Hello! I hope you are all enjoying your summer! I’m trying to get caught up on some long overdue posts! Especially some travel posts. We have been several places I have yet to write about! I know that’s a good problem to have and I never take one second of our travels for granted. Travel is life’s greatest gift. I’m lucky to have a husband and kids who like to go and explore and have the next adventure to look forward to!
Our recent spring break trip to Thailand was amazing and life changing and we all came back a little different than when we left. I have had so many questions about our trip. Mostly, “Why Thailand”? I’m going to break this trip up into several different posts. There is too much to share and too many photos to get through! This blog is meant to inspire and inform, but it’s also a little life/travel journey for my family as well!
Trip Details
We went to Bangkok, Thailand for 3 nights; Khao Lak, Thailand for 6 nights; and Doha, Qatar for one night in March 2018 for a spring break trip. My sister and her husband and their two kids (ages 9 and 7) went, as well as my parents. We were gone for 12 days, including travel time.
Why Thailand?
My first response to this is always “Why Not”?! Ha! My sister and her husband are world travelers! They have been everywhere! They lived in Germany for a few years and most recently lived in Singapore. They now live back in Iowa, but they left a piece of themselves in Southeast Asia. For a few years since they have been back, they have traveled to SE Asia for spring break. This year, we decided to all go on the trip! No regrets! Trip of a lifetime! We are lucky to have my sister and her husband who can act as our “travel agents” and “travel guides”. I will also never take this for granted!
Flight Time & Flying with Kids
I truly think people underestimate kids! In all areas, not just travel! We have always taken our kids everywhere. When you make kids do things, everyone realizes they can actually do things! Ha! My sister has done long flights with her kids so many times, so I knew our kids (ages 9 and 10) could handle it. I had traveled to Singapore a few years back, so I have done the long flight. We drove from KC to Chicago (9 hours). We parked our car with Steve’s parents (who live in Chicago), but my sister and my parents parked their cars at a remote spot through the airport. Flight times were long. We went Chicago to Doha, Qatar and then Doha to Bangkok, Thailand. Total travel time was about 24 hours. We flew Qatar Airways. Between movies and iPads meals and “trying” to sleep, it honestly is doable! Our kids did AWESOME and the long flights weren’t even an issue. The biggest issue was honestly for Steve because he is so tall, he really has a hard time getting comfortable. Kids are small so they fit so nicely in their little seats! Overall, the long flights would never deter our kids from wanting to go anywhere. They beg to go back on a daily basis! They have pure wanderlust and want to go everywhere. Their little minds have expanded and exploded. We love it.
Traveling with Kids
We love to travel without our kids and we definitely make that a priority. We also love to travel with our kids. They have been to around 30 states (lived in 3), and have been to the Caribbean. They have NEVER been as far as this trip. But, this trip was 100% a trip we could do with kids. We want them to see the world, meet new and different people, respect other cultures, accept all, have a desire to be better and learn more. These 12 days were life changing in all of those ways. You will see in my future posts how everything we did was kid-friendly.
Planning & Expense
My sister and her husband basically booked the logistics of our trip for us! I know, lucky right?! They know the lay of the land and where to stay, and want to do, etc. We started planning for this in the winter and went in mid-March. We were able to find fairly affordable flights, but those obviously fluctuate. Spring break in Asia isn’t a high travel time like the US, so flights don’t skyrocket. Once you get to SE Asia, it is fairly inexpensive to stay and eat and do all the things!
Weather
The weather in Thailand and Qatar is hot and humid most of the year. We were there in early-mid March and the weather was in the 80’s. Perfect.
I love this quote so much. We have been stretched and it’s a priority to keep stretching. Experiences over things! I’m going to breakdown Bangkok (the city) and Khao Lak (the beach) and Doha (one day/night) by the experiences we had in future posts! Keep checking back or follow me on Instagram or Facebook so you never miss a post! xo
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