An honest review of our family trip to Phuket
As a pregnant woman with a 2 year old in tow
It was an interesting trip that Ls would rate 5/5, but I would rate 2.5/5. While things did not go entirely as I envisioned, we built many core memories as a family that we will look back with fondness. Read on to find out more!
So this trip happened about a month ago. I was around 4 months pregnant and we wanted a quick getaway with our firstborn without having to sit through a long flight. After some research, Phuket came up as one of the more family-friendly destinations to travel with toddlers.
The sun, sea and sand seemed pretty endearing to me. I imagined pristine waters, resort vibes, the occasional massage and the sea breeze blowing through my hair. We decided to go for it!
What I did not expect was for Ls to plan a massive adventure instead of a resort getaway. Well, first of all, I left the planning of the trip entirely to him and did not check the itinerary at all. Actually this is how we usually operate as I don’t like to plan trips while he does. However, I did not expect him to plan an island hopping tour on our very first day.
After a 1.5 hour car ride and another 2 hour boat ride, we arrived at James Bond Island! Apparently it’s an island where a scene on the early James Bond movie was filmed. It was packed with tourists, but the scenery was nice.
Then, we spent the next few hours hopping to the various nearby islands, canoeing, playing by the beach and swimming in the sea (Ls only).
It was a very exciting and fun tour, except for a few factors - the weather was scorching; the car and boat rides were too long for a toddler, and there was no appropriate food on the boat for Enya. In the end, she didn’t each much and she caught random naps.
Actually, this became a common pattern throughout the rest of the 3 days in Phuket. The terrible heat, long journeys, lack of toddler friendly food outlets and such led to irregular meals and sleep.
Finally, day 1 ended back in our hotel as we ordered room service since we were too tired from the tour. And we encountered our biggest challenge yet - Enya’s constipation!! In our 2 years of knowing her, this was actually our first time seeing her have constipation, and to this extent.
We had no medication, no nearby pharmacies that we knew of, room service was not open anymore (it was 11pm), and we were helpless. Enya was cranky and fussy. We tried all methods to help her, but ultimately we could only pray for it to pass and for her to be able to pass motion.
For the first time since being a mother, I felt myself feel a worry and anxiety that made me sick.
Thankfully, after some time (and screen time to distract her), she passed out the motion successfully and she did not face constipation anymore for the rest of the trip.
Actually this constipation story is something that we will look back on with hilarity. Enya was really funny although she was struggling. She kept asking us to take off and put on new diapers for her, as it was her way of coping with the discomfort. Of course, we scammed her by letting her wear back the same diaper and only alternating between 2 diapers. After many rounds of this diaper change, Ls and I were so tired that we gave up and lay on the bed. Ls promptly fell asleep while I stayed up to keep watch, as she stood by the sofa and watched some cartoons. After about 15 minutes, I went to check and she had successfully passed the motion. What a story to tell.
Let’s move on to day 2.
Now the itinerary for day 2 was up my alley. This was the kind of itinerary that I expected us to have everyday in this trip.
We went to a nice cafe that Enya also enjoyed. And the owner kept massive pit bulls that were super friendly!
We then transferred to a beautiful hotel - Woo Gallery & Boutique Hotel - which contained a historic gallery. That afternoon we went to Central Phuket mall, a huge modern mall, and visited the sea aquarium!
After that, Enya was so tired that she knocked out for hours, and Ls and I could catch a foot and body massage respectively. We also caught an uninterrupted dinner! It was beautiful.
In the evening, we visited Chillva Market, a night market. It was nice, but once again the weather and crowd made it unbearable to stay for long and we headed back to the hotel.
I asked Ls - why can’t you plan the trip such that it is like day 2 everyday? And of course to him, why do in Phuket what you can do in Singapore?
And we move on to day 3.
After breakfast, we explored a nice matcha cafe where Enya took this photo of us.
And then we headed off to our next adventure - elephants!!
Actually this was really fun. The Elephant Jungle Sanctuary was a true sanctuary for elephants. The keepers treasured the elephants and some elephants were rescued from circuses too.
We fed the elephants bananas…
And had a really awesome time scrubbing them in the rain shower! I must say, although it was another adventure, this one is really something that will be etched in ours and Enya’s memories for a long time.
Then, we headed back to the hotel and Enya knocked out once again.
This gave Ls and I the chance to enjoy a Michelin star dinner in peace! The food was really good.
And then Enya woke up and she became inconsolable. It was past her dinner time, the weather was hot, we tried to walk and find suitable food but it was so difficult to. In the end, we pacified her with some mango shake while Ls rushed to buy dumpling soup. Enya had another episode of nose bleed as I cared for her in the hotel room. This was the second time she had nose bleed on the trip, but this was the more serious one.
All bad times pass, just like good times. We survived the last night and the next morning, we had a smooth walk around the nearby cafes before heading to the airport and flying home.
Evidently, this trip was a mixed bag. To Enya, she only retained lovely memories of elephants in Phuket. But to me, this trip was more stressful than it should have been.
Phuket is probably perfect for couples or older children. I guess the next time we will travel here as a family would be when our children are much older - I can imagine them enjoying themselves with the water sports and Thai food!
However, this was perhaps a tad too wild for a 2 year old.
One of the other things we had to introduce was more screen time than Enya had in Singapore, just to allay her discomfort from the heat, hunger, travel and sickness. As a result of the trip, Enya took about 2 weeks of tantrums back in Singapore regarding screen time before she settled back into her routine. I am grateful and I did not expect her to actually stop her tantrums and requests for screen time after we came back, but I guess children are way more adaptable than we think.
Until today, Enya still tells us that she fed and bathed elephants in Phuket. Actually, I recall telling Ls that I felt a deep joy when Enya was sleeping in my lap on the boat, and Ls told me that he felt a deep satisfaction.
I guess this is what it is like to be a parent - the highs are really high, while the lows can go deep too.
Do you have any stories to share about travelling with your child? I would love to hear them!