Winter 2018 – The Return to Thailand

A year has passed and while the time seems to have flown by for Emily and me, our lives have changed and most importantly, our kids have changed. This year, as we prepare to return to Thailand – this time to Bangkok and Khao Lak – we can take stock of hundreds of mile stones and events over the course of a year. Not the least of which include Ailyn starting preschool; Sennen starting kindergarten; our transition our beloved au pair of two years, Jesper to our new awesome Matheus; Sennen sleeps in a real bed (a bunk bed, no less); and perhaps most significantly – everyone in our house now poops and pees using a toilet, all of the time. NO MORE DIAPERS! It may seem like a small thing, but believe me, it isn't.

What Emily and I have learned in the five years of traveling with very small companions is that each year is like traveling new entirely new people. The amount of growth and change per year means that last year's experiences are not really indicative of what we should expect. Our kids come with new skills, challenges and are emotional/mental development. So, we expect a new set of issues than before – which means we expect the unexpected for better and worse. We're hoping better.

So, why Thailand again? Last year just went really, really well. And Thailand is much bigger than Bali, so we left more untapped behind us. After last year, we also gained confidence that we can successfully switch locations mid-trip which opens more opportunities to explore. That's why this will be the first year since children we go to anyplace truly new to either of us: Khao Lak. While Thailand is comfortable and well-known to us, Khao Lak in Southern Thailand is a series of long, whitesand beaches stretched along the Andaman coast – bordered by limestone scale cliffs, rocks and islands. It has some of the charms of the Krabi/Ao Nang area without the overdeveloped tourism. So while not a major adventure or departure from our comfort zone, it's a beginning!

Also new to the mix is Matheus who joined us in February and has blended in seamlessly with our family. He's 23, from Salvador, Brazil and has traveled extensively in Europe and the Americas. However, this will be his first time in Asia and he seems very excited about it. We expect that between his amazing relationship with all of us, easy manner, positive attitude and adventurous nature, he'll be add very positively to the trip.

The plan: Tomorrow afternoon we depart on Singapore Airlines bound for Singapore via Tokyo. There will be lots of tv, movies, eating and hopefully sleeping! We'll land at 3am and spend the morning in Singapore, hopefully with our friend Tony Cohen – departing for Bangkok at 1:15 pm, arriving there at 2:30 pm. A shuttle van should be waiting to take us to our Airbnb condo off Rama IX Road. And if we're lucky, we'll do a quick grocery shop and grab some dinner before everyone passes out.

This plan promises to have its comforts, its adventurous moments and lacks no ambition. It is the psychological equivalent of when Emily and I started our trip to Nagarkot, Nepal with a 6000 foot ascending hike – the hardest part of the journey right up front. But we've done it before – and I'm confident that with Matheus, as with Arielle last year, we will succeed. Or at least arrive safely in a state of disarray.

See you in Singapore…