สวัสดี Thailand!

If you are ever planning a trip to Southeast Asia, Thailand should not be left off the itinerary! It is a wonderful country with beautiful people, delicious food and breathtaking landscapes.

Over my lifetime, I have had the fortune of traveling through Thailand several times. Each and every time, it is simply awesome. But Cliff and I were trying really hard not to repeat destinations from our Around The World 2001 so we “Xed” it off the list early on.  Then, Ryan said he would be in Thailand for a semester, so we joyously added the country to our line up because we had a great excuse to revisit

On this trip to Thailand, we spent time in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Koh Tao and Koh Samui. Each place is very different and wonderful in its own way. As we sat around and brainstormed our learnings from our jaunt through the country, this is what we came up with:

1) NIGHTLIFE. As Yve wrote about in her blogpost, the country comes alive at night. If you don’t venture out and experience night markets and street food, you are missing a significant part of Thailand’s culture. For those of you who are night owls, this is the place for you!!!

 

 

2) MORE PEOPLE SHOULD CONSIDER SENDING THEIR KIDS TO A SEMESTER ABROAD FOR HIGH SCHOOL. Visiting Ryan at PREM and taking a tour of the facilities we were in awe. Granted Ryan would have a blast anywhere he landed, but PREM is a very special place. Spending time with him touring the campus, meeting his classmates and hearing about the program was invigorating! I didn’t even really know programs like that were available for high school students but now I am trying to convince Yve and Otto to follow in his footsteps

 

 

3) SENSE OF DESIGN. Generally speaking, the people of Thailand live modestly without a lot of frills. Yet, as you tour the country, you would swear every person must be a landscape architect or graphic designer. Everything is done with a sense of design and style that makes Thailand sparkle. From the way carrots are cut for everyday salads, to the way potted plants are arranged on a windowsill, Thailand bewilders travelers with simple elegance! It is no wonder that “Thai-style” is a something people strive to replicate!

 

 

4) WATER FIGHT! Every April for 3 days, the country of Thailand morphs into a gigantic water fight! The Songkran Festival begins on April 13th every year…Cliff’s birthday!  Locals talk about how you can’t accomplish anything during those days because even little old ladies will come out of a back alley and soak you with a huge bucket of water.  Although we got to have a water fight with elephants (which was INCREDIBLE!), we were bummed to be missing Songkran 2014 but will definitely keep it on the list for future travels.  We look forward to seeing pics from Ryan

 

 

5) THAILAND SHOULD BE ON EVERY AROUND THE WORLD ITINERARY! For all the reasons above,  Thailand should make the cut on everyone’s list! Yes it is changing and yes it is becoming more “western” but it is still incredible and each and every time we visit, we learn new things! You can guarantee that Cliff and I will include it in every future  itinerary from now forward and we won’t feel guilty about it