A Life of Travel: Bangkok routine, Spanish road trip and a Bhutan festival we built in 36 hours
Derek Baron
May 19, 2026
A big welcome to the 35 new subscribers who recently signed up!
I'm in Bangkok, Thailand and it's time for a travel newsletter…
📆 update
Things are quiet on my end in the best possible way. After a few months of moving around, I'm back in one place for a stretch, back in a routine and… it feels great.
BANGKOK
I've been in Bangkok for a couple of weeks now, mostly with my head fully focused on some work stuff. It’s similar to how I spent my time here back in January. Lots of time on my laptop, lots of cafe hopping, long walks through the (admittedly limited) parks that this city has to offer, and of course eating my way through every kind of food I can get my hands on. Overall, I’m keeping it relaxed, not really attending many meetups or socializing a ton. I’m happy with the steady, simple rhythm.
It's a side of travel that doesn't get talked about much - the part where you're not really "traveling" so much as living somewhere for a little while. After 25+ years of this, I've come to appreciate these stretches more and more. No flights to catch, no checklists of sights to visit… just coffee, work, daily exercise, a good meal in the evening, and repeat.
I'll be here in Bangkok for another month or so.
PORTUGAL & SOUTHERN SPAIN
Before Bangkok, I spent a week in Portugal followed by what turned out to be one of the most fun road trips I've had in a while. Georgiana and I took a 5-day adventure through southern Spain. We cruised through Cadiz, Jerez, Vejer de la Frontera and a handful of smaller communities, letting each day come together on its own.
Beautiful towns, very few tourists, lovely accommodations, long unhurried walks through whitewashed streets, flamenco bars, great meals (obviously), and that easy, unstructured pace where you just point the car somewhere and see what happens. It reminded me how much I genuinely love a good road trip… and also how much of southern Spain I still haven't seen. I'll definitely be back.
NEXT UP…
One small thing on the horizon - after I leave SE Asia, I need to get a simple medical procedure taken care of. A doctor recently discovered that I have a small abdominal hernia that needs to be surgically repaired. It seems to be nothing dramatic, but it's the kind of thing you don't want to let drag on, so that's next on the list.
A QUICK STORY
On a recent Wandering Earl Tours trip to Bhutan, the itinerary was built around a specific festival in a remote part of the country. That was the main highlight. Then, 2 days before the tour started, the government suddenly cancelled the festival. The grounds where it was to be held wouldn't be ready in time.
In such a situation, the easy thing to do is shrug, call it a free day on the itinerary, and move on. But that was never going to happen.
As soon as we heard about the cancellation, our entire team kicked into action, including our wonderful local network on the ground in Bhutan. Within 36 hours, in that same remote area, in a village where tourists never visit, we managed to put together our own celebration. It was a real celebration of culture - not something fake for foreigners. And it brought our guests and the local people together in a remarkable way.
Villagers came to observe, to share their traditions, to dance, to eat, to talk. What started as a "we have to do something" scramble turned into one of those days you’ll never forget - eye-opening, completely unscripted, full of the kind of human exchange you can't manufacture. The kind of day that, honestly, ended up being better than the original festival would have been.
That's the part I'm most proud of. No matter what gets thrown at us, nobody on our team is willing to write off a single day. Our tour leaders, local guides, local friends, partners on the ground… they are all so dedicated and passionate about making every single day matter as well. That’s the difference.
If Bhutan is on your list, we have a Bhutan trip coming up in October this year!
👉 Check out all of our unique, carefully crafted 2026 and 2027 trips here.
Wander Across Bhutan
🌐 around the globe
🚇 Tashkent's Underground Palaces
From the outside, it’s just an ordinary "M" sign. Descend the stairs and you enter one of the world's most extraordinary metro systems - Soviet-era stations built like palaces beneath Uzbekistan's capital. Read the story
🇮🇳 Why People Go to India and Come Back Different
A thoughtful essay on what it is about India that gets under your skin and stays there. Read the story
🌅 Around the World Without Flying
The story of Omar Nok, an Egyptian traveler who circled the globe entirely overland and on the water. It’s a wild logistical feat and a great read. Read the story
🇮🇹 Trapani - Where Sicily Faces Africa
A lovely piece about one of Sicily's most underrated corners, where the food and the geography both lean south. (Side note: One of my absolute favorite pizza places is in Trapani.) Read the story
🚂 One Ticket to Ride All of Europe
The EU just proposed forcing all European railway operators to sell each other's tickets through a single system, possibly offering a seamless multi-country train journey. It’s a big deal for anyone who travels Europe by rail. Read the story
🌉 The 10 Best Bridges in the World
A look at one architect’s list of impressive bridges, those things you don't think about until you cross a really good one. See the list
🍲 The Layered History of Koshary
Dive deep into Egypt's beloved street-food bowl, with rice, lentils, pasta, chickpeas, fried onions and tomato sauce. One of the great cheap meals on the planet. Read the story
🔊 A Sound Map of the World
An interactive project collecting field recordings from cities around the world. Click on a place and listen to what it actually sounds like to stand there. I lost an hour to this one. Have a listen
🗺️ where in the world?
A big congratulations to those readers who guessed the location of the photo in the previous newsletter! Here’s who guessed correctly:
Dorota, Sherri and Dean
The location is Sant Julia de Loria, Andorra. It's the southernmost parish of Andorra, that tiny country tucked into the Pyrenees between Spain and France.
This week’s image:
It’s time to guess…where was the below photo taken?
If you have a guess (the more specific the better), click reply and let me know. Anyone who guesses correctly will be mentioned in next week's newsletter 😄
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Thank you so much for reading!
Derek
(my middle name is Earl)
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