The inspiration behind our spring/summer 2010 line began in South East Asia. Kai Nation traveled through Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Some of the areas that we traveled were Bangkok, Siem Reap, Ho Chi Minh City, Danang, Hanoi, Hoi An,Hue, Lao Cai, Sapa, Halong Bay and Luang Prabang.

This month Kai Nation is featuring the KN Tribal Man Hoodie.

The embroidered design (Please see bottom right of Hoodie) was inspired by this image taken in South Africa.

The Egyptian pyramids are ancient pyramid-shaped masonry structures located in Egypt. Recently one of our friends traveled to Egypt and ventured out to explore one of the wonders of the world. She did it wearing her her Kai Nation runway T !

As of 2008 there are roughly around 118 pyramids in Egypt. The best known Egyptian pyramids are those found at Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo. The Pyramid of Khufu at Giza is the largest Egyptian pyramid. It is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still in existence.

Check back later for more “Friends of Kai Nation” pictures.

4. The “Compulsive Shopper”

I want to pre-face this traveler by saying, I have nothing against someone who can’t afford to go on a trip. In fact, in these economic times, who can afford to vacation? So, with that said, here’s my next traveler you never want to vacation with.

It’s that time of year again when you start planning your next big escape!! You know who you’re not inviting this time (Debbie, the Drinker or the Go Getter). The perfect friend comes to mind; she’s fun, she’s relaxed and she does like to have a few drinks, but is in control almost all the time. The planning begins…

So you go to work the next day and spend about 8 hours Googling prime vacation spots (let’s be honest, there’s no way you’re getting work done when you’re this excited). You go home that night and call your friend to tell her that you’ve found the perfect spot. She is just as excited as you are about it (yesss, you really have found that perfect traveler). You both jump on-line to the same spot on the net, grab your credit cards and book the trip!

It’s a few days before the trip and you decide to have your travel partner over to choose what you will pack (come on, we all know this is what girls do). She walks into your apartment with about 4 Nordstrom bags hanging from her arm and is sooooo excited to show you what she bought for the trip. You think, “Wow, she must be doing better than you thought in her job, good for her!”

You are finally in the beautiful Caribbean. You’ve been here for about 3 days and haven’t done a thing, soooo relaxing. Nonetheless, you are ready for some action! You wake up early the next day and take a look at the “travel guide” the travel agent gave you. What should you do…jet skiing, hand gliding, water skiing, boating, moped tours, etc. You run to your friend’s room to tell her today’s going to be a fun day and she proceeds to tell you that she is running low on the cash. Oh man, it’s only the 4th day, how can she be broke? You thought she was doing well in her job?

Needless to say, the last 4 days of your trip are the exact same as the first 3. She can’t even afford to go to a nice dinner! And when you do go out, you have to chug beers and vodka in your room before because the drinks at the bars are too expensive. The worst part of this all, is that every single day the “shopper,” who insists she has no money, comes back with a new outfit for that night.

So the trip is done and although you had a good/relaxing time, you didn’t do anything! You don’t think any less of your friend for not having money, but did she really have to spend that $800 on new clothes to skimp out on the actual trip? This is a friend you may want to think twice about traveling with.

3. “The Debbie Downer”

So you’ve planned a vacation with your two “BFF’s” (best friends forever, for those of you who don’t know). It’s been a long 6 months since your last getaway and you’re all so excited to just flee from it all.

You’re alarm rings at 5 am, you jump in the shower, put on the outfit that you set out for yourself the night before and hop in your cab to the airport. Yeah it’s early, but you’re too excited to think about being tired, you’re on vacation! So, the cab drops you at the curb where your two friends are waiting. You feel compelled to give them a hug cause you’re just that excited. But you notice “Debbie” isn’t hugging that tightly and you hear her mumble “it’s sooooo early” in a mono-tone voice, uh-oh, this is where it all starts. So you shrug it off, grab your bags and proceed to the check in line. The line is almost out the door, but who cares, you got there early and you’re on vacation!! You happen to glance over at “Debbie” and she is rolling her eyes and says, “this stuff always happens to me.”

You finally get to your room in the beautiful Bahamas, yeah you are a little tired because you had to give up your window seat to “Debbie,” but you’re over it. You throw on your new bikini, grab a towel and are ready to head down to the beach (you’ve been waiting all day for a cocktail in a coconut)! “Debbie” decides she is gonna take a quick snooze and meet you both down there later.

After the beach you head back to the room to get ready for dinner, drinks and a fun night of vacation! You walk in, curtains are shut, air condition is on and “Debbie” is still sleeping. It’s still your first day, so you understand, she has a tough time on airplanes, she will snap out of it. Well you’re wrong, the whole trip you are convincing this person that it will be fun to go here or that she will have a good time once she’s there. By the end of the trip you are hoping that she just stays in the room by herself so you and your fun friend can talk about how depressing she is.

Well your trip is finally over, you get home, start to unpack and your phone rings, it’s “Debbie.” You don’t want to pick it up (cause let’s face it, she kind of ruined your trip), but you do anyways. She proceeds to tell you how much fun she had and how you should all start planning your next vacation together. You smile and say “totally,” but know that there is no way in hell you will ever go on vacation with “Debbie” again. This is a person you never want to travel with…

2. “The Drinker”

Everyone likes to get after a few cocktails once in a while, (I mean it is vacation) but there is always “that” person who brings it to the next level. Picture this…you rent a house right on the beach, huge glass windows, a wraparound porch and cape cod chairs to lounge in and drink your morning coffee. Relaxing, right? Wrong! That morning coffee turns into “the drinker” in your face, telling you that it’s time to take shots at 9 o’clock in the morning. Now, the worst part about this person is that because they have been drinking all day long at 5 pm, when you are actually ready to have a drink, they are so hammered they are pouring out their life story to you. By 10 PM, when it’s time to hit the town, you are dragging the drinker by their hair to the bar because they refuse to just go to bed. By the end of the night, this person ends up naked on the front lawn. They have such bad shame the next morning, that they grab a drink and start the whole process over again. This is a person you may want to think twice about traveling with…

Picking your travel partner(s) is one of the most crucial parts of pre-trip planning. I have taken many vacations where the person(s) I was traveling with, has almost ruined it for me. That is why I have decided to enlighten and educate all of you with some of my “People that you never want to travel with.” Every week I will post a new blog with a new “type” of traveler and every week I suggest you all take notes on which of your friends might fit into this category and stay far, far away. So, with that said, here is my first traveler…

1. “The Go Getter”

Now don’t get me wrong, it is important to travel with someone who is up for anything. A good trip, to me at least, always means of lot of adventure. Although, when it’s time to relax, it’s time to relax. I recently took a trip with a friend who is extremely fun to be around. She is always up for anything and you will never catch her in a bad mood. However, when we got to our destination, all I wanted to do was sit back, catch some rays and maybe have a cocktail or two. Needless to say, this did not happen. After about 2 hours of hearing, “where are we going, what’s next, what can we do, let’s get after it,” I basically just caved and let her drag me everywhere. By the end of the trip, I was ready for another vacation. This is a person you may want to think twice about traveling with…

Check in next week for the next traveler!

Picking your travel Partner

EC sporting the Grey Skull T on a sunny afternoon on Plum Island, MA !!

Kai Nation on Plum Island in Newburyport, MA

CW featuring the Kai Nation Runway T at the Boston Breakers game !

Kai Nation's first friend!!

“Friends of Kai Nation” represents our friends, customers and family members. Being a part of our “Friends” campaign means that you receive e-mails with updates on new products, trips, videos, photos and best of all you get to be a part of our website! What do I mean by you get to be a part of the Kai Nation website? Well, since a large part of our company is based on photography, we want you, as a “Friend of Kai Nation,” to take a picture of yourself wearing your Kai Nation shirt and send it to us. It can be a crazy picture, travel picture, fun picture, serious picture, happy picture, or just a plain picture.

What do you have to do to be a friend of Kai Nation? All you have to do is click the “contact us” link on our website, enter your information and in the “comments” box type, “I want to be a friend of Kai Nation.” When you have a picture you want to submit, email it to us at info@kaination.com and we will take it from there. Become a part of our plan to change this world one t-shirt at a time!