It’s been a hot minute since I’ve thrown a blog post out.

And when I say a hot minute, I’ve spent the last several months in Thailand. It’s unapologetically hot!

The last several months have included an incredible voyage and trek through Nepal, three weeks in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, returning to Chiang Mai for Songkran, and then settling in for a 40-day training block—with a 10-day active-recovery border run through Laos mixed into the middle.

That little “border run” through Laos turned into its own adventure: jungles, ziplines, tree houses, new friends, two days drifting slowly down the Mekong River, and a blessed stay in Luang Prabang where I got to experience the culture the way I often seem to experience a new place best—through its food.

After Laos, I returned to Chiang Mai and jumped right back into training, eventually putting it to the test with a brutal 50K through the Doi Inthanon mountain range—9,000 feet of elevation gain in 10 hours and 57 minutes. A week and a half later, I found myself right back at it again, this time headed to Phuket for another, even more focused, training block.

There are a hundred stories buried inside those few sentences. Maybe I’ll get around to telling some of them.

But for now, I wanted to share something much simpler: a pretty typical day in Phuket.

Call me crazy, but these days my life tends to revolve around a morning latte at a walkable café and some journaling, a run, a workout or some kind of fitness class, followed by a sauna, steam room, and cold plunge for recovery. It’s all become a kind of choreography—stress the body, challenge the central nervous system, recover with intention, and repeat—fine-tuning the whole machine until strength and stillness somehow begin to feel like the same thing. Somewhere in there I’ll inevitably find another ridiculously healthy and delicious meal.

Today was actually a perfect example of why I came back to Phuket.

I specifically chose to stay in Bang Tao Beach so I could train at the world-famous Bang Tao Muay Thai gym. I’m here for 28 days, and when I leave, I’ll head to Bali for another training block that will probably look remarkably similar.

Over the course of traveling, I’ve developed a pretty simple system for choosing where I stay:

Find the coolest gyms and recovery spots first. Then find somewhere to live within walking distance.

It turns out that good gyms attract healthy restaurants. Healthy restaurants attract great cafés. Throw all of that together with beaches, sunshine, and an active lifestyle, and apparently it also attracts a whole lot of attractive people.

Throw in a motorbike, and life gets pretty simple.

One of the things that continues to stand out about Thailand is the people. They are remarkably kind, calm, pleasant, and welcoming. Whether I’m running up some random back road, walking into a place I’ve never been, or exploring another incredible food market, I’m continually struck by how genuinely nice the people are—and how damn good the food is.

Anyway, no grand lesson today.

Just a couple minutes of what an ordinary day currently looks like.

Train. Ride. Recover.

Phuket, Thailand.