Quick, leave work early. Feelgoodz Flip Flops are arriving in Orlando today!

What are Feelgoodz?

Feelgoodz are Flip Flops.

But not just any flip flops; they come from Thailand and are the most comfortable flip flops ever, seriously! I wore them all around Pattaya when I packed them for my trip to Thailand during the Ultimate Thailand Explorers Competition.

My buddy Kyle is the CEO of Feelgoodz and for the last several years has been puttin’ his heart and soul to make them a success. It’s been an incredible adventure as he’ll be quick to tell you. What started out in his parent’s shed in his backyard has exploded into a national sales initiative. You may remember I wrote about them before when I had a chance to Visit the Feelgoodz Flop Cave in New Orleans.

The best part is, he’s taking his flops on a tour around the SouthEast and will be in Orlando today and tomorrow! [we're letter "J" on the map]

Where can I find them in Orlando?

Feelgoodz will be at Whole Foods on the following dates/ times:

Orlando (Sand Lake Road), Monday, July 19th at 4 P.M.

Winter Park, Tuesday, July 20th at 10 A.M.

Why should I buy them?

Aside from the fact that they truly are more comfortable than any other flip flop I’ve worn (and I’m not being paid to say this), these are also socially responsible flip flops.

Natural:
Natural rubber, recycled paper hang tags, cardboard hangers

Comfortable:
Pillow-soft, the most comfortable on the market

Ethical:
Biodegradable, recyclable, fair wages paid to Thai farmers

Conscious:
1st Louisiana B-Corp, 1% for the Planet member

So What Are You Waiting For?

Make a trip to Whole Foods, buy yourself a pair of Feelgoodz and say hi to Kyle. Leave a comment with what pair you bought!

I’ll see you out there…! Steppin’ Easy, Feelin’ Good

For More Information:

You can follow Kyle and Feelgoodz on Twitter @Feelgoodz

He’s also on Facebook

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After much deliberation we had finally solidified our itinerary. It was jam-packed. It also changed multiple times once we arrived in Thailand and even on the fly to accommodate new additions and meetings. Knowing where you could go is exciting. Doing it is even better.

Coming soon…where we actually went.

Did you know I also have a Facebook Fan Page? You can find it here.

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Have you seen our itinerary yet? You can, click here.

What do you think? We had no idea Pattaya had so much! We’ve been asked quite a bit why we chose Pattaya. And up until now point, we don’t think we’ve shared that with you.

Each year we try to travel to a new, international destination. We’ve made it to Europe and Africa and needed to add Asia to that roster soon. With Bangkok being one of the most well-known cities in Thailand, we figured our travels would someday take us here. Perhaps Phuket too. We had never heard of Pattaya until we saw it on the Ultimate Thailand Explorers website. Seriously. It was an unknown city for us.

We saw this competition as an opportunity to explore a place we probably would never have considered traveling to on our own. Even more important than that, this was a chance to learn and share with all of you an important lesson – to get out and explore the world we share; the cities we know, and the cities we don’t. Our focus has always been and will continue from now until January 8th, to encourage you to visit Pattaya. To include it on your list of must-see destinations.

When we received our itinerary last week we were blown away! Our first reaction – how are we going to do all of that in the 6-days we have? Over the course of the week Brian’s been doing a lot of the itinerary research while Ben’s been working the social media tasks. With only 2 days left before we leave, we’re still sorting through the logistics, but it will all come together soon, we hope!

If you live in Pattaya, or have been to the city before we’d love to hear your thoughts about where we’re going. Do you have a travel tip to share? Is there something we shouldn’t miss at the attractions we’re visiting? Comment below or send us a tweet @benandbrianthai

Be sure to vote for us too.

We’ll see you out there!

Over the past few days as I have read several reports and articles on the protests, shootings and unrest that is unfolding in Thailand I’ve been questioning some of my beliefs as a traveler. It’s awfully sad to read about these kinds of events after you’ve visited those countries where they are happening. It makes the problem real. It’s not just text on paper, and ink in a photo, but a serious event with serious consequences happening to real people – some of them friends we travelers have made along the way.

When the Tourism Authority of Thailand established the Ultimate Thailand Explorers Competition, it was done in part to extinguish some of the bad publicity that hit the country when the Bangkok airport closed last year. Last week’s events potentially could revert the public’s perception of Thailand to where it was a year ago. And that’s unfortunate.

So should you travel to Thailand? The adventurer in me says “sure”, these events aren’t reflective of the whole country. On the other hand, the cautious and safety-conscious side of me says wait for things to settle down. You’re in an unknown country and you don’t know what could happen next. It’s tough to take the latter approach when in your heart of hearts, you want to promote tourism to Thailand, you want to believe that travel shouldn’t be restricted. What do you do?

A fellow adventurer, Gary Arndt from Everything Everywhere, provided a great perspective in his blog on Tuesday, which you should read first here. He’s Pro-Thailand Travel. Consider this from Gary who addresses the shootings that happened over the weekend,

“Thailand is a big country. What happened here was a tragedy, but it occurred only on a few streets in one part of one city on one evening…Saying you shouldn’t visit any part of Thailand based on the events of last Saturday is like saying you shouldn’t visit California if there is a school shooting in Colorado.”

Over here in the United States our “World News” section is limited to a 300-word article that provides an oftentimes sensationalized story of one event. And based on that one event, we’re making a judgement about the entire country. Right now, there are people celebrating the Songkran Festival (Thai New Year) all throughout the country. There are people going about their daily lives: working, hanging out with friends and relaxing at home. But those stories never make the news. Gary pointed out what we instinctually know as travelers, but what many people don’t understand. Thank you.

So should you travel to Thailand? Do your homework and make the decision that’s best for you. The more you travel the more you’ll start to see that the world as depicted in the papers and on the televisions is vastly different than how it is in-person.

But you knew that right? Still hesitant? Sometimes all it takes is to go out and explore it for yourself (and using your common sense). That’s what adventures are all about.

What do you think? Would you travel to Thailand right now? Leave a comment with your thoughts.

I’ll see you out there…!

If you enjoyed reading today’s post, become a fan of adventureswithben on Facebook for more stories, photos and videos.

Have a great weekend and do something great!

*****

Hey Explorers,

We’re going to come right out and say it, you should see the “Thai Extravaganza Show” at the Thai Alangkarn Theater. “What is it,” you may be asking? It’s everything. It’s music, dance, storytelling, arial acrobatics, special effects, pyrotechnics, audience participation and pure magic. It bills itself as “The Extravaganza Show” and it certainly lives up to it’s name.

We saw the show on our first day in Pattaya. Arriving just a few minutes before showtime, we were able to capture a few moments of the festive courtyard and with the permission of the staff at the theater, a few clips of the show.

Let’s start with the theater. It’s huge, having the ability to accommodate 2,000 people per show. Shows are offered nightly at 18:00. While we didn’t sit in every seat, the tiered seating should make for good visibility no matter where you are. The show itself tells the story of Thai culture and history. The dramatic entrance crescendos with a full stage production number with lavish sets, thunderous music and colorful costumes. Due to low light levels in the theater the Alangkarn has generously provided us with these images.

The pace moves quickly from number to number. Just as you’re ready for more the next troupe of performers enters onstage for another, new, cultural piece. Many theater productions separate the audience from the performers, meaning the performers act as if no one was watching them. Quite pleasingly for a spectacle as large as this one, select audience members are picked from their seats and invited onto the stage to perform with the dancers.

As it so happened, we were both brought to the stage along with 1/2 dozen other audience members. We had no idea what was in store for us. We formed a line and learned a traditional Thai dance. Ben and another audience member were brought to center stage to demonstrate the dance to the rest of the theater. Hilarity ensued when he couldn’t quite grasp the motions while the performer/ instructor (a man playing the role of an old, eager-to-find-a-man lady) continued to try to “make the moves” on him.

One of our favorite moments was the elephant battle scene. This was our first exposure to the elephant’s role in Thai history and it’s involvement in fighting your enemy. Elephants played a prominent role in the country’s past. Today elephants are a common sight at many of the attractions we visited. No longer used in war or logging, elephants today are enjoyed for their beauty, intelligence and ability to make us smile.

The Alangkarn Theater also has a restaurant on-site where you can purchase a dinner and show package. We ate at another location after the show so we can’t tell you much about the dinner. Before the lobby doors open the main courtyard is full of entertainers, games, music and merriment. And at the moment before those doors open, a pyrotechnic blast illuminates the sky.

Pattaya offers a lot during the day. For a great evening out, try the Alangkarn Theater. You can view more photos of our night at the show on our Flickr Set here.

Thank you Alangkarn Theater!

|Know Before You Go|

Appeals To: Everyone
Suggested Stay: It’s around a 90-minute show with no intermission
Cost: 1000 Baht Adult/ 700 Baht Child ($33/$21) Show Only. VIP Seats are 200 Baht ($6) extra
Getting There: Easy Breezy. It’s just off the main road, Sukhumvit. Look for the big sign. Plenty of free parking.
Don’t Miss: Arrive early to take advantage of the atmosphere entertainment in the courtyard in front of the theater doors
Visit Online: | web |  facebook |  twitter |
BTW: Following the performance, many of the performers await you in the lobby for a photo opportunity.

*****

VOTING MESSAGE: If you enjoy reading our blog, please vote for us. Click on the link at the top of this page, login and vote. Voting ends January 8th. You can vote everyday and are eligible for prizes too!

Post-Pattaya Post 3 of 26

Check out my facebook fan page. It’s available here.

*****

Pattaya is working hard to change it’s appeal from being an adult-oriented destination to one that appeals to families. Mini Siam narrows this gap with a fun afternoon out for the little ones you brought with you on your vacation.

Mini Siam recreates notable landmarks from around the world in painstaking detail. Set against the backdrop of manicured lawns and gardens, the kids will have fun getting up close with famous sites previously seen only in textbooks and on television. Here’s a YouTube video with our antics at this tiny attraction.

We also used this opportunity at Mini Siam to flex our photography muscles with some silly photos. Take a look.

More photos are also posted on our Flickr Site here.

|Know Before You Go|

Appeals To: Families with children, the budding photographer who wants some zany landscapes, fans of kitsch.
Suggested Stay: 1 hour
Cost: 300 Baht ($10)
Getting There: Directly off the main road, Sukhumvit. It’s near a McDonald’s so you can grab some food for the kids before/after visiting.
Don’t Miss: Taking silly photos for your scrapbook.
Visit Online: | web |
BTW: Mini Siam is open until 10:00 P.M., making it one of the few attractions open late at night.

*****

VOTING MESSAGE: Like Mini Siam, we have a mini amount of votes. Why not vote for us today? Just a thought.

Post-Pattaya Post 7 of 26

Your regularly scheduled adventureswithben.com content will resume once I return from my road trip through Canada. For the latest updates, become a fan of adventureswithben.com on facebook here. It’s the easiest and most efficient way to stay connected to all my adventures.

*****

Hey Explorers,

Throughout our entire trip in Thailand we stayed at 5 hotels. Each has their unique charm and appeal, but for the two of us, the Dusit D2 was our hotel. Watch our YouTube video to see why.

As they say in Thailand, this place is “Mint”.

We knew from the moment we walked in that we’d feel right at home. New arrivals are welcomed with a complimentary welcome drink while waiting to get checked in. An escort to our room overlooking the pool below and we were ready to call it a night.

The list of adjectives we could use to describe this hotel could go on longer than the the day is long: hot, chic, trendy, sexy, cool, mint, comfortable, fashionable, fun, fancy, amazing, great location and all at an amazing price! Seriously, we don’t stay at places like this when we travel. They’re usually just out of our budget. Only in our dreams would we ever be able to stay here. But prices in Thailand, when adjusted to the dollar, make this hotel achievable.

Our room had a balcony, flat screen TV, shower with a rain head and a glass wall. The photo above just doesn’t do it justice (plus we didn’t know it was blurry until after checkout.)

The pool stands out among the amenities offered. The crisp, blue water is perfect to splash into after a day at the beach.

Or if you choose to soak up the sun, grab a nearby hammock and sit back with a cool drink.

But if drinks are really what you’re after, head to the rooftop bar.

Rooftop bars are something of a new experience for us, while in Thailand. There are some well-known locations in Bangkok that we weren’t sure if we’d have the chance to visit, so we were glad to have the opportunity for a similar experience in Pattaya. With the sunsetting to our backs, we kicked back on the comfy chairs and indulged in some adult beverages to the sounds of eclectic music thumping in the background; The perfect way to jump start our evening.

By the way, speaking of going out at night, the Dusit D2 is located right in the middle of downtown Pattaya. Accessible by taxi and foot to all the top spots. Plus, you can visit another one of our sponsors, The Avenue shopping center, right next door for food, drinks and shopping (stay tuned for a post about The Avenue very soon).

You should check out our photos from the hotel. Just looking at them makes us ache to go back. They’re all available on our Flickr site here.

Before we left to return to Bangkok, the team from the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Pattaya Office stopped by to wish us well.

We’d like to thank the Dusit D2 for sponsoring the Ultimate Thailand Explorers Competition. Please support our sponsors and spend a night or two at the Dusit. You won’t regret it.

|Know Before You Go |

Appeals To: The hipster in you. Oh and for all you gay explorers out there…we found your hotel!
Suggested Stay: As long as you stay in Pattaya
Cost: Rates are variable depending on the type of room, but we found one for 3200 Baht (That just under 100 bucks folks! An incredible value. A hotel like this in the United States is at least double!)
Getting There: Located on Pattaya’s 2nd road. It’s a one-way street on the right, just before The Avenue Shopping Center.
Don’t Miss: Relaxing on the rooftop bar. Visit during Happy Hour!
Visit Online: | web | facebook |
BTW: What else do you want us to say about this hotel. It’s the place to stay in downtown Pattaya. Be sure to budget time in your itinerary just to enjoy everything that the hotel offers. Oh, the hotel is also award-winning for it’s design!

*****

VOTING MESSAGE: Just vote for us. There’s only a few days left. Just one time won’t hurt!

Post-Pattaya Post 18 of 26

In “Guessing Game: Where Are We Going (originally published 11/24/09)”, I tried to do something unique and creative. After receiving our itinerary we created a quick video game of charades for our readers to guess where we were going in Pattaya, before the official reveal.

The correct answers were:

1. Underwater World
2. Ripley’s Believe it or Not
3. Koh Larn
4. Flight of the Gibbon
5. Tiffany’s Show

Several readers commented with their best guesses, but no one was able to get it 100% correct. They had fun trying though. I thought that this was a novel way to get readers involved with our trip to Thailand in an active way.

Throughout 2010 I’ll periodically post some posts from the Ultimate Thailand Explorers Archive with some commentary on the experience behind the post. Enjoy. Don’t forget to become a fan on Facebook. Click here to do it!

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If you’ve been following along you’ve heard that we have received our itinerary from the Tourism Authority of Thailand for our trip to Pattaya. The 6-day trip includes some “must-see” locations and some “optional” locations. Our biggest challenge moving forward will be figuring out how to squeeze in everything into 6 Days. It’s jam packed, but that’s how these trips should be, right?

We’re not ready to reveal exactly where we are going yet. We need a moment to process it all and it is subject to change. But…we don’t want to leave you in too much suspense. So in the few minutes we had tonight after dinner, we made a YouTube video game. In the U.S., it’s called “Charades”, in your country maybe something different – or maybe not. In any event, watch this clip and try to guess where we could be headed off to…

Those are just 5 of the many places we have in store. If you’re having trouble figuring them out, you may want to check out the Ultimate Thailand Explorers Destination Guide to Pattaya for some hints. Oh, and we promise that when we actually visit those locations, they’ll look much better than the recreations we did at our house.

All that’s left for you to do now is comment with your best guess for each of the 5 clips. Leave your comments here, or add them to twitter and include #benbrian

Have you connected with us on our social networks yet? The links are below on the right! You can also chat with us live too! Find out how by clicking here.

We’ll see you out there!

But it’s back to work and here’s what’s in store for 2010. My resolutions, in no particular order are…

• Earn my first advertising dollar from this site. (You can accelerate this goal immediately by donating. Click on the link on the left. Web hosting isn’t free ya know!)
• Increase my readership by 100%
• Continue to build my fan base and regular readership following
• Land a paid promotional travel gig

Participating in the Ultimate Thailand Explorers Competition was a fantastic way to end 2009, but it also means that I have to set even higher goals this year. There’s no doubt about it, it set the bar high. So what do you think of my resolutions? Are they achievable? Sound exciting? Comment below.

Immediate travel plans for early 2009 include a tour of Canada, Erie Pennsylvania and maybe one more trip to a location TBD. Plus there’s the big trip for the year that I’ll reveal in the near future.

Over the course of the next few months I’ll share some of my original posts from my participation in the Ultimate Thailand Explorers Competition – in case you missed them. I’ll always let you know with a note in the header. It’s only appropriate that the first post I share is a thank you to all of you readers for making my participation in the competition possible in the first place.

Thank You.

***This post was originally published in December 2009 as part of the Ultimate Thailand Explorers Competition.

Well Explorers,

It’s that time.

Today is the last official day of the competition, and the last opportunity we have to blog. For nearly 5 months we’ve worked to bring you along with us on our quest to travel to Pattaya, Thailand. We hope you enjoyed the ride as much as we’ve enjoyed sharing it with you. Today’s our longest post yet. Given that today is the final day, we’ve got a lot to say. We hope you stick with us.

Thank You

We could never have done this without your enduring support. Your votes, promotional efforts and comments on our blog and facebook have meant the world to us. We’d especially like to acknowledge all of these individuals who made our trip possible.

First and foremost, our friends and family: Ben’s mom, dad, brother and his girlfriend Samantha and Brian’s mom, dad, sister and nieces, our friends here in Orlando: Eddie, Erin, Daniel, Wes, Maggi, Rebecca, Melissa, Rosa, Amanda, Steve, Candy and everyone else on Facebook. There are so many of you who have helped spread the word we’ve lost track.

Throughout the semi-finals and finals we had an enormous amount of support from twitter followers, many who started as strangers and became friends: @feelgoodz @goodtugo @bulkmail4u @jeffnoelmidlife @robotspaceship @smithbrad @Valapakip @kriengkrai @RSJustice @traveldudes @thegaytraveler @Pattaya_mail @alangkarnTHAI @brianknits @douglaskarr @BobThailand @meilooTest @Crash905 @hotelprguy @VisitThailand1 @kevinrbutters@shanannon @Pattaya_News@HappyHomeStager @TaaiPhanit @planeurope2

We also need to thank everyone who worked behind the scenes to make this competition (and our trip) possible. The Tourism Authority of Thailand and it’s partner Born Distinction. Chang Beer, Mekhong Whiskey, Bangkok Airways, Thai Airways, HotelThailand.com, Met 107 FM, Mix 88.5 FM, asiawebdirect.com, Weekend Magazine, the President Palace Hotel Bangkok, the Ocean Marina Yacht Club, Dusit D2, PTT Plc, Bupa Health Insurance, Pattaya Memorial Hospital, Grand Pearl Cruise, Easy Corner Pub & Restaurant, Kum Punn Pub, Rimpa Lapin, The Avenue, Advanced Info Service Plc., Royal Cliff Beach Resort, Tiffany’s Show and the Thai Alangkarn Theater

Congratulations

To Aubrey and Parker, we’d like to extend our congratulations on amassing the most votes and becoming true, Ultimate Thailand Explorers. We had so much fun with you in Thailand and look forward to our next adventure together. And to Michael and Jenny, Curtis and Mark and Mathieu and Emilia, congratulations on a job well done. Each of you have brought your unique style and brand that has taught us so much about travel and blogging. We’ve enjoyed learning from you and more importantly, are fortunate that our paths have crossed. Let’s hope they do again.

Press Coverage

We’d also like to thank everyone in the new and traditional media worlds for sharing the news about Pattaya and our adventure. Our biggest mentions are listed below, but we know there were countless other bloggers out there who helped publish our releases and promote our efforts:

Pattaya Mail Article 1

Pattaya Mail Article 2

The Fall River Herald News

Examiner.com

About.com

Sawadee Pattaya TV

Numbers

We calculated all our data and wanted to share it with you since it was more than we could have possibly imagined!

4,107 – Number of photos we took while in Thailand

708 – Number of Twitter Followers

591 – Number of Facebook Friends

253 – Number of Facebook Fans

104 – Number of Facebook Groups or Pages that we’ve uploaded at least 1 Blog Post or Promotional Message to

56 – Number of YouTube Videos Uploaded

55 - Number of Posts on this blog Written

42 – Number of Gigabytes of Raw Video downloaded

1.28 – Number of Gigabytes of Final, Edited, Published Videos

9 – Number of Promotional T-shirts we each came home with

4,878 – Total Number of votes we received during the entire competition; All submitted by YOU!

Keep in Touch

We can’t say it enough, we’ve enjoyed meeting you. We’ll keep all our competition-related social media accounts active. If you plan on traveling to Pattaya, or have just returned, please drop us a line. We’d love to help you plan your trip and would love to hear how it was. While our competition-sponsored trip to Thailand is over, we are avid travelers. Ben writes regularly (at least he’ll return to writing regularly) on his personal blog, adventureswithben.com. If you’ve enjoyed our adventures here, you might enjoy following them there.

One More Question

Now that you’ve seen everything we’ve done. We’d like to ask you one more question. What was your favorite post from Pattaya? Add your comments below. What made you laugh? What made you cringe? What made you want to travel to Thailand?

Thank you for a lifetime of memories. We’ll leave you with our Amazing Thailand, Amazing Value Video, which truly captures our week and the time we spent sharing it with all of you.

We’ll see you out there!