S: The journey to get to Koh Lanta, wasn't the best bus journey we've ever had, leaking buses and buses not turning up on time but this is Asia after all. It took around 24 hours to reach Lu, so we arrived looking very tired and smelly.

After a quick shower, and Lu had come back from school (Lu at school still makes us laugh), We went for a walk along the beach. Of course we had a quick dip in the sea, Arlo loved it.

After that we enjoyed a beer with our meal and chilled out.

J: Meeting up with Lu felt like a little "holiday" from traveling. It was great to see a friendly face and to meet both Wade and Arlo. Arlo was rather cute, a pure bundle of energy and always wanted entertaining, and we were happy to entertain.

We spent the next few days sinking into their life, which involved visits to the beach, getting coconuts from the trees in their garden, visiting the local markets and cooking and eating what we brought!

S: It's a life I'd be quite at home with. We babysat Arlo so the guys could have some quality time together. Which was great fun although when it came to bedtime, Arlo wasn't quite ready to sleep.

Being able to cook and buy at the local markets was brilliant and a little novel. We had both missed cooking so it was a real treat.

J: We treated ourselves to a Thai massage one afternoon. It was not a little rub, they walked, knelt, used elbows and stretched you about to really get all those knots, and I loved it!

We also stayed for Lu's birthday, which was great fun, we did craft decorations and Sam even baked a dairy free coconut and citrus cake. Even though ingredients where difficult to buy on the island it was defiantly one of her best cakes, and she always makes a great cake!

S: I was rather pleased with my cake. We explored the island via moped, and it really was a beautiful island to see. We stopped for coffee along the way and just admired the view looking out to sea, whilst playing our newfound game Gin Rummy.

J: Unfortunately we didn't have the best luck with weather and didn't get to do any diving with Lu.... But this gives us a reason to return!

J: Thailand had been a great place to visit. Lots of "once in a life time" moments to enjoy and even repeat there. The wildlife moments for me will always be special.

The way our route has taken us, Thailand has also felt like the easiest country yet which was unexpected. English was widely spoken which lead us to learn less of the local language as every time we tried they were happy to speak English for us which made life really easy. Although as the western world is finding Thailand more and more, it would be easy to visit and not really see the local culture which would be a shame.

It's been a great country to visit but the beer is expensive there lol.