Did You Know?

After deciding on Thailand as our home for a year, we have learned quite a few fascinating little tidbits of information about Chiang Rai (our future city), Thailand in general, and living abroad.  So I thought it would be fun to share some of this with you in a game called, "Did You Know?"  Let's play together now, shall we?

Did you know - that in the United States, international driver's licenses are issued only through AAA or the NAC (National Automobile Club)?  They costs about 20 USD and come in a small envelope with a passport style photo taped onto it.  Not what I was expecting, but apparently it's a legal.

Did you Know - that last month (April, 2016) in Chiang Rai the record high temperature was almost broken? The daytime high came close to 112 degrees Fahrenheit?!  Too bad Chiang Rai!  Try again next spring...

Did you know - that everyday at 8 AM and 6 PM, the Thai National Anthem is played in public. Everyone is expected to stand still and be respectful until it ends.

Did you know - in the springtime in northern Thailand, the rice fields are burned in order to prepare them for the next planting?  This makes the air quality almost unbearable.  Many ex-patriots leave the area and use this as an excuse to travel south or to visit relatives back home.

Did you know -  airlines no longer price gouge customers for buying one way tickets?  We bought our tickets from Seattle to Bangkok for around 650 USD each.  Getting to Seattle from Bozeman was another 110 USD.  We bought the tickets separately to save a few hundred dollars.

Well, how did you do?  Hopefully you got a little insight into our new host country and had fun in the process.  Until next time...

Preparing for Departure (post #1)

For a family of four to leave their country for a year, there is an overwhelming amount of preparation involved.  One of the most important things for us was to rent out our house.  Ensuring the mortgage would be paid and the house would be maintained was/is a huge burden on us.  Fortunately, we live in a booming college town and finding suitable renters was not a problem.  In fact, we were able to have a lease in place in April for our July departure.  Pretty nice to know that is taken care of. Unfortunately, we have to move all of our stuff into storage for a year and then move it back...
So, we had a big yard sale last weekend, which helped immensely to get rid of unwanted accumulated "stuff".
Now we have to start packing everything else and figure out where to put it.  Speaking of this, where do you put your car(s) for a year?  Well, I'm trying to sell mine (who wants to buy a 2003 Tundra?  message me!) and fortunately we have some mighty fine and generous friends who've agreed to let us park Jess' car next to their garage (thanks guys!!!!!).
About 8 weeks to go and 8 weeks to stare at empty walls like this one: