🛻 Travelogue: Sending My Daughter Back to the Embrace of Koh Phangan and Memories Along the Way 🛳️🏝️

3 days ago

Hello, my lovely friends 😊✨

Today I have a heartwarming story from a long journey to share with you all. It's a travelogue filled with warmth, connection, and small lessons learned along the way, from Trang province to the azure sea of Koh Phangan, Surat Thani province. 🚗💨🌊

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The start of a warm morning and preparations

Today's important mission is to send my daughter back to the embrace of nature on Koh Phangan. In the near future, I also plan to move there to live. This trip is with our big family of five: myself, my husband, our daughter, and my husband's two sisters. The atmosphere in the car is therefore lively, but deep down, I'm a little sad to be sending my daughter off ahead of me. 💖
Before starting our journey, we stopped to recharge with some delicious coffee in a village. The aroma of coffee made the early morning feel much more refreshing. Ready, the wheels began to roll from Trang province towards our destination.

A Costly Lesson on an Unexpected Shortcut

Upon entering Nakhon Si Thammarat province, we discussed the route briefly and decided to try what the younger ones said was a shortcut. It was a concrete road cutting through nature, with lush greenery on both sides and incredibly beautiful and unique scenery 🌲🍃. But the beauty came with a challenge, as the road was much more winding than we anticipated, making it impossible to exceed 80 km/h.
Besides the speed issue, another equally surprising thing was the price of fuel ⛽️. When we stopped to refuel at the Phatthalung-Nakhon Si Thammarat border, the price had skyrocketed from a few hundred baht to over a thousand baht to fill the tank. It was truly a trip that required being prepared for the current economic climate.
Finally, the GPS led us to the Seatran Ferry Pier in Don Sak District. I glanced at my watch and found that we had spent a full four hours ⏱️, which was significantly slower than usual. If we had taken the main route, Highway 401, which I'm familiar with, it would have only taken a little over two hours. This is what they say: shortcuts may not always be the fastest way. That was a completely new lesson for today! 😅

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Farewell at the Pier and Joy at the Evening Market

After dropping my daughter off at the ferry ticket counter (the price has also increased with the times) and saying goodbye with a hug, my husband and I began our journey back to Trang province.
On the way back, we stopped at the evening market in Nakhon Si Thammarat province to stock up on supplies. And it was here that I smiled, because the fresh produce and cooked food were incredibly cheap, surprisingly so compared to Trang. So I took the opportunity to buy three large sets of fragrant curry in bags and hot rice to take back to my lovely neighbors, sharing the deliciousness with them. 🍲🛍️

We had a simple dinner in the car, bathed in the soft evening sunlight as it began to fade. The atmosphere was truly relaxing. On the way back, we chose a familiar route, passing through Ban Na Doem - Na San - Ban Song - Wiang Sa - Thung Song, onto the Asian Highway and Highway 401. The road was wide, comfortable to drive on, and allowed us to maintain a much higher speed than before. Before long, we arrived home in Trang safely. 🏡✨

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A Summary of a Happy Day on a Familiar Route

This long journey taught me that familiar paths are often the most comforting, just like our life goals. Although I'm temporarily separated from my daughter today, our next trip will be the start of a new life together on Koh Phangan – an incredibly exciting new step! 👨‍👩‍👧‍👧🌴

Thank you to everyone who followed and read our family's meaningful journey to the end. I hope everyone enjoys their own life's journeys as well. See you again in the next article. Goodbye! 🙏💖✨