20 years ago, when I was 18, my parents, brother, and I were in Thailand. We went in search of an island that would be off the beaten track to relax and explore so we took a ferry to an island called Koh Phangan (further out than the more touristed one called Koh Samui). There was a third island a bit further away but we were told, “Don’t go there. There is nothing there; no good way to go.” We did the next best thing. There were no roads, so we hiked to the other side of Koh Phangan where we did find a secluded beach. We slept in bamboo bungalows over the water, made sand castles, and ate rice with coconut milk for every meal. It was amazing! Some local Thai guy even climbed a coconut palm, brought me down a coconut, and proposed to me. I said, “No thank you!” 20 years later… I am swinging in a hammock on a little bungalow porch hanging out over the rocks overlooking a tiny bay called Tanote. We hiked here over the mountain this morning! It was hot and beautiful with a steeper-than-Cascades trail, palms, jumping-tree squirrels, and views. We could’ve taken a taxi truck or rented motorcycles and come on the road, but that would’ve been going against tradition. There are tourists here, and there are no more islands off this coast. Something is here now! Koh Tao (That tiny third island – “Turtle Island”) is 19.2 sq. kilometers (about the size of Lake Wenatchee) and more scuba divers are certified on this island annually than anywhere else in the world. There are shops in the town and little resorts scattered in every little nook and cranny around the island, but that is OK. God’s striking beauty is still all around and I got to come back and share it with my own family! P.S. For your sake, we’ll ease up on the pictures of us in hammocks in the future. We’ve just needed to keep convincing ourselves that it is true.