Nothing Lak-ing

The first day of the year was also our last full day in Khao Lak. Emily awoke with the the bittersweet tone about the day she gets when something great is coming to a close. But there's nothing to complain about. It feels like we've been here a long time. We've done everything we wanted to do. And unlike places like Patmos and Bali, we don't have an escapist fantasy of staying here forever. Khao Lak is great – and we have enjoyed it thoroughly, but there's a good chance we'll never see it again. It's on the "checked off" list.

I think what's harder for Emily is that the end of Khao Lak is just a heartbeat before the end of the vacation – and she's not at all ready to go home and resume life as usual. I would also be happy to continue the vacation, but rather than stay here, I'd rather continue traveling in the region – maybe some time in Langkawi or Penang; or an overnight train to Nong Khai and cross the border into Laos – hang out in Vientiane for a week. Either way, we're not ready for the sabai sabai (relaxed feeling) to end.

But Thai Airways and Singapore Airlines are – having prompted us to check in for our upcoming flights. And with electronic boarding passes in tow, the beginning of the end has arrived.

Tomorrow a shuttle van comes for us at 10am, takes us to the Phuket Airport where we fly back to Bangkok. There we'll part ways with Matheus for a few days as he hustles off to a flight back to Los Angeles. For complicated visa reasons, he needs to get home a few days sooner than we do and we had to book him a special return flight. Meanwhile, the rest of us will stay at our favorite Bangkok hotel for the night and enjoy some Thai street food for the last time. Thursday after the kids thoroughly enjoy the very international breakfast buffet at the Royalview Resort (which Sennen still recalls with joy from last year), we'll spend the day in Bangkok, likely at one of its best malls and among other things, catch a movie the first class theaters. Bangkok is my absolute favorite place to see a movie and it almost doesn't matter what it is, I love the theaters so much. Since we skipped it last year, it's on my "must do" list for this year.

In the early evening we'll head to the airport for our 9pm flight to Singapore where, due to airline schedule changes post-ticket purchase – we'll stay the night courtesy of Singapore Airlines. Friday morning, we'll be on a 9am flight home, arriving in Los Angeles seemingly 2.5 hours later. In reality, it will be a long, long day with a quick stop in Tokyo. The kids can watch all the movies they want and we hope – especially without Matheus – they'll do as well going home as the did coming here.

The question is – what does one do with a last day in Khao Lak? What Khao Lak is best for – chillin' at the beach. We returned to Kokulo Beach Club and took the kids swimming. Again, they preferred the swimming pool to ocean and enjoyed the beach vibe in the cool of the pool. It was a day of swimming, lunch, digging in the sand, swinging on rope swings – and massage for the adults. At the end, we ate dinner at a popular Thai restaurant where the food was great, the prices were Khao Lak high and Ailyn fell asleep in her chair at the end of her meal – at about 6:30 pm.

But the best parts were the kids beginning to talk about their favorite parts of the trip.

"Mommy, Daddy, I just loved being here with all of you. Khao Lak is such a special place and this is such a special trip!" Sennen said in the pool this afternoon. He has been saying things like this for days.

Last night as we ate dinner at the New Year's Party it was, "My favorite thing this year is tonight. I can't wait to let the lantern go up into the sky!"

With small moments of exception – like falling down crying about sandal straps that were wearing out or when he scraped his knee – Sennen has been agreeable and positive about almost everything this trip. This year somehow really mattered to him.

Ailyn, as usual, has been happy-go-lucky about almost everything except boats for a little while and later massages. She wanted to try one and then became too anxious. The massage ladies near the beach couldn't have been nicer and wanted to give her a very gentle sample of Thai massage. They were heartbroken when Ailyn decided to bail. But mostly, she has gone full throttle forward – swimming, going through caves, dancing on beaches, seeing if little Swedish and German kids in the pool want to play and eating whatever comes her way.

In short, Khao Lak has lacked for nothing. We are happy and satisfied. There's nothing so special about Khao Lak itself – there are other spots in Thailand that have resonated more – but it has been perfect for this time and gave us a great, relaxing experience.

Sawasdee Krup, Khao Lak!