Embarrassingly, I walked around Thailand misusing and mispronouncing Thai words left and right. I used the word “cab” as thank you for days until someone laughingly informed me that men say “cab” and women say “kaa.” I called Phuket “Foo-ket” and Koh Phi Phi “Koh Fee Fee” until after we’d left, at which time I …

I started out the year with the decision to stay put for a while to “sort myself out,” as the Brits say. Unfortunately, as with most British sayings, I have yet to get the hang of what that means, exactly, which explains why these past few months I’ve been one little stress ball. So, of …