Treehouse Silent Beach, Koh Samui

Finally back at the beach! For someone who is used to going to the beach almost every day in Maui, I've felt like a fish out of water in the city of Chiang Mai. The ocean here is very warm and not as clear as Maui waters. The wind picks up early around 7:30 am, so best to get out for a morning walk/run and swim before then.

We are spending five nights in a beach bungalow at Treehouse Silent Beach for about $35/night. If you want something even cheaper, you can get a room without A/C for about $17/night.

Getting to the island of Koh Samui is not as easy as one might expect. There are so many options: traveling via train, bus, flight and ferry. Long story short, it was challenging finding a direct flight last minute that suited our needs, so we ended up flying with Air Asia from Chiang Mai to Surat Thani, then taking a 1.5 hour bus ride to Raja Ferry. The ferry ride was 1.5 hours and once in Koh Samui, we took a one-hour shuttle to our final destination.

It's so convenient having everything you need right here, not having to drive anywhere. There is a fabulous restaurant with very friendly service that has pretty much everything you could imagine on the menu with prices under $5 per meal. Affordable massages are easily accessible right on the beach.

I could get used to this lifestyle. Eating at a restaurant and/or living off of coconuts and dragonfruit everyday, saving time not having to cook or shop, wifi and cleaning included... This would a perfect place to save money on living expenses and focus on building an online business.

The rest of our time here in Koh Samui we will be spending at our friend's house who is house sitting for us in Maui at the moment. On August 26th we return to Chiang Mai and then I'll have three more days before I head back home to Maui. Zen will stay another month. I've really been enjoying my time away but there are also things I miss about Maui, especially my cats.