Modern Mama

Everyone is a little bit different on what they want to do on vacation, so it was nice to go with a large group with a lot of varied personalities. For every activity there was always someone who was willing to tag along and share in the experience. This was also how we found out about a lot of the experiences, some of which were the best parts of our trip like the Tiger Experience.

While we were in Phuket we were fortunate enough to do some amazing experiences that we will never forget. The first was visiting Tiger Kingdom. This was something that we originally didn’t even have on our itinerary but we were so glad that we tagged along. As part of the experience you can choose to interact with small, medium, and large tigers. While this was a little nerve racking as someone who has never been on the same side of the fence of a tiger, the staff was very kind and went out of their way to help take pictures. We even got a few pictures of our little one and a baby tiger that was about the same age.

Another experience that is definitely worth checking out is the Elephant Care Park Phuket. Not only did we get to prepare food to feed rescued elephants but if you do the full day experience you also get to rub mud on the elephants and then give them a bath. Being able to be so close and actually touch Asian Elephants was a once in a lifetime experience. The staff was also great about taking pictures which they shared with us at the end for free so that no one had to risk breaking or losing their phone while bathing the elephants. The best part is that the fees you pay to do the experience go directly to the care and rescue of these elephants. This experience was very informative and at the end you also get to learn how to make Pad Thai and eat a full Thai lunch as a cherry on top.

I have a very large family (four younger brothers and sisters all of varying ages) so it has been a long time since we were all in the same place so I couldn’t resist getting my family an early Christmas present by hiring a professional photographer. The pictures turned out absolutely beautiful and for pictures of about eight people in two different locations it was incredibly affordable. In fact the cover photo for this post was one of the photos taken during the photo shoot at our villa. The photographer we used was Panuphon Aekudompong and he was so great to work with. Not only did he take wonderful photos but he was really good at giving us directions which was very helpful since my younger siblings had never gotten professional photos done before and weren’t sure of what poses to do. He was also very patient with our little one who decided she didn’t particularly want to cooperate during the photo shoot. Overall this was a great experience to do as a family and captured some fun memories that we will always have.

I am so glad that my mom selected Villa Sanyanga. This Villa not only was able to house our large group of about sixteen people but was also situated up on the hill so that we had beautiful views of the ocean and were in a quiet neighborhood. Some of the perks of this Villa were a chef whom we learned how to make Pad Thai from and a personal driver who was invaluable in making getting around Phuket stress free. While this stay may not work for smaller families it was the perfect selection for our group.

Our chef, Lilly, not only made amazing food for our group every night but also offered the chance to go with her to a local food market and learn how to make her Pad Thai recipe which was so fresh and tasty. The market was definitely worth checking out since this was a less touristy view into Thai life and gave us the chance to try some different types of food while Lilly shopped for the ingredients we needed to make our authentic Pad Thai. Once back at the Villa my husband took full advantage of our cooking lesson and actually made our food with the careful direction of Lilly. I also loved that she wasn’t afraid to correct him if she didn’t like his technique. The end result was delicious food which we were then able to share with the rest of our group at dinner.

Another experience offered through Villa Sanyanga is the opportunity to rent a yacht for a day which included a full crew and cook as well. The day we went out was beautiful and the crew did a great job of taking us to a touristy island to check out as well as finding a secluded cove where we could play with a variety of fun toys such as paddle boards, a water slide, and snorkeling gear. While our little one got a little fussy while on board the cook, Ling, insisted that she watch her so we could enjoy the time on the water. This isn’t unusual in Thailand and Ling knew exactly what she was doing. It took her no time at all to get our little one asleep which made it so we really got to enjoy the day and our time with our family and friends.

During the trip we mainly used my husband’s phone which is quite a bit newer than mine so it wasn’t until we were at a large mall and left our group that we realized that my phone wasn’t able to connect to Verizon’s international daily data plan. While this isn’t an issue for those with newer phones, if you are like me and have held on to your old, paid off phone for years you might want to make sure that can use it on your international travels.

Prior to our trip we knew that it isn’t recommended to consume or clean anything with the tap water in Thailand. Since the Villa came with clean water and we purchased some bottle water we didn’t feel the need to buy something that could have filtered the water from the tap. Looking back since I was pumping the whole trip and had to clean baby bottles (often in the middle of the night) I do wish I had bought something that could have made that easier so that I didn’t have to refill my water bottle multiple times a day just to clean everything for baby. If your little one doesn’t take bottles or has moved onto eating just solids this probably wouldn’t be such a big deal.

We went to Phuket in November which was still pretty humid for those of us who live in the Pacific Northwest and aren’t used to dealing with humidity on a daily basis. The two products I wish I would have brought is first a hand fan to help keep our little one cool while we navigated busy markets or when we were outside for longer stretches of time. There are many places in Thailand with air conditioning so this only came up a few times on our trip but it would have been a life saver.

Another product I wish I would have had on hand was anti-frizz hair product. My hair is naturally curly so the humidity in the air made it hard to keep my hair from getting frizzy. Since going to Thailand I have learned my lesson and now keep a product which I really like on hand for all of my travels.