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I originally wrote this immediately after coming home from our first adoption so that I would have all of these notes in one place as we prepared for our second adoption.
If it isn’t obvious by now, I am a Type A personality. I like planning, lists, and predictability. Going in to our trip to Thailand to parent a toddler that we had never met – let’s just say that I was a little on edge. There were so many things that I wanted to know, information that I wanted to help prepare, just stupid things floating through my head that I wanted answers to. I am a part of an incredible group of individuals who are adopting / have adopted from Thailand and they are such a great resource!! That being said, there were just too many questions that I felt too stupid to ask, so I prepared the best I could and just took each moment of the trip in stride (very unlike me). I wanted to get these thoughts down in case there is anyone else out there like me that could just use some encouragement that they aren’t alone. So here it goes – everything that I can remember from the trip that I had questions about, things that were a big success, things that were an epic fail, and just general travel information (including my packing list). For those of you who are still waiting to travel, please feel free to ask me any question, no matter how big or small! The feeling of preparedness is so vital to my well-being, and I am happy to help if I can.
In no particular order (and this is a really long document, so please don’t feel like you have to read it unless you really want to)… (and I’ve included links to some of my favorite products that we took)… (and my packing list is at the bottom)…
Air Travel
When we started our photography business, we opened up a credit card that earned airline miles and wow it paid off! I know it doesn’t always work this way, but we both flew for free because of the purchases that our business made over the years. Thank you, American Airlines!
We flew with Cathay Pacific on the way there, Japan Air on the way home (both are partners with American Airlines). We pride ourselves on being fairly good travelers, but had an epic fail when we didn’t check the airline’s weight restrictions for carry ons. We had never run in to that problem before, but it left us scrambling to redistribute weight as best as we could at the checkout counter. If we had checked the info on the website before leaving home, we would have been fine. We also now always travel with a luggage scale because of this experience.
We got our travel dates about a week and a half before we were actually going to be on an airplane. If you like me, that is a little overwhelming. We called our airline directly and they were able to work us in to some really great flights. We had a 16 hour flight from Chicago to Hong Kong, a 2 hour layover, and then a 3 hour flight to Bangkok. It could not have gone more smoothly and a 2 hour layover was plenty of time. On the way home, we had a 7 hour flight to Tokyo, a 3 hour layover, and then a 13 hour flight back to Chicago. In Tokyo, we had to go through security again, so having that extra hour with a 2 year old was really nice.
I packed a “overnight” bag for the plane which was basically a little cosmetics case that included a toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, extra undies, and face cleaning wet wipes so that I wouldn’t feel completely disgusting when we landed in Thailand. I also included earplugs, a sleeping mask, extra vitamins, and some meds. Loved having it with me in my carry on.
I hate it when you fly and they come by with drinks every so often, but then you feel pressured to either drink it immediately or you deal with having a cup of beverage sloshing in front of you for the next hour. I took a collapsible water bottle with me (empty to get through security), so I could dump a cup of water into it each time they came by and then tucked it away in the seat pocket in front of me so I could have access to it whenever I wanted.
A friend suggested bringing cup of soup packets with us so that we could have a hot meal whenever we wanted. They fed us often and well on those flights, so it really wasn’t an issue, but I thought it was a good idea.
Coming home, we each had an extra change of clothes in our carry-ons, just in case of emergency. My worst nightmare was our children vomiting all over me on the plane and then living in those clothes for the next 30 hours. Thankfully, it didn’t happen, but I was prepared, just in case.
Traveling home was such a huge concern for me! It was a moment that I literally dreaded from the time that we decided to adopt. It ended up being one of the smoothest parts of the trip (thank goodness). To keep them happy coming home, I had two bottles that I rotated. We made sure they were drinking both going up and down to help their ears, and in between when they was hungry, but most of the trip, they just slept. Our kids were used to 6 bottles a day with their foster families (inward groan), so I had snack size baggies ready to go with formula pre-measured. Every time we needed a bottle, I just dumped the baggie in the bottle and got water from the stewardess. We really didn’t need toys at all, but I did have travel friendly toys available.
Ground Travel
In our travels, we have always pre-arranged transportation from one point to another in country prior to our arrival. In Thailand, we didn’t pre-arrange anything and it worked out just fine. For the bigger trips, we asked our hotel to arrange a car for us the night before.
Tuk tuks and taxis are so inexpensive and are the two modes of transportation we used to get around the whole time we were in Thailand. I know that Bangkok has a great public transportation system, but we just used taxis to get everywhere we wanted to go. It was $3 – $6 and they picked us up at the hotel door and dropped us off exactly where we wanted to be rather than having to walk to public transport.
Grab a screen shot of your hotel’s information and map before you leave (ideally in Thai) to help with the language barrier if you are getting a taxi from the airport to your hotel.
Asia was an intimidating thought for me, but getting around was so much easier than I expected. So many of the signs that you will see are in English, and people who work in touristy areas speak incredibly good English as well – much better than my feeble attempts at Thai. The Thai people are so kind and gracious and do everything in their power to make you feel comfortable and welcome. That being said, do your best to communicate in their language first.
Getting to Thailand is the expensive part. Once you are there, hotels, meals, and transportation are pretty inexpensive. Go early if you can to experience everything that Thailand has to offer.
I love to travel, but am also a home-body. There is something about feeling safe and comfortable in your surroundings. I can honestly say that the entire time we were in Thailand, I never once felt uncomfortable or unsafe – whether it was riding in a tuk tuk, driving entirely too fast on a highway, eating the food, or going for a late night walk in the city.
Foster Family Visit
Our foster family visit was rough on me because I had too many expectations going in. I wish I would have completely cleared my mind that day and just let it be exactly what it was rather than thinking it would go a certain way and then being disappointed.
I wore linen pants with a nice shirt and was very comfortable. I didn’t want to be wearing a skirt in case they had us sit on the floor, but they actually offered us their couch and they sat on the floor.
I “wrapped” each of our gifts with a simple thick ribbon. I knew I couldn’t really wrap them before packing (or they would be torn apart at security), and I didn’t want to have to worry about them when we got to Thailand, so a ribbon was it. I put all of the presents in a collapsible tote that I had brought and passed them out individually towards the end of our visit. For our second adoption, I took gift bags with tissue paper and that worked great as well.
We had asked about the foster family before we went so that we knew exactly who was part of the family and one would be left out. Most of them were actually not there when we visited, but we still had gifts for them and the other family members seemed really appreciative.
Toys
We didn’t take that many toys for our kids to play with and did just fine. The ones that were the biggest hits for us were a set of rubber blocks (great for stacking / knocking down, bath time, and pool toys), a set of colorful bowls (stacking, snacking, and pool time), and balloons. We also took a few books, cars, stickers, and coloring supplies, but none held their attention as long as the blocks and bowls. Honestly, our kids were most entertained any time we were out and about – just going for walks together and being in any kind of moving vehicle.
Meds
I traveled with just about every kind of medication you could possibly think of and really don’t regret it. We didn’t use most of it, but I still liked having the peace of mind knowing that they were there if I needed them. Pharmacies are everywhere and everything you need really would be accessible.
One of our kids really struggled in the bathroom department and I wish that I had some powdered fiber with us, but we made due with lots of yogurt and fresh fruit and then got on a more consistent schedule when we got home.
Snacks
We traveled with lots of snacks, but the ones that I wish we would have had more of were our favorite protein bars and beef jerky. There were a lot of times that we were hanging out in our room and just didn’t feel like heading back out for a snack or ordering room service, so having some already there was really nice. That being said, there are 7 Elevens on nearly every corner with tons of snack food available (including popcorn which I can’t say for most of the other places we’ve visited outside the US).
Laundry
I wish I would have taken some travel laundry detergent packs so that I could wash some of our smaller items in the sink. It was recommended that we not.
Someone recommended taking a clothes line with us so that we could dry things outside rather than in our room. I took a long, thick string for that purpose and was so glad that I did. There were a couple of times that things got washed in the bath tub rather than going to the laundry lady, and being able to hang them out on a balcony to dry was fantastic.
Electronics
We have stayed in 6 different hotels and have never once needed a converter. We did take a set along, just in case, but never used them. What we did use (and always travel with) was 2 surge protectors. It gives you extra plugs when you need them, and protects things from getting fried. I used it for everything from my hair straightener to my tablet and never had any problems. The ones we used had 3 regular plugs plus two usb ports, so we could charge 5 things at once. Probably one of the best things that we packed.
Randomness
Take Febreeze – I had a travel size spray and used it a ton! It was really nice to spray my shoes at the end of the day and say we needed to wear something again before it could be washed (I know – that’s disgusting), a little febreeze went a long way in making things seem fresh again.
Baby carrier – I had a ring sling and Aaron used a backpack carrier. Our kids LOVED both.
Don’t drink the water. The Thai people don’t even do that, so it’s not really something you need to worry about, but just drink bottled water everywhere you go. You are completely safe drinking beverages with ice, and brushing your teeth. Aaron loves to try new foods, and he tried just about every fruit and vegetable he saw and was perfectly fine. Use sound judgement and you will be too.
Take some cash. Someone (clears throat) left their debit card in a large panda ATM at the zoo, so our cash supply was shut down when I notified our bank. Thankfully, we had plenty of cash (we used $200) to get us through the remainder of our trip. ATM’s are everywhere, so our plan was to just grab cash that way whenever we needed it. It would have worked great if we didn’t lose our card.
You truly only need the paperwork that your agency tells you to bring. I went a little bit crazy before we left and made copies of everything and scanned / uploaded to our google drive so that (in case we were mugged on the way to the airport and they took my paperwork) I would have it in case of emergency. In reality, I just needed the paperwork that was laid out in the instructions.
We spent a lot of time trying to prepare ourselves with language before we went, and while I am glad that we did, we found that most people we came in contact with were able to communicate with us well in English. We always try to learn “polite” words wherever we are traveling and find that “hello”, “goodbye”, and “thank you” go a long ways.
We underestimated the heat and humidity in Thailand. If we are on vacation, we normally wake up and head out sightseeing and don’t return to our hotel room until after it is dark – trying to take advantage of all of the daylight hours for photos. In Thailand, we were shot by about 1:00 every day and found ourselves returning to the hotel so that we could either cool off in the pool or hang out in the air conditioning (and again – we were there during the cool season). I wish I would have known that going in so that I wasn’t anticipating getting more sightseeing in to each day.
Upon first arriving to our hotel, Aaron and I set out to find some necessities. We stocked up on paper towel and dish detergent so that we could clean up messes in our room. Very thankful to have had that, especially when our kids were with us and we were cleaning lots of bottles.
You’ll find our packing list ^above^, but if you’d like more information, you can also check out the We’re Adopting!! post that contains more packing insights and what worked well for us.
If you actually read through that entire post, I am really impressed. Again, I tried to write down everything I could think of as it popped in my head – just random things I wanted to remember from our travel to help out other families adopting from Thailand. Hopefully it will give someone a little more peace of mind going into travel.
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