I flew from Seattle to Chiang Mai on January 6, 2026. After some 28 hours of travel I arrived in Chiang Mai and met up with several people from a small Seattle-based giving circle and non-profit, Pangea Giving. From Chiang Mai we headed north to Fang and then Chiang Rai. After a visit to a environmental school in Chiang Khong, I temporarily left the group and took a two-day boat trip down the Mekong River to Luang Prabang, Laos. In Laos I met back up with part of the group and we then traveled to Vientiane, Laos, before returning to Bangkok. After two days in Bangkok, my three-week trip was over. We combined general site seeing and some regular tourist activities with visits to current and potential recipients of Pangea grants.

A giving circle is a group of people that pool resources and decide how to give it away. Pangea Giving started shortly after the terrorists attack of September 11, 2001 with the idea that one way to counter anti-U.S. sentiment present in some parts of the world was for greater involvement of Americans in helping people developing countries often referred to as the global south. It was also a way for Americans to gain an understanding of the challenges faced in other parts of the world by having a more hands-on approach to seeing and learning from people working on those challenges. I joined Pangea last year and recently found a way to become more active with the group. One of the aspects that I found appealing was Pangea’s hands-on approach to philanthropy coupled with a genuine interest in learning from and helping smaller groups mature and grow their programs. If you are interested in learning more, please reach out.

Slideshow of Thailand portion of trip created by Emily