Why Thailand?

 

We’ve been saving up Avion points for about 10 years and have finally accumulated enough points for three flights anywhere in the world so we could go pretty much anywhere. We started with the obvious places – Disneyworld (nope. too commercial and the weather sucks that time of year for going on rides, etc.). Rome? Egypt? Greece? South America? Once we started looking, the possibilities seemed endless. So we put some limits in place. It had to be cheap enough that we could spend a month there. It had to be safe enough for a couple of neophyte travellers and a 14 year old girl to travel to but not be what we’re used to culture-wise. It had to offer a variety of activities and things to do for a month (while Marie and I enjoyed lounging on the beaches in the Yucatan for a month drinking beer and playing cards, Caitlin made it clear that wouldn’t fly this time…). And the cost of the ticket had to be less than $2000 each (apparently fly anywhere in the world really means fly anywhere in the world for the amount we say you can…)

Then our good friends Doug and Thaylin got back from Thailand and mentioned they had loved their trip and thought the country was beautiful and the people were amazing… And they showed pictures of them playing with 3 month old tiger cubs. Holding a tiger cub has always been near the top of my bucket list, so I was sold. Then they talked about elephant reserves and being able to ride an elephant… Caitlin was sold. Then Thaylin mentioned they found massages for $6 an hour… Marie was sold! Thailand it would be!

As plans for the trip unfolded and we learned more about the country, Thailand has come to make more and more sense as a destination for our first family odyssey. It’s a very safe country for travel – not just in terms of crime, but also in terms of a people who are welcoming of foreigners (especially ones not particularly well-travelled) and who go out of their way to make visitors comfortable. It’s an amazing culture in every way – from food to customs, architecture and more. At this point, we’re still coming across so many places we want to visit that we need another summer to make it all happen. It’s also pretty close to Cambodia and the temples of Angkor Wat – definitely one of the places on my must-see-before-I-die list.

So in a little less than two weeks, we’ll be piling on to the plane for our first-ever trip outside of North America (well Mexico is technically outside of North America but you know what I mean) and heading for the land of smiles. But first we have to survive 16 hours of being on a plane together…