Camp Champions Blog

Today is Susie’s birthday.  She is now a lovely ?!#*@#%! years old, but looks a decade younger.  So, what does our lovely matron get for her birthday?  A domestic flight on a Thai airline.  Yippee!  What better way to celebrate.

If the flight was not enough, she also has to suffer the loss of the beach.  It is actually cruel if you think about it.  Our adamant lover of the surf and hater of flying must board a plane and leave the shore behind.

There are some things that you cannot unsee.  You might wish that you could forget them, but they remain seared in your brain.

Today, such a vision happened.

There is little to report today.

We are experiencing the extremes of beach vacations.

We are leaving the glorious beach resort at Koh Phi Phi.

[Disclaimer:  After two fluffy blogs, I feel a need for some thoughtfulness.  Most of my blogs are meant to share the adventures and experiences of Team Baskin on our travels.  Occasionally, I will pursue a philosophical tangent, but I generally stay with travel reporting.  This blog is one long philosophical tangent.]

I have been struggling a great deal lately with the balance of culture and progress, tradition and technology.

In Europe, we often said  that "this is travel, not vacation."

In Asia, we said "this is adventure, not travel or vacation."

After 5 weeks of hard travel in China and Nepal, we are at the beaches of Thailand.  It is beautiful and remote and fun.

But you need not take my word for it.  Instead, let Regina show you.

Ours was an outdoor wedding.  We held it at the camp we had co-founded under a huge stone arch.  Our loved ones sat in white wooden chairs in ideal weather – warm with high blue skies.  Two dear family friends were our officiates.  12 friends and families stood with us as we said our vows.  Susie was radiant.

It was perfect . . . until it wasn’t.

We have passed through a fantastic portal.