Our Trip to Thailand!

Two weeks in Thailand with our close friends, Eric + Annabelle! It was both amazing and challenging, and the more we go through challenges, the more we realize that these are the moments we learn and grow most from.. and really end up actually wanting to have in life. We are so grateful for this incredible trip abroad and that our friends joined us. Our excuse for the trip was that Jamie and Annabelle both turned 30 in early January this year, so I think that 30 started off pretty awesome for them!

We started in Bangkok and were blown away by the amount of SWEAT that could be a part of an experience. 10,000+ steps each day as we explored the Grand Palace, found cute shops, ate lots of fried rice and fresh fruit, took photos, played frogger to cross the road, learned as many Thai phrases as we could from Tuk Tuk and Taxi drivers, and got used to the new time difference. I learned that I get pretty slap happy when I’m deliriously tired.

Next, we got to the airport for the part of the trip I looked most forward to: Vietnam. Crazy enough, it didn’t work out for us to go, and Jamie and I got stuck in the Bangkok airport all day. We weren’t able to go because we accidentally miswrote Jamie’s passport expiration date one day off on the visa application. As you can imagine, we were really bummed. One whole day of our trip was spent trying to solve this issue at the airport, all of our reservations were non refundable, and we were missing out on a gorgeous, new country. But here’s what we did after pouting for a while: found a Krispy Kream in the airport and ate 3 donuts each (classic), did a photo challenge: who can get the best photo with the same amount of time roaming around the airport, watched hundreds of girls scream and run after a famous K-Pop star, and we decided to reschedule this part of the trip by going to an island off the coast of Thailand. So, we booked the next two days there before we met with our friends for the next adventure. Didn’t let these weird circumstances ruin our trip. Koh Lanta ended up being GORGEOUS and we loved exploring it by scooter.

Our reunion with our friends in Khao Sok was amazing! They were able to go on to Vietnam while we did Koh Lanta, so we spent a while catching each other up on all of the crazy stories and updates from our days apart. Khao Sok National Park was the highlight of the trip for me! Picture a mix of Jurassic Park’s jungles and Avatar’s floating islands and you’ve got Khao Sok. We stayed at the coolest jungle hotel with amazing food and then my new favorite hotel in the world (Montania, if you ever get a chance to go!), that Annabelle found with a pool overlooking the incredible cliffs surrounding us. Crazy challenge #2 came up when Jamie crashed his drone into the side of one of those cliffs. This time we knew how to stay calm even though it wasn’t fun. My favorite part about Khao Sok was getting to take care of the sweetest elephants one morning at a sanctuary.

Next was Railay Beach! Jamie got to climb here a bit– this beach is known for having some of the best climbing spots in Thailand. We loved playing games on the beach with our friends and finding an amazing Indian restaurant there (turns our it’s rated #1 on this boat locked location).

We ended the trip at a beautiful hotel in Phuket and spent the majority of the time enjoying the pools. I LOVE POOLS. 🙂 That was something I probably told Eric and Annabelle 50+ times throughout the trip (no exaggeration). At night we explored the crazy town and beach and found an awesome greek restaurant to give us a break from all of the Thai food we’d been eating.

Before we headed back to the States, we had one last night in Bangkok where we stayed in a cozy hostel and found the coolest local night market to enjoy at midnight before the flights the next morning. Some of the best food we had the whole trip and the perfect adventure to end our time in Thailand. So fun! Definitely let us know if you’re ever traveling to Thailand because we’d love to share recommendations with you!

Enjoy the photos and video from our two week trip to Thailand!

Alright, saved the best for last!!! An awesome video that Jamie created of our trip! A couple of the beautiful shots in here are by our talented friend, Eric Lines, who we had a blast getting to shoot with throughout Thailand.