our kids were most excited about were Loy Krathong Festival (or Lantern Festival, as we call it) and Songkran (Thailand’s new year festival). If you’ve seen Tangled, the scene with the lanterns being released in the sky is a pretty close representation of that part of the Lantern Festival. You can read a little more about its history here.

Songkran is the Thai new year festival, celebrated in April. Originally, people would sprinkle water on each other in order to bless the other person for the new year. Over time sprinkles turned into sprays, and today it’s an all-out water fight! People line the streets manned with buckets and water guns and dowse anyone who passes by. Even people driving by on the street are not safe! The kids had been waiting for this ever since we moved to Thailand, and it did not disappoint!

X enjoying Songkran

9. Affordable Travel

Once you get to Thailand, travel is very affordable. Songthaews (large red taxis) are available to take you anywhere you want to go, and are quite reasonably priced. There are also taxis, tuk tuks, and Uber in the city. Additionally, flying within Thailand is really cheap and easy. You can get to a beautiful beach in just a few hours from our airport in Chiang Mai. Food and lodging are also affordable, and make it easy to enjoy many areas of Thailand without having to break the bank. Out of all the Southeast Asian countries we’ve visited, Thailand is the best place to get the most bang for your buck!

10. Seeing Us!

Okay, this is probably the least convincing reason to visit, but we would love to see you! We’d be happy to give you a tour around the city a bit and show you what our life is like in Thailand. We can give advice as to the best places to eat and to visit, and we even have an extra bed you could stay in, if that’s what it takes. 😉