Thailand and Seoul
Rubins take Thailand!
Days at a Glance
| High | Low | Hero | Chow/Ciao | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noah | Monk's trail to Doi Suthep temple | Drama before escape room | Myself | Ciao: sharing a room |
| Sarah | Rainbow parrot fish while snorkeling | Escape room | Alec being supportive | Chow: Korean meatball dish in Seoul |
| Dan | 2 weeks with my favorite people | "That day, you know the day" | Kids, for helping | "let me think about it" |
| Ben | Mountain biking | Christi meltdown | Meg | Deluxe Magnum |
| Maggie | Exploring Seoul, long walking days | Struggling with family discord | Ben: for being a rock, and always letting me taste what he ordered! | Chow: MASSAMAN CURRY (Khao soi curry close second) |
*A game I learned from Ben, who uses it with friends as a fun way to reflect on an experience
Journal
Dan has recently retired (for now) and wanted to plan a trip for the whole family. After taking suggestions and polling the group, we settled on Thailand (nobody went for my Kazakhstan idea!). He planned an amazing two-week trip for us, the siblings, and his girlfriend, Christi, and her son Axis.
Saturday/Sunday 02-03Aug25
Turns out that Thailand is very far away! Our first flight was 14 hours from Minneapolis to Seoul. Sarah, Ben and I watched a movie together (Black Bag), Ben and I read our Brandon Sanderson book quite a bit, and we all got varying levels of sleep (to brag, I got the most, ~4 hours). The Korean pork dinner was surprisingly good for airplane food.
We had a ~3 hour layover in Seoul; walking around the airport felt great after the long flight. The trolley pushing luggage carts played Fur Elise, and the food court was delicious for airport food. Ben, Noah and I shared some Chinese dumplings and a Korean snack platter, including the best corndog I've ever had.
Turns out that Bangkok is not close to Seoul! After our layover we still had another 6 hour flight, which started with a 1.5 hr delay sitting on the tarmac. Again, the meal was impressively good for airplane food. I had really luxurious Chinese beef over rice, and Ben had a spicy octopus dish, which was complete with flight attendants creating fresh seaweed broth. After dinner I again slept the most of the group, 3 hours.
Dan booked us a nice hotel not far from the airport. After the longest travel day ever, it felt great to crash into those beds around 1:30AM Thai time.
Monday 04Aug25
After a long and disorienting day, I only managed to sleep 3-4 hours (Ben luckily slept 2hr more!). Dan greeted us in the morning with an armful of pepto bismol tablets, which he recommended we take proactively to minimize any traveler's diarrhea. Each kid got a few bottles of pills; Dan was not messing around. The hotel breakfast buffet hit the spot, and we even had time to swim a bit in the hotel pool before checking out of the hotel and catching a short 1.5 hr flight to Chiang Mai, the first stop on our itinerary. Thanks to Sarah for letting us use her guest passes in the airport lounge!
Chiang Mai is in the northern mountainous part of Thailand, and one of the larger cities in Thailand. Dan reserved us a private villa to stay in, complete with a man holding a sign to pick us up from the airport, saying "Benjamin Rubin."
Driving up to the villa felt like a movie. The large gate opened up, leading to a long driveway and a large two story villa. The pool, kitchen, and Axis's favorite tetherball game were on the bottom floor, and stairs took us to the top floor, complete with 4 separate bedrooms and bathrooms. Lounge space was in an elevated part of the second floor, looking out onto our complex. It was magical. We had the whole villa to ourselves, and our brief tour was conducted by our hosts: two lovely older women who kindly gave us a tour, instructing us to remove our shoes before entering any rooms.
After a brief moment of unpacking and down time, Dan booked us a taxi into downtown so we could check it out. We walked around town, taking in the sights: shops push their wares into crowded sidewalks, which push into traffic, dominated by scooters weaving through cars in a herd mentality. We frequently passed small ornate shrines, known as "Spirit Houses," intricately decorated and adorned with flowers and offerings to appease the protective spirits. Tha Phae gate was an important historical landmark, marking the wall of the original city in 1296, although the present gate was rebuilt in 1985 based on "historical and archeological evidence."
Dinner was at "Garden to Table" and it was delicious! Most of the group ordered the northern Thai specialty: khao soi, a curry made of coconut milk broth and topped with crispy fried egg noodles. I ordered the beef version, which they slow cooked over multiple hours. It was absolutely delicious. Ben ordered the Japanese Katsu curry at the waiter's recommendation, also great.
Ax and Christi headed back to the villa, and the Rubins wandered around a bit more. We considered entering a temple, but Sarah and I did not come prepared with pants or shoulder covering. Sarah did some shopping, which gave me time to hit the bathroom pretty hard, turns out that khao soi was a gift that kept on giving! The group ended at a 7-11 to grab some beers to take back to our place; I snagged some snacks and ice cream. Predictably, on the drive back to our villa, everybody lost steam, and instead of staying up to drink the beers, we all immediately crashed. Nice idea, though.
Tuesday 05Aug25
Our first proper day in Thailand without any flights! The morning started our perfect, with a homemade breakfast from our hosts: fried rice and fish curry. Both were delicious, but I took it easy on the curry, still a bit wary after last night.
Dan reserved us a driver for the day, and we got on the road around 10AM. After stopping for some cash at an ATM, we headed to a coffee shop Dan had picked out. It was quite fancy, with tons of different blends to smell and try, and tasting notes to smell along the wall. I ordered a Thai iced coffee and Ben ordered a coconut coffee, both were delicious, but we learned we need to ask for coffee less sweet next time.
We paused at a rest stop on our way to our first destination so folks could use the bathroom, and the short pause ended up being a 45 minute break. The bathrooms only come equipped with a bidet, not toilet paper. Dan used the bathroom, realized this, walked out of the bathroom and down a block to the 7-11, bought himself a roll, did the walk of shame back to the bathroom, and then proceeded to thoroughly use the toilet paper. The rest of the group had enough time to explore some shops, and Sarah even bought herself a nice dress.
Our major destination was the Bua Thong waterfalls, a national park with a "sticky waterfall," where the natural limestone provides so much traction that you can walk on the rock and walk up the waterfall. Stairs led us to the bottom, and from there we waded into the water and started climbing. Scrambling up the waterfall, feeling the rushing water pass you and cool you down on a hot day, it felt incredible. Looking out from the waterfall afforded views of the canyon and mountains covered in dense trees and jungle greenery. It was beautiful.
Taking our time to enjoy the views, we went slowly, often sitting on the waterfall to let the water run past us.
After we finished our climb up, we changed back into our clothes to be more respectful before visiting the Seven Colors Fountain to learn more about the legend of the waterfall.
We made our way back to our driver, and Dan asked him to route to a restaurant recommended by our hosts, which was midway between the falls and our villa. It was a 45 minute drive, and we ended up not arriving to the restaurant until 4 PM. Folks were hungry and fading, and so the food was great. This was the first time I've seen Noah finish his meal and order more food. Like the true younger brother, he ordered "fish cakes", which as he said out loud, everyone knew he would not like. The fish cakes came to the table and Noah barely managed to pretend to enjoy one, before trying to pawn off to the rest of the table as a faux act of generosity. Ben and I each had one: honestly pretty good.
The restaurant was oddly in a maze of fountains and plants, that suddenly seemed brighter and more beautiful after having eaten. We explored a bit before having our driver take us back to our villa to briefly drop our stuff, before our last stop: a haunted bar. Christi had discovered a bar that had a spooky Halloween theme year-round, including a haunted house/escape room element. Apparently, Ax loves spooky stuff. We played some pool and drank some Thai beer, before eventually mustering the courage to do the haunted house. They limited the group size to 5, so Christi and Ax braved it first. We could hear the banging and screaming, but Ax exited cool as a cucumber, seemingly unphased. The 5 Rubins entered next, and it was surprisingly fun. While spooky and a bit thrilling, it was also campy, and involved us trying to find dismembered body parts with pentagrams on them to complete the puzzle. We all started Garmin "indoor walking" activities to later compare who had the highest heart rate. Noah's spiked to 151, but Sarah left in tears, so who's the real winner?
To end the night, we meandered to the market for some shopping and food. Sarah considered a few skirts that Dan shot down while I headed to the food section. There were tons of different stalls selling all sorts of food. Having heard advice that street food can be dangerous for foreigners, I specifically avoided meat and looked for food sold fresh and hot. I picked an egg and cheese roti and corn on the cob for me and Ben to share, both were delicious. We were hardcore sweating as we were eating, due to the market tent trapping all the hot air generated from the food vendors. As soon as we finished we got out of there and got a car home, stickily trying to avoid touching each other in the back of the car.
Ben and I ended the night with two magnums in our villa, the cold ice cream almost making the Matcha Crumble magnum tasty. Still only 3/10, the strawberry panna was better, 8/10.
Wednesday 06Aug25
Our kind hosts made us Pad Thai for breakfast, kindly excluding peanuts at our request. It was delicious.
At 8AM we were picked up for a half day cooking class that Dan booked. With 1 other couple, the 7 of us headed to a market to learn about the ingredients we would be using and have a chance to look around (and purchase Thai iced coffee, obviously). We then headed to their organic farm, where we walked through the garden and learned about the different herbs and natural ingredients we would be using, including lemongrass, Thai basil, chilis, kaffir lime and Thai eggplant.
The cooking class was great. We each picked out our personal menu from a list of options for appetizer, soup, and curry. We each had our own wok, and our instructor would tell us when to add specific ingredients based on what we were cooking. Ben commented that cooking is quite easy when someone else does all the ingredient prep! (Isn't that his life already?) We even made our own curry paste, taking turns tiring our arms out with the mortar and pestle. I made pad Thai, hot and creamy soup, and khao soi curry. The curry was especially fantastic, I am looking forward to trying to replicate that at home. After our large pad Thai breakfast, nobody could finish all their food, so we packed up our leftovers in doggy bags before being driven home.
Noah had an itch to go hiking, so he convinced me, Ben, and Sarah to join him on the "Monk's trail," a hiking route that connects a few temples. We started at Wat Pha Lat and hiked to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, the most famous temple in Chiang Mai. Wat Pha Lat was lovely; the temple grounds were along a beautiful waterfall that poured into a nice view of the city. The temple buildings were older and more natural feeling, with grass and moss growing on some of the outsides. We saw many monks walking around; Noah was a bit spooked and avoided eye contact at all costs.
The hike to Doi Suthep was no joke. It was a consistently steep climb through often muddy clay, at one point we climbed 1000 ft through 0.7 miles. The jungle was hot and dense, with cicadas buzzing so loud it was hard each other. We worked up a sweat very quickly, but it felt good to get some exercise. We climbed through a small cloud, before finally breaking out of the jungle into the base of the Doi Suthep entrance. We waited for the cloud to pass before we could enjoy the view of Chiang Mai that we worked so hard for.
Walking past stalls selling food and tourist goods, we made it to the official entrance of Doi Suthep. Big gulp: it was 300 more stairs. Ben got us tourist tickets, 30 baht each (~$1). I slipped on my rain pants for modesty, Sarah smartly grabbed herself a Gatorade, and we headed in. It was interesting, this chedi was covered in gold plating, much flashier than that of Wat Pha Lat. Statues of sitting Buddha were everywhere, in all sizes and materials. The only slightly different statue was a form lying down. Ben wondered aloud if this was Buddha's wife or mom. When we got back to WiFi, we learned: nope. Just Buddha lying down.
The temple grounds were quite large, with multiple small buildings surrounding the large golden chedi. As we moved through the grounds, certain areas requested no shoes: it's a unique feeling to be in your socks with a bunch of strangers. I liked it.
When we had our fill of the temple, we headed back down all those stairs. We stopped to look at a very large Buddha statue, and ended up sitting and talking for a while. It was nice to debrief on what we had seen and how the trip was going with Sarah and Noah.
It was getting late, and we wanted to finish before the sunset. We headed back towards the hike, stopping to grab some waffles from a street vendor for some fuel. The hike down was easier. At one point we were passed by 3 runners, including 1 monk in his orange wrap and sandals.
We popped out of the hike onto the road, where Noah ordered us a taxi to get us back to our villa. After a very long day, we showered, ate our leftovers from our doggy bags, and went to bed early.
Thursday 07Aug25
After going to bed so early, Ben and I woke up with an itch to run. Unfortunately Chiang Mai has not seemed very runner friendly. We have not seen any joggers in our area, understandable given there are very few wide sidewalks or nature trails. Trying to move our bodies somehow, we put on our suits with an intention of doing laps in the pool. Turns out doing laps in a 25ft long pool gets old pretty quick. Noah and Sarah came and joined, and we ended up just playing 500 with a toy shark. You gotta watch out for a mystery box from Ben. Sarah imitated a shark, having just watched Jaws on the plane ride here. Unfortunately, it was not very intimidating, as she accidentally sang the Pink Panther theme instead of the Jaws theme.
After showering off, breakfast was stir-fried shrimp and fish soup, both delicious. While unusual for us Americans to have such savory food for breakfast, it has been really special to have homemade Thai food cooked by our hosts.
After breakfast, we got packed up and loaded our stuff into a van. Dan ordered a driver, to serve as airport transportation and bag storage until our 16:30 flight later today to Krabi. Our first stop: a coffee shop that specialized in local Thai coffee. The barista walked us through their different local bean options, and we each chose our own roast, prepared in a pour over. After all the fanfare and preparation I was a bit embarrassed to find it mid; still waiting to grow into a love of light roast!
After coffee we headed to see some temples in the downtown area. These temple grounds were quite large, with many buildings, including likely the oldest buildings we've seen yet: Wat Chedi Luang, a large brick temple from the 14th century. One of the temple buildings specifies "Men Only," with an insulting sign explaining that women are not allowed because they menstruate, a dirty process that would humiliate the temple. I watched Ben, Dan and Noah go in, and I could watch Ben through the open temple doors. Ben managed to jokingly mouth to me "wow, this is the coolest one yet." I went to pout on a bench, feeling extra frustrated about my rain pants that were required for modesty; they were uncomfortably sticking to me and felt suffocating. When the fellas came out, Dan bragged they were offered chest bumps and a cold beer upon entrance. I couldn't help but smile after that.
We explored more of the temple grounds, including some smaller buildings dedicated to honoring specific monks of the past. Noah was a bit spooked by this monk in a glass cage; he thought it was real and respectfully avoided eye contact.
We left the temple and headed to an Indian/Burmese fusion restaurant for lunch. Ben and I shared paneer masala and a ghee masala dosa; both were delicious. It was a welcome break from Thai food. Sarah pointed out that while she loves Thai food, when you have it also for breakfast, you're a bit more prone to getting sick of it.
After lunch, we headed to the airport for an uneventful 2h flight to our next stop, Krabi. The only notable anecdote occurred when we were checking in our luggage. Ben casually tossed our passports onto the desk to be added to the pile of the family's passports. The gate attendant visibly stiffened and made a facial expression like she had been shot. Ben later googled and it turns out that lightly tossing is disrespectful in Thai culture... Good to know!
A van took us from the airport to the villa Dan rented in Ao Nang. My jaw dropped, walking into the villa. Glorious open-air kitchen leading to luxurious pool with plenty of lounge seats, surrounded by palm trees and other beautiful greenery. It's a truly beautiful place to stay. Unfortunately, that was quickly dampened by some awkwardness and drama about the rooming situation, as there weren't enough rooms for everyone to have their own space. Family togetherness is always a gift!
Dinner at a nearby restaurant was a bit tense, but the food was delicious. Ao Nang feels more touristy. The restaurant's menu was in English, and had many fruity beverages that catered to vacationing folks, but our Thai host recommended it, and the food was great. Ben and I shared green curry and fish and chips, a classic combo. French fries hit different after days of Thai food. It paired well with Mai Tais, our first of the trip.
After dinner, Noah, Ben and I watched some of The Dark Knight before an early bed time.
Friday 08Aug25
Touristy areas mean better sidewalks, and Ben and I took advantage with nice runs in the morning, before it got too hot. After some brief time running alongside traffic, I made it to the main strip that leads to the beach, about 3 miles from home. Unfortunately, bathrooms were a bit hard to come by. I eventually found a grocery store restroom to use, but I did not leave the experience unscathed. The proactive Pepto-Bismol has affected my regularity...
Our main event of the day was heading to Railay beach, a renowned beach for its beauty. We took a taxi to Ao Nang beach and then a longtail boat to Railay beach. The boat ride had beautiful views: the ocean is filled with sheer limestone mountains that seemingly jut out of nowhere. I've never seen anything like it.
Railay beach was worth the hype! A beautiful cove surrounded by sheer mountains, with deliciously warm water for swimming. Even the sand was beautiful, due to sand bubbler crabs creating intricate patterns with small balls of sand. We enjoyed the first ocean swimming of the trip. Sarah got a minor sting from a jellyfish, causing Noah to be scared of every leaf in the ocean afterwards.
While the kids were swimming, Dan and Christi had a private discussion on the beach and came to the decision to part ways for the rest of the trip (and life). Dan came to let us kids know as we walked around the small town. We took a moment to connect and prepare for the awkward parting, before we left the town and headed back to the beach to pack up.
We all changed into our dry clothes for the boat ride back, not realizing that the longtails would not come pick us up on the shore. Instead, we needed to wade into waist deep water to get on the boat. It wouldn't have mattered anyway, the water was choppy and the spray of the boat left me absolutely soaked.
Wet and sticky, we hopped into two taxis back to the villa. Christi and Ax awkwardly packed up their things. The situation escalated, but writing about that isn't the vibe of this blog. In short: they left.
Dazed and unsure, the Rubins took some time to sort through what happened. Dan ordered some pizza that Sarah, Ben and I walked to pick up. Dinner was an honest and somber affair, before we all parted ways and went to bed early.
Saturday 09Aug25
Doing our best to shake off the drama from yesterday, the 5 of us started our day by visiting an elephant sanctuary. Dan had picked this out for it's ethical no-touch policy. Instead of the usual elephant tourism options of feeding, petting, riding, or bathing, this sanctuary is dedicated to rescuing elephants from dangerous and unethical tourist and logging situations to give them a better life. The sanctuary is 80 acres of open land dedicated for the elephants; tourists are allowed but kept at a safe distance, and there is no feeding or touching. On our taxi ride to the sanctuary, we got excited by reading the biographies of the elephants we might see.
Our guide greeted us at the sanctuary and informed us we would be the only ones on the tour, due to it being low season. We started with an intro video that explained the history of the sanctuary. For decades, it was not a sanctuary but a traditional elephant tourist experience, with riding and touching. In 2017, World Animal Protection worked with the owner to transition it to a sanctuary, providing grants, guidance, and logistical support. It helped give context for why the website was so professionally done, but the sanctuary itself felt local and community-based. In fact, the sanctuary works with the local people to exchange elephant dung for elephant food. I was really impressed with the honest and grounded approach to change. It was especially moving as we walked through the sanctuary, meeting elephants and learning about their backstories.
We spent 2 hours walking around the space, and we luckily saw 8 elephants. We kept our distance, but were close enough to watch them eat, intelligently using their trunks to clean dust from the plants and separate the leaves from the stalks. Each elephant was lovingly observed by their mahout, a person dedicated to watching them and keeping them safe. We learned from our guide that mahouts come from families that have watched elephants for generations and they begin spending time around elephants at a very young age.
The experience was intended to be 90 minutes, but our guide was honest that it was low season and nobody was on the next tour, so we lingered for over 2 hours, asking our guide lots of questions. He was great: knew all of the elephants from afar, including their temperaments and history. He clearly loved his job, even referring to one of the elephants as his best friend. He was friendly with the local dogs that bounded through the sanctuary. We asked if the elephants and dogs ever bonded, he explained that the dogs want to be friends with the elephants, but it's not reciprocated: apparently the elephants want to "make Thai-boxing" with the dogs.
One of the more interesting elephants was Lao Tang Chaba, an intersex elephant. This is rare in elephants, per our guide about 1 in every 100,000, and thus the elephant was kept in a palace and was forced to sit a lot, and thus developed a large bedsore on their cheek. Lao Tang was struggling to bond with the herd, but the guide was hopeful that with more time, they would become more comfortable. Most of the elephants had moving stories like this.
After the elephant sanctuary, we headed back to the villa, making a pit stop at a grocery store for some beer. We were all looking forward to a day of relaxation. Dan booked himself a Thai massage, and the kids spent the afternoon by the pool. I enjoyed sipping the fresh coconut water straight from the coconut that our host prepared for us, and we all enjoyed some Singha, a Thai lager. Ben judged the diving competition between me, Sarah, and Noah. I won the "splash" and "form" contests, but Noah took the cake in the "vibe" contest, how can Sarah or I compete with a front flip? It was a mostly pleasant day, with only a medium amount of bickering. I'll take what I can get.
The evening was very relaxed. Dinner was Thai food that had been ordered earlier in the day. Sarah put herself to bed early, while the fellas got a little high (weed is legal here!) The 4 of us played Crew, and it was quite fun. This was Noah's first time learning any trick based game, which was shocking. It didn't show, he played like a pro.
Sunday 10Aug25
Boat day! Today we did an early bird tour, meaning 5:50AM pick up, of the "4 islands and Phi Phi islands." Pronounced "pee-pee", which Ben used as needed for comedic purposes. It was a full day, boating from 7AM-4PM, with about 20 other tourists, mostly Spanish folks, as the tour company advertised Spanish language explanations. The tour took us to ~8 different spots, sometimes swimming and snorkeling, sometimes seeing an island from afar. Chicken Rock island we passed by, named for its chicken head shape (which apparently Ben pictured very differently from the rest of us, thinking the long stalk was the chicken's beak, not neck). Monkey island we also saw from the boat, but we were close enough to the cliffs to see the monkeys walking around. Ben got a front row seat to a monkey cleaning his private parts; I enjoyed spotting a baby monkey.
Breakfast was great: Thai donuts (Pa Thong Koh) and sticky rice with egg custard. We enjoyed breakfast while watching ~10 blacktip reef sharks swim circles near us in the shallow water. Dan tried to convince us they were dolphins for about 5 minutes, but nobody was buying it.
Our first swimming stop was at a lagoon. It was beautiful: surrounded by sheer cliffs covered in jungle greenery, swimming in bright blue water, it was truly breathtaking. We all dove off the boat (for accountability reasons, I need to include that it took me a few times to work up the courage to dive, but I got there!!).
We stopped at a different island for snorkeling, and Noah's first time snorkeling ever! Lots of different fish, including some beautiful bright blue parrot fish, interesting needle fish and bottom feeders, and Dan claims he saw a baby blacktip reef shark.
Lunch was at a buffet on Phi Phi Don island. The Thai food was good, especially the massaman curry.
At our island stop after lunch, Ben and I took a cool 40 minute nap in the shade. It was glorious.
At our last stop we had fun photo shoot, taking inspiration from the islands, as well as some of the ridiculous poses we had watched strangers do this trip. The beauty of Thailand definitely attracts folks who are excited to advertise it on their social media. Honestly, I understand why. This tour was focused on the islands protected by the National Parks, so the water has been gorgeous, and the sand in really good shape. We learned that not all Thai islands are protected, so these beaches were especially nice.
The boat trip back to Ao Nang was a long 40 minutes in choppy water. By the time we got back to land, we were all grateful it was over, as it had been a long day. But overall, it was a great experience. Our guide was amazing; he was very enthusiastic about sharing Thailand's islands with us. He also used the long time on the boat to do his makeup: the bright red lipstick paired well with his cat-eye sunglasses and red bandana.
After a long and busy day, we took a few hours to have some alone time before reconvening for dinner. We all wanted a break from Thai food, so Dan ordered a bunch of American food from a place in Krabi. In fact, he ordered so much food, that the restaurant messaged him to check if he actually wanted all of it, and it took about 2.5 hours and two different moped drivers to finally deliver. We ending up not eating until around 10:30 PM.
This time, Noah put himself to bed early, so Sarah, Dan, Ben and I smoked a little weed and played Crew while we waited for our food. Ben noted that Sarah and Noah take turns being in tired or crabby moods, and haven't managed to be in good moods at the same time. What a blessing to share this time together as a family.
When the food finally arrived, it was delicious, and we went to bed pretty soon after, tired from a long day.
Monday 11Aug25
Ben and I both took long runs in the morning. We both went for 10 miles, running on a paved trail along the beach. The view was beautiful, and it was nice to be by the ocean, but honestly it was not my best run: running in the heat and humidity is hard. At the 8 mile mark, it started to downpour. I took a few minutes to hide and see if it would stop, but the clock was ticking because we had to check out of our villa. I started to run home through the downpour, running through the puddles ankle deep. Because it was cooler in the rain, and I ended up running faster than I could have in the heat.
Unfortunately, the storm was so strong that it had blown over a tree into a power line, so there was no power for the whole city. That also affected the water at our place, so I dumped a water bottle over my sweaty parts and toweled off as best I could. It felt icky, but at least running in the rain had washed off most of my sweat.
We checked out of our villa, thanking our host for her hospitality. Dan was settling up for the laundry, and was a bit shocked at how expensive it was, especially given Thai prices. After some discussion, it turned out that the maids had ironed everything, including our underwear and socks. When we were giving them our laundry initially, Dan pointed out 3 shirts of his that he specifically did not want put in the drier. Turns out they don't have driers, they air dry everything here. So the maids, due to some slight confusion and language barrier, assumed he did not want those 3 shirts ironed, indicating he wanted everything else ironed. I made sure to appreciate the crispness of my socks on the rest of the trip.
We taxied to the dock, then took a private longtail boat to our next stop: Koh Yao Noi island. Noah and I laid on the chaise in the front of the boat like royalty, enjoying the view.
Koh Yao Noi is smaller and less popular than some of the other main areas visited by tourists, although it still obviously caters to tourists. We are staying at another beautiful villa with a private pool, Dan has done an excellent job picking fabulous places for us to stay at. Our host described Koh Yao Noi as a safe and local place, where folks leave the keys in their moped, and you do not lock the door. In fact, she did not even give us a key to our place. I have been really impressed with the villa experiences in Thailand. Not only are the accommodations luxurious, but the hosts take care to arrange anything you might need: transportation, laundry, and recommendations for things to do.
After dropping our things, we headed out for a late lunch, as it was already 3:30 PM. We ended up at a nice Italian place, where the prices reflected some island inflation. This is not the first time that too late of a lunch has lead to hangry Rubins: before the food came, there was bickering and lots of complaining. Ten minutes after the food arrived, there was comradery and vulnerability, and only a medium amount of complaining. I pointed this out to the group, suggesting that we eat at more regular times. Noah jokingly answered "we've been doing it this way for 20 years, we can't change now."
After lunch we took a break at our villa. Forced to relax as it was raining, we finished the rest of The Dark Knight. Good movie.
Dinner was at a Thai food restaurant a few minute walk from our house. Ben got southern Thai yellow curry with barracuda fish, it was tasty, but the most sour of any Thai curries we have tried yet. It ranks the lowest of my Thai curry tier-list.
We finished the night at a bar playing some pool. Sarah, Noah and I ordered Mai Tais, and Dan ran the pool table. Sarah and Noah got tired and left early, but the rest of us stuck around to play another game of pool. Ben lost but made sure to point out that the table was tilted and the cues didn't have proper tips.
Tuesday 12Aug25
We started the morning right with a homemade breakfast from our maid. We requested American breakfast, and the pancakes were incredible. Complete with chicken sausage, toast, fried eggs, and fruit. Turn out I am the only one who really eats the dragon fruit; the Rubins are too pretentious about their fruit, preferring the more flavorful papayas, pineapple, and watermelon.
The rain kept us trapped inside until mid-afternoon, but it was nice to have some time to relax in our beautiful villa. Dan did his taxes. The 5 of us played some more Crew.
When the rain did let up, we headed out to explore the island. Dan and Noah took mopeds and Sarah, Ben and I took bikes. Sarah broke off to do her own thing, so Ben and I explored the island. We headed North along the West coast. It slowly got less touristy and more local. Away from the tourists, this was the least developed area we had seen yet; it was nice to see how the locals lived. Ben kept his eyes open for volleyball nets, spotting a mix of foot volleyball and real volleyball nets, mostly on concrete. This is a predominantly Muslim island, so we passed a few mosques as well. We saw many rubber tree plantations, where the skinny trees' latex was milked into small bowls.
Ben started to route us to "Mankei Bay", a look out point on the North tip. This meant we left the paved roads and started biking on dirt trails. Luckily we had mountain bikes, and we needed them, the trails were muddy, full of puddles, and very hilly. At first, it was fun to be roughing it. We saw a beautiful hornbill and even a monkey up in the trees. The jungle was dense and very green, and it felt good to work up a sweat. But after many many hills, I started to lose some steam. We'd had some leftovers for lunch, but I had not eaten in preparation for a full workout. Additionally, I dressed in a swimsuit, cover-up, and sandals, prepared for a more casual bike experience potentially ending in the beach, and my sandals kept sliding off the wet pedals every time my gears would stick on a change (which was often). I told Ben I was starting to run out of juice, but we were close enough to Mankei Bay that I wanted to push for it. We biked up a few more hills, very near to Mankei Bay per the map, when the road suddenly become unpassable due to the forest overgrowth. Being so close but unreachable, it took the wind out of my sails. I had been hoping to relax with a nice view before turning around, but now we were turning around immediately. Ben also realized as we turned around that we needed to get going if we wanted to get home before sundown at 18:45.
Honestly, I was cooked. My legs have never been more gassed in my life. I managed to bike up some of the hills, but it was not pretty, often getting off my bike to walk. On a particularly steep hill, I turned the corner hoping the hill would just be peaking, only to see it continued for what felt like forever. My throat just closed up and I started having an asthma (read: panic) attack. Ben realized I was struggling. He helped me calm down, then had me sit on my bike and start going while he ran along side me, basically pushing me up the hill by with his hands on my back. As we crested the hill, he yelled for me to keep going and use the downhill momentum, while he ran back for his own bike to do the hill all over again. His support (emotionally and physically) on that hill got me going enough to finish the rest of the off-roading biking without too much more drama. It was easier once we got going on the paved trails again. Even then there were many steep hills, but Ben biked next to me and helped push me up, a move we perfected while living in the Netherlands. Ben pushing me up the hills while biking himself earned us many laughs from the locals as they passed. I'm always happy to provide comic relief.
We did eventually make it back to the villa. I shoved some Thai bananas in my face (basically a mini but stronger tasting banana) and took a long shower. It felt great. Our watches informed us we did 18 miles while gaining 2000 ft in elevation. No wonder I felt so cooked! I later found that the map of the island given to us by our hosts specifically notes NOT to take a bicycle, given the dirt roads in that area. That made me feel a bit better. That bike trip is definitely a travel story that I'll never forget. I'm grateful to Ben for helping me when I really needed it. Without him, I could not have made it back.
Dinner was at a nearby restaurant. Ben and I ordered burgers and they were delicious. Noah and I got Singha beers, the others got various smoothies.
We played a few more rounds of Crew before bedtime. The group is starting to get pretty good at that game, despite all of the complaining and doubtful comments!
Wednesday 13Aug25
Homemade Thai breakfast from our maid was a nice way to start the morning before we headed out for a boat tour. Our villa host arranged the tour, including transport to the pier. We found out this meant transport Thai style: the maid took 3 of us in a Saleng (Thai word for basically a bench sidecar) attached to her moped and had 1 on the back of her moped. Dan got on the back of the maid's friends moped. It was awesome.
From the pier, our longtail boat guide picked us up and took us out for a full day of exploring. This was a similar experience to our previous boat tour, but a bit more relaxed, given the private boat, and a much more pleasant boating experience, as the water was calmer, and we were not in a rush. We snorkeled in a lagoon, admired the view of the islands (including two long and slow trips around an island notorious for monkeys, but no luck), and enjoyed a packed lunch of fried rice and fruit from our guide.
After paying the National Park entry fee on Hong Island, we hiked up lots of stairs to an elevated platform. The views were incredible.
We took some time to relax after the boat tour before the kids reconvened to play Beerio Kart. Noah brought his switch and taught us the one rule: "don't drink and drive." We played a few rounds and worked through the giant Singhas at a very fast pace. It was awesome.
Tipsy and looking to keep the party going, we headed to the restaurant at the end of our road: "Rice Patty." We started with a round of tequila shots, before ordering cocktails. I ordered the Siam Sunray cocktail and massaman curry (again). I love this curry! I will definitely be recreating at home.
We wanted to keep the party rolling back at home, so Dan said he would go out on his moped to get some more beers. Unfortunately, the power went out, and Dan struggled to find a minimart open at this hour, so the night fizzled out. It's been a bit hard to sustain positive momentum this trip.
Thursday 14Aug25
Last day in Thailand! We said goodbye to our villa and took a boat to Phuket. Later that night we were taking a redeye to Seoul, so Dan got us a hostel bedroom as a home-base. Dan headed out to explore Phuket, but the kids were so tired we mostly hung out in the hostel. Sarah, Noah and I went to get pad Thai and buy some souvenirs, and Ben hung out in the room playing chess and reading. Later, Ben and Noah played a bit of LEGO Star Wars. It was nice to have a hostel so I could shower and put on clean clothes before our red eye.
Friday 15Aug25
Our flight to Seoul left at 12AM. It was a 5.5 hr flight, and we all got 3-4 hrs of sleep.
Groggy and disoriented, we took an hour long taxi to Seoul. I appreciated the view of the skyline for about 5 seconds before falling asleep.
We arrived at our AirBNB so early that we couldn't check in. Luckily they had a cage outside for baggage drop. To try and prepare for the day, we used this small alley to change and brush our teeth, spitting out the toothpaste into the sewer. Feeling slightly refreshed, we headed out in a desperate search for coffee. Dan checks the Google Maps reviews of every coffee shop that he enters, but quickly found that Google was difficult to use. Many of the places had very few reviews, as we learned later the locals use a different platform. And the navigability on Google was worse, we could see the map, but it wouldn't allow you to create walking directions. Apparently this is because Korea has security laws blocking the export of "high-precision" map data.
The kids agreed upon a place, ordering coffee and a side of fried chicken from screens from our table. Dan held out, wanting to find a nicer place, eventually settling for Starbucks later in the day. The coffee was good. Ben enjoyed his "iced chocolate latte" which actually just meant chocolate milk with no espresso.
Still feeling hungry, we agreed it was lunch time. Trying to rely less on Google Maps, we went to a local Korean BBQ place that our hosts recommended. Our waiter kindly walked us through what to order and how to make a ssam with our grilled meat. We shared pork and beef and enjoyed eating it with the many different sides. At the end of our meal, Dan asked for advice on how to get to the National Museum of Korea, and our waiter patiently sat down and gave us a full breakdown of how to get around, recommended an app the locals use for directions, and gave tips on how to use the subway. He was great, all while wearing pants so baggy that Ben and I joked his next shift was at the renaissance fair. Style is different here!
With confidence from our waiter, we used the subway to get to the museum. The subway car was spookily clean and practically silent. There was a small screen that played mainly PSAs instead of ads, including multiple PSAs about how pregnant women get the special pink seat in the subway, clearly part of a desperate ploy to increase the birth rate, which has been scarily low for years.
The line for the National Museum was extremely long: unsurprisingly we were not the only ones trying to go to a free museum on a public holiday, National Liberation Day. Apparently, it was also a Korean heat wave: Sarah and Noah received warning texts from the Korean government. It was not notably hotter than an average day in Thailand, but all the locals had umbrellas for the sun, likely for heat and to keep their skin as white as possible.
Once we were into the museum, it was nice to learn about the early history of the Korean peninsula. But I'll be honest, I usually skim through the museum sections about the stone age, bronze age, etc, preferring more recent history. When I found out the museum ends before the Japan annexation in 1910, I lost steam. The fatigue from the redeye started to hit the group, and the overwhelming crowds did not help. We made plans to all separate and do our own thing for a bit.
Ben and I used our free time to do what we like best: walking. We walked for hours, watching the neighborhoods change as we strolled. And wow, Seoul is a great city for walking! Great wide sidewalk infrastructure, clean streets, and it felt like the cars were quieter (thanks to the Noise and Vibration Control Act we found out later!). Seoul is very hilly, and as we climbed we enjoyed views of the city below. We checked out the War Memorial, which thanked each country that supported its liberation from the North. We enjoyed the greenery and parks of Seoul, with many small memorials and monuments to Korean history, many anti-Japanese. Can't blame them. We witnessed a far right protest in support of their former President, who had recently been impeached over a scandal where he instituted martial law to overthrow the government. It was weird to see how tied it was to the American far right, with elder Koreans wearing red hats that said "stop the steal" and "Joon great again," waving Korean and American flags in the same hand.
We took a break at a coffee shop that had delicious pastries. This place was very cool, with lots of young Koreans hanging out. Our view from the coffee shop was of the "love yourself studio," a glorified selfie photo-studio. Along our walk I have noticed tons of cultural markers of image-consciousness, including skin care/whitening product advertisements, and self-portrait studios, where you take can take photos of yourselves with professional lighting. The midwestern values in me see this as vanity, but I tried to stay curious about a different culture without passing judgment.
After the coffee shop we accidentally stumbled upon Namsangol hanok village, a recreated village showing buildings from the Joseon era, approximately from 14th to 19th century. Cool stuff.
We finally ended up back at our AirBNB. After our long walk, Ben and I both agreed that we were big fans of Seoul. We took a short break, before heading back out for dinner. Sarah and Noah were feeling tired so they did not join, (what a surprise!), and Dan let us pick the restaurant from the list of recommendations from our hosts. Ben and I both agreed we wanted some Korean chicken, so we headed to BHC. Turns out this is the Korean version of Buffalo Wild Wings, a chain restaurant with tons of chicken options: we ordered both boneless and bone-in with a few different sauce options. It was served with gloves to protect our hands, and cubes of pickled radish, to soothe our mouths from the (medium, at best) spiciness. We enjoyed it with a bottle of soju, alcohol made from rice that is served in shot glasses but is only ~15% ABV. Everything was delicious, and it was nice to chat with Dan.
We still had some energy after dinner, so we walked around a bit more, enjoying the cool night air, and getting ice cream bars at a convenience store (but no Magnums!!) We finally rambled back home and went to bed early, tired from a long day after a redeye.
Saturday 16Aug25
Everybody slept in, which felt great after the redeye. Yesterday I had told the group that I would be leading Ben on a homemade walking tour of a few things I had picked out, and invited them to join. Everybody else was interested, so we headed out together to get breakfast. We ended up at a beautiful bakery, with elaborate (and expensive!) pastries available for self-serve, and fancy coffee where they poured the cold frothed milk at our table. It was fun to pick out what we wanted and share things as a group. Unfortunately, it was only the kids, as Dan was stuck outside on what would end up being a multi-hour long phone call with Korean Air Lines, trying to change his flight details. He would not be flying home with us but instead continuing his vacation in Bali, lucky guy!
After breakfast we headed to Myeong-dong shopping district: a pedestrian zone dedicated to shopping of all kinds, from expensive boutiques and skin care, to the weirder Pokémon clothing and Dan's favorite: an entire 2 level store dedicated to almonds, literally hundreds of different flavors. The streets were lined with vendors selling snacks and souvenirs. There were lots of Koreans shopping, given it was a Saturday, so it felt very lively. Thanks to Dan and Sarah for pushing us to explore this area a bit more. Upon arrival to the shopping district, Ben and I were both like "cool, nice to see, onto the next thing!" Dan and Sarah pointed out that we came all this way, we should at least check out some stores. It's nice to have family on vacation to help you try things you don't normally do!
Dan stuck around to grab some food, while the kids headed to walk along cheonggyecheon stream. Tucked below street level, there's a walking path that follows a small stream, with lots of greenery and stepping stones. It was very picturesque for a big city, Seoul continues to impress me.
We timed our walk to be a few minutes early to Gyeongbokgung palace for the changing of the guard ceremony at 2PM. This was the most elaborate guard ceremony I have ever seen, and at this point, Ben and I have seen a few. At least 30 guards in full elaborate costume and a complete musical band, including a man blowing into a large conch shell, and a drummer who would bow between each hit of this giant drum. The ceremony took ~30 minutes, and included the guards being inspected for proper uniform rules and going through all sorts of elaborate motions. It was awesome. Ben and I loved it.
Before touring the palace, we wanted to grab lunch. Noah and Ben scouted a spot far enough away to not be too touristy, so we headed there for the best lunch we had all trip. This place had ~3 tables in the main area, as most of the space was dedicated to a large grill cooking tons of HUGE meatballs (larger than the size of my fist!). The menu was taped onto the wall and was only in Korean, so we didn't really know what we were ordering, but they only had two options from the photos. The giant meatball on noodles, or a mysterious fried ball on noodles. Ben, Sarah, and Noah ordered the giant meatball, I ordered the mysterious fried item, wanting to make sure we could try both (shocker!). Dan did not join us for lunch, realizing the AC in this place was weak, and feeling slightly overheated, elected to break off for the rest of the day and get his affairs in order for his trip to Bali. We waited a while, but it was worth it. The noodles were cold, which was surprising, but actually refreshing, and pleasantly spicy. I realized my portion was just the meatball, but battered and fried. Suddenly Ben's tune changed, and he was more interested in going 50/50.
After eating, the kids split up. Ben and I headed back to the palace to actually go inside and do the audio tour. It was cool! It was a large complex, with lots of old buildings and huge gates, in various states of maintained. Many were replicas or rebuilds, as the Japanese had not been kind to the palace over the years. While the entrance ticket was quite cheap (~$3), it is free if you're wearing a hanbok, which is traditional Korean dress. Surprisingly, lots of tourists were doing this. All around the palace were hanbok rental shops, which often included makeup and hair. It was....weird to see visibly non-Korean people in hanboks. Ben and I tried to brainstorm the gateway to hanbok culture, what internet rabbit hole or subculture encourages folks of all kinds to come to this palace and pay quite a bit of money to take pictures in a hanbok? Ben and I often find a big part of our entertainment while traveling is people watching.
After the palace, Ben split off to go check out the League of Legends arena. Live matches were happening, and he'd later give us the full cultural report: including tons of fan girls and a full zone dedicated to gaming PCs. Sarah, Noah and I went to check out bukchon hanok village. While cute old buildings with the traditional architecture were fun to see, it felt more riche and upscale than historical, paired with outdoor shopping. Sarah and I did get some good souvenirs, though.
My portion of the walking tour was complete, so Sarah took over, meaning we went to an awesome rooftop bar: Saeseoul. The 3 of us got very overpriced cocktails while we waited for Ben and Dan to join. Noah and I got tipsy pretty quickly on Moscow mules, before Dan convinced us to try Korean BBQ one more time.
I'm glad he did, this place was awesome! Noah made a great pit-master, and the beef and pork was much higher quality than our lunch place yesterday, so the ssams were so much more flavorful. Ben and I enjoyed comparing the flavor profiles of the ssams with boring lettuce with the more interesting but strong tasting perilla leaf. We also ordered some more interesting items, including a "bomb" steamed egg, which was basically an excuse to heat spicy mayo on a frittata, very fun. We also enjoyed a fried rice that included spinach, tomato, and tons of melted cheese. Weird, but also good. We ordered so many things to try, and the BBQ naturally comes with so many little sides to try (banchan), that our table was full! You know it's a good meal when Dan starts to get stressed about table space!
Feeling very satisfied after dinner, and not wanting our last night to end, Ben and I suggested to the group that we keep the party going. Anybody feel like a drink? Sarah and Noah rolled their eyes a bit and needed further cajoling. When Ben reminded them that for jetlag purposes we wanted to try and stay up as late as possible, they compromised with going home, but playing a bit of cards before bed. Ben and I will take what we can get.
On the walk home Ben, Dan and I popped into a bakery selling delicious milk bread in a variety of flavors. Back at the AirBNB, Dan cut this up for the group to try, and Sarah liked it so much she absentmindedly ate most of it. Ben was a bit upset, but Sarah promised she would buy him make-up bread tomorrow. You might wonder if that discord might impact our ability to play a cooperative game, but we are all Crew professionals at this point. We crushed a few more rounds, beating our previous record. Fun way to end our last night!
Sunday 17Aug25
Ben started the morning with a run, and the rest of us went to another coffeeshop and pastry place for breakfast. Noticing a theme? I can't tell if this city has tons of high quality pastry places per capita, or if we just seek them out.
After breakfast we went back to the AirBNB to pack up. I wanted to stretch my legs before the flight and enjoy Seoul before we left, and Dan was the only taker, so the two of us strolled around for about an hour. It was nice to check out the nearby University campus.
Our taxi driver to the airport was very sweet. He wanted to use this opportunity to practice his English, so we made conversation about the Korean Tottenham soccer player, Son Heung-min, even if that meant he would take a while to google things on his phone, trusting Lane Assist instead of having his hands on the wheel. Generally, I've found the Korean people to be kind and polite. The average Korean has worse English than I was anticipating, which at first might make them seem shy or aloof. I've gotten used to touristy areas having good English speakers, but Seoul honestly does not seem that touristy, at least for many white or English-speaking folks. It was a refreshing change of pace from Thailand, where the English was better, but definitely more catered to tourists.
At the airport, Ben learned he would be upgraded to first class, having recently achieved gold medallion status; thanks Epic for all the long international flights between Netherlands and home! Ben graciously invited me to the lounge where we enjoyed a full buffet.
The flight home was long but uneventful. Sarah, Noah, and I watched Oceans 11 and Top Gun Maverick. At one point we went to peek on Ben in first class under the guise of needing to use the bathrooms and were politely told by a seasoned flight attendant to use the bathrooms in the back.
Dad picked us up from the airport and brought us home, where Mom and Dad had prepared two homemade pizzas for us to take on the road. They're the best.
Ben did the long 4 hr drive home, so we didn't get home until 10:30PM, but we made it safely, a thing to be grateful for on these long travel days!
Summary
What a crazy trip! As I attempt to write this summary in full honesty, I know that the family turmoil will stand out in our memories in a way that distracts from the good on this trip. I did not record much of the negative times, partially because those things don't belong in a public blog (given my large readership), but also because I don't want to memorialize them. Time with family always has its pain points, but this trip was especially hard. Sometimes that's the way it goes. I hope this blog post can be honest about that, while the photos and stories can capture some of the good times that I don't want to forget.
What do I want to remember? I want to remember the feeling of wonder as I would come to realize that Thailand was extremely navigable and tourist friendly for travelers who wanted to go out on their own. Before coming on the trip, I was daunted at the different-ness. Ben and I were so comfortable with Europe travel: while the language and food might change between countries, the basic norms, public transit options, navigability, and level of English were consistent enough that we never needed to work too hard. I was shocked to find so much of that carried over to Thailand, at least the cities we stayed. The Grab app made getting around and ordering food a breeze, and the tourist infrastructure was great (English menus, tons of excursion options, etc). I had heard scary stories about Thai food, but I was impressed at how few issues we had. Nobody got major food poisoning, and all restaurants were very accustomed to making non-spicy options for whities who couldn't handle spice (@Noah @Dan). Ben was actually disappointed that the food was not spicier when he would explicitly ask for it. It still had the third world country issues, like lack of quality sidewalks and frequent power outages, and it was weird to not have toilet paper in bathrooms, but those things were amusing instead of difficult.
I want to remember that Seoul was fantastic. It is the perfect city for Ben and my's travel style: walk all day and just look at stuff. We both agreed we definitely want to come back to Korea, 3 days is not enough!
I want to remember the feeling of gratitude for the Rubins. I'm grateful to Dan for planning and paying for this amazing trip. It's no small feat to plan an epic 2 week vacation for a large group. I'm grateful to Sarah and Noah for letting me be part of the gang. The 4 of us kids made a raucous group with more teasing, bickering, joking, and complaining than I thought possible, growing up with just one brother. It is special to be a part of. I'm grateful to Ben for noticing with me. When we walked around, we looked up to talk about what we're seeing. When we went out to eat, we ordered different things and talked about what we're tasting (proof!). When we transited, we people-watched and poked fun at others around us. I feel lucky to have a travel partner as good as him. Even when the trip got difficult, he still made a point to focus on now and notice: be present in our surroundings. It helped me remember the awesome-ness of this trip in times where it would be easy to be negative.
Cheers to my first time in Asia, and an epically long blog post! Thanks for reading!
For the Record
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Arrival | MSP-ICN-BKK, Saturday 02Aug25 |
| Departure | ICN-MSP, Saturday 17Aug25 |
| Chiang Mai Accommodation | 163 Fa Ham, Mueang Chiang Mai District, Chiang Mai 50000 |
| Ao Nang Accommodation | Baan Pinya Villa, 530 Ao Nang, Muang, Krabi 81180 |
| Koh Yao Noi Accommodation | Villa ChoFah Noi 50/16 M.5 Pasai Beach, Ko Yao District, Phang Nga 82160, Thailand |
| Seoul Accommodation | 19-6 Seoae-ro, Jung District, Seoul |
| Maisy | With my parents and Harriet! |
| Worst thing Maisy humped | Dad's volleyball |
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