Your allotted time in Thailand is coming to an end. But like most foreigners who visit the Land of Smiles you’re not ready to leave just yet. Assuming you want to stay, you know you have to do a visa run, but which method do you choose? Do you hire an agency for a modest price to take you to the border and handle all your paperwork? Or do you choose to do it alone? After all, you probably took the journey to Thailand alone. So why not deepen your travel experiences? If you’ve been entertaining the idea but don’t know where to start then this post is for you. One of the closest border crossings in Thailand is the … [Read more...]
Gentleman’s House Barber Shop and Cocktail Bar – Proponents of Change in Russia
The following is a guest post by Nick Harbison. Nick was previously featured on MBSB discussing his transcontinental motorcycle trip. The Gentleman’s House Barber Shop, Irkutsk, in the Republic of Buryatia, Russia, opened earlier this year. I ducked in for a shave and a drink and ended up chatting with owner Nikita Fedchishin about old fashioned style, old fashioned service, and the challenge of getting Russians to stop drinking straight vodka. Walking down Decabr'skih Sobitii Street in Irkutsk, Russia, the sign for the Gentleman’s House Barbershop jumps out at you. It’s not its English writing - there are English signs scattered around the … [Read more...]
Annihilation Of The Self In Muay Thai
One of my favourite films is Kill Bill, because secretly I am a sixteen year old boy. I love almost every part of the films, even though I know almost every part is stolen. Creativity is hiding your sources, said no one ever except me. But one thing that strikes me about that movie/those movies is that what makes the character of the bride so powerful, and so resonant, is her single-minded drive to complete her tasks, no matter how much pain, despair and anguish she experiences. And this natural bent is cultivated by Pai Mei, who punishes her ceaselessly, in order to build in her an indefatigable, indestructible spirit. She submits to a master and an art … [Read more...]
Muay Thai – An Essay By Carlos Navarro Of Baan Singto
The following is a guest post by Carlos Navarro of Baan Singto Muay Thai gym in Guadalajara, Mexico. Note: I met Carlos while training at Sitmonchai Gym in 2011. I noticed Carlos upon my arrival to Sitmonchai amongst the other Foreign nak muays but what perhaps marks the moment that he truly stood out to me was the following: Carlos was sitting one the edge of one of the two rings at Sitmonchai watching a Foreigner shadow box. He stood up and showed the boxer how to follow through on a left hook. That was it. That was the initial defining moment for me. It was in that moment that I realized I could see myself train under … [Read more...]
Burn Your Guidebook
The following is a guest post by Justin Samuel Martin of Off The Path Travel and the band Automata. Dear Reader, I do not know you, but I am writing this under the assumption that you travel or intend to do so at some point in your lifetime. I also have taken the liberty to presume that you or someone you know uses or will use guidebooks while abroad. Though it is plausible – likely, in fact – that our personal trajectories are wholly dissimilar, I was hoping that you might allow me to persuade you into doing something somewhat out of the ordinary. I would like you to burn your travel guidebook. I know that you just spent $19.95 on it. Burn … [Read more...]