Archie and Elephants

When I was younger my parents took me out west several times to Colorado and Wyoming. On those trips we did some pretty touristy stuff -- such as whitewater rafting and horseback riding -- but those experiences have easily become some of my fondest memories.

On one riding adventure my Mom got stuck with an impossibly stubborn horse named Archie. He grazed when he wanted, fell out of line when he wanted and took off at a gallop when he wanted. At one point he jetted off through a group of low-lying pine branches with my Mom hanging on for dear life screaming bloody murder. She escaped his joyride unscathed but she did lose an earring in the process. Only my Mom would wear earrings to go horseback riding, but that's neither here nor there. For a good ten minutes I watched our grizzled cowboy guide fumble around in the mud in his cowboy hat and black poncho looking for the earring. It's was the kind of absurd scenario you can never forget.

But what I'm getting at is this, or what I learned from those experiences is, don't be afraid to do the touristy stuff. With that lesson in mind I decided that I had to ride an elephant while I was in Thailand.


After a few days in Chiang Mai, Thailand, Jessie and I hopped in a van with two other Americans and headed into a seemingly untouched valley to spend a day with elephants. Everything about the experience was spectacular.

The power, strength, size and gentleness of these creatures was astonishing. If you ever get the chance to ride them, don't bat an eyelash. A short video from our day (turn the volume up):