“Well guys, we don’t live in Ashland anymore.” -Falcon (4), giving us all a reality check as we drove away from the only place he’s ever called home.
Our journey to Thailand started with a 7-hour drive in a rental car to San Francisco, followed by a mere 14-hour flight to China, a 5-hour layover, and then another 2.5-hour flight to Chiang Mai. Not to mention, the immigration, customs, taxi ride and many frantic emails in the condo lobby to our AirBnB host to find the unit and key to the apartment. But truth be told, the travel was a piece of cake compared to the preparation. In the past few weeks, Ben and I have quit our jobs, sold a car, moved all of our furniture into storage, rehomed my beloved cat, paid off our cell phones, drafted a will and our advanced directives, spent numerous nights worry-sick about finding a tenant to rent our house only to have a lease signed and rent check deposited literally one hour prior to our departure, and said goodbye to all of our friends and family. I’m exhausted just writing about it all.
Today- our first full day in Chiang Mai- has been full of ups and downs. Let’s discuss the successes first, however minor. We managed to flag down a taxi, provide an unpronounceable destination in a language that we cannot write AND we negotiated a fare. We have not had any toilet accidents since leaving home. We have not had any mosquito bites. We have ensured that Falcon will not die of starvation by finding a grocery store that actually sells kraft macaroni and cheese. ——–I’m going to pause for a moment so that you can appreciate that last one because food is really the biggest challenge we have here. ——— Ben has scheduled a playdate with another expat family for tomorrow. Blue can say “hi” to people in Thai with a little prompting when she is in a good mood and we are working on getting both kids to say “thank you” in Thai. I have not had any alcohol in 3-4 days, depending on what continent you are in. (I am aware that this makes me sound like an alcoholic, but I assure you that I am not.) We have had a shockingly warm, if not downright steaming hot, reception from the locals. This place isn’t called “The Land of Smiles” for nothing. After being in Poland where people were not at all pleased with rambunctious children in public, the locals here seem completely delighted by our kids. Security guards play peek-a-boo or literally tickle the kids, a man at 7-11 bought the kids toys while we were shopping, and people seem to have infinite patience with how slow the kids walk.
Now, enough of the rainbow and unicorn stories and onto the realities of traveling with toddlers. Just as you would expect, the jet lag makes us regret ever leaving Oregon with children in the first place. The kids wake up ready to rally at 3am and no amount of cuddling, ignoring, threatening or bribing works to calm them so I may or may not have given my kids Benadryl at some God forsaken hour for their “allergies.” I don’t want to jinx it but I do think that we may be over the hump after last night. They slept from 8-230 and then from 330-630. We have also significantly underestimated the difficulty of walking around with kids. Between the buckled sidewalks, curbs, scooters that frequently drive in the gutter, ankle deep puddles, aforementioned daytime fatigue, and general stare-inducing fascination with all new things, the radius of our explorations has been reduced to about 4-5 blocks from the apartment. In what seems like a lifetime ago, I would have been to many of the markets, nightclubs, tiger and elephant sanctuaries, temples and cafes by now. It humbles my soul to spend so many hours playing legos in the living room but that’s what make the kids comfortable in this new place. I have to remind myself that this move abroad is a long-game and if we want to ensure that they enjoy it (and therefore WE enjoy it) we have to let them adjust to it on their own terms.
Under 6 Overseas 