Reason #2 we should go to Thailand: Hey, I've done this before

One of the best things about traveling round this great big world is the opportunity to share those experiences with others. Whether its an old school slide show or a modern Flickr feed, most of us globetrotters love sharing pictures of our adventures.

Coming from a rural town of 10,000 people, I always dreamed of doing what I've done, and in the words of Dr. Seuss, the places you'll go. So it was something special for me to be able to share those experiences with not only family and friends back home, but readers of the local newspaper. It's not much good to be a local celebrity, if you can't share those cool experiences with others, right?

Back when I lived in Korea, I wrote a column for the Decatur Daily Democrat titled, The Seoul Survivor. I had been to Korea on a cultural exchange program but living there really opened my eyes to the deeper cultural understanding I'd been missing. I wrote the column to share all these great discoveries I had made about life in Seoul, but eventually realized I was making discoveries about myself. Once I learned that, it made The Seoul Survivor a much more interesting read, and it actually culled quite a fanbase for such a small circulation, a little over 5,000. People would stop my family at church or about town and mention how much they enjoyed my latest article. It was a blast to write.

Shortly after I moved to Japan in 2004, I emailed my old friend Bob Shraluka, the managing editor, about writing a weekly column about life in Japan, and thus, The Gaijin Journal was born. Each week for almost a year, I wrote about various topics of interest, adding my own sardonic wit and observations about life in Japan. I also included a Japanese phrase that related to the column in some way, but was also useful in everyday life. They were never too complicated nor too obtuse for the non-native speaker to pick up.

But just having my writings printed in the paper wasn't enough. I wanted people to immerse themselves in the world I painted each week in the column, and shortly after sending each week's edition to Bob, I'd slap one up on the website to share with the world. I designed the website myself, wrote all the code, upkept a message board, and answered all the fan mail I received from a special inbox I set up. Although I don't update the site anymore, you can still read my columns here. The Gaijin Journal was important for me, and serves as a great precursor to how I can help the Tourism Authority of Thailand promote Chiang Mai.

I've done this before! Not to break my own arm patting myself on the back here, but my observations and writings will promote Thailand as your next destination better than anyone. I'll make the exotic accessible, and the trivial exciting. While we ended the last column with "We can't wait to see what Thailand has to offer for us," I can honestly say, I can't wait to see what I can do for Thailand!