12 Months in Chiang Mai: A Year in Review

12 Months – Where Has The Time Gone?

I am smiling as I write these words. Currently, I’m in a cozy coffee shop in Chiang Mai, and it feels like a full-circle moment. I am looking back at photos from a year ago … bright-eyed Gracie, scared and excited, as she navigated an across-the-world move by herself. Stepping into Chiang Mai, having no idea what she was doing, but loving exploring the stunning old city and glorious Buddhist temples in the first few days. Not knowing a single soul, yet feeling more alive than I’ve ever felt.

Looking back, I was so crazy for moving to Thailand alone. I had never visited Thailand, let alone Asia, yet I still decided to do this. What was I thinking? As I reflect on one year living abroad, I wonder how brave I must have been. How scared I was to leave home and go that far by myself. It seems like a different person who did those things. I feel like a different person than I was 365 days ago.

In this past year, I have met people from all around the globe. Chiang Mai is an international & intercultural city, and my path intertwined with fascinating, kind, incredible people. I made a best friend from South Africa, I started dating a guy from Ukraine, and now I don’t even blink when someone introduces themselves from somewhere obscure. Like the other day at a board game night, I met someone from Lithuania. If that had happened in the US, I’d be shocked. Here, it’s just another day in Chiang Mai. I’ve learned so much from talking with people of different cultures and countries. So much depends about where you were born, and it’s humbling to get perspectives so different from yours.

I taught classrooms full of Thai children, and I navigated my first ‘real-world’ job in a foreign country. I ate different food, I learned new currency and navigation systems, I learned how to ride a motorbike, I signed a lease for my first apartment. All by myself. I truly feel like I can do anything after moving to Thailand alone. It gave me so much confidence in myself. I feel so grateful for these experiences.

But it didn’t all come easily, that’s for sure. I got food poisoning three times, I was hospitalized with tonsillitis, I had a severe allergic reaction, I had major stomach problems. I became a regular at the local hospital lol. The language barrier, the heat, always feeling like a foreigner. The first few months trying to adapt, alone, were so difficult. I cried so many times, either from stress or homesickness or loneliness. But after all that, I still would have come here.

They call Thailand ‘The Land of Smiles’ for good reason. Chiang Mai will always be in my heart. The streets feel like home. The kind Thai locals, the moat surrounding the old city, the coffee shops. The restaurants, the music venues, the surrounding nature. The massages, the temples, the friends I’ve made, the safety I feel here. If I am Goldilocks, then Chiang Mai is my ‘just right.’

This past year has changed the course of my life. Although I miss my family and friends from the United States terribly, I feel like this year was a destined path for me. I have no idea who I would be if I didn’t have these experiences.

I traveled all over Thailand, from the tiny mountainous northern towns to the aquamarine waters of some of the most beautiful islands in the world. From the bustling streets of Bangkok to the spiritual calmness at Doi Inthanon National Park. I’ve seen so much, experienced so much of Thailand. But Chiang Mai is still the best to me. It’s so special. Even though I don’t plan to stay here forever, it will always be a part of me.

I want to thank my parents for supporting me in this crazy life-altering year. I know they are proud of me and I know they are always there for me, even thousands of miles away. That is one truth that kept me going when times got hard.

Thank you Sydney, Mom, & David for visiting me. I am so incredibly touched that you spent the time, effort, and money to travel across the world for me. I will forever hold those memories dear.

I am getting emotional now, because I feel like I have the best network of people in my life, both at home and in Chiang Mai. I can’t imagine how things would have gone if I wasn’t able to make friends in Chiang Mai. I wouldn’t have been able to cope. My friends here became my family. And my friends from the US are also my family. And of course my actual family is my family too haha!

Anyway, past all the sappiness, I am glad I documented each month in Chiang Mai. It shows me how much I’ve accomplished, and how much I’ve grown. Cheers to one year in Chiang Mai! Thank you for reading. xx Gracie

P.S. I will write a separate post about my travels in central Vietnam and Cambodia. I wanted to focus on reflecting on one year in Chiang Mai this blog. xoxoxo