flying from Frankfurt to Bangkok sounded simple.
One flight.
Eleven hours.
A night flight.
What could go wrong?
The Longest Night
The flight crew was amazing. Truly. We flew with AirAsia, and from the moment we boarded, they were there—helping with bags, smiling at the kids, making sure we were settled before we even had time to feel overwhelmed.
The kids slept.
All of them.
Which sounds wonderful—until you realize that meant the parents didn’t.
Evelyn struggled most. She woke up every 40 minutes with night terrors, confused and crying, and just when she’d settle again… it started all over.
At some point, I accepted defeat.
I put on a movie I had already seen, hoping familiarity would lull me to sleep.
It didn’t.
I watched the entire Lord of the Rings.
Then started The Hobbit.
Still no sleep.
Arrival: Tired Parents, Happy Kids
We landed in Bangkok completely exhausted, with a full day ahead of us.
The kids?
Refreshed. Energized. Ready to explore.
Of course.
The drive through Bangkok was our first real introduction to the city. The roads were packed. Traffic flowed in a way that felt less like rules and more like a shared agreement. At one point, it looked like someone had simply created an extra lane because—why not?
It was chaotic. Loud. Fascinating.
Lost, Hungry, and Very Polite About It
Finding our apartment was… difficult.
We couldn’t locate it.
The kids were getting hungry.
And while we were still wandering around, hunger had to wait, and swear crept where it didn't belong.
Thankfully, people were incredibly kind. Strangers stopped to help, called the apartment number for us, and eventually someone drove up, waved us over, and took us to the right place.
And then we stepped inside.
The Moment Everything Stopped
The photos had looked nice.
But the second we walked in, things started crawling out of the carpet as we stepped on it.
There were stains.
On the table.
On the bed.
On the walls.
Ants covered the kitchen counter.
And in that moment, one very clear thought entered my head:
Let’s book a ticket back. Right now.
The internet was slow. Painfully slow.
Michael and I were both silently panicking—but neither of us said it out loud.
And maybe that saved us.
Because if we had spoken the fear, the disappointment, the what have we done out loud… this adventure might have ended right there.
Buying Peace of Mind
Eventually, the internet worked—just enough.
We booked a four-star hotel. No hesitation. No discussion.
Sometimes you spend money not for luxury, but for peace.
The taxi ride took forever. It was already around 8 p.m. when we arrived. We didn’t even tell the apartment owner we were leaving.
The kids ate a bag of chips and a banana because it was all we had. No complaints. Just hungry, tired little humans doing their best.
A Not-So-Reassuring Welcome
As we walked through the hotel hallway, a woman was yelling.
There were cockroaches in her room.
She had already been moved.
Now she wanted her money back.
She noticed us and—very kindly—advised us to leave.
Great. Fantastic. Excellent start.
But at this point, this had to be better.
Right?
The End of Day One
Our room was… okay.
We caught two small bugs in a glass.
Ordered food.
Fed the kids.
And then we stopped.
Collapsed. Exhausted. Overstimulated.
Lying there, in the quiet after the chaos, one question hung in the air:
Should we stay, or should we go?
And that was our first day in Bangkok.
