So, it’s been just over one month since we sold all our possessions in London, packed our suitcases and moved to Kho Phangang, located in the Gulf of Thailand, and what a journey it has been so far!
As of writing, it’s 9 pm with an outside temperature of 33 Degrees. We are based in an area called Madhuwan which is north 10 mins by motorbike from Thong Sala – The main Port on the island. It’s surrounded by jungle and although noisy with the sound of jungle chorus, there is a real sense of
peace.
Not only have we given up the city lifestyle but we have also given up Coffee and alcohol! Although Kho Phangan is world renowned for some of the best parties on the planet there is another side to this beautiful island. Along the East coast of the island, you will find an abundance of yoga retreats, healing centres and a variety of vegan and vegetarian restaurants. That is where we plan to be spending most of our days and to date so far we have managed to do just that.
I’m sure many of you are thinking why Kho Phangan? Why Thailand at all?
Here’s the backstory. I was extremely fortunate to spend part of my twenties traveling and experiencing the wider world. It opened my eyes (and foodie tastebuds) but whilst in SE Asia I fell in love. I fell head over heels in love with this beautiful island in particular. The food, the people, the smells, the tastes all seem to hit a sweet spot with me, I mean the whole island is formed on Rose quartz – a crystal that has immense healing properties, another reason I feel I’ve been drawn here. Luckily, the other loves of my life (my partner and daughter) share my enthusiasm for food and adventure so they were
definitely in from the start. Although I have only lived in London for 6 years my partner has lived there for 20. 20 YEARS! That’s 20 years of commuting, busses, trains, coffee on-the-go, late nights early starts and crazy weekends! Basically, there comes a time in your life when you have to jump off the hamster wheel and take a step back to reflect on what life is actually about for you, not getting philosophical yet but watch this space!
Also, raising our daughter in London, was it for us and what we wanted? It took me some work to convince my partner, but I felt that bringing our child up where white beaches and jungles are your parks, where fast food is a lady cooking in a wok over a fire and where you can look up into the sky and see nothing but stars. It just felt right. Sure we were fortunate to live in a nice part of London but every night when we stood in our garden, all we could see was the planes coming in to land at Heathrow and the constant sirens of police cars. That’s what made us think, why not!! If we don’t at least give our great adventure a chance then we knew we would regret it for the rest of our lives.
They say your body re-generates every seven years. This means, if you spend the next seven years filling your body with clean air, water, healthy food, and an abundance of sun, then surely that must be good for the soul? Who knows what the future holds but we are here now and are truly free to take life to the next level.
So being completely obsessed with food and all things related to food, this SE Asia adventure will open our culinary senses to new styles of cooking, new flavours, and new ingredients, all of which will be documented and shared through our social media platforms. I’m not talking you’re typical fried noodles with vegetables, we are going down the line of traditional family recipes and holistic and healing foods. Each provenance has their own unique dishes, and of course, we will be making the most SE Asia’s best-known foodie favourite, street food! Expect to see us visiting and documenting the best in street food that we find in our new home.
We will also be meeting and learning from chefs, be it an elder teaching us a family recipe or from an international fusion chef. We will be meeting nutritionists and healers and exploring how we could be using foods to heal rather than traditional western style medicines. We’ll be taking an interest in how certain foods nutritional values can benefit us. We are hoping to find some really interesting content as we are truly off the beaten track and in a place that prides itself in all matters regarding health! These recipes, of course, will be logged and made available to our customers and followers.
We are also going to delve into the spiritual world of Yoga, Reiki, re-births, meditation and maybe even shamanic rituals. Although licking the poison off the back of a rare breed Frog is quite “far out”, even for us, but hey if the opportunity arises!!
We hope that you enjoy following our journey and if any of it inspires you then let us know as we’d love to hear about your experiences or recommendations so we can learn as much about our new home as possible.
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