BOLT Reviews: Thai Plum Village

by BOLT, posted in Travel

To honor the 94 Birthday of Thich Nhat Hanh we traveled to the south of Thailand. It was a wonderful and spiritually rewarding experience!

Thích Nhất Hạnh is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk and peace activist, founder of the Plum Village Tradition. He is a leader in the engaged Buddhism movement and a teacher in the practice of mindfulness.

Thay (teacher) as he is affectionately known established many retreat centers the world over. He spent most of his life at Plum Village in France. Sadly, he had a stroke and is no longer able to speak. He has returned to his birthplace in Hue, Vietnam to live out his days.

The retreat center we went to is the Thai Plum Village. For 3 days we enjoyed various types of meditation; remembrances of Thay by the nuns and monks; talks on mindfulness; periods of noble silence and meditation walks.

O

ur accomodations were in simple and clean dormatory style rooms. We were served three delicious vegan meals a day.

The center is in a lovely part of Thailand, surrounded by national park land. To get there it was an 11 hour bus trip to Bangkok and then a 3 hour ride to the center. We will definitely take a plane from Chiang Mai to Bangkok next time. The long bus ride was less than comfortable.

Despite the difficult trip there, Kathy and I are making plans to visit again soon. We highly recommend Thai Plum Village for those looking for an experience in mindfulness. If you art not in Thailand, remember, there are centers the world over.

Chiang Mai Theatrics’Acting Workshop

by BOLT, posted in Travel

As I’ve shared before, acting is a passion I’ve found very late in life…but found it I have! So I was really excited tobe asked to participate in this workshop.

Stephan Turner, founder of the Gate Theater, is leading the workshop. He is an excellent director! I’ve been challenged with learning a monologue and a scene with a partner.

I find that acting is great stimulation for my brain. Its a lot of fun and I get to meet great people too!

Our work will culminate with a performance, this Monday, September 2, 7pm at AUA. If you are in the Chiang Mai area we hope to see you.

Life in Jed Yod

by BOLT, posted in Travel
View from our window.

There have been seemingly endless rain, drizzle and hard showers for the last few days in Chiang Mai. Yet I am still incredibly grateful to be here and especially in our new neighborhood of Jed Yod.

Many neighborhoods here are designated by the temple in the area. We are so fortunate to be next door to Wat (Temple) Jed Yod. Right now the temple bells are ringing and soon the monks will be chanting. Its a lovely and peaceful sound.

Our neighborhood has a lively small vendor community. We are able to purchase pretty much everything we need within walking distance.

The entrance to Jed Yod is just opposite our building.

I’m able to just step outside our door and purchase flowers, candle and incense.

There is a wide variety of food, sold in open air stalls and small restaurants. Srifass is my favorite!

We are also walking distance from Maya Mall, one of the nicest in Chiang Mai. Here we can see the latest movies, western style grocery shop as well as eat a wide variety of international cuisine.

So rainy season or not I’m so glad Jed Yod, Chiang Mai is our new home.

National Museum of Chiang Mai Excursion

by BOLT, posted in African American, buddhist, Chiang Mai, Thailand, Long distance, Long term travel, spiritual, Thailand, Travel

The National Museum of Chiang Mai is a small space, located on lovely grounds. The majority of the exhibits were of Buddha statues. There were also exhibits on the history of the Lanna Kingdom. My intention is to do once a month excursions to local spots of interest. A small group joined me today and I enjoyed this first excursion greatly!

BOLT Baht Budget

by BOLT, posted in Travel

Our time in the U.S. was 3 months of unrelenting sticker shock! From groceries to gas to housing we find the states to be really expensive.

It’s good to be back in Thailand and we find we are able to live comfortably. This seems like a good time to share what that looks like for us.

We’ve created a budget that allows for basic necessities, fun, savings, emergencies and travel.

I’m covering the basic necessities and fun in this post. This is our approximate monthly budget:

Rent: 10,000 Baht ($325)

We found a lovely studio apartment in a neighborhood that we love. Its simple, clean and has lovely common areas, a pool and a gym. Although paid separately, I’ve included the cost of electricity and water in this amount.

Food: 12,000 Baht ($400)

We eat very well and pretty healthily here. There are lots of restaurants, local markets and we are in walking distance from two major grocery stores.

Transportation: 3,800 Baht ($125)

Most of this is for our scooter rental. There are also affordable local busses, songteaws and Grab.

Phone and Internet Service: 1,500 Baht ($50)

This is for great cell service on two phones and high speed internet.

Entertainment: 4,600 Baht ($150)

We have found this to be more than enough to cover movies, meals out with friends and short excursions.

So our total budget is around 32,000 baht… just over $1000! One of the many reasons we love Thailand.

Beauty in the Struggle!

by BOLT, posted in Travel

Today I visited the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Legacy Museum. Established by the Equal Justice Initiative, these sites are dedicated to telling the ugly and painful history of the United States: from slavery to mass incarceration.

As I walked through the memorial and the rows and rows of pillars marking the Southern counties where over 4,000 lynchings occured I was holding back the tears.



The memorial’s sculptures and grounds are amazing works of art but the ugliness they portray made it hard to see any beauty.

I was saddened and angered by the individual and collective stories told.

No pictures are allowed inside the museum where artfully conceived exhibits further describe the horrors of slavery, segregation, lynching and the ongoing brutality today, especially in the racist criminal justice system.

The statistics are overwhelming…one in three black boys born will end up in prison!

For years, I’ve posted #findbeautyeveryday pictures daily. I was thinking about skipping it today. But then I remembered how we have persevered and how much beauty there is in the struggle.

I leave you with this art piece, representing the strong sisters of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. I encourage everyone to visit Montgomery and the many sites of civil rights history here, especially
the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Legacy Museum.

BOLT Reviews: Cherry Hill Park

by BOLT, posted in Travel

Cherry Hill is the closest park to metropolitan DC. At over $80 per night it is by far the most expensive RV park we’ve stayed at. It is also one of the nicest.As we planned our trip, we knew we wanted to go to the new Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. We picked Cherry Hill because they have a Metro bus station that takes one to the Metro Trains and then into the heart of the city.In addition to the convenience of public transportation the park is really quite lovely. There are two pools, mini golf, a store, excellent laundry facilities and more.Not an RVer? Cherry Hill has cute little glamping and cabin sites!Beautiful landscaping and comfortable sites made Cherry Hill a great spot to return to after our busy DC days.

BOLT Reviews: Lynchburg RV Resort

by BOLT, posted in African American, Black, family, Fun, Lesbian, Long term travel, retirement, rv, RVing, Thousand Trails, Travel, Women

There is a long and winding road through rural Virginia to get to this resort but Oh! is it worth it! This is one of the most beautiful RV parks I’ve been to.

There is a lovely and tranquil lake with swans.

There are wonderful trees everywhere.

The campsites are shady and spacious.

There is a great pool, surrounded by plenty of lounge chairs.

There are two activity centers (family and adult) and both have delightful decks.

The lake has a beach and swim area.

There are outdoor activities like shuffleboard and playgrounds.

I especially love the many walking trails, both paved and dirt.

Kathy and I are very satisfied with our Thousand Trails membership. We have enjoyed exploring the states and having nice spots to stay.

What happened here? Let’s not forget Central High School, Little Rock, Arkansas!

by BOLT, posted in Travel

Today we visited Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. In 1957 nine brave black students were prevented from attending the all white school school. They were met with extreme hatred, vicious threats and state sanctioned prevention when they tried to enter. Finally the federal government stepped in and Central High became integrated. Today there is a Federal monument and visitor center across from the school.At the school there is a reflecting pool surrounded by benches honoring the Little Rock 9.The monument and center had many interesting and moving displays.I hope you will share this story with the young people in your life.

Reflections…

by BOLT, posted in African American, Black, generational, Lesbian, Long distance, Long term travel, Old, queer, retirement, RVing, Travel, WOC, Women

A friend asked me about how Kathy and I began to consider prepare for and experience BOLT (Black Old Lesbians Traveling) life. As I answered her, I decided to also share my answers in this post.

Kathy and I have talked about a life of travel from the moment we met. It was something we always considered. We traveled a lot even while working. We found we travel well together.

In 2014, after years of caring for my mom (an ancestor now) and being at my job for 32 years, Kathy and I set our intention to be”home free” travelers by the time I turned 60 in September 2015.

It took us about a year of preparation and letting go of stuff, property, etc to be ready to hit the road:

  • We had yard sales, donated stuff, gifted things to friends. We sold our house and cars.
  • We made living wills as well as traditional wills.
  • We got bank accounts with no ATM fees (Charles Schwab is good).
  • We digitized all our important documents and keep them in the”cloud”.

A few guidelines and agreements we made:

  • We could each have one rolling bag, one backpack and one purse which must hold everything we need.
  • We limited ourselves to one bin of stuff to save: pictures, mementos from my kids, etc. These are in Kathy’s mom’s garage.
  • We made budgets and savings plans.

We talked a lot about what we wanted to do and where we wanted to go.

Then we set out. The 30 day cruise was the perfect way to begin world travel. We went to over 10 new destinations and traveled from Seattle to Singapore with no jet lag.

I still had too much stuff, broke our 1 rolling bag rule and had to give a bunch more stuff away while traveling. It worked out ok because the the cruise and hotel staff benefited.

After a year in Asia we decided to pursue another dream: RV travel. I love road trips and seeing beautiful North America has been wonderful. But full time RV life is not for me. I like mixing it up with long term stays in foreign countries. I have not found the same connections to community with RV life.

Somethings I’ve learned about myself are:

  • I don’t like fast travel. In the beginning we would stay places a week or less and they became a blur.
  • I like staying in places long enough to get to know folks, find meetings, activities etc.
  • Kathy and I get along well in small spaces but it’s important for us to have solitary time daily. I have quiet time in the morning and I take a solo walk daily.
  • I’ve always been a neat freak but in RV life it’s super important. A place for everything and everything in it’s place!
  • I’ve learned I don’t need as much stuff or variety of stuff as I thought… cosmetics, vitamins, hair care stuff, jewelry are some of the many things I carry only small quantities of.

I’m not sure if I answered my friend’s questions but these reflections have been rewarding to me and I hope helpful to someone. If you have any questions about a life of home free travel, please email us at boltraveling@gmail.com.