I hurriedly check through the messages… “Did I book the pick up for the right day?” The car was only 5mins late but they are usually so early! It was 3:50am and all of us are groggy after a short night sleep. I really didn’t want to drag them all to the road to flag a taxi but I might have to.

I double double check the messages… “can you pick up on Tuesday?” … no mention of date…. later on … “yes next Tuesday ” … shit… that could easily mean next week… ok 7 mins late…. I gather the troops and we stumble to the front of the compound. Luckily we travel fairly light for a family of 5. Two big bags and 3 small carry one rucksacks.

The first taxi i flag down stops? Say what?!? That never ever happens in Shanghai… just as we are loading up our luggage a very flustered man jumps out of a people carrier. Obviously our late driver! He starts unloading our bags from the taxi and frantically waving at his car. I feel bad for the taxi driver who goes from confused to annoyed as we jump into the people carrier. My awful Chinese was no good at explaining and apologising.

But soon enough we are on our way. Thankfully the rest of the journey goes smoothly. Check in -> security -> immigration is now a familiar routine to the boys who for them stayed calm.

Still running around crazy instead of standing in the lines but returned when asked and generally kept quite on request. Like I say “calm for them”.

This video highlights them being calm!

All of us conked out on the flight and managed to catch up on a couple of hours of missed sleep. Again Thailand side the boys are “calm” through the airport routine. And before we knew it we are in Thailand!

Another new country to add to the boys list

Husband 33, me 31, Lego Boy 14, Middle Man 12 and Baby Blue 11.

Those numbers always remind me how incredibly privileged we are. Yes we have sacrificed other things to travel but that is our life choice! And the fact we have that choice, that choice to show the world to our kids is a privilege! Anyway I digress…

First point of call as always is a cash point & the normal confusing mental maths exchange game between me and the husband. Husband default Currency changes depending on situation so at the moment he’s paid in RMB so will work in that to work out worth of a new currency. His next currency of choice is usd which is what he was paid in in Zambia and what many tourist destinations quote for accomadation , tours etc.

My default however is still gbp despite not living in the uk properly for a few years I have spent chunks of time there which the husband hasn’t also the joint account which I manage is in the uk as is the mortgage and any freelance business I earn. Second I will work in usd… so to calculate a new currency it takes at least 2 mental conversions each before we can communicate worth or value. And often we end up on miss matched currencies 🤦‍♀️

This mental challenge will no doubt continue over the next few days as we adjust to the Baht. After narrowly avoiding paying a stupid amount for a taxi we are at our accommodation.

The location of Arom D Hostel could not have been better. Our room even had views of Wot Po temple!

As a family of 5 we are finding it harder and harder to find suitable rooms now baby blue is 3! Quad rooms don’t always allow for an extra guest in a shared or separate bed. Generally we don’t stay in the big hotels which offer adjoins rooms as we prefer smaller places. This trip we are trying a new tack… where we have not managed to get a quad room allowing 5 we have opted for hostels. Not something I have used since mine and the husbands back packing days but why not?!? We can usually book a 5/6 bed dorm to ourselves for less than the cost of a quad! Locations are usually great and we are by no means used to 5 star accommodation after our road trips camping in Africa!

My main worry was noise as I remember well the bar atmosphere from the hostels of my past😬. But that was no issue at all at Arom D Hostel as there was no rowdy bar (I’m probably to old to say was partly disappointed), only a restaurant that finished serving at 8.

The staff were super friendly, learning the boys names straight away, always smiling and helpful. The room wasn’t anything fancy so perfect for us. It was clean, the beds were comfy, fresh towels and water every day and did I mention the view?

We have 3 nights, 2.5 days in Bangkok to explore so decided to leave temples for tomorrow. Instead we spent our first afternoon at Siam museum. It was super interactive and a great introduction to Thai culture. We initially only got 2 audio guides for me and the husband but that was evidently a mistake as we had them hijacked in the first room. Good old husband trudged back down and up the 3 flights of stairs to collect 3 more. My advice is get one each for the whole family!

The boys loved it and actually interacted as kind of expected with the exhibits?!? They definitely learnt a lot! Middle man was in his element, with only a little instruction he could use the audio guide to explore everything in his own unique way. The best thing was the kids could touch anything! In fact it was encouraged. The hunted through draws, flicked switches, climbed on moveable boxes, dressed up and explored.

The staff were also great, making sure they didn’t stray to far and helping them with the more complex elements of the exhibitions . They didn’t once shout or tell the boys to stop, be quite or behave. Unlike many of the museums we have visited in Shanghai. If you are after a family friendly introduction to Thailand I highly recommend Siam museum!

The rest of the evening was spent eating in a street cafe, exploring alleyways and playing in a local park. A absolutely massive lizard scared the boys who shouted “mummy a dinosaur “!

Tomorrow’s adventure will start with a temple!