Thailand Travel- packing LIGHT

Hello!!! I have missed you all!  Well, I just got home from my 6 week trip to celebrate my 10year anniversary! We went to Thailand and since there was a stopover in Beijing along the way we spent some time in China at the beginning of our trip.  We both traveled with a 35 litre backpack, which you can see here if you click on the link... its small, yes, indeed. SO as you can imagine, I had to pack very efficiently. This was a fun challenge.  We mainly wanted to be able to move around easily and not  be smacking people on the bus with big overloaded backpacks and such!!!

  We wore old ugly clothes to Beijing since it was -20 and colder for the week we were there. Then once we left Beijing we ditched the ugly winter clothes and got into our clothes for 34 degree weather!!  Woo hooo bring on the heat!  We spent 5 days in Beijing and the remainder of the 5.5 weeks in Thailand both in the north and south.
 Basically all I packed was: 2 pairs of shorts, 3 tank tops, 1 skirt, 1 dress, 1 longsleeve, 1 tshirt, 1 pair of pants and a bikini.  It made coming up with outfits really easy.  And if I ever get up in the morning now that I am home and say " I have nothing to wear"- you have full freedom to pinch me and tell me to smarten up!!!  I can not believe I have the gall to say things like that with the amount of clothing I have in my closet!!  A big bar of soap for handwashing clothing and a natural air dryer (the sun) is all you need!! :)  Less clothing really does make life much much easier!!!

 I also wore no makeup and the only jewelry I had were a paid of silver hoops and my favorite turquoise earrings.

 I often wore a scarf since I  could use it to wear around my shoulders in case I needed to cover up if we came across a temple to visit (which there were many).  It also doubled as a face cloth when I was all sweaty :)  GROSS, I know, but hey- I never said I was a lady :P  And of course theres graceful me dripping pad thai sauce and tom yum curry all over it all the time!!

Thailand was exceptional. We like remote secluded places and we found many great places to explore from remote local villages to small islands with no electricity or internet.  We spent the first part of our trip on an island in the mid south, then traveled north and did a trek for 3 days over xmas. I must say, it was one of the most memorable xmas holidays I have ever had.  The people were so joyous and friendly and so generous and happy.  We also explored along the Myanmar and Laos border areas which was really interesting, as well as toured a coffee and tea plantation.  Then after taking a night train (now that was an adventure!!) we headed to some small southern islands where we basically lived in luxury in thatched huts on the beach with white sandy beaches and the sound of waves all around us. CAN YOU SAY HEAVEN???    We ate tons of amazing thai food and lots and lots of fruit (food there is awesome!! and we even did a cooking course!).

 I am now home feeling fully rested and rejuvenated and even a few pounds thinner!!   Let me tell you--- plans for next years trip are in full force all ready :)

I look forward to catching up with all of you and really hope you all had a super xmas and new year holiday season.  I also wish you all the absolute best for this upcoming year-- yes- a most fabulously stylish year at that, right ladies???

Back soon, MWAH, xoxo J