Before we left a friend asked me to keep it real on the blog. "Don't make it all sunshine and BS." This is for you Betsy...

I was in London. I wanted to start planning Thailand. I knew we wanted to have a mix of city and nature. We decided on Bangkok. I picked an island, Koh Samui. Then we all wanted to volunteer with elephants. The volunteer organization wouldn't take us because the kids were too young. I looked around for another elephant experience. There it was. The most amazing thing ever. Luxury tents on the river, with toilets and a/c. Bathing elephants, jungle trekking, kayaking, memories to last a lifetime, glorious photos. I had to book it. So I convinced Anthony that we must spend two nights at Elephant Hills. Even though it was almost 6 times what we budget per night, he agreed. It would be a special experience for us all.

On Tuesday we sat down to book our connections from the hotel to the camp. I got this very sick feeling when we started to search. Then sicker and sicker as our search revealed that this glorious place that I had been talking up to the kids for weeks was 11 hours away from where I thought it was. I checked into flights, bus trips, and private cars. In the end I had to admit that we just couldn't swing the distance for only 2 days. The website clearly stated that within 15 days of arrival you would forfeit 50% of your payment. The thought made me want to puke. So I begged my way down to only 10%. Thank you! Thank you! (or in Thai - kap koon ka). This I can stomach. I have since found a great new elephant experience very close to where we are staying in Chiang Mai and all is well. But I have promised myself to slow down and pay attention to the details in the future.

So far we have been lucky with all of our mishaps. The car dents were covered by insurance. The camera that got left in a restaurant was still there when we remembered and returned to retrieve it. The visit to the ER when Nina was a bit yellow turned out to be a little bug and not an issue with her blood disorder. We can only hope that the long-term focast for our remaining 3 months on the road calls for plenty of sunshine!

Amy