We left Chiang Mai a couple days ago.  Took the night train down to Bangkok.  I really like the North of Thailand.  We had a good experience with the people we met.  The Thai people we have met have been very friendly.  They have names like: 'Ai' ,  'Gop' (means 'frog'), 'Cake' and a little girl Ruby played with was called 'Sanwit' , sounds like "Sandwitch".  Ruby said to me, "Mom, there must be someone named 'Cookie' too". I'm sure there must be! We just haven't met her yet!

On the train ride down we met a family from Kuwait with 4 girls and 1 boy. We took a 1st class sleeper train.  This means we have a private, yet shared sleeper car and Ruby and I share a bunk.  Ruby enjoyed playing with the little girls in their bunk in their car for a bit. She is getting really used to playing with others without having to speak the same language.  We didn't have anyone share our car with us, so we really had some privacy.

The woman named Cake  is a "took-took" driver and she always parked outside our guesthouse in Chiang Mai.  She is probably the most beautiful took-took driver I've ever seen.  She has a big, beautiful smile and very soft spoken.  She gave us a ride to the train station and I asked her to help with our bags, because I can not always rely on Ruby to help carry her load.  I told Cake I would tip her.   Thankfully she helped me, though I could have carried them on my own - and I did when we got to Bangkok I had to carry it to the subway and then to our guesthouse.  I know it sounds silly, but I am packing for 2 and when Ruby doesn't carry her weight, it means I have to.

The truth is, it is not always easy. At all.  People may think , "Oh, Dayna gets to travel all over the place, how luxurious and wonderful and fun!". But it is not that way.  In fact, sometimes it is no fun at all.  It is what I want to do, but it is not luxurious, we are on a budget.  Well, okay the massages are luxurious  - but they are also very "budget"!  Travelling is full of wonder, especially through the eyes of a 4  year old. Having a child in itself is an adventure, travelling with a child can be an adventure but also very demanding.  The fun is gone when it has been days since Ruby has had another child to play with.  Or I am exhausted from carrying all our luggage through an airport and Ruby is being stubborn or whiney or just being a typical 4 year old!  I often wonder, "WHAT AM I DOING HERE!?"  And this is why I plan each leg of the trip as we go.  So, we can do something different at the last minute or go back to the states.  It all pays off when we meet some other travelling  parents that I connect with and they have a child Ruby plays well with.  Or when I see how much fun she has and the progress she is making in our daily swim time.  Or we experience a connection with locals in a way that is beyond words and gives me a chill, and a knowing that, "Ahh, yes, we are here for a reason and we are all connected in some way - whether by God or the Universe".  Or like yesterday, when we were in a ginormous Bangkok shopping center and we run into these two lovely Irish women (mother and daughter pair) we met in Chiang Mai!  How amazing is that!?

When it gets hard,  I remember all the wonderful things we are experiencing and learning together, as a family, even when it is challenging.


The world is a beautiful place;
Life is a gift from the Divine;
You and I are a spark of the Divine.