Holidays on the Road

Sol: 134

We have been in Thailand for over three weeks. It’s a bit of a struggle these last days as its been hard travels in a way. Now, I am not complaining as I do know that what we are doing is amazing and I am incredibly grateful that we have been able to make this happen.

However, when you do something, even something amazing, after awhile it can lose a bit of it’s shine. This blog is all about the honesty of our travel and experiences. Today, I’m writing a bit about that.

The struggle really started in Vietnam. I really feel in love that country, however, it was hard travels at times. I had been struggling with some physical ailments (back pain, sleep issues, digestive challenges) Then I got pretty ill. Headache, fever, chills, throat pain. You know that feeling that you’ve swallowed broken glass? I was there. I was going through Ricolas like cigarettes for a heavy smoker.

We had to travel to Thailand as our Vietnamese visa was expiring and we had plane tickets. It is relatively easy and cheap to buy airline tickets in SE Asia but, they are also non-refundable and changeable if you buy them as cheaply as we had been. Then if you have four tickets, it is a larger cost. So, to Thailand we came.

We landed in Bangkok. Nothing like a city of over 8 million, humidity, a smaller hostel room for four to emphasize your discomfort. For our entire time in Bangkok’s Chinatown (where our hostel was) I saw the inside of a hospital (twice) and a 7/11 (they are everywhere in SE Asia) to get supplies.

Oakley came down with my flu and bronchitis a couple of days after arrival. Canyon and Kelvin running errands to arrange food and supplies and holding their breath when near to avoid our plague.

We came to Pattaya for our house sit which has positively saved us. I gotta throw out the biggest kudos to   Trusted Housesitters again as they have made this trip possible for us. We are taking care of the sweetest, mellowest dog I’ve ever met all while staying in a home, a real home with a big kitchen (great for chef husband) and two big bedrooms, living spaces and the added bonus of a swimming pool. Really, really luxorious and grounding.

And when we slow down other things often catch up to us. I have found that I am feeling a bit lonely and depressed as of late. The holidays are always a hard time for plenty of folks. For me this is no exception.

We are in a beautiful place in warm weather. The dream of many folks, especially with all those winter storms happening in the States at the moment. Yet, I am feeling a bit rudderless. I think this is the longest place we have stayed in the last 4+ months of travel.

I was really worried about making it a wondrous and memorable Holiday for the boys. Knowing they would be missing so many traditions and experiences. I think we pulled it off as we were able to find strands of Twinkly lights to put up where we were, found a Star Wars Lego Advent calendar which can do wonders for little boys psyches. We even found a 5 ft plastic tree for $10. A bargain!

Seeing the Christmas celebrations here in Asia is different as it is a lot about the decorations in public. The holiday trees, lights, reindeer and sometimes Santa but, rarely him. Also, I haven’t seen any nativity scenes anywhere.

We did manage to find the coldest place we could on Christmas Eve. Frost Magical Ice of Siam which consists of sand sculptures on the outside and a glorified meat locker on the inside. You walk and slide among ice sculptures. You even get an ice drink made from ice and get to gleefully throw it against an ice wall as you depart. How very satisfying!

The most entertaining part of that visit was watching locals shiver through the place in about a minute. We spent about 25 minutes inside (they have a requisite three minute acclimation period going in and out of each side). Many people spent more time in the acclimation room than in the actual ice room.

I am currently on a two day trip on my own. It is a little reprieve for my soul to have a bit of totally me time. You may not realize how much time you spend away from your family when people are going to work, school, playdates, babysitters, shopping or trips around the neighborhood.

It is completely different when you cannot leave your kids by themselves. Kelvin and I haven’t had awake time  alone in months, especially in daylight. I am enjoying not thinking about when we eat next, what to do next, thinking about how everyone might react to the next choice.

I am carefree for a couple days and loving the solitude. I’ll be be back soon and then we send Kelvin out for three days/two nights on a fishing trip. He too needs his recharge time. These are the Christmas presents we gave each other.

And so, now we are appreciating our place, our temporary home before we embark into the new year and the next travel adventures. Thanks for reading and stay tuned!

Happy Holidays! Happy 2018 or 2561 if you are following the Thailand calendar.