CHANGING PLANS

Before we left we found out that Joel couldn't have any time off work and would be working nights the whole trip. Then he was summoned back to SF part way through the trip and had to forfeit his ticket home and purchase another at double the cost. Luckily I had gone through a reputable insurance agent and bought CFAR insurance which he can claim this under. We decided to go ahead with the edited trip but this is why Joel is absent for so many of the excursions but does make some valiant arrivals mid day and evenings. I cancelled our plan to tack on Thailand and opted to have us stay in Singapore again preferring a home base I know well when I'm solo with a senior and two kids in tow. 

After our first 4 days of sightseeing Mum and I sat down in a cafe and set our minds to booking all the rest of the trip details while Joel -- having his first day off on a weekend, took the boys to the adventure park. 

We met up at Vivo City Food Republic for dinner and gave the kids an even bigger overview of street foods in a slightly manic Disney-like setting. 

LITTLE INDIA

We had very wiggly boys so our day started with lots of swimming today. And then we waited and watched a thunderstorm. 

Joel had to sleep after working all night so Mum and the boys and I went to Little India on our own to walk around and see the shops and temples. 

We decided to all get henna tattooos -- the things you do when kids are along! Even Mum got one. We introduced the boys to haggling. C was very mystified by the concept of walking away from something you want. A watched me at the first place we purchased something and asked "what was THAT? I couldn't even follow that transaction." Hah! Mom has a few things up my sleeve he hasn't seen I guess. I love a good haggle. 

Joel joined us for a late lunch of Dosa at a little restaurant. Mum actually hadn't done Dosa with us before so it was new to three members at the table. 

CHINATOWN AND COLONIAL DISTRICT

General Raffles designed the city's layout to create separate culturally significant areas for each of the ethnic groups who were in Singapore in 1819. Little India, Chinatown, Arab Street, and the Malay Kampong are all still there and are very interesting cultural experiences for travelers. They are like being able to visit a different country with just a few stops on the MRT. We started with Chinatown with a breakfast at the Maxwell Hawker Center (Popiah, and many types of dumplings and cups of Kopi-o). Joel, having been up the entire night working on PST was heading back to the apartment to sleep, but I took Mum and the boys across to the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. 

We've been to many Taoist temples but this one is really enormous and has a museum on one floor, a gift store and it's also a busy place filled with monks and people at prayer. 

We did a little bit of exploring the side streets before heading back to rest. Jet-lag had caught up with us. We stopped for Laksa, Nasi Lemak and Fishball Soup on our way. As you do. 

The following day we set out to the Colonial District to visit the National Museum hoping to give the kids a more visual overview of the island's history. It was very well curated as usual and we got exactly what we hoped from the trip. After the museum we had dinner at Din Tai Fung. 

DAY ONE IN SINGAPORE

The dream of a 16 hour direct flight on Singapore Airlines was not something we'd had available to us 13 years ago so our flight out of SFO was a treat. No 30 hour round trip slog with stopovers in Narita or Hong Kong. The service on board was exceptional, food decent and Premium Economy gave us a little more room to stretch with foot rests and seats that went further back. We had created a little jet-lag busting schedule to follow on board with all taking some melatonin when Singapore's night began and being up for breakfast before our 5:00am local time landing. The kids slept well, were content with the onboard movies when up and ate the plan food without complaint. They also discovered that if they visited the flight attendants there were extra treats. 

Changi looked just how it was when we left though the new kiosks that scan your passport and search for your online landing card are new. You never speak to a human and it's fast. 

Stepping out into the equatorial heat for the first time was a welcome moment for those of us who were ready for it. The look of surprise on the boys are hilarious. They didn't dislike it but laughed at the newness. 

Our driver whisked us across the island chatting about Hawker Centers and parks till we turned up the familiar road beside the Botanic Gardens main gate and were deposited on the doorstep of the Initial Sama. We had two apartments, a studio and a two bedroom but lost in translation was the fact that they needed to be close together and not in different buildings. Joel ended up using the studio as an office and Mum took the couch in the two bedroom so we could function as a family unit as the main apartment had the fridge and kitchen and dining room. 

Though a bit more squashed in than planned, the swimming pool was newly finished and our place was nicely appointed. 

We decided we needed to stay awake as long as possible and walked across the road into the Botanic Gardens for breakfast and a wander around. We started with the National Orchid Garden and made our way around the upper end of the park where the boys found monitor lizards and we spotted a pair of Pied Hornbills in a tree. More wildlife than I have ever seen in a park that was a nearly every day walk for us year ago. 

We had a swim and I took Austen for a quick trip to Tanglin Mall for groceries. 

PARTY OF 5 HEADED TO THE RED DOT

After my Dad died last year, one of my promises to my Mum had been to take her traveling with us and we had decided on a return to SE Asia. 

Fast-forward to July 18th 2026. I spent the last 8 months getting each piece of the itinerary into place. 

July 20-27 Singapore

Staying in serviced apartment by the Botanic Gardens and acclimating while seeing some of the cultural centers of the city. Orienting the kids to the food, flora and fauna. 

July 27-August 4 Bali Indonesia

Returning to Ubud, adding in Sanur and Candidasa and showing the kids a totally different culture and region. 

July 4-7 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Three days in the city's Chinatown connecting my mother with a good friend and seeing Malaysian culture and digging deeper into Malay food. 

July 7-12 Singapore

Return to the serviced apartments and a chance to fit in anything we didn't see in the first week. 

As we departed we were so excited to be heading to our former home. I truly yearned for so many things I love from that part of the world is was hard to even make a list. Here are a few moments from our departure day. 

Planning SE Asia 2026

Our last big international trip was Europe in 2018, which was spectacular and really made us want to do much more travel with our kids. Unfortunately, the next few years didn’t line up the way we hoped—from a global pandemic changing travel possibilities to Joel’s topsy-turvy start-up phase. But we always intended for this to be a trip we’d take as a family, and now that the kids are a pre-teen and a teen, it feels like the window is suddenly getting short.

We booked our direct flights from SFO to SIN before the war began, which was pure dumb luck. I’ve also managed to book a lovely serviced apartment beside the Singapore Botanic Gardens. We’re planning to spend a week showing the kids everything we loved—and now miss—in Singapore, then head to Bali for 7–10 days, and finish with about five days in Thailand.

More on this very soon! We're hoping to reconnect with friends who are still in the area. 

Amtrak in a Sleeper Car from Oakland to Seattle

Travel by train is old-world, slow-living stuff and evokes all the Golden Age of Travel vibes that I'm always drawn to. I haven't the travel budget to take my family on the Orient Express but Joel researched this simple Amtrak trip as part of our route home for Christmas. Booking early was key, there are not very many sleeper cars but with very little fuss we were locked in. The boys were beyond excited for this trip. Here's how it went. 

Our train was delayed an hour so we really should have just watched the app and left later from our house. With trains, unlike planes, you can do that. They don't care, you don't check-in. The Oakland Station is not very big, has pretty spartan amenities and is low on any type of staff. Unlike European stations, the trains don't come into a grand covered platform. You take your first-class ticket and wander down the side of a building stepping over heaps of garbage on your way to your car. There is a porter at each carriage helping passengers aboard. Ours took us to our room where she'd set up the beds because it was past 10pm by the time we were in there. It was time for bed. 

The sleeper room was tiny, like being in an airplane bathroom. You can reach everything from your bed! Everything could use a coat of paint and a refresh but it was passable. Like a motel 6 levels of elegance. I wasn't expecting the Venice Simpleton but finding a syringe and garbage under a seat was definitely below expectation. 

The kids were REALLY excited about the first few hours but 24 was too long. These trains are not set up for children, once they have explored the train cars and read a book... that's it. Amtrak does absolutely nothing for kids, no welcome packs like the national parks or staff who engage them in any way. You're spending most of your time telling them to shhhhhh because everyone else is older and asleep. 

Was it a bucket list thing? Sure. Am I a fan of Amtrak? Not really. I might consider a shorter trip if it really makes sense but honestly I'd prefer the adventure van bunk experience with more outdoor stops and ability to choose routes with look-outs to see views. Trains of course, take the flat route, so you mostly see fields and the backs of industrial areas. 

The boys have positive memories despite the hours they complained after that 12 hour mark so I'm glad we tried this and now this bucket list item is crossed off. Time to plan the next adventure. 

Crater Lake National Park Van trip

 

C had been studying the National Parks in school the previous Spring and was absolutely ecstatic when a classmate's family invited us on a van adventure to see Crater Lake. Our precocious littles led the mission North from Marin to Oregon on a very intense whirlwind weekend trip.  It went very well and we were really blown away by the terrain. 

This trip we rented the RAM and were not as happy with that drive experience as we had been with the Mercedes Sprinter but the sleeping arrangement was pretty well oriented for us. Having a shorter van was a lot easier for parking lots. This one was 18 or 19' which felt more manageable than 22 and we were able to load in our driveway at home. 

Our Introduction to Adventure Vans

 

A couple of years ago, my design firm worked for a client who was building luxury Sprinter Van conversions. During the creative process, I learned a lot of new things about our target market and what they liked to do in vans. I also learned about the pain points of ownership and maintenance and discovered the secrets of what really matters to van aficionados.

Fast forward to our family trying to come up with a plan to support Joel while he ran the Western States 100-mile endurance run. We'd previously used Air BnBs and hotels to stay close to races but it was always cumbersome to be tied to just one location and have no way to wile away the hours in comfort. I decided to create an Outdoorsy account and rent a Sprinter Van myself. I had a few of my own priorities. 

1. 4 captain's seats so children would be bucked in real seatbelts tethered to the main frame and not too close to each other (RVs often have kinda fake seatbelts that are just attached to particle board and are not crash tested)
2. Beds for all four of us
3. Stove, sink, and refrigeration 

I was not interested in having a toilet/blackwater system because that is a whole other level of fussing around with chemicals and dumping and everywhere we were going had restrooms.

I was also not terribly concerned with A/C though I should have been... 

I rented a 22' Sprinter that had the basic layout that worked with our plan. It was nicely laid out and super easy to drive. We quickly learned that going over 18' has some disadvantages. Parking becomes limited to box store parking lots with angled spaces where you can pull through and take over two spaces.

On the plus side, 22' allows for more space to sleep and move around even when you are battened down to drive. It fit just fine in state campground parking places and we were super cozy up in Tahoe when the temperatures dropped at night.

As for supporting Joel, the set-up was really ideal. We actually parked in a legal parking place along a side road about 1 block from the start line. The start line had bathrooms, restaurants and amenities, so we were set. Joel was able to maximize rest time and just head right to the start line without driving at all. 

He left at 4am, the kids and I went back to sleep for a couple of hours and then I slipped out and picked up some yummy brunch food and made espresso. I took the kids to a play space and watched Joel's position in the race and then set off to meet him and his pacers at a feed zone. I was able to whip up a charcuterie board and host at the van while his team waited for him. 

Then the kids and I checked into an RV park. Very easy, though a lot less inviting than a forest campsite. At 4am again we moved our van to the finish line and enjoyed having a place to stretch out and all take a nap before hitting the road. 

It did get to 100f that morning so we really should have been mindful about finding a van with full climate control in the back. It's not a feature many rental vans have because it's costly to put in.  

Joel's race was a success, completing the 100 miles in 23 hours and 41 minutes and earning himself a coveted belt buckle and bragging rights. And I conquered my own fears of driving a large vehicle and being solo with the boys on an adventure. 

Misty Central Coast Recharge

After Thanksgiving's big hurrah, Nancy, Jessica, and I packed up our cars and drove down the coast for a Sunday-Wednesday escape. It was absolutely what I needed and I'd do this again in a heartbeat. 

We booked a small apartment at The Briarwood in Carmel. This is where I stayed with my Grannie and Mum in January 2010. Lots of special memories for me here. What people don't often realize about Carmel is, that despite it being full of high-end shops and fine dining, it's also full of much older Inns with rates that are a bit lost in time. They aren't flashy but not dives at all. It's usually much cheaper to stay in Carmel than in Monterey and quieter and more secure for night strolling and parking.

The other fantastic thing we booked was day passes at Refuge. This is an outdoor spa settled in the hills above Carmel. It's utterly beautiful there and really reasonably priced for lounging and rejuvenating. 

We had some wonderful brunches at Carmel Belle and a dinner at the legendary Dametra. We also had a lovely evening of tapas and a lot of champagne at Promesa. The rest of the time we hit up the quaint local delis and made charcuterie/cheese boards. 

It was very chilly and thick with fog but we did get out for beach strolling and we did a day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Cannery Row.