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We spent a couple nights on Railay Beach and a couple in Ao Nang. You can only get to Railay by long boat so we wanted to stay awhile instead of going back and forth to Ao Nang. And it was a very good choice. We could have settled in and stayed the rest of the month.
Staying in a hotel with kids is awesome. The pools, the breakfast, cartoons in Thai, the big beds. They love it. And so do we.
I love this picture of Dave pulling our two bags with the boys riding along. Everyone has their own traveling tricks that work for them. My friend brings baby powder with her to rub the sand off her feet. It works really well!Here are a few of our tricks that we've figured out or learned from friends:
Tips for traveling with kids
- pack 2 days before, relax the day before (CHANGED MY LIFE!)
- always in my bag: small first aid kit, baby wipes, hand sanitizer, bug patches, sunscreen
- boys have their own packs. they can only bring what they can carry on the plane.
- name labels on the back of passports
- when packing, less is more - seriously.
- zip lock bags - everything goes into a separate big zip lock bag: one for snacks, one for toys, DVDs, everything. The bags keep everything together and organized.
- pb and jelly - we bring our own pb and j. Even the bread. We eat that for lunch with local fruit and then buy dinner. Cuts expensives and saves time.
- write a currency conversion chart on a sticky note - I carry this with me for quick reference
- write down addresses and destinations for the driver who can't understand you
- exchange money before we go
- grab a free map from the airport
- to plan: we use travel books, trip advisor, friends' blogs, emails
- map out day by day itinerary before we go, but be flexible when we're there
- always plan a beach day. always.
But lists and plans are never in concrete, are they? So when we don't have an extra shirt for the boy who spilled his banana shake all over, or when we can't find that restaurant that everyone loves. We try to smile and roll with it.
4 comments:
When I saw in your email that you were catching up, I knew I'd have a treat waiting for me when the girls went to bed. I seriously love your travel tips. Even though I should know these I am the worst packer. I leave everything to the last minute and end up with way too much to carry-on. What is wrong with me?! YOur posts are lovely. They made me so homesick for Krabi. Is it possible to feel like a place you've only been twice is your home?! I will retire there!! And when are we going to Bangkok?
Jessie, my husband saw yours at the ex-pat ward a few Sundays ago. He was in the middle of a conversation and wasn't able to catch up to him later, but he was impressed with the ward - which is a huge relief!
Our WA neighbor would start packing for big trips a month ahead - no small children and extra room to leave a bag on the floor and add things when she thought of them. I followed her example when we went to Germany - I didn't have my bag on the floor for a month, but I did start setting things aside and 2 weeks before, I started adding them to the bag. We were packed a day or so ahead and that really does make a huge difference, even without young children :)
Great tips. Beautiful pictures.
loved your travel tips! such great ideas. oh and um, yeah. when are we going to bangkok? :)
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