Gotta be careful when browsing travel blogs. They make it seem like every single sight is a MUST, that it’s the most amazing place ever. Often the negatives are omitted.

Case and point with Laos, a beautiful country full of whole-hearted people. It’s the high season right now for tourism. But what you don’t get told is that it’s also the smokey season. Coal factories, farmers burning crops and fields, wildfires, and locals burning trash all contribute to much of the South East Asian region being blanketed in smoke for several months every year.

Vang Vieng should be paradise but is literally difficult to stomach. It’s funny, traveling long-term to many places has only reinforced how dire our collective situation is, across the entire planet. The smoke is clear. We must change to change the world. Do your part.