Magical Moment 621, "Thailand - the Journey!"

I meant to take the summer off blogging...and ended up staying away for over a year! A complete accident and I can't believe it's been that long already! But I HAD to return to blogging now in order chronicle the amazing vacation that Eddie and I recently took to Chiang Mai, Thailand. 

Eddie and I had been wanting to take an overseas vacation for years. It's always been my dream to visit Venice and when the time came to choose our destination, I was sure that would be our selection. Just in case though, we went through a few other suggestions and suddenly, the thought of interacting with wildlife seemed like a no-brainer. We're both animal lovers. We've seen whales, sea lions, dolphins, and a heap of other animals in the wild here in the US. So we wondered, what else could we see that would be a once in a lifetime opportunity? Elephants!

We chose to spend 1 week as volunteers at the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai Thailand. This is an elephant sanctuary that rescues abused, injured, and exploited elephants. We thought, what better way to support responsible tourism? 

Here is a little teaser of what's to come in a few posts:

But first, I'd like to share about our journey to and from Chiang Mai. I want to give the elephants the time and care in a post that they deserve. If you're curious about where on earth we were (geography is not my strong suit), these were the 4 flights that it took to get us there! (click to enlarge)

NYC to Osaka, Japan

Osaka, Japan to Taipei, Taiwan

Taipei, Taiwan to Bangkok, Thailand

Bangkok to Chiang Mai (no fancy airplane screen for this flight....no sir.)

We flew way above Canada, I searched out the window to see if I could spot Santa at the North Pole. No Santa, but I'm pretty certain we saw some glaciers. I can't be sure of course, it could just be a lot of snow for all I know, but I was excited just the same. 

Unfortunately, we only got a glimpse of Osaka from the plane as well. It was interesting that in our 18 hours of flying, the sun never set on us! :) 

Luckily we were able to spend some time in Bangkok, Taiwan, and the city of Chiang Mai (not just the northern mountainous jungle where Elephant Nature Park is located). Tomorrow I'll share all the amazing sights and sounds from the colorful markets that cover the streets. Hope you enjoy the photos. It's great to be back blogging, and I can't wait to catch up on everyone's posts!