Yesterday around nine o’clock in the evening, Ed and I got out of a cab that had taken us from the Financial District back to our current stomping grounds of Noe Valley and walked directly into Regent Thai restaurant. It had been an exhausting day for both of us, full of the typical medley of work, meetings and networking you expect from two working professionals in San Francisco and we were both very hungry and a tad drunk. Backpacks and Tevas were nothing but distant memories, all dream-like and foggy – that is, until Ed said three magic words: ‘Krap Kun Kaap’ – thank you. Our server’s face lit up into an ear-to-ear grin and she unleashed a torrent of congratulations on his accent interspersed with more Thai. That’s all it took… We were immediately transported to a land of friendly banter and easy smiles, with curry aromas wafting from the kitchen, in an eclectic decor that mixed cheap souvenirs with original art, much like Thailand’s streets and markets. For a few minutes, we felt like we were back in Chiang Mai, living the easy-breezy life of light-packing travelers.

Eventually we picked up the food we had ordered and walked the remaining two blocks to our new (temporary) home, fighting off the furious winds and ducking tendrils of fog that pass off for summer in this city. It was cold, but for the rest of the evening we didn’t feel quite as cold…

As if this wasn’t enough reminiscing, the very next morning I received notice from Southeast Asia Backpacker magazine that my Laos piece had finally been published. For those curious to read about how we ‘partied with the locals in the Laotian jungle,” here it is: Backpacker Magazine free downloadable issue.

More, soon, about more recent, non-SEA adventures, of which we’ve had plenty… Just ask our poor cat.

“Can we please please please end this cat and mouse game and just stay in one place?!”