While the surrounding limestone karst cliffs are undeniably stunning, we were not overly impressed with El Nido town and beach. Scott was shocked and saddened by the changes he'd seen over the last eight years. The sleepy quiet town he'd known had become a loud and noisy place, a smaller version of Hat Rin in Thailand. Whereas you'd walk down the street and see a foreigner or two, now you are brushing past dozens at a time. Instead of having to actively seek out a tricycle to get to another beach, now you spend your whole time trying not to get run over by one, especially problematic when traveling with young children. Whereas island boat trips had once been about three tourists on a boat, there were now boats all over the place all packed with ... read more

With just one more day left, it's time to wrap up my blogs on Ko Lanta. I've already written a blog about the first ten days at Somewhere Else Bungalows, and another blog about our three weeks "flashpacking" at Good Days Resort at the other end of the beach during Christmas. Our final few weeks were spent back at the northern end of the beach, this time staying at Best House. It's located right behind Somewhere Else Bungalows so we could still go there every morning to eat our breakfast on a platform overlooking the beach. It was nice to be back. While it was handy to have a pool at Good Days Resort, it was nicer to be back at the best part of the beach. Location, location, location! My parents also moved into a ... read more

I haven't historically written informational blogs, preferring to simply write our travel stories. However, given the general lack of information about travel with kids, I thought I'd try to write a quick overview of each place we have visited in regards to children's activities and family-friendly accommodation. I'll start with Kruger National Park in South Africa. Kruger for Kids Kruger is a very family-friendly place to go on safari. It is much more affordable than its rivals, the Serengeti and Masai Mara in Tanzania and Kenya, and the facilities are far superior, at least on a budget. While park fees top $100/day in Kenya/Tanzania, making it unaffordable to the average family, South Africa National Parks offers a Wild Card deal. We got the international Wild Card and it cost just 4,130 rand (about $300) for unlimited ... read more

Kyla (hovering in the bathroom doorway): "Mommy, can you fix my hair clip?" Me (sitting on the toilet): "Not right now, sweetheart, mommy is busy having diarrhea!" Yep, being sick while away from home is never fun, but being sick while taking care of littles increases the misery by tenfold. Another quote came from Jake. "Mommy, why are you spitting out so much water?" as I projectile vomited the contents of my stomach in the street. It all started with an innocent-looking veggie pad Thai noodle at our favorite restaurant, ThaiCat. We'd had a lovely morning, getting out of the house early to make it to the far northern end of the beach to meet my parents. We spent a pleasant morning swimming, snorkelling and exploring an abandoned rock bar. And then it was time for ... read more

It had been ten years since we'd stayed on Ko Lanta and, as anyone who has traveled in SE Asia knows, a lot can change in that time. And change in this part of the world usually isn't a good thing. Quaint beach bungalows can get replaced with high rise resorts, ruining the chilled out vibe and general affordability. Pristine beaches can get eroded away or litter-strewn. We have seen some of our favorite places get ruined over time so we were a little nervous to come back to Ko Lanta, especially as we'd had such fond memories of deep white sand, clear blue ocean, and fun but chilled out night life. Thankfully, Ko Lanta did not disappoint, at least not at first. Despite being a large island with busy roads and lots of development, once ... read more