Thailand – NorthAmericanDarrell

15 Countries visited in 2025📍🌎😎

12/31/2025

by Darrell All you can fly Asia Austria Bangkok Barcelona Countries Europe Freedom 50 Frontier - AYCF!Greece HCMC / Saigon Italy Koh Phi Phi London Madrid Mexico North American Personal History Philippines Rocky Point Rome Singapore Slow travel Spain Thailand Travel bucket list Travels Stories United Kingdom United States Vietnam Volaris - AYCF!Wizz - AYCF!

2025: My first full year taking a run at retirement!

2025 turned out to be my most traveled year ever—and somehow, I feel that I’m just getting started.

January – Vietnam
(HCMC, Nha Trang, Da Nang, Hoi An, Hue, Phu Quoc)

February – Cambodia & Thailand
(Siem Reap, Phnom Penh, Bangkok, Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, Koh Tao)

March – UK & Europe
(London, Greece, Iceland, Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Italy)

April – October–US & Mexico

(Mesa and Rocky Point—two incredible home bases)

November & December – SE Asia
(Hanoi, Kuala Lumpur, Bali)

Every trip felt different. Every move resets my brain. And somehow, it all worked out absolutely perfect!

2026: Already Booked (Of Course It Is!)

January to mid-April
Mexico, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Philippines

May to October (Homebases in Mesa/Mexico)

Volaris + Frontier all-you-can-fly chaos—route TBD, cheap is guaranteed

Nov and Dec– Europe by Rail-pass

Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Southern Spain/Portugal…
Eastern Europe is still being self-negotiated with my grade-three attention span.

Hitting the reset button, again …

08/06/2025

by Darrell Asia Buy me a beer Europe Freedom 50 London Mexico North American Philippines Thailand Travel bucket list

Freedom is great… but it turns out accountability pairs nicely with vegetables.

Traveling solo and being single is a great way to learn just how little supervision I actually need—and how badly I sometimes need it anyway.

Balanced meals become a suggestion, vegetables go missing in action, and there’s no one around to question why dinner is beer with a side of “I’ll fix this tomorrow.”

The upside is total freedom. The downside is realizing I am not, in fact, the responsible adult I thought I was, and carbs are my enemy!

I’ve been both versions of that guy more times than I can count. I buckle down, lose the weight, feel great… then get comfortable and slowly put it back on—sometimes a little, sometimes impressively.

Every time, I confidently declare, “This time will be different.”

And look—I know the track record. I’m fully aware of the evidence.

But still… THIS TIME WILL BE DIFFERENT.

THIS TIME WILL BE DIFFERENT!

There’s a saying: “You can’t outwork a bad diet.”
For me, that couldn’t be more true.

I’ve walked, run, hiked, biked, paddleboarded…
Paid for gym memberships most of my adult life when I wasn’t traveling…
Bought treadmills, steppers, rowing machines, weights…

I’ve also thrown away—or quietly watched expire—more supplements than I will ever admit to owning.

Thousands of dollars.
Endless effort.
All expertly undone by travel, convenience, beer, and the magical thinking that calories don’t count when you’re moving.

I didn’t lack discipline.
I lacked consistency… and apparently vegetables.

And yet—here I am again, staring down the same cycle, saying it with full confidence and zero shame:

THIS TIME WILL BE DIFFERENT.

(History suggests otherwise.
Optimism insists otherwise.
We ride at dawn.)

In the summer of 2025, I finally put myself in a timeout and decided to combine everything I’d learned over the years—plus one major change.

I quit drinking and traveling.

Well… I switched to non-alcoholic beer and still went to Mexico—but that version doesn’t sound nearly as dramatic, so we’re going with the first one.

Still, the intent was real. Fewer excuses. Fewer resets. More structure. Turns out removing just one bad habit makes all the other “this time will be different” promises slightly less fictional.

Progress, not perfection. Even if I had to negotiate the terms.

Check out the non-alcoholic beer blog by clicking HERE!

(I review and list all of the best NA beers; take a look if you would like to see them.)

Here was my daily schedule for almost three months:

Wake up at sunrise and blog and YouTube until 9 AM.

One homemade latte to kind of break my fast.

Stationary bike and row for one hour at home.

Spend 2-3 hours at the gym/spa.

Get home, make a protein shake, and take my supplements.

Eat my only meal between 3 PM and 5 PM as part of intermittent fasting.

Drink non-alcoholic beer in the evening and watch a ball game a few times a week.

I did have a few couch days, but kept track of my gym progress diligently, which is key for me!

(I followed the above to a “T” on gym days shown below)

Three months looking out windows!

04/13/2025

by Darrell Accommodations AirBnb Asia Barcelona Europe HCMC / Saigon Italy London Madrid Rome Singapore Spain Thailand Travel bucket list Travels Deals Travels Stories Vietnam Wizz - AYCF!

I left Arizona on January 12th and didn’t return until April 7th, 2025, heading first to Vietnam and then bouncing across the globe. In order, I visited:

Vietnam → Cambodia → Thailand → London (twice) → Singapore → Greece → Turkey → Egypt → Italy → Spain

Eight of those ten countries were brand-new pins on my map, which made the whole thing feel even more unreal.

I spent the first three months slowly moving through Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. After that, I flipped the switch and went full chaos mode with my all-you-can-fly pass—whizzing (Wizz Air style) through London, Singapore, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Italy, and Spain.

Here’s the actual chain of planes, trains, ferries, and buses that somehow all worked:

Phoenix → Los Angeles
Los Angeles → Singapore
Singapore → Saigon (HCMC)

Saigon → Nha Trang
Nha Trang → Huế
Huế → Da Nang
Da Nang → Hoi An
Da Nang → Saigon
Saigon → Phú Quốc
Phú Quốc → Saigon

Saigon → Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh → Siem Reap
Siem Reap → Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat → Bangkok
Bangkok → Koh Tao
Koh Tao → Koh Phangan
Koh Phangan → Koh Samui

Koh Samui → Bangkok
Bangkok → Singapore
Singapore → Athens

Athens → Istanbul
Istanbul → Princess Islands (day trip)
Istanbul → London
London → Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt
Sharm El Sheikh → London
London → Naples
Naples → Rome

Rome → Madrid
Madrid → Barcelona
Barcelona → Madrid
Madrid → Rome
Rome → Los Angeles
LAX → Phoenix

(That doesn’t even include all the local buses, metros, tuk-tuks, and 25+ ride share ((Grab/Uber/Bolt/InDrive)) rides along the way.)

Three months in Southeast Asia.
Then a rapid-fire lap through Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.

It sounds insane written out like this—and honestly, it kind of was.

But that’s part of the fun.
And after traveling like this for three straight months…

Sometimes all you can do is drop a blog and watch miserable people be jealous.

This was, by far, the longest—and most expensive—trip of my life.

I blew through my budget. And once that happened, I made the call to keep going anyway, because I was already there. I ended up canceling my Eurail pass and coming home three weeks early to stop the financial bleeding.

At the time, I didn’t think I’d ever use my all-you-can-fly pass again, so I went into “see everything now” mode and stacked as many countries as I could. I still missed a few, which means there’s a pretty good chance I’ll give it one more run someday—especially since I’m not renewing the pass.

And here’s the truth:

I have zero regrets about spending money on travel.
Not at the end of this trip.
Not at the end of any trip.

What I do have is better awareness.

Travel is worth it.
The memories are worth it.
The experiences are worth it.

I just need to be smarter next time in Europe and use train travel—pace it better, plan a little tighter, and learn from the mistakes without losing the magic.

That’s not regret.
That’s learning and sharing.

Asia – getting fat eating with two sticks!🍜

03/22/2025

by Darrell Bangkok Bohol Cebu City Koh Phi Phi Philippines Phucket Singapore Siquijor/Dumaguete islands Thailand

I have loved Thai food since visiting Thailand back in 2022 but forgot how much until returning in 2025!

I have since visited many Asian countries and fallen in love with their food. Vietnam Pho/Bahn mi/noodles, Cambodian Amok/Hhmer curry/noodles, all held the title until I was reintroduced to Thai again.

The Thai pad and variations of soup won my heart and my belly over once again. Here are some choices from a food court in Bangkok. You could eat three times a day for 365 days and not try them all in this food court. It was almost impossible to choose:

Here were some of my absolute favorites from around Samui—and yes, choosing was a daily struggle:

Mango salad (top left) — fresh, spicy, sweet, and dangerous if you underestimate the chili

Tom Yum coconut spicy soup (middle left) — rich, tangy, and soul-cleansing in the best way

Chicken Pad Thai (top right) — the classic that never misses

Tom Yum chicken (extra spicy) (bottom left) — I survived, barely

Ice-cold Chang beer (bottom right) — it was so hot they literally put ice in it… and I fully support that decision

Thai food doesn’t just win—it laps the competition. My heart, my stomach, and my sweat glands all agree.

Koh Samui, Thai! Paradise Island!!🏝️

03/19/2025

by Darrell Thailand

The first time I visited, prices were down since they were just opening up after COVID in early 2022.

This was the view from my Airbnb. I only planned to stay a few days, but ended up staying ten days as it was so incredible.

It was a better experience as it was quieter and much more inexpensive than the busy season.

As always, I found a way to find a good time when I returned in early 2025!

The Island is the biggest of the three chains of islands of Ko Tao, Koh Phagan and Samui so there is always a lot of options. The beaches are spectacular, and marijuana is now legal, so everyone is having a great time, all the time.

I never was a big pot smoker but when in Rome …

See you again, Samui!

Ko Tao, Thai! Divers Paradise!🏝️🤿

03/13/2025

by Darrell Thailand

I spent the second week of March 2025 in Ko Tao, Thailand, followed by most of the third week on Koh Samui.

Three islands, three very different vibes—all unforgettable—and a perfect reminder of why Thailand keeps pulling me back

This was my second visit to Koh Tao and Koh Samui. The first time, I spent six weeks here during a paid sabbatical from PayPal in January 2022. Back then, I did a lot more touring and exploring, which made this trip different in the best way—I already knew exactly where I wanted to be.

That’s really the ultimate goal for me: travel widely, move slowly, and identify places that are both amazing and affordable—places worth returning to long term. This trip to Thailand wasn’t about checking boxes; it was about confirming what already felt right.

Feeding and mud bathing the big guy! 🐘

12/31/2024

by Darrell Phucket

The one on the right, LOL!

Koh Phi Phi, Thailand! 🌴🥥

12/30/2024

by Darrell Koh Phi Phi

I consider my six-week trip to Thailand in 2022 to be free!

It was my fifth anniversary working for PayPal, and I was eligible for my four-week sabbatical. I tacked on two weeks of vacation and also rented my AZ condo on Airbnb the entire time. How sweet a deal was that setup!

In January 2021, Thailand was reopening for tourists after COVID-19. There were so many strict rules, but as always 90% of the stuff we worry about never happens.

Bring a negative COVID test within 48 hours of departure.

Buy travel insurance that covers COVID.

Take a COVID test once arriving at the hotel in Bangkok.

Locked down in a hotel until the test came back negative in 48 hours.

I would be fed three amazing meals a day delivered to my door.

Allowed to wander around the hotel grounds during lockdown.

Pretty amazing time-out to take care of the 14-hour time difference and jet lag!

Once I received a clear email from the Thai government, I was off to tour Bangkok for two days before leaving. I would be back on my way home to finish touring the city.

I left for my island, hoping for adventures in the following days: Koh Samui, Koh, Phangan, Koh Tao, Phuket, and the topic of this post, my absolute favorite island in Thailand, Koh Phi Phi Island!

Unsure whether or not to jump! Damn right, that was a long way up for a big boy!

Watch for the body, UGH my shoulder, that’s a long way up for a big boy, LOL!

This was an amazing boat ride I took to tour the islands around Koh Phi Phi. We snorkeled and visited several bays in the area, including the famous Maya Bay where the movie “The Beach” was filmed. Although it was closed for swimming due to preservation, it was beautiful!