Last Call for Travel- February Break in Phuket

Before the world came to a grinding halt, Forest had a week long break in February. Jonathan just so happened to have a trip to San Ramon that week so I had a choice of 'stay in Bangkok with terrible air quality and emerging coronavirus risk keeping us away from indoor play places'  or 'take a trip solo with the kids.' Neither was an excellent option, but I decided to bring my nanny along for a trip to Phuket. 

I landed on Phuket mainly because it consistently has the cleanest air in Thailand. 

It was hard traveling with a baby but in hindsight I'm especially glad we went! Who knows when we'll be able to or will even feel comfortable traveling again! (And remember when I was only worried about yucky air quality? Seems like such a privileged time looking back on it.)

covering our covid-19 bases from the start

if baby constantly touches/pulls off the mask- does it defeat the purpose?

Phuket is an easy trip from Bangkok. There are several direct flights every day which allowed us to pick ideal times for traveling with Juliet's schedule. The flight itself was about 1 hour and the car transport was a little over an additional hour or so. Unfortunately, despite confirming a car seat for the hotel transport, they showed up without one. 

Their attitude was like 'Eeeh. It happens. Sorry. Whatcha gonna do?' So what I did was keep Juliet in the lillebaby carrier in the car which she was very unhappy about. My plan was for her to nap in the car but that just was not working out very well and she let everyone know that she was pissed about it! Road safety in Thailand is not the greatest and there were even a few swerving misses to avoid accidents along the way. Plus Forest and I got pretty car sick. So we were starting off on the wrong foot for sure!

I had looked for a resort that would be all-encompassing with plenty to do and eat so that we wouldn't have to leave. I landed on Centara Grand Beach Resort Phuket on Karon Beach, mostly for its water park features and it's beachfront location. 

The water attractions were a total hit with Forest! He especially loved the cliff jumping and spent hours each day here. 

He would be lined up at the rope at 10 AM each morning and usually had the place to himself for at least the first 20 minutes. (Apparently some people sleep in on vacation????)

There was also a lazy river and two big-kid water slides which were a lot of fun. 

The trip mostly consisted of eating a massive breakfast buffet, heading to the pool while Juliet napped with Nanu, eating lunch and then having more pool time, getting a snack while Juliet took her afternoon nap, eating dinner and then watching Lost In Space after Juliet went to bed at 7 PM and then both me and Forest going to bed at 8. 

Honestly, I think Nanu had the less exhausting kid because keeping up with Forest's energy level all day is exhausting! But fun! Yours truly even did her fair share of cliff jumping and water sliding and it was very helpful to have Nanu to help with the baby. 

The age difference is super challenging and I'm sure it will remain that way their entire childhood but especially until Juliet is 4 years old or so and can keep up on some adventures (but perhaps my assessment of what a typical 4 year old is capable of is a bit skewed after having Forest-who hiked 8 miles in Utah at age 4). 

Forest hiking 8 miles in Utah and still only needing 9 hours of sleep at night.  

The trip wasn't without it's snafus and a couple of moments questioning 'wouldn't this have been much easier if I just stayed home with the kids?'. But being able to be outside all day everyday without a single worry about air quality was priceless. And seeing the joy on Forest's face as he lives his best life is always worth it to me. 

This kid LOVES vacation and knows how to do it right. Juliet is still mostly a bump on a log but I see her curious and fun loving personality already shining through, so I'm sure she'll be joining more and more on the family fun as she rapidly approaches toddlerhood. This resort had a ton of shallow pools for the smallest guests and she loved her first time swimming! Forest wants to go back asap with Jonathan to do more cliff jumping. 

We didn't experience much of local Phuket but we are embracing this season of life as a 'plop our butts down at a resort and take it easy' sort of stage. Thailand has plenty of opportunities to do just that! I wonder when the tourism world will be open for business again? Such a strange time.

Phuket actually wasn't our last trip- Yangon, Myanmar was. I'll write more about that and how COVID-19 has effected us here in Bangkok when I get a chance. Stay healthy, safe, and 6 feet away from others, my friends!