Hey friends!

Our app says only 50% of you opened the last email. I think something is fishy.

Can you reply to this with an emoji so I know who is actually getting them in their inbox and whose getting them in their spam? Love you.

Okay, lets get to the good stuff

New city, new vibe. Our first morning in Chiang Mai started slow. After a week of Taipei hustle, this city is quiet. No high-rises, no chain stores, no sidewalks that actually connect to each other. We are in a part of town called Old City. Just cafés, temples, massage spas and the occasional scooter that whips by close enough to trim your shoelaces.

We did an Airbnb instead of a hotel, which we MUCH prefer, and it’s a total upgrade: it has ACTUAL living space. A luxury after our 100-square-foot Taipei hotel. We spent the morning doing our favorite travel activity: wandering aimlessly. We’d see prices on the windows of spas and restaurants and do some mental math: “Wait… a 60 minute massage is twelve dollars?!” Then the next shop, “Wait, this noodle dish is like two bucks?!” It became the game of the morning, realizing over and over that we were going to live like billionaires here.

Then Danielle spotted a street vendor pressing sticky rice into little packets of banana leaf and grilling them over open coals. He also sold fried bananas, hot and crispy, for ten cents each. Ten cents! After the first few she went back for seconds. They were sweet and chewy, stuffed with banana and coconut and a little sweet potato. Future me, buying a $17 Caesar wrap at LAX, will not be okay.

By afternoon, we’d earned our first Thai massage, and Danielle found a spa so fancy we double-checked the sign to make sure we were allowed in. There were vines climbing the walls, sunlight spilling in, a huge blue pool in the middle that’s only there to look pretty. The rooms had mattresses on the floor (first time for that) where two small but terrifyingly strong women proceeded to fold us into new shapes, using something like an icy/hot balm. It was half yoga, half wrestling, all bliss. Ninety minutes later, we floated out looking like happy drunk people, all for thirty bucks each.

One of Michaels favorite memories of the last time he was in Thailand was having Pad Thai every day, sometimes twice. So the first dinner here just HAD to have it. But he asked for the waiters recommendation and tried something new fried rice with Chiang Mai sausage. It was gone in two minutes flat. Danielle’s tom yum soup and mushroom stir-fry were equally good, and even Michael admitted the soup was tasty after his one sip.

We got picked up early by Daeng’s (Danielle’s stepmom) childhood friend, Wuang, and her daughter, both smiling and waving like we’d been friends forever and ready to show us “the real Chiang Mai.” The plan was simple: a day trip to a famous waterfall outside the city and some famous temples. Their English was a little better than our Thai, but it was clear that google translate would be the unsung hero of the day. The drive was beautiful, winding through little towns and rice fields, until the rain came down like someone flipped a switch. By the time we reached the mountains, the road ahead had turned into a river. Like a full-on river that had been there for years.

We agreed that this wasn’t the day to test how waterproof the car was. Plan B: We found refuge in a café by the river, which was ROARING because of all the rain. Guaranteed a place only locals know about and we sat on the patio almost hanging over the rivers edge as we enjoyed green curry, tom kha, pad thai, and shrimp stir-fry. But nothing in Thailand is as expected, we walked around the property to find a MASSIVE cow that you could feed bananas to, and feed bananas Dani did. It was so random, a travel moment you can’t plan.

Next stop: temples. Lots of them.

The first was massive! Gold, glowing. We knelt on red carpet, offered marigolds, and Danielle whispered, “That monk is so still. He’s been meditating forever.”

Spoiler: “That’s because he’s wax,” I said. She didn’t believe me. She’d been trying so hard not to stare, thinking he’d notice. When she finally looked, she realized then we both lost it, laughing way too hard in the middle of a temple. Ten minutes of silent admiration for a mannequin.

The next stop was straight out Indiana Jones, an old stone temple in the forest, we were saying things like “Wow, look at that carving” and “This place feels ancient, look at the—HOLY SH*T.” Black and yellow. As big as Michael’s outstretched hand. A massive spider five feet away. You didn’t see them until you really saw them, and then our heart jumped straight out of our chest. We almost left right then and there. But we didn’t, we stayed to enjoy the numerous stone peacocks and dragons framing the beautiful walkways.

Our final temple was this insane detailed masterpiece with the outside made up entirely of silver. We explored the exterior, noting the incredible amount of time it must have taken the many people to hammer the metal by hand. We even got to try it ourselves- the silver workers had a little booth set up where we could practice hammering a cute picture into a piece of metal. Work and time it took, and we each got to talk away with a cute souvenir from our trip there.

When we got back home after our adventure with Wuang, we were so sure we’d go out and explore for dinner. We ditched the dinner-out plan and ordered in on Grab (Asia’s Uber Eats). I got pad thai, Danielle tried khao soi — northern Thai curry noodles that instantly ruined all other noodles for us. Total cost: $11.

We curled up in our Airbnb, listened to the rain, and decided that maybe this was what “making the most” of Chiang Mai really meant as Danielle said “The honeymoon officially starts now”

Wow. What a day.

We woke up feeling like locals (with two whole Thai phrases under our belt), and went to check out Kalm Village, an arts-and-crafts filled wonderland that felt like a museum and an anthropology store collided. Beautiful architecture surrounded a sunlit courtyard with draping greenery, each room overflowing with pottery, textiles, and dark wood furniture with hand carved accents. There was an exhibit on traditional Lanna tattoos—ancient symbols of power and protection inked by hand and wow did it look painful but beautiful.

We weren’t planning on buying anything, but if you know michael and his craving for design, you know that when we are around beautiful things, it's hard. A set of ceramic bowls the color of earth and turquoise that caught our eye. They were basically calling our names and whispering "You’ll eat noodles and curry out of me in LA and you’ll love it.” Next thing you know, we’re at the register, signing international shipping papers like we’re importing fine art. These bowls are on their way to LA now, probably flying business class. Can’t wait to have a piece of Thailand in our LA kitchen.

We kept hearing about this Jazz Co-Op located in old town. You’ve heard this story before, Sass and Dani try to stay out late and something always throws a wrench in things. Well we arrived at 7:15p just after opening to find… an empty establishment. What seemed late enough for us wasn't considered late by everyone else in Chiang Mai.  Across the street though looked like the Disneyland of street food. Pure. Insanity. We saw giant whole fried fish, Tons of fruits, papaya salad, massive vats of noodles and a lot of yelling. Danielle got something she still isn’t sure what it’s called. And Michael enjoyed 19 skewers of chicken Satay, (Danielle had the 20th). Michael can still confidently report Danielle's peanut sauce takes the cake. She tried to offer her advice to the street food vendor but that didn't go well (just kidding).

Then, back to the jazz club to find the place completely packed. The downstairs was shoulder-to-shoulder with a hip crowd. It made us laugh and joke that "we must be hip too for being in this hip place with these hip people.” Upstairs? A tiny loft that looked like they kicked out the drywall so a few additional guests could peer down onto the band. This place was one earthquake away from collapse—but the vibe was happening and we couldn't expect anything different here in Chiang Mai.

The music was palpable. Michael was mesmerized by the drummer, playing rhythms he couldn’t comprehend, almost too impressed to enjoy the music… almost. The sax player had Danielle bobbing her head for 60 minutes straight.

Somewhere between sips and finding ourselves lost in the tempos, we had one of those quiet “this is crazy” moments. Sitting in this jazz club, in a 14 hour time warp, realizing how lucky we are to just… be here, with each other.

If Danielle were a Marvel character, she’d be The Planner—armed with Google Maps and unstoppable optimism. And this would be her manifesto of Chiang Mai: Elephant Day.

We started our morning early. Our guide, nicknamed Boy, greeted us warmly at our Airbnb and then drove us to pick up another guest who would be joining us on our tour. Suzanne, who’d just come from her son’s wedding in Bali, was exuding “mother of the groom, still in party mode” energy and solo traveling around south east asia. Within minutes, we became besties for the day.

Boy was so excited to show us a WAT or “temple” few tourists tend to visit due to it’s location outside of the city center. Awkwardly, Wuang had the same thought 2 days prior. We pretended it was our first time seeing it, and honestly, it was just as amazing for round 2. There are 4-5 buildings around the property and we were able to explore each in more detail. This time Danielle knew all of the meditating figures were wax, lol.

Then, bring on the main event: the elephants.

Nothing… and I mean nothing, prepares you for seeing an elephant up close. They’re too big to make sense. Like a Pixar creature that escaped into real life. Their eyelashes are wispy, and their trunks are basically five-foot-long multi purpose tools with built-in suction power and a tiny finger on the end.

Like most animals (including Danielle), Elephants are very food motivated. So what better way to make friends then to bring them a little treat. We dressed in the garb all volunteers do, so the elephants have consistency of who we were, and set out to deliver some them some tasty treats.

We grabbed baskets full of bananas and sugar cane, and as soon as the elephants saw us, they started swaying side to side. Almost like a little kid dancing with excitement. One baby (and I say “baby” loosely—it was roughly the size of a Honda Civic) stole our hearts immediately. When they reached for food with their trunk, they exhaled first, blowing their warm grassy breath on us, right in our faces just before vacuuming up the treat with their trunks!

Next came the elephant education and cooking class.

We got to learn the difference between African and Asian elephants, their diets, their personalities… and then our culinary experience began.

No one mentioned this part. We were going to make high fiber balls for them. Suddenly we had to squish bananas apart with our bare hands, peel apart tamarind goo, and roll it all in something called rice husk. We were told to mash it all together to make nutrient-packed, high-fiber, vegan meatballs for elephants. Once rolled, we wrapped the balls in banana peels “for the vitamins”, nothing goes to waste here. Very Michelin-star.

When feeding this time, we were told say shout “BON!” (which means “up”), and six elephants lifted their trunks like synchronized swimmers. One of Michaels decided to get personal—tongue out, full slobber. He squirmed like a little worm.

And then… bath time.

Apparently elephants love spa days as much as we do, and who could blame them? We crushed soap from a local “snuffbox” tree. Literally hammering sticks until they broke down into a stringy bark. We added them to buckets of water and the bark frothed and foamed. We made as many suds as we could and followed the elephants into the river. The elephants flopped onto their sides like 10,000-pound Labradors, eyes half-closed in bliss. We scrubbed their leathery skin, feeling the wiry hair that looked like what happens when a middle-aged man gives up on Rogaine.

Danielle whispered things like, “You like that, huh buddy?” while scrubbing behind their ears. One elephant returned the favor by spraying us with a full trunk of river water. We’ve never laughed so hard, it was sensory overload for sure.

The elephants here in Chiang mai have been domesticated for hundreds of years. They were used for labor (like we used horses/cows before we had cars/machinery). To transport teak wood from the forest into villages. Now that many of the teak forests are protected and we have modern machinery, the elephants still need some sort of job. Releasing them into the wild isn’t really an option because they have never learned the survival skills necessary to maintain their independence. The sort of elephant sanctuary we visited gives them job (learning to interact with humans) and allows a way for them and their handlers to make money (the crazy feeding and bathing experience we were able to enjoy). It’s not a perfect system but it was really interesting to learn about conservation efforts and how the people in Thailand are trying to create a new and humane normal for them and their elephant counterparts.

You’d think that’d be enough adventure for one day—but no. Boy casually announced, “Next stop: Sticky Waterfalls.”

How can waterfalls be sticky? But it’s exactly what it sounds like. The limestone under the water grips your feet so you can actually walk up the waterfall like Spiderman. Warm water rushed over our legs and every few steps we said, “This can’t be real,” but there we were, ascending a jungle waterfall like Tarzan. The experience reminded Michael of working at Jungle Surf, the small water park his family owned when he was a kid. What a perfect blend of nostalgia and new wonder. It took a while for our brains to register that we didn’t have to brace for a fall after each step, but once we got that, we had an incredible time walking through the channels and enjoying the jungle scenery.

Danielle’s highlight: feeding elephants. Michael’s: defying gravity on a waterfall.

To end the day, we ventured out for dinner. We were bummed to find our chosen dinner spot closed, but the one next door was open and completely empty. But before we could go find another, a little five-year-old waiter sprinted over, opened the door, handed us menus, and pointed us to a table. He nearly dropped our drinks while he brought them over but was smiling the whole time. And if you know Danielle, you know this kid just got a new best friend. We ended up playing with his toy cars between bites of curry and trading high fives. His mom the owner, was worried he was bothering us, but we enjoyed the company. After all, it’s just been us for the last two weeks and it was nice to have a new person to hang out with.

Even though we’re people from different places and speak different languages, play is one of those universal languages we all speak.

We did something absolutely wild today: we slept in. Danielle, the woman whose body clock is hardwired for 5:30 a.m. no matter what country or timezone she’s in, slept until eight.I checked her pulse. She was fine. Just fully, finally, vacationing.

Our first destination was One Nimman, a chic shopping district about 15 minutes from Old Town. Since it was too far to walk, we had our pick of Thai transport: a taxi, the backseat of a Grab motorcycle (room for one brave soul), or the infamous tuk-tuk—a glorified motorcycle welded to a carriage with a tin roof and handlebars straight out of Mad Max. Definitely chose the Tuk-tuk. Within seconds, we were flying through traffic, hair on fire, clinging to our seats while the driver threaded between cars like a caffeinated hummingbird. Most fun we’ve had on three wheels—also the most terrifying.

One Nimman itself was stunning: open-air courtyards, tall glass windows. It felt more “boutique Europe” than “street market Thailand.” But as you’ve learned by now… the first order of business: food. We spotted a café window full of bao buns so fluffy they looked photoshopped. Six buns later, pillowy, tangy, melt-in-your-mouth perfection, Michael was in food heaven. Danielle ordered fried fish paired with an amazing salty and sweet sauce and declared it one of her favorite meals in all of Southeast Asia.

After lunch came… our first conflict. Which felt especially jarring because it happens so rarely. But we went to a coffee shop afterwards and just talked about it, and were able to really share and talk our way through it. It made us feel like even though there will be downs in our relationship, we know that the repair phase of something like this really does bring us closer together and lets us learn more about each other. It continues to validate our belief that we’re gonna make it. Proof that not every day needs to be perfectly smooth.

That night, we hit the Chiang Mai Night Bazaar, an ocean of neon lights and fake luxury. Watches, handbags, sunglasses—every designer label you can imagine, but none of them real. A watch stall caught Michaels eye, drawn like a moth to a shiny Patek Philippe. “Do you have any more of these?” Michael asked. The vendor smiled, reached under the table, and pulled out his secret stash: which included a rose gold Nautilus. Dang. Michael wasn’t going to buy anything like this, but he’d been looking to get a rose gold watch to match his new wedding band. They are all just too damn expensive. Except this one. It was fate (fake). His first-ever watch purchase had been in Thailand ten years ago—a fake Emporio Armani and it now felt like a Thailand tradition.

Danielle, not to be out-faked, found a gorgeous “Gucci” purse—real leather, perfect stitching, smooth zippers, at about one-eighteenth the usual price. We strutted out like royalty on a budget, the kind of people who fly economy but carry themselves like first-class.

We closed the night by reuniting with Suzanne (our elephant tour buddy) for something we couldn’t not see: a Ladyboy cabaret. We heard it was good but wow wow wow. The lights, the choreography, the lip-sync precision, it was Vegas-level performance with twice the heart. We couldn’t stop smiling, singing along to every song, completely swept up in the glittery chaos. We couldn’t leave Thailand without a peak into this part of their culture, and man was it so special to experience!

Our final full day in Chiang Mai, and we can officially say we are discovering our travel rhythm: the first and last days are for taking it slow. A cool-down lap after the chaos. A chance to catch our breath before diving into whatever comes next (Vietnam in this case). We also realized that this is about the time in previous trips we’ve taken that we would be preparing to make the journey back to our homeland. But not this time, we have 4, juicy, sweaty, exciting weeks left of travel.

We had a lazy morning, eggs on toast, coffee for Danielle, no schedule, then set off for something we’d both been looking forward to: a leather-making workshop. Danielle found it after we had been spotting gorgeous handmade pieces all over the city, and it felt like the perfect way to make something with our own hands before leaving Thailand AND we it gave us an opportunity to sport our new fancy swag.

The studio was cute, quiet, and full of mysterious tools that looked half craft, half medieval dentistry. Our instructor, a total character, had everything laid out for us. The goal: craft small leather pouches, the kind that could hold coins, jewelry, or, in our case, sunglasses and a new “rose gold” watch.

Michael’s concentration face was in full effect, lips pressed, brow furrowed, total focus. Danielle, meanwhile, was the opposite. The repetition of stitching was soothing, like a little mediation session. Then came the funniest moment of the day: Michael frowned at the edge of his leather piece, unhappy that his round cutter hadn’t made a perfect circle. He asked the instructor, “How do we fix this?” He looked at it, smiled, and said, “No fix, it’s handmade.” Everyone laughed.

Somewhere between the hammering and threading, our instructor started talking about his spiritual journey through meditation. Michael has a hard time with this so he asked for tips. He said most people spend their lives looking outward at goals, entertainment, at the way everyone else’s lives… but meditation is about looking inward, getting to know yourself. “You must learn to love what you find there,” he told us, “and once you do, being still becomes easy.” Simple, but it stuck with us.

By the time we finished, we’d created two perfectly imperfect little leather pouches, feeling so proud of ourselves for making something of our own. Danielle’s now holds her new sunglasses. Michael’s carries his new “rose gold” tradition.

We were told we had to go to this special Sunday night market, except this time, when we found it, we realized we were completely market-ed out. The noise, the endless trinkets, it was all too familiar. We found a little yard that had a dozen food carts under a giant tree strung with lanterns, where we shared our final Pad Thai in Thailand.

Thailand’s been epic—so different from Michael’s first trip ten years ago with a bunch of single guys island-hopping and chasing chaos. This time, it was slower, deeper, and beautiful to share as newly weds. Traveling as a married couple feels like a new kind of adventure. One filled with love, laughter, fake watches, and real connection.

Holy crap another fun week. We have decided to make this into a coffee table book at the end of the trip!

Click here to see more pictures from the trip!

Click here to watch some short video blogs from the trip! (scroll to the bottom)

Tata for now,
D+M