All Who Wander Are Not Lost

The kids and I are off to Thailand on January 1st. We'll be there for the months of January and February, returning on February 28. We've no real reason to visit Thailand in particular but, after our great experience in Peru in 2006, we are anxious to immerse ourselves in another culture. We thought about other places, Nepal and Vietnam in particular, but kept coming back to Thailand. If it was just me, I would engage in my normal driven/manic mode and try to cover as much ground as was feasible; perhaps something like the standard backpacking tour through Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia. But with the kids, we are looking for depth in one area instead of breadth over a large area. One reason is that it is just more difficult to travel with children. But, perhaps more importantly, we want to immerse them in one area far away from the TV and video games that colonize so much of their lives here at home. We want to be somewhere where we can get to know some people and learn what it was like to live in another place. We needed a city that was big enough to have the instructure to make us comfortable if any contingency came up with the children and interesting enough to keep us engaged. The current plan is to set up camp in Chiang Mai in the Northern part of the Thailand and use that as a base for shorter outings.

My parents will be joining us for the first part of the trip and returning on January 19. While they are with us, we will go down to visit the beaches and islands in the South before heading up to Chiang Mai. My wife Mary will be joining us in mid-February for the last part of the trip but we will be missing her terribly in the meantime.

I'm still trying to wrap up work and get things packed. If you are so inclined, check back to see how we are doing in Thailand!