Year 2: Asia

← All family travels abroad

Dates
May 27 – July 12, 2023

Countries visited
Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore

Home base
Karon, Phuket, Thailand

Our first year abroad, while difficult at points, was relatively pain-free. It was a glorious adventure that we all look back upon fondly for so many reasons. From the people to the place itself, we were overwhelmed with gratitude for our time there. When we returned to the states, our family even experienced some reentry difficulty, missing many parts of the country we had come to feel great affection toward.

In year two, I can confidently assert that we will not experience those same reentry problems. While we learned a ton about what to do as we travel for longer stretches in our first year, we learned even more about what not to do this year. I even wrote mid-trip about many of our family’s lowlights, which were even more abundant than I publicly shared.

Of course, as I shared then, “This is not to say I would trade places with anyone. We continue to feel very blessed and privileged to be able to enjoy this #cottrellsabroad experience. In the long run, we even know that we’re probably better for this experience—bumps and all—and what it does to strengthen our character, perspective, and togetherness as a family. But, I don’t want to ignore that what we’re trying to do can be difficult. It is. And frankly, that’s even one reason why we do it.” This holds true even now.

Even truer, as I concluded, “Thank You, Jesus, even for the hiccups, hurts, and hijinks, the disappointments, dashed expectations, and daily opportunities to turn to You. You’re with us through it all, and I choose to thank You even amid—and for—the difficulty. Amen.” And amen.

That gratitude aside, we were just as grateful to return home, even pivoting mid-trip to return home over 2 weeks earlier than originally planned, skipping over the final time we had planned in Bangkok due to our general distaste for Phuket.

As we had done last year, what follows are a collected overview of our highlights and learnings from our months in and around Asia. The highs and lows were much bigger in disparity than last year, to say the least. But the learnings never cease, whatever the circumstance.

P.S. For context, keep in mind that our kids were 16, turning 15, and 11 when we were on this trip.

P.P.S. This page, just like last year, is just as much for us in the future as it is for others to learn from and enjoy. Keep that in mind.

Highlights 🌟

Thankfully, we spent a decent amount of time in Japan, we had good friends visit us both in Japan and in Phuket, and we ended with a few solid days in Singapore. Those were the highlights, without question. In the order they happened, our other highlights were…

Our first full day in Tokyo
Karaoke
Uobei Shibuya
Tokyo National Museum
Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
Tokyo DisneySea
The 7-Elevens everywhere
Riley, Tolan, and Finley navigating Tokyo’s subways and city on their own for a day
Kiyomizu-dera
Sui Cigar Bar
Nijō Castle
Making it to the top of Fushimi Inari-taisha with my best friend and older kids
Visiting old friends and local ministers, David and Michiyo, in Kyoto
Dinner at Fukuyama with Nicole and a geisha, the very best meal of our lives
The reindeers and Tōdai-ji of Nara Park
The Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur
Kata Beach
Cheap food in Phuket—at least when it was good
The food and view at a Blanket and a Pillow
The pre-movie surprise we received at the theaters in Thailand
Tolan’s productivity with his online courses
Night markets
Lunch near the Big Buddha at Kata Beach Viewpoint
Zip lining in the pouring rain at Hanuman World
Old Town Phuket and nearly everything surrounding the area
A good amount of day and evening dates with Nicole
Lots of traditional Thai massages with Nicole and Beckett
Parasailing
The Phi Phi Islands tour with Simba Sea Trips, Maya Bay and snorkeling being the standouts
Gardens by the Bay, especially Cloud Forest
Jet fighters in formation and an incredible fireworks show in Marina Bay—a gift for Tolan’s 15th birthday
The loving, humble wisdom Tolan shared with his siblings on his birthday
The Singapore Flyer
A really good final day in Singapore, ending on a high note
Changing our bookings to arrive home earlier than planned
Eating Chic-fil-A chicken minis at LAX, our first meal back in the U.S.—yum

Learnings 🧠

As I already mentioned, we learned a lot more about what not to do than what to do this go-around. In no particular order, we learned…

Everything (mostly) we learned in our first year still holds true.
Pray more. Honestly.
Book roundtrip flights to our primary destination, not one-way, even when the one-way trips seem inexpensive.
Location and walkability matters even more than we even realized last year. If it takes more than 15 minutes of walking to get where we need to regularly (i.e. grocery stores, restaurants, etc.), that’s probably too much.
Drive-time also matters, as points of interest we want to visit should ideally be less than 30 minutes for us. Don’t get landlocked.
Talking with someone who’s been to where we’re planning to visit still matters, but their experience may be very different than ours. Count on it.
Do more research before booking things. We didn’t do enough this trip.
Humidity equals sweat. Two words: “core temperature”.
Optimize Airbnbs for our family, not others’ potential visits.
Pivot if we need to. It was more expensive than we liked, but we shifted our plans so that we could get home earlier. We’re glad we did.
Make sure to check or ask about the wifi speed at your accommodations before we book. Ours was terrible in Thailand and it affected our trip more than I’d like to admit.
Beaches can be nice, but we don’t need to be near one to enjoy a few days at the beach, especially when that detracts from other places that are better to reside near.
Finding food for multiple diets is way harder than expected in Asia. Honestly, it sucked feeding our family this summer.
Short trips remain far more expensive than longer ones on a per day, per person basis. In Japan especially. Don’t forget it.
Leave earlier in the day to make the most of it. Be clear with the time everyone is expected to be ready by. In other words, make a schedule.
Inter-Asia travel plane tickets may seem cheap, but check the baggage expenses. Plan your packing accordingly and get a portable luggage scale for your travels.
Avoid places where Durian is in season and Nicole and Tolan will smell it on the regular.
Pack more nausea medicine when abroad. The sickness we experienced was legitimately rough.
Know where the nearest hospital or healthcare facility is to where we’re staying before we even land. Bookmark it.
Nearby hotels make for great workplaces, especially when wifi is bad at home.
Working late is a good schedule for our family. I worked 8p-2a on many nights, and it worked out well for our family to spend the days together.
Google Maps’ badging and point-system motivate me more than it should. Hello Level 7 Local Guide status! 😆
The Visa requirements for Australia are ridiculous. Be sure to be ready well in advance if you want to make a stop there, even if just a layover.
Book a thorough house cleaning before our trip and right before our return, as that would be kind both to our housesitter and us.
Global Entry is totally worth the money. It took us less than a minute to get through passport control at LAX on the way home, not to mention the pre-check ease through domestic security.
Jet lag is way worse returning from Asia than it is returning from other continents. Be warned.

Pictures 📸

We captured some really great moments over our time. These aren’t all of them, but they’re choice. To see all of the best pics we took, check out my story highlights on Instagram.