Happy Holidays

Our first (and only other) trip to Thailand was during the summer of 2002.  It was the beginning and the end of a six week backpacking trip Jonah and I took through Southeast Asia.  We were on a very tight budget and had saved five years of frequent flier miles to get free air tickets. The original plan was to visit Thailand and Cambodia and then we totally lucked out when I was awarded a Barlow Alumni Travel Grant from dear old Bates.  We extended the trip to include Laos and Vietnam, carefully packed our bags, and had the experience of a lifetime.

It's funny now to think about how nervous we were about that trip - the language barrier, the threat of disease, the lack of ATM's.  And now, I refer to Thailand as the "green circle" of travel destinations.

It really is the bunny slope.  Anyone can do it.

And one of the greatest aspects of life overseas is the mostly level socio-economic playing field within the school community.  The best evidence of this is that teachers and students take the same kind of vacations. Bali, South Africa, New Zealand, Oman, Borneo, Prague, Vietnam, Jordan, Madagascar -- these are the places where teachers spent winter break.    

Our time in Thailand consisted of ten nights at the beach and four nights in Bangkok.  I've debated about how much to write about it all.  I mean, who really wants to read about someone else's vacation?  So in lieu of text with all the details, I'll let these photos and their captions do the story telling this time.    

And I must close this post with "that song" -- those of you who are over thirty know the one.  How long has it been since you have heard this tune?