All Beaches and Freedom: Contrast in a Nutshell

Damn! I'm so jealous! Living in Thailand must be amazing!

It's easy to recognize that this exclamation is coming from the idea that a person has of Thailand. The beach. Whether it is because you saw Leo's movie at some point, maybe some other televised expose, or had a friend take a trip here, you can't tell me that when I say Thailand you aren't thinking beach. Try, but I know you're lying. Ideas and images of long days spent on the beach tanning and swimming are the norm when people think of Thailand, it's just how the country's tourism is marketed and what most people do when they come here.

Fact of the matter is I live in northern Thailand, far from the beach. Chiang Mai is a city surrounded by mountains and has a record winter low of near freezing. Though it has never snowed, the mountain tops often have frozen morning dew that attracts plenty of tourists, Thai and foreign, taking photos and selfies of the spectacle. The lakes and river spots that are fun to frequent don't really have much sunny real estate, leaving few options for a beach-like day. The only way I am going to get sun baked is if I go to one of a few public pools and spend the daily fee to lounge at the perimeter bronzing. That's not even close to a day at the beach.

My prior place of residence in the Kingdom was none other than the super metropolis that is Bangkok. Although it is much nearer the beach than Chiang Mai, it's still about 3+ hours to get there, which really isn't all that bad considering that Bangkok traffic can make a cross city venture take about half that. Though it is closer to the beach, I will say that living in Bangkok offers even less opportunities to capture that free feeling that comes with beach days. Sure, it has Flow House, a cool wave to surf while surrounded by the high-rises and skyscrapers, but if you aren't at Flow House your only option for trying to emulate the sand and saltwater experience is a hotel or condo pool. They too are not beach, making it quite easy to forget you are closer to it than Chiang Mai, especially when the buildings tower overhead like the mountains of the north.

There are definitely times when I want to be the vagabond whose only worry is making it to a bus station or airport on time to get to my next destination. That freedom is a lovely feeling, and it comes with a complete disregard for what time it is. As far as my freedom goes, however, I have as much as the standard 9-5er does back home. I work Monday through Friday and look forward to weekends, when I can cut loose, drown myself in the Internet, watch a senseless movie, or be lazy just because it's my time. Those two sweet days certainly don't allow enough time for a visit to the beach, unless I want to spend a third or more of my monthly salary for a day and a half of beach time. Fact is, I don't.

I enjoy living in the mountains, it's quite similar to where I grew up, in northern California's Sierra Nevadas. I love that here I can jump on my motor bike and wind my way through curves and inclines, and within 30 minutes be climbing and weaving through high jungle forest and cool mountain air. I can stop at a strawberry farm, walk around a massive and pristine botanical garden, sit and watch elephants pass as I sip locally grown coffee, and eat lunch in a delicious fusion restaurant tucked away in the shadow of a jungle peak. Quite a good list of a weekend day's activities at the cost of not being in close proximity to the beach, to be honest.

Chiang Mai is a city with a great international influence, producing an amazingly unique blend of gastronomic delights and a vibrant cafe culture. To make matters even better, most everything you get your hands on, from food to coffee, is grown locally and organically just beyond the borders of the city. No need to eat at a chain restaurant when there is an array of family owned restaurants with menus boasting unique recipes of Thai and international origin, all comprised of locally grown produce. Vegetarian, are you? No problem! The city hosts a great number of vegetarian restaurants, and many places have vegetarian options on the menu. If you like coffee and food, you will LOVE Chiang Mai, and you can find out for yourself why some call it a foodie paradise.

Thailand truly has much more to offer than beach, and I recommend to anyone headed to the Kingdom to explore beyond it, out into central and northern Thailand. Getting beyond the areas where tourism rules all is a fantastic contrast to experience because it immerses you in the lesser known cultural riches of the country. Find the places where the menu isn't tailored to western preferences, the people know very little or no English, the smiles are large, warm and inviting, hospitality and effort to accommodate will amaze you, and the people laugh with you often. It's truly humbling.

I must say, however, that the irony here is that I'm actually writing this post while on vacation, with no idea what time it is, and it just so happens that I'm at a beach. I'm surrounded by restaurants appealing to western cravings, and many of the locals are English proficient. Oh well. I'll take it, for now.