swimming

The three As of Travel with Kids

My advice for parents planning a trip with kids is to remember the three As: Adventure, Animals and Activities. It works for my four boys and I suspect it is the same for girls. ‘Animals’ is obvious (from critter hunting in tidal pools to feeding kangaroos). ‘Adventure’ is physical (hiking up the tallest sand dune […]

House

Buriram: Ancient and Modern

Our family of six was sitting on flimsy plastic stools and eating ba mee moo daeng (egg noodles with barbecued pork) from a Chai See cart parked in front of a 7/11 located beside a large wet market. We were somewhere in rural Buriram province – all flat fields and big skies. Apart from us, […]

Koh Karden

Koh Kradan

Our last few months in Bangkok had been intense. I resigned and started informing clients, some of whom I’ve known almost 20 years. Nori sold our beloved “Black Bull” van, most of our furniture and a good share of our books, toys and art. We moved out of “Baan Brixen”, our Gatsbyesque triplex apartment in […]

Travel on Dessert

How do you say Goodbye to a Continent?

The answer, of course, that you can’t. We’ve spent half our lives in Asia. We met each other here. Our four boys were born here. Over two decades we’ve made friends, built careers, learned languages and explored this huge, diverse, amazing continent from Uzbekistan to Sri Lanka, Sumatra to Kyushu and Harbin to Kathmandu. But we […]

Kids and Ocean

Following the Caboose in Muscat

In Oman, Sultan Qaboos is everywhere. You drive into town from the airport on Sultan Qaboos Street. You visit the Sultan Qaboos Mosque. Ships call at the Sultan Qaboos Docks. Students get degrees at Sultan Qaboos University. A framed image of the Sultan hangs in every business. His handsome, white bearded, gravely paternal face smiles […]

coffee club ft

Family brunch at The Coffee Club

We are always looking for family-friendly breakfast/brunch places that open by 7am – which is when our four boys are ready to eat! Although there are many boutique coffee shops in Bangkok, we really like The Coffee Club. The brand is originally from Australia but is now owned by Minor Group, the Thai hotel and […]

Phang Nga Ft

Phang Nga Bay unbonded

There are over 100,000 photos tagged #jamesbondisland on Instagram. Guys with six pack abs, women testing the limits of their bikinis, Muslim ladies in swimming hijabs, kids doing the ‘happy beach leap’ – all posing in the same spot with that famous limestone spike behind them. They look happy. It’s all good fun. What these images don’t capture […]

khao sok im flying

Khao Sok – reservoir monkeys

My confidence was beginning to slip. After a one-hour flight to Surat Thani, a one hour drive and a one-hour wait we were motoring away from the deeply unimpressive Ratchabhrapha “Light of the Kingdom” dam across an underwhelming lake. Logan had fallen asleep on the bow, at least until it started drizzling. The other boys […]

maldives blue lagoon

Maldives – return to paradise

We never expected to return to the Maldives. Not that we didn’t want to. It’s just one of those unique places – like Bhutan, the Galápagos or Antarctica – that you dream of visiting once in your lifetime. Beautiful, remote, romantic and take-your-breath-away expensive, the Maldives is for honeymoon splurges, silver anniversaries or to “close […]

jump in the cliff

Oman – really Wild Wadis

My wife still hasn’t caught on to one of my greatest deceptions: I find places and activities that I really want to experience and then I pitch them as ‘something the kids will really enjoy’. Of course, it helps that my kids are all boys and that I have childlike desires. What Scott likes, the […]