Thailand Bound!

As much as we love it, we're not only about RV'ing . . . we also budget for a couple of far flung trips each year, and so tomorrow morning we're off to Thailand. We're going to see temples and monkeys and visit an elephant rehabilitation camp, and even place our feet briefly into Laos and Myanmar. I'm very excited about this trip, in case you can't tell.

This is our second trip with Gate 1 Travel, and considering that their mission statement is Seeing more of the world for less, I was pretty impressed when I went online and saw how lovely all the hotels we'll be staying at are. I'm sure the niceness of the accommodations is a reflection of the travel bargain Asia continues to be, but regardless of the reason, I'll take it.

Here are some photos of our first hotel, the Century Park in Bangkok, including the lovely pool area:

The hotel entry

The lobby

The swimming pool

As we did in China, we'll be traveling with just carry-on luggage. The weather in Thailand should be rather hot and humid, so I've packed primarily sundresses and sandals; lots and lots of both. I think of myself as a bit of a champion packer . . . there are actually nine sundresses and four pair of sandals packed on the left side of my carry-on suitcase in the photo below, plus pajamas, bathing suit, work out clothing and some just-in-case warmer clothes on the right, undergarments in the zipped inside lid compartment, and a raincoat and umbrella in the zipped outside lid compartments. I should be ready for all weather conditions and activities that await!

Beside my carry-on, I'll be taking a second, smaller bag containing my camera, Kindle, passport and travel docs. I've also laid out the clothes I'll be wearing on the flight. Thailand may be hot, but I'm expecting the flight to be cold, and am dressing accordingly! 

Actually, it's not the carry-on luggage limitations that present the biggest challenge, it's the carry-on liquid limitations. I've gathered a collection of 3 oz containers to fill with our various personal care products like contact lens solution, conditioner (my experience is that hotels generally provide poor quality conditioner) and hair gel. I've also accumulated a large supply of small sample size containers of toothpaste, mouthwash, liquid soap, hand sanitizer and lotion from prior hotel stays and visits to the dentist, believe it or not. It took me about an hour, but I eventually got everything compressed down into two her-and-his quart sized bags. 

                                     

While we are away for the next two weeks, I thought I'd leave a link to my just-completed photo book about our recent trip to China, which was our first Gate 1 Travel trip. This book was such fun to make that I'm already looking forward to making one for Thailand just as soon as we return.

China Photo Book 

(Click on the link above, then scroll down and click 
on the View photo book link after the book loads.)

Back in two weeks!