Category: Travel

Happy Ping Pongs

Posted on by Caroline
This morning, the kids and I are on a flight heading back to Japan. And hopefully from there we can make our way back to Denver. Tim will meet us there in a couple days. It’s hard to believe that it’s been less than a week since we flew back from Kyoto. That was such a dreamy trip. But we’ve been busy during this last week - a full work schedule for me and Tim, a boat day, a soccer day and a school day. Plus time to wash, fold and dry what (I believe) was every article of clothing in our house. This trip is largely logistics - we’ve got to renew passports, Tim has training and I’ve signed...Read More

On the Haruka Train

Posted on by Caroline
Our last morning in Kyoto and we’re headed to the airport. As we looked forward to this trip, we imagined a long leisurely time here in the city. Looking back, I feel like we packed our days full and we could have spent longer here if we’d had the time. I’m still hoping to do the longer posts that I mentioned before about goshuinchō and travel journals, but in the meantime, I have a few impressions of the city I’d like to share and a few recommendations I’d like to share. Kyoto is (of course) known for its beauty. We were hoping to see some cherry blossoms on this trip. We were lucky enough to catch some early blossoms, but...Read More

Tokyo!!!!

Posted on by Caroline
I am vibrating with excitement. It’s been 991 days since we were last in Japan (not counting layovers). One of our major goals when we moved out to Guam was to travel to Japan as often as we could and that just hasn’t been possible. Up until today. The borders opened to tourists last night at 12:01, and now this morning we’re at the gate, waiting to board our flight to Tokyo. We’ll only be there a few days, and it’s forecast to be rainy, rainy, rainy. But we’ve got umbrellas and rain jackets and a raft of enthusiasm. We’re planning to visit Disney Sea tomorrow. We’ve heard it’s a phenomenal park. On Thursday we’ll explore the city, visit a...Read More

Leaving Thailand

Posted on by Caroline
Here we are, sitting in the Phuket Airport, waiting for our flight to Bangkok. We’ve fallen in love with Thailand - the people are incredibly kind, the service is attentive, the food is fresh and flavorful, the fruit is sweet, the landscape is stunning…. we’re already looking forward to our next trip to Thailand. When I started this blog, I imagined writing the kinds of posts that I wrote when I was traveling in my 20s and 30s - longer, thoughtful posts that gave me a chance to share my reflections about the culture, history and architecture of wherever I happened to pass through. But I’m slowly realizing that kind of travel belongs to a different phase of my life....Read More

Phang Nga Bay

Posted on by Caroline
We took a little mini-trip within our trip. We chartered a sailboat for a two-day exploration of Phang Nga Bay, and some of the treasures there. Our captain was amazing - attentive and thoughtful, and willing to work with us to find the best opportunities. It’s jellyfish season here, so we couldn't spend much time actually in the water, which made it all the more enjoyable to spend the time on the water. The highlights of the trip were the island resort on Ko Yao, watching the kids kayak in Ko Hong, the floating village of Koh Panyee - especially the school, and the fresh, delectable seafood and fruit….

Out Sailing…

Posted on by Caroline
We have found a boat that will take us around some of the local islands and sights. We’re on our way this morning, we’ll stay for the night at an island resort, and then we’ll come back here to resume Tim’s Deep Week tomorrow night. Which all means that we’ll be offline for a few days! See you soon!

Exploring Phuket

Posted on by Caroline
Ahhh…. Now, what a lovely day it’s been! My original plan for the day included an early start with a GrabCar (the Thai equivalent of Uber) into Phuket City so that the kids and I could get a glimpse of the Sunday Walking Market and be back in time to meet a local guide for the afternoon. But as I was trying to figure out where to go so I could book the car, I happened across the critical information that the market doesn’t open until 4 PM. And I felt immediate relief - I knew that it was too much to squeeze into a day, and it would probably stress me out. (I don’t know how to explain why...Read More

Quieter Day

Posted on by Caroline
Yesterday the kids and I had a quieter day, exploring the Boat Lagoon Resort while Tim started his classes. I let the kids sleep in a bit (it had been a late night and a full day the day before) and then we had a late breakfast. We checked out the resort bicycles and tooled around the lagoon. The kids and I had sooo much fun on the bicycles! There weren’t any bikes that were small enough for Duke, so he mostly rode behind me on my bike. There’s a grocery store here that it is probably used mostly for provisioning the yachts that are here. To our Guam eyes, it was a lovely grocery store, with all kinds of...Read More

Travel Day

Posted on by Caroline
Oh. My. It’s been a full day. Security check points-ticket counters-more security check points-immigration-health checks-even more security checkpoints-more health checks. Tim got a tip that we should print out all the paperwork and have it in hand, and that was an incredibly valuable tip. But it also meant that at every check point along the way we were juggling passports, immigration forms, boarding passes, COVID test results and insurance forms. For all four of us. In a foreign language. We’re sitting on the airplane, about to fly from Bangkok to Phuket. One more gauntlet of paperwork before we can rent a car and make our way to our hotel for the night. The kids have been (mostly) patient, and (almost)...Read More

To Thailand!

Posted on by Caroline
Like a lot of people, we’ve been dreaming of travel. After all, a large part of the reason we moved out to Guam was so that we could explore Asia. After navigating stacks and stacks of paperwork and entry requirements and covid tests (thank you, Tim, for tilting at the bureaucratic windmills!), we got on a fight last night and arrived in Manila. We are now mid-way through what you could call an extended lay-over or a very brief visit to Manila, and in a few hours we’ll board a flight to Bangkok and then on to Phuket. Tim has a week-long free-diving conference there and the kids and I are going to explore the beaches and temples and foods...Read More