Family Travel Guides Built From Real Fieldwork Thailand home ground and Vietnam coastal residency — practical guides, not listicles
We are Oliver, Natalia, and Victor Mayerhoffer. We publish destination guides shaped by where we live and where we have stayed long enough to learn the place — starting with Thailand and Vietnam.
What travel coverage does Mangoes & Palm Trees focus on?
Mangoes & Palm Trees publishes family travel guides built from first-hand fieldwork. The homepage highlights Thailand (home ground, ongoing 2026 archive) and Vietnam (2024 Da Nang coastal residency). Guides cover logistics, food context, and travel with children — by Oliver, Natalia, and Victor Mayerhoffer from lived trips, not copied from other blogs.
Start with the Thailand 2026 guide, Da Nang guide, or the full travel guides hub.
Latest from our travels
Recent posts from the road and our home base. Browse the grid below, or start with Bangkok street food, Koh Samui, and Da Nang.
We didn’t travel to Thailand. We live here.
Thailand is home ground for our family. Victor was born on Koh Samui. The 2026 fieldwork is ongoing because the kitchen never closes.
Home ground. Not holiday notes.
Thailand isn’t on our travel list — it’s our address. Victor was born at Nathon Hospital on Koh Samui in November 2016. I was ordained as a monk on Koh Chang years before that.
My first trip here started from Oman. My brother Daniel was living in Australia — Thailand was the geographic middle ground where we could meet. That first visit ended, but I kept coming back.
2026 Main Guide Thailand Food & Travel 2026 The living archive from our home base. Islands, street food, night markets, temples — updated as we go.We cover Bangkok street food at pavement level, Koh Samui beyond the resort fence, and Hua Hin’s night markets where Victor picks what the family eats. The 2026 fieldwork updates as we finish each piece.
We rented an apartment in Da Nang. The travel guide followed us home.
Vietnam 2024 was a coastal residency — not a holiday. Markets, beach walks, and apartment logistics became our Da Nang travel guide.
Coastal residency. Coffee on every corner.
We lived in Da Nang in 2024 — apartment on the coast, not a hotel room. Walked to the same phở stall most mornings. The Vietnamese coffee guide wrote itself before I opened a laptop.
Natalia mapped the morning market runs; I mapped the beach walks with Victor. That rhythm became the guide — where to stay, what to eat, and how to plan a family month on the coast.
2024 Coastal Residency Guide Da Nang Travel Guide Apartment logistics, markets, coffee stops, and family planning from our month on the coast.Food notes from the same trip live in our Vietnamese coffee hub, egg coffee recipe, and coconut coffee — all field-tested in Da Nang.
Who publishes this site — and where to verify facts
We write from the road and from our home base in Thailand. For visas, heritage sites, and national travel rules, we link official tourism and government sites below. The longer family story and how we edit live on the pages linked in the next column.
Updated May 2026. Schedules and entry rules change — confirm on official portals before you travel.
Who we are
Mangoes & Palm Trees is a family food and travel site run by Oliver, Natalia, and Victor Mayerhoffer. The full story sits on our family and author pages — we do not repeat it in every guide.
Official planning references
Use these official tourism and government sites when you need visas, entry rules, or national travel information. We check links before we publish; rules still change without notice.
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TAT-01
Tourism Authority of Thailand — national tourism information and destination hubs. tourismthailand.org
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VNAT-01
Vietnam National Administration of Tourism — official Vietnam travel portal. vietnam.travel
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DNG-01
Da Nang City Portal — local government information for Da Nang municipality. danang.gov.vn
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UNESCO-VN
UNESCO World Heritage — Vietnam — heritage site listings when planning cultural itineraries. whc.unesco.org (Vietnam)
Questions before a Thailand or Vietnam trip
Short factual answers first — then where to read more on the site.
Why does the homepage focus on Thailand and Vietnam?
Start with our Thailand 2026 guide and Da Nang guide, or browse all Asia travel guides.
Are your travel guides written from first-hand experience?
We name the trip and the month in every guide. Read how we work and our editorial policy.
Where should I verify official travel rules?
Before you book, check the Tourism Authority of Thailand and Vietnam’s official travel site — and the Da Nang city portal if you are staying there. We re-check before every trip; you should too.
Some pages may include affiliate links. They never change our editorial judgment. Read our affiliate disclosure.