Thailand is everything I thought it would be: hot, humid, insane traffic, friendly people, amazing temples, scam artists, tiny streets, unfamiliar tastes and smells, long train rides, cheap food, hard beds, unbelievable sunsets, and best of all: an adventure every day.
I arrived in Bangkok, a little shell-shocked, five days ago following an 11 hour flight from Auckland. I stayed at Shanti Lodge Guesthouse in Thewet, and I highly recommend it.
After a somewhat ambitious walk to Khao San Road and back, I crashed hard and woke 12 hours …

Sorry for leaving you all on such a down note, the last few weeks have FLOWN by and I am now in Thailand. A quick recap:
My friend Amy flew over from Australia (where she was visiting from the US) and came with me up to the Northland. We went to Whangarei and Tutukaka (on The Perfect Day boat trip to the Poor Knights Islands — fantastic!) and Paihia (where I took the highly recommended AwesomeNZ Cape Reinga day trip) together before going separate ways.
Whangarei & Poor Knights Islands day trip
Paihia …

With my trip to Thailand just under six months away, I’m a little late in beginning to think about vaccinations. Twinrix, the jab of choice against Hepatitis A and B, requires seven months forethought — unless you go the fast track route which while possible in under 21 days, requires a FOURTH shot within twelve months.
With this in mind, I began investigating exactly what shots I needed to go to Asia. While Thailand doesn’t require you to have any vaccinations to enter the country, most information that I could …