Everyone thinks that because we work in travel we actually get to travel all the time….and we do, but usually this travel consists of meeting and training guides, arranging new tours, trying new restaurants and I have had the ‘how-many-times-can-I-be-shown-a-safety-box-and-minifridge-in-one-day’ moments. This month though we are going on a family trip which means limited hotel inspections, no guide meetings and *no* computer (I think, though I get a bit light-in-the-head just typing that, welcome to my private struggle!).
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So we are going on vacation to Thailand, letting our little family enjoy the Journeys Within Beach Crawl up close and personal. With Callie swimming on her own and Couper at his cutest in a bathing suit, we thought it was time to hit the beach(es).
Now I am notoriously bad at planning my own vacations, I think because I plan so many trips in a given day I just don’t have time to plan my own. This year is different though, I have embraced my own trip planning and I have a great vacation set up. Here’s a preview of the awesomeness of our upcoming adventure.
Day 1: Take a taxi from home to the Thailand border and then a bus from the border to Bangkok (flights are too expensive and after my easy experience a few weeks ago I am ready to run for the border). We are staying the night at the Chaophya Park Hotel, maybe the biggest hotel I have ever stayed in with 402 rooms! It isn’t on our usual list, but they offered us a really good rate and I want to check it out and see it compared to the budget options we generally use in this price range.
Day 2: Root Canal Pas Deux (As you will recall I only had some of this done on my last trip to Bangkok).
Okay, I know that so far my family vacation includes a taxi, a bus and a root canal…doesn’t that make you want to book your next vacation with me!?!?
Day 3: 750am: Catch an Air Asia flight (this would have been a 1050am flight if someone, who will remain nameless, hadn’t lost his passport, thus letting the flight fill up and then miraculously find it IN HIS DESK drawer. Hint, it wasn’t Couper!) 9am: Arrive in Phuket and transfer to the Amari Coral Beach (follow the link so you can drool over the pool my kids will be drooling in.) 10am: Arrive at Amari Coral Beach 1030am: Jump in above pool….enjoy remainder of the day.
Day 4: Free Day. That’s right, I said free day!! We might go to the Gibbon Reserve, we might go to the Gypsy Village, we might just eat and swim all day, I don’t know, we’ll just have to see if we have time!
Day 5: Have a free morning and in the afternoon go with John Gray Kayaking on their Hongs by Starlight Tour. Callie loves to kayak and this tour just sounds so fantastic that every time I book it for guests I get jealous…now you may be jealous!
Day 6: Take the ferry to Koh Phi Phi, we have never been before so excited to see if it lives up to the hype, or confirms the rants…no tourists vs tons of tourists; totally overdeveloped vs idyllic escape; totally overpriced vs great value. I’ve heard it all and it’s time to see for myself. We will check into the PhiPhi Island Village Resort and Spa.
Day 7: Free day, but I know I want to go to the lookout and see the most photographed bays in Thailand, I will take my camera.
Day 8: Take a long tail boat to Krabi and check into Krabi Sands and then find the pool and stay there.
Day 9: We are heading to the Nakamanda Hotel for lunch with their manager, I plan on taking the kids, it’s a family vacation so it can be a family hotel inspection. They’re never too young to have a safety deposit box pointed out to them!
Day 10: Free day…I’m thinking some more kayaking or maybe head to Temple of the Tiger (not to be confused with the Tiger Temple, I have no desire to pet a tiger or see my offspring devoured by one!)
Day 11: Air Asia back to Bangkok arriving in time for the Coup de Gras of the whole thing, Princesses on Ice at the Bangkok Impact Arena.
Day 12: Do some errands in Bangkok and one last tooth check before heading back to Cambodia…plane, train or automobile…still to be decided!
So there it is, 4 days and a root canal to go before I get to have a work-free vacation with my family!! Watch this space for the countdown as well as the trip updates…wait, how will I update without my computer, the struggle continues!
Me jealous? Yes.