There and Back Again

11 August 2022

My apologies to diehard Tolkien fans for borrowing the title of Bilbo Baggins’ book of adventures for a post about our trip to Thailand May-July 2022. My guess is you’ll understand why I chose this title by the end of this post.

We left for Thailand on May 18. I got the kids and Khai settled in Chiang Rai and then returned to Bangkok to work on final preparations before the students arrived for our Global Leadership in Thailand study abroad course. After taking great measures to avoid COVID for the last two years, I tested positive on the second day of the course in Bangkok and had to quarantine in a hotel-turned-hospital (“hospitel”) on the outskirts of town for ten days. I am grateful for my friends and colleagues at LSU, Eddie and Shane, who managed the study abroad program in my stead. They were incredible. We talked multiple times throughout the day to coordinate events, cover all the details, and communicate with our organization/site visits. I am also grateful for my colleague at Chulalongkorn University, Pim, who dropped off delicious treats for me at my hospitel.

Several of our hosts cancelled or asked to move to Zoom given my diagnosis, which was understandable but disappointing nonetheless. I felt very bad about the chance that any of our students or Thai people we interacted with might also test positive. The only saving grace of the story was that Thailand’s strict mask policy meant that we wore masks at all times and no one else in our program tested positive in the subsequent few days of the program. I rejoined the group in Chiang Mai the morning of June 2, which gave me 5 days with the students and included hiking up Doi Suthep along the Pilgrim’s Trail, a picnic at the Nam Tok Bua Thong (Sticky Waterfall), Moo Kra Ta (Thai BBQ), and food at some of my favorite spots.

There’s no way around it, though. It was a hard trip.

Khai and the kids were troopers in Khai’s village during the study abroad program but they also ended up getting COVID, which was difficult. Thankfully, Khai’s sister had just recovered from COVID, so she was able to serve as a caretaker. Aden grew to love her omelettes. Still, being in a new environment (new people, new house, new food) was a challenge for the kids, and getting COVID made it much harder. We invested in an AC unit for their bedroom as well as a smart TV, which helped in their recovery.

At the end of the study abroad program, two of my students tested positive for COVID, which meant I had to stay in Chiang Mai with them for their 10-day quarantine. Khai and the kids joined me in Chiang Mai while I delivered food to the students and helped with other things like hospital needs. A third student also tested positive but they were in the south of Thailand and stayed there for their quarantine. One of the students’ parents even wrote about the experience in the newspaper. We then traveled back to Chiang Rai, which was perhaps the highlight of our adventure. We had a solid three weeks in Khai’s village soaking up time with relatives. The kids adapted well to life in the village. They played in an inflatable pool daily, ate delicious Thai food, and embraced life with Khai’s family and neighbors. The new addition of wifi to Khai’s sister’s house allowed me to keep up with projects, meetings, and even virtual presentations/speaking engagements. Most importantly, we got to celebrate the wedding of Khai’s sister and her brother-in-law.

The journey to Maine for the Friends of Thai Daughters (FTD) event proved to be quite the challenge, but I am so proud of the way our family handled it. We flew from Chiang Rai to Bangkok on Friday morning (Thursday evening in the States). Unfortunately, Khai got sick in Bangkok and had to get treatment in the airport clinic. Nausea made her so weak that she was escorted through the airport on a wheelchair. We managed to get our bags checked with the help of some colleagues from Chulalongkorn University who we had met for dinner. I am forever grateful to them. Paul (PhD student and Ministry of Education employee) held Aden, Aj. Sukanya (professor) held Alice, Aj. Sukanya’s husband took care of Khai, and I worked on the luggage. We had 3 large suitcases, 2 carseats, 2 carry-on bags, 2 strollers, and 2 backpacks. Once we got checked in, Khai and the kids were able to sleep on the flight, which helped her recover. During our layover in Japan, there was a moment where I was holding Alice as she slept, Khai was asleep on the seats, and Aden was passed out on the floor. Sleep had evaded me for much of the trip, but it was so satisfying to see the people I love getting the rest they needed.

In Chicago, we boarded our flight for Maine but ended up waiting on the runway for 3 hours due to mechanical issues until the plane was finally towed back to the gate. Thankfully, we got on a late flight to Portland and landed at 11:45 PM, which gave me enough time to rush to the rental car service before it closed at midnight. We installed the carseats and loaded up everything into the car and drove to Boothbay Harbor. We arrived at 1:30 AM on Sunday morning putting our whole travel time at around 52 hours. At the AirBnb, we got the car unloaded. Khai took care of Alice and I put Aden to bed. While I didn’t intend to do so, I fell asleep next to him and I slept there all night.

I imagine now it’s more clear how I came up with the title for this blog post.

Our time in Maine was wonderful to connect with Jane, Patty, Ellen, Rick, Grandma Alice, Aunt Janet, and the whole FTD community. So much love and warmth (and seafood) to welcome us back to the States. After a magical week there, we got back to Baton Rouge on my birthday. While I typically wouldn’t see traveling with two kids and a bunch of luggage as desirable on a birthday, being home safely with my family was the best present. And that’s a special part of life, I suppose: Overcoming challenges and spending time with the ones we love.

Onward.