But for those who love to travel for fun and yet decide to procreate, it’s no surprise that this love of travel must shift—at least while the children are small. Add food allergies to the mix, as we have, and this shift grows.
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| Thai Ronald McDonald, "Sawasdee Kap!" |
My parents told me McDonald’s was the fanciest restaurant they took us to while my siblings and I were tiny, and I get it. An adventure to any restaurant involves chasing, scolding, apologizing. What about several days of restaurants with foreign foods and tourist sites and unfamiliar beds?
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| Story time on a hotel bed with sleepy boys |
Joe and I were surprised last year to find we were happy to never leave our Thai resort during a vacation last year, and this past long weekend came the next installment: A trip to Bangkok in which most of our time was spent at luxurious malls and our hotel’s pool.
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| Would you like to swim in his tank? |
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| Divers feeding these sharks. I'm not kidding. |
Given, these downtown malls are probably the most amazing I’ve seen anywhere—a first-rate aquarium, amazing food from all over the world, familiar fast-food chains, IMAX theaters or cinemas with luxurious couches and more. It was a whole world of modern luxury, all connected with a giant cement sky walk, perfectly shaded from the broiling Thai sun.
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| Bangkok is old meets new: An alley view from the skywalk |
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| The skywalk and skytrain tracks |
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| The skywalk reminded me of 1984 |
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| Luca's most frequent meal: Japanese triangle rice with salmon |
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| Lots of walking! |
One day, we tried our hand at true traveling. We hopped on the sky train and barely made it to our stop in time for Luca to have a potty break. From there, we loaded up on a crowded commuter boat to float down the river toward the Grand Palace. When our stop arrived, we couldn’t shoulder our family of four through the crowd quickly enough to exit, so we offloaded our kids and stroller at the next stop… again, barely in time for another potty break for Luca. On the way out of the pier’s shopping area, we shrugged off the hat and parasol salesmen, only to realize we forgot to attach our stroller’s shade. Out in the hot sun, we slathered our sons with sunscreen and managed a standing diaper change for Damien, while his hat and our bag kept falling on the filthy ground and picking up a visible layer of black dust.
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| Potty break + nap |
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| View from the boat |
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| Temple view from the boat |
As we pushed the stroller toward the historic palace entrance, the sidewalk narrowed, jamming us in with a mainland Chinese tour group following a teddy bear held up on a stick by their leader. Closer still, two or three other large tour groups converged, crowding the one palace entrance and the street crossing. Cars and motorbikes whirred through.
My face and neck reddened in the sun, burning within minutes. The boys’ cheeks, shaded under their hats, were ruddy with heat. The crowd hemmed us in further.
“This is not safe,” Joe said, envisioning a stampede over our boys if anything went awry. I pulled the stroller to the side while he scouted up to see if things got better further in. They didn’t.
“Let’s cross over and regroup,” I said, gesturing toward the other side of the road. “We’ve got to get these boys out of the sun.”
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| As close to the palace as we got... |
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| Yum! |
We tried to stop at a roadside shop selling coconuts to at least hydrate the kids, but it was swarming with tourists as well, so we pushed on, stopping in at the oh-so-adventurous Au Bon Pain to quench the boys’ thirst and feed them an early lunch so they could re-energize.
“Is this going to be: We came, we saw, we went to Au Bon Pain instead?” I asked from upstairs in the familiar chain, where we could see the intricate Thai roofs of the buildings beyond the walls.
“Nah, we can try again,” Joe said. “Maybe there’s another entrance.”
There was not another entrance. We walked around the palace wall, toward that pier we’d attempted to use as our boat exit, to no avail.
“I want to go back to the hotel!” Luca whined, sun-weary and dehydrated. Damien cried.
After restocking on water, we decided to call it a day. At least the boat ride had been a fun adventure, with cool temples to see along the way.
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| The boys on the boat |
I loaded Damien in the Ergo carrier and paced to help him sleep, and I realized the intricate roofs across the street were not part of the palace. I looked closer and noticed a sign identifying the area as Wat Pho, one of the temple groups we’d read about.
Should we or shouldn’t we? We assessed our boys, Luca strapping himself in the Damien’s more restful spot in the stroller and the baby fussing, both begging for rest. I knew there was no way we’d force the boys away from the downtown area again the next day.
“I want to try,” I said. “Damien’s going to sleep, and I’m going to be disappointed if we don’t see anything while we’re here.”
Joe, supportive of me but doubtful and tired, went along.
The adventure was exhausting and challenging, but it was worth it.
You know what? My kids are fantastic travelers.
Here’s a look:
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| Luca didn't want to leave this famous temple... |
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| ...because the chain gates and fans were way too fun. |
You guys are amazing!! Glad you got to see something in Bangkok :)
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