I’ve found my summer home in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
During these months, I have two jobs. One is my internship in Thailand with a grassroots organization for Burmese migrants, and the other is my remote job for the Mapping Expatriate Paris project with the Center for Digital Humanities at Princeton. I’ve quite enjoyed life as a digital nomad. On the weekends, I bunker down at various bubble tea internet cafes to work on my Digital Humanities Project and to do research for my senior thesis.
Both of these activities require access to the Princeton online network to download articles from virtual Princeton libraries or to look at the Digital Humanities archives.
The way that this happens? The Princeton VPN. I can do my research and work anywhere in the world and still have access to all of Princeton’s resources. Virtual access to Princeton libraries overseas is a huge deal. If you’re not convinced, try to find high quality articles on Old Norse sagas and archaeological records on Google! I need specific research articles for my senior thesis to get started while I’m traveling.
Because of the VPN, I’m able to participate in two incredible projects and prepare for my senior year. My summer is thus filled with hours at my grassroots organization, temples, Thai and Burmese language lessons, hiking, bubble tea addictions and brief periods where I step into the virtual Princeton library and lose myself in my research.