Hi Gram,
It’s been a while since my last letter, but you haven’t missed much. Lots of street art and monkeys, trips to Bluport mall for groceries and dinners (I had a salad the other day which aren’t popular street food and thus harder to come by).

I’ve been keeping the same schedule every day for the most part. For example, the other day I woke with my alarm at 5am and begrudgingly got out of bed. After brushing my teeth, taking my morning vitamins, and journaling, I got dressed for the morning walk. Oh! I forgot to tell you that my friend David got here last week which has made the workouts and just my days in general so much better. I love having friends around, so I’m going to make an effort to spend more time with friends than I have in the past couple of months. Anyway, once I was all dressed and ready, I walked over to Palapon to meet David. I’m a wuss, staying in an air conditioned apartment/ hotel room while David is a titan tough guy, sweating it out in one of the cabanas at camp.

After we meet up, we headed out on the road that we always walk. Let me tell you, that first day that David was back, it felt like no time had passed as we both just knew the route and walked, catching up on life and random discussion. We walked up the hill to the stairs to the other hill and finally reached the temple at the top of the last stairs, feeling triumphant and also exhausted and recognizing that neither of us is in as good of shape as when we left last year. We headed back the way we came, then split off so I could go home and cool off a little bit and change out of my sweaty clothes, then met up again at Palapon for breakfast.

One of the good things about this camp is that it can be entirely self-contained if you want. They have cabanas where you can stay, they serve three meals a day, and all of the classes are onsite, other than the walk through town, which a coach goes along to encourage us and point where to go. David and I started with the guided walks last year, but decided that we know the route so now we do our own walks each morning.

After some oatmeal and berries, washed down with ample water – which is a constant need as we sweat it out – we walk over to the open air gym for Klausfit, our first class of the day. It’s an hourlong class that starts with some stretching for everyone, then Klaus assigns different exercises to each student depending on their goals. By the end of the hour, we’re each drenched in sweat and cursing his name but feeling stronger and proud of what we’ve done. Oh, also sore. Especially for the first week or two while the body gets used to exercise again, but the soreness never goes away entirely. You just get used to it.

After class, I headed back to the apartment to cool off and take a shower, then got a little work done on my computer before walking back for lunch. One nice thing about staying at the hotel/apartment is that I get my steps in every day just walking back and forth for meals and classes. I kind of trick myself into getting a little more of a workout each day. When we were here last year, meals were served at a restaurant next door that his wife Valerie ran. They split up in the past year and she moved her restaurant to another location, so now his son cooks the meals. The kid is in his teens or maybe early twenties, so I wasn’t sure how the meals were going to be, but holy crap, this kid can cook! The meals are delicious, well balanced, and he really takes pride in his presentation. Each plate is artistically arranged and balanced with the protein, veggies, rice, salad, and whatever else. The menu is varied, too. I don’t think we’ve had the same meal twice.

Full and happy, I head back to the apartment to read my book for a little bit before heading to yoga at a nearby studio. It’s the same studio I went to last year with classes alternating between two instructors. It’s a clean facility, the instructors keep it challenging enough to feel it but easy enough not to get discouraged, and there’s a mix of regulars and drop ins so the class just feels comfortable. The rest of the afternoon varies day to day. It’s generally some combination of reading my book, getting a massage, getting some stuff done on my computer, and heading to the mall for groceries or renew my visa or just to walk around.

I headed back to Palapon around 6pm for dinner and conversation each night, then walk home to clean up, read a little, maybe watch a YouTube video or two, and head to bed. Oh, one other variation is that I chat with friends in the mornings and evenings when the time zones overlap. I’ve really been having a great time here, but I’m looking forward to the next few months. I’ll be spending time with friends at different events, then I’ll be back in the states or South America where the timezones are a little closer and easier to talk with friends.

In a couple of days, the fitness camp will come to an end for us as David and I head up to Bangkok and fly to Sydney, Australia for a few weeks. Our friend Rob is hosting TribeFI, a weekend retreat for like-minded FI people to gather for speakers, camaraderie, lessons, and fun. After the retreat, we’re going to spend a couple of weeks with Rob as our tour guide showing us around parts of Australia and just hanging out with new friends that we meet along the way. I’m looking forward to this next phase of our adventure!