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Author: rubymary

Beached Out in Thailand? Go to Khao Sok Jungle

Beached Out in Thailand? Go to Khao Sok Jungle

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Call me spoiled, but after almost two weeks of this..

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I thought: Enough.  I can only lounge on a beach and read a book for so long.  I need some exploration.  Adventure.  Excitement.  And besides, if I drink anymore cocktails on this beach I’ll turn into the drunk that passed out on the shore and washed out to sea.

I want to see more than the beach.  I want to see a part of Thailand no one else dares to explore.

I want to go to the jungles of Khao Sok.

Khao Sok Flower

Khao Sok made it into my itinerary mostly thanks to the word of my well-traveled Italian friend: read more

Dating a Chinese Man (and the unwanted presents that come with it)

Dating a Chinese Man (and the unwanted presents that come with it)

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“How are things with you and your Shanghai man?” I ask J on the phone as I slurp some coffee and munch on toast.”I hear you have dinner with his family every weekend?  Seems like things are getting serious.”

“Mary, I’m going to have a breakdown,” J sighs heavily on the phone. “His mom did something that REALLY bothered me these last few weekends.”

“Oh no,” I set my coffee on the table and leaned in, almost as if J were really sitting across from me.  “Did she say something about you being a foreigner?  Or maybe about your family?” read more

Thailand: Beaches, beaches, and more beaches

Thailand: Beaches, beaches, and more beaches

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My best friend of over 20 years was in Thailand for a Pharmacy study abroad program, thus sparking the entire idea of me going to Thailand before my exit from China.  After her gruesome 30 day course involving lepers, TB, getting smacked in the face with a ping pong paddle and elephant “sanctuaries” that reminded her of concentration camps, she was in desperate need of some R&R on the beach–and that’s exactly what we got.

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Krabi, Just Go There

In southern Thailand, there’s few places that have escaped the wrath of tourism–Krabi included.  I thought that Krabi would be a quaint, little seaside town that housed a few hostels and maybe some 5 star hotels–but man, was I wrong.  Krabi is completely saturated by the tourism industry, with shady bars at every corner, hostels on every street and people trying to flag you down with cheap tours to go island hopping every 5 minutes. read more

Biking Around Ayutthaya and Feasting in Bangkok

Biking Around Ayutthaya and Feasting in Bangkok

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Thailand.  A backpackers haven.  The heart of Southeast Asia.  The land of smiles.  A country that all travelers know they must check off ‘the list.’

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I first became interested in Thailand in much the same way everyone else does:  The food.

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I mean seriously, when a country has food THIS good you can’t help but wonder about the rest of it.  There has to be something unique and special about a country that makes some of the best spicy soup, mind blowing curry, and fragrant dishes to grace not only all of Asia–but the entire world. read more

Fitting Back into the USA

Fitting Back into the USA

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Letting Go

I know.  It’s been ages since I’ve updated.

I’ve opened up wordpress and stared into a blank page for minutes at a time, trying to compose my thoughts into something that flows and make sense.  I tried multiple times to post something that is profound, moving, touching, and somehow manages to convey all of my distraught feelings for leaving behind a life full of love and comfort in Shanghai.  I tried to sum up the overpowering emotions of saying farewell to China and the wonderful life I lived there for three years–but every time I tried to type something, it just didn’t feel right.  It felt forced, sappy, or empty. read more

When are you too old to solo travel?

When are you too old to solo travel?

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20 Something Traveling–Been There, Done That

When thinking of a female solo traveler, I’m sure the first image that pops into mind is a 24-27 year old girl simply sick of her 9-5 desk job and craving something more.  These women decide to toss the boring life of monotony and, instead, don a backpack and travel the world.  They’re young, they’re fresh, and they’re ready to make the most of their “younger years.”

As I near the dreaded 3-0, I start wondering about the possibility of solo female traveling mid 30’s and beyond.  I have found a slew of blogs featuring women that have braved the roughest frontiers with nothing but a bag on their backs–but I have yet to encounter a blog that has a 34+ something woman traveling the world. read more

The Shanghai Ronin is Leaving Shanghai

The Shanghai Ronin is Leaving Shanghai

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Taking The Leap

The craziest adventure in my life was not joining the JET Programme and moving to a village in no-man’s-land Japan for two years as the lone foreigner. It was not dropping everything and randomly studying Chinese in Beijing. It wasn’t even venturing through the countryside of China and traveling by bus to the depths of Vietnam alone. No. All of those things, to me, are semi-normal.

The decision to move to Shanghai was the most rash, insane, and completely bewildering change of my life. read more

This life, the next one, and the last. 今生、来生、前生

This life, the next one, and the last. 今生、来生、前生

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Sometimes, you meet people and you know that you were just meant to cross paths somehow.  As soon as you lock eyes and shake hands you know that this was meant to be.  This connection between one human being and another, one heart to the next, souls that intertwine.

My boss Takada-san is exactly one of these people.

I’ve mentioned her a few times on here.  My boss that could rule the world if she pleased, but can’t handle the burden of it all.  A Japanese woman that gave up everything to fight for her rights in a society that wants to keep her at home and tied to the kitchen.  A woman that wanted to be more than just that; she aspired to be a leader, a creator, and most of all a traveler–and she succeeded at it all, but at great cost.  She looks of a woman tired from the relentless pressure and overtime of the Japanese ad agency world.  Despite her experience as being CEO of multiple companies in the past, she continually refuses our headquarter’s offer of taking the position once again.  She’s had enough, and you can tell at her age she just wants to soak in a hot spring or dive in the maldives.  She’s simply tired of changing the world. read more

Moganshan, an Easy Shanghai Weekend Getaway

Moganshan, an Easy Shanghai Weekend Getaway

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新年好！

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Happy Chinese New Year!

So it’s Chinese New Year, I have a long holiday, but I don’t have enough money to make it back to the states and I don’t want to join the throngs of tourists going to the Great Wall or Terracotta Warriors.

I wanted a holiday without the crowds, without breaking the bank, and without the hassle.

Getting Away From the City

The problem with Shanghai is that the closest getaways are Hangzhou and Suzhou, which are both huge, sprawling cities filled with so much congestion and clutter it’s actually more stressful going there than actually staying in Shanghai. Finding a nice, natural retreat from Shanghai can sometimes seem impossible. Therefore, I’d like to introduce two locations that are not only a short train ride away from Shanghai, but are also surprisingly vacant of the usual horde of Chinese tourists. read more