After finding out that we would be moving from Okinawa, Japan to Germany, we knew we had to take one last trip in Asia on our way to Germany. What better place than our favorite place in Asia…Thailand! We decided to try someplace new and Koh Samui was exactly what we were looking for. We wanted a place where we could relax in our own villa but also had things for my boys to do. Koh Samui is Thailand’s second largest island and it really has everything for your next vacation.
My top 10 things to do in Koh Samui:
Stay in your own Private Villa! Koh Samui is Thailand’s most luxurious island. When we first started researching staying on Koh Samui we were surprised by all the beautiful secluded villas. There are so many to choose from and so many different price points. There is everything from small couples villas to large family villas. The best place to search for the perfect villa is on Airbnb. We enjoyed just laying around all day around our own private pool and taking in the gorgeous sunsets in the evenings. Most of the villas also come with a full staff that will cook amazing Thai food for you and take care of everything you need. The villas are also perfect if you have a large family like ours so there is plenty of room for everyone. I highly recommend staying in a villa if you visit Koh Samui!
2. Visit the Beautiful Temples: I was so surprised at how amazingly beautiful the temples on this little island were. We have seen many of the temples in Bangkok but the temples on Koh Samui were my favorite! We visited Wat Plai Laen, The Big Buddha, and Wat Ratchathammaram.
3. The Beautiful Beaches: Koh Samui has some of the most beautiful beaches. There are so many to explore around the island. Some of my favorites are Silver Beach, Chaweng Beach, Lamai Beach, Bophut Beach, Maenam Beach, and Choeng Mon Beach. There is something for everyone to enjoy on the beaches of Koh Samui.
4. Visit Bophut Fishermen’s Village: We loved walking around this cute fishing village. You will find some of the best shopping and food here. The streets are lined with cute shops and cafes. Our favorite place to eat in Koh Samui is the famous Coco Tam’s. We ate here several times during our stay. You will find some of the best seafood here as fishermen bring in their daily catch. Be sure to check out Fishermen’s Village at night. They have a night market known as the walking street market. This is a great place to pick up souvenirs and try the local street food. My boys loved shopping at the night market!
5. Stay at a Fancy Resort: There are several fancy hotels on Koh Samui. We decided to splurge a few nights and stay at the Conrad Koh Samui and I’m so glad we did. It was absolutely magical and beautiful. The hotel staff was amazing from check-in to check-out. The rooms and views were so gorgeous. It has to be up there with one of my favorite hotels of all time. There is also a kid’s club that Colt loved to go to every day. Its free if you are staying there and they have arts and crafts and activities all day long for the kids. The beach is not that big here, but they do have lots of water activities and beautiful seating areas. The food was also amazing and the restaurants have the most gorgeous views! You get your own villa at the hotel and there is a golf cart service that will take you wherever you need to go in the resort.
6. Go see the Cobra and Monkey Show: Brandon took the boys to see the cobra and monkey show and they had the best time. They watched the show and held the snakes and monkeys after it was over. This is definitely an activity your boys will love and be amazed by.
7. Go on an ATV tour and play Paintball: The boys had the best time riding ATV’s and playing paintball. On a typical tour, you will ride through the jungle and check out some amazing views and waterfalls. The boys went up to a beautiful waterfall and visited a temple on their ride. This is a perfect activity and there are lots of different tour companies that offer this.
8. Book a Day trip from Koh Samui: Just a couple hours boat ride from Koh Samui is the Ang Thong National Marine Park. The park includes 42 islands with beautiful limestone cliffs, sandy beaches, caves, lagoons, and waterfalls. There are many tour companies that offer day trips. Another popular day trip destination is Koh Phangan, which is famous for its monthly full moon parties. Koh Tao is a great destination for divers. Its one of the best dive spots in Thailand!
9. Waterfalls: There are so many beautiful waterfalls in Koh Samui. The Na Muang is absolutely gorgeous. You do not need a guide or a tour company to get there. The trails make it easy to get to the waterfall. I would suggest using a map to help you find your way.
10. A visit to Overlap Stone: This is a beautiful photography place. It is hard to find but the view is worth it. This is kind of a secret location so don’t be surprised if you are the only ones there. The view is incredible!
We had the most relaxing and fun time in Koh Samui. It was the perfect ending to our time in Asia.
Happy New Year! I can’t believe 2019 has already come and gone. I hope each of you had a great year filled with sweet memories, wonderful days, and memorable nights, and I hope that 2020 is your best year yet!
The new year brings lots of new beginnings for us! Brandon has been deployed and finally got home a few days ago! We are so excited and thankful that he is home! We have missed him so much, but we are so thankful my Dad was able to come and visit us while he was gone.
We also have some more exciting news! We finally have PCS orders to move! I know everyone was waiting to hear last year where we would be going next, but we decided to stay one more year in Okinawa! We were surprised with orders to Germany! We are so excited about all the new adventures that are ahead of us this year! We leave in February so I have been keeping it a little bit of a secret.
This has been such a great year for us! We loved going to Korea to see all the beautiful cherry blossoms, and finally making it back home to Texas after being gone for three years! We hope to be home again this summer after we are all settled in Germany!
Here are some of my life lessons from 2019!
Life with kids goes by so fast! Enjoy every minute! I have really noticed that this year as my boys are becoming less dependent on me. I still have Colt and I find myself holding on to every bit of the child in him.
Be prepared to modify your plans! Last year, we couldn’t wait to find out where we would move to next. We even began to prepare for the move and sold one of our cars. However, we found out we were staying and decided to make the most of our last year here and move off base. That has been an amazing experience…we will miss waking up to the Pacific ocean every morning! And then being surprised with early orders to Germany while Brandon was deployed! It’s been quite a year for a change of plans!
Be Kind…for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about! My grandmother used to tell me to never judge someone unless you have walked a day in their shoes. You just never know what someone is going through. If you choose to be kind that is the greatest gift you can give someone!
Sometimes you can’t do it all…Ask for help! This is a big one for me. I think a lot of military spouses feel this way. We have been through so many deployments and get used to doing everything ourselves. I have learned this year that sometimes you just need to ask for help and thats ok!
Experiences are so much greater than things! We have definitely learned that from living overseas and taking so many adventures. we are making so many memories with our boys that mean so much more to them than something we buy for them. You don’t have to take a big fancy vacation…just find something to explore near you and go!
Be kind to yourself and give yourself grace! Take time for yourself. If the kids watch a little too much Tv thats ok. Don’t be so hard on yourself for trying to be the perfect mother. No one is perfect!
Option B: If you haven’t read this book, I highly recommend it. If your option A does not work out as planned…you have to make the most out of Option B. Because we can’t control what happens to us, but we can control how we react to it! I also highly recommend the book The Knock at the Door. Everyone at some point in their lives gets a knock at the door they were not expecting. It’s a great book on overcoming grief and how to get through things that happen in life that we were not expecting.
Life is precious: Be sure to tell your friends and family how much they mean to you every chance you get!
Finally, I want to leave you with the same quote I do every year because its my all time favorite. It’s from the movie Hope Floats! “Beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad, but it’s the middle that counts the most…try to remember that when you find yourself at a new beginning. Just give hope a chance to float up…and it will.”
So as we welcome 2020…make the middle count! I love y’all and I am so thankful for you! XOXO
After living in Okinawa for three years, I was so excited to go home to the states for the summer before our next move. Sometimes things don’t turn out as planned, and we decided to stay in Okinawa one more year. This meant that we would have to pay for our airline tickets to go home. With a family of 6, that is VERY expensive. Another option would be to take a Space-Available military flight home. These are basically military operational flights that have extra seats. The military mission is always the priority, but military members and their dependents may get on the flight free of charge. I was always afraid to try this because I didn’t want to get stuck someplace with all my boys. I wish I had tried it sooner because we had a great experience.
Space-A Travel Categories
There are 6 categories for passengers from Category 1-6 with one being the highest priority.
Category 1 Emergency leave. (Space-A Travel is allowed on a round-trip basis in connection with serious illness, death, or impending death of a member of the immediate family)
Category 2 Environmental Morale Leave (EML) (Sponsors on environmental and morale leave (EML) and accompanied family members)
Category 3 Ordinary leave. (family members with a deployed Sponsor)
Category 4 Unaccompanied dependents on EML. (Unaccompanied family members traveling on EML orders)
Space-A Signup: This is so important that you do this as early as possible. Your priority within a Space-A category is based on this signup date. Having signed up early is what allowed my big family to have a greater chance of getting on a flight. You want to sign up with every passenger terminal that you might travel through. You are signing up to compete for any flight with Space-A seats at a given terminal. The easiest way to sign up is by email or the Take-a-Hop app. You may sign up with multiple terminals at once. I found all the emails on facebook by searching the different passenger terminals I might be flying through. I sent a mass email to every terminal. Some terminals will not confirm your sign up so be sure to save your email as confirmation. You may sign up as early as 90 days before you want to travel. So be sure to do this as early as possible. Active duty cannot sign up until they are on leave. (Brandon was not flying home with us so we were a Category 4 and we had signed up a month early from when we expected to travel.)
2. Finding Flights: The easiest way to find flights is on facebook. Every passenger terminal will release their flight schedules 72 hours in advance. Keep in mind that these flight can change and cancel last minute so you have to be flexible and patient. It will also tell you what time you need to be present for roll call and how may seats they expect to be available. You can also call the terminal to get further information about a flight.
3. Check-In (Marking yourself present): You have to mark yourself present before roll call so that you can compete for seats. Arriving one hour prior to roll call is plenty of time but you may do this up to 24 hours in advance. Some of the terminals prefer you don’t do this too early because it can get messed up in their system. Most terminals will display a list of all the passengers who have marked themselves present so you want to check this list a few minutes before roll call to make sure everything is correct.
4. Roll Call: The time listed on the passenger terminal facebook page is the time of roll call. Be sure to monitor this time on Facebook because it can change according to the mission. The staff will announce that roll call is about to begin. They will call everyone up to the desk and let everyone know how may seats are available. They will then begin to call passengers according to the highest priority and date of sign up. If they call your name, you have been selected for the flight. You will need to show your military ID and all your paperwork (all dependents 10 years and older must show their ID). They will then have you proceed to the check in desk.
5. Check in bags/order meals: All of your passengers and their luggage must be present at this time. On most flights, you can check 2 bags up to 70 lbs each. You can also check car seats. During baggage check in, you can also order meals if you will be on a long flight. The meals were a little over $5, and they had a lot of food in them. I ended up ordering 5 of them for all my boys and myself. It was a LOT of food. Each box lunch had 2 peanut butter sandwiches, chips, a drink, fruit, and cereal bars. After checking all your bags in, you are officially on that flight and the staff will tell you the approximate boarding time, but it can change. I found that most flights left about 2-3 hours from the roll call time.
6. Boarding: Soon after check-in, they will announce boarding. You will go through security just like you would at a regular airport. You will then remain in a secure area until it is time to board the plane. There are usually vending machines in this area for any last minute drinks or snacks for the flight.
7. Flight: If you decide to fly on the Patriot Express it will be a very similar experience to commercial flights. They have regular seats and in-flight service. If you fly on a military aircraft your experience will be very different. Also, be sure to wear closed toe shoes because it is required on military aircraft. During our Space-A experience, we flew on a C-130 (huge cargo plane with jump seats on the sides and middle), a C-5 military plane (this plane did have some regular seats but you faced backwards), and a C-17 plane which was my favorite (cargo plane that had jump seats on the sides)
8. Arriving at your destination: Once you arrive at your destination, you will get off the plane and wait for your luggage. Some flights might just be a layover and they will usually let you off to grab a drink or snack inside the secure area of the terminal while you wait for the plane to be ready to leave again. Most of the passenger terminals are close to the base hotels so if you get stranded or you are waiting for a flight the next day you can usually get a room for the night. They are very inexpensive and only about $70/night.
Our Space-A Experience
I had been planning to leave as soon as the boys were out of school for the summer. Our plans were to head home to Texas. I was trying to get a flight as close to Texas as possible because Brandon was not flying with us so we would be a category 4 on EML, and once we made it to the US that is as far as we can go on Space-A. If your spouse is deployed you can Space-A within the US. Hawaii and Alaska are still considered overseas so you can continue on from these locations without your sponsor. I found a flight that left the day after the boys were out of school that went From Kadena-Yokota-Alaska-Oklahoma. I couldn’t believe it! There was also a lot of available seats on the flight. We did make it on the flight, but once we got to Yokota they could not take any space-A passengers with them the rest of the way. The next morning there was a flight to Alaska and one to Travis Air Base (California). So we got a room at the hotel on base and showed up for roll call the next morning for the Alaska flight. Well, the Alaska flight got rerouted back to Kadena so I decided to try for the Travis flight later that afternoon. We made it on that flight! However, once we got to California that was as far as we could go on Space-A. Brandon had a lot of airline miles from traveling so much while living overseas so we were able to use them to get home. We also decided to explore San Francisco for a couple of days while we were there.
Brandon eventually joined us in Texas so he was with us on our return trip home. We were trying to decided whether to fly out of Seattle on the Patriot Express or to try and get a flight out of Travis. We decided since it was still peak PCS season and the Patriot is how everyone PCSing gets overseas we would try Travis. We got so lucky. We flew to Travis with airline miles again, and we ended up staying one night at the hotel on base. The next morning there was a flight that went from Travis-Alaska-Kadena. We made it on that flight and it was the easiest flight ever. We only had a 45 minute layover in Alaska, and it was on a C-17 so the boys could just lay out in the middle of the plane and sleep. The crew on this flight were amazing! They let Bryant in the cockpit to watch take off, and Colt in the cockpit to watch landing. It was the best experience! Here are a few pictures from all our adventures at home after being overseas for three years!
What to Pack on a Space-A flight
Make sure you have all your travel documents, military IDs, and passports.
Dress in warm comfortable clothes. The flights can be very cold and you want to have enough layers on and be comfortable.
Pack a small lightweight sleeping pad or mattress. I wish I had brought these for my boys. This is a must if you are on one of the cargo planes. You can use this to lay out on once you are in the air. You can also bring blankets and pillows to be even more comfortable. The crew did provide us with basic travel pillows and blankets.
Travel Pillow
Travel blanket or sleeping bag
Head phones or ear protection. I really love the noise-cancelling heaphones
Portable Charger for all your devices
Load lots of games and movies on devices for kids
Bring snacks or purchase some in the vending machines in the passenger terminals.
I am so glad that I finally had the courage to try Space-A travel. It is such a great benefit for military families! Especially for those of us living overseas with large families which makes it very expensive to get back home to see family. I am by no means an expert at Space-A travel, but I had a lot of my friends asking me how I did it so I thought this would be the best way to share our experience. Adventure Awaits…go for it!!
After exploring all the beautiful cherry blossoms in Jinhae and Gyeongju, we headed up to Seoul. Brandon comes to Seoul all the time for work and couldn’t wait to show us this amazing city! We stayed at the Dragon Hill Lodge, which is a military hotel located on Yongsan Army Base. It was perfect for our family. Most of the base has been closed down so I’m not sure how long this hotel will be open. Another great place to stay is the Millennium Seoul Hilton. Brandon stays here when he comes for work and it is in a perfect location to walk around and enjoy everything in the city.
After getting all settled into the hotel, we headed to Vatos Tacos. This is the most famous taco place in Seoul. Everyone I know recommended we eat here! It was so amazing, and the first real tacos I had eaten in almost three years! We ate until we couldn’t eat anymore!
The next morning we headed to my favorite place in all of Seoul to see the cherry blossoms…Lotte World. It’s the world’s largest indoor theme park, and also has an outdoor park called “Magic Island” that is built on an artificial island inside Seokchon Lake. I wish I had been able to get an aerial view of the park because it is absolutely beautiful.
We were so lucky and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. We were there the first week of April so if you are planning a trip to see the cherry blossoms that is the perfect time of the year.
The great thing about Lotte World is that if you come on a cold or rainy day you can spend all day exploring the indoor part of the park. If you are military you can get 50% off by showing your military ID when you purchase tickets at the entrance. The indoor section is called Adventure, and consists of 4 floors of rides, activities, and food. There is also a hot air balloon ride that will take you to the very top of the park and makes for amazing views of the entire park. All of my boys had so much fun exploring all the rides! My favorite was the carousel!
After exploring most of the indoor area, we headed outside to Magic Island. To get to Magic Island you cross a bridge that is so beautiful especially with all the cherry blossoms in bloom. It also leads to the perfect photo spot overlooking the Lotte World Castle. Magic Island sits right on Seokchon Lake, which is the most beautiful lake in Seoul to walk around and take in the magic of the cherry blossoms. There is also amazing views of Lotte World Tower which is the 5th tallest building in the world and the tallest in all of Korea! I would have loved to go up in it but we ran out of time! See if you can spot it in some of the pictures!
Watching the sunset over the park and the cherry blossoms was so beautiful. Then you watch as the park is all lit up at night! There is also an amazing parade inside the park that is one of the best I have ever seen! All of my boys had the best day exploring Lotte World!
The next morning we got up early to head to the DMZ. Again, this is a place I never thought I would visit. The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and Joint Security Area (JSA) stretch for just over a mile on either side of the border between North Korea and South Korea. We decided to book our DMZ tour through the Dragon Hill Lodge, and it was the perfect tour. I learned so much about the Korean War and the history of Korea from our tour guide that I did not know. The tour stopped at several locations along the way. We were also able to go down in the tunnels that separate North and South Korea. You are not allowed to take pictures in the tunnels but at the end you can look through a little hole in the tunnel and see the North. The walk through the tunnels was definitely not an easy walk. It was very long and tight in some places. At the end of the tour, we visited Dorasan Train Station that connects the North and South. It was an amazing day, and my boys loved to learn all about the history. Braydon enjoyed it the most, and he is my son that wanted to go home when the tensions were so high between our countries.
After we returned from our tour, we decided to rest for awhile at the hotel and then head to Myeongdong Market for some food and shopping. If you love Korean beauty products this is definitely the place for you. It is a beauty lovers paradise. One of my sweet friends went to Korea all the time and would always bring me back the most amazing face masks. Myeongdong also has clothing shops, restaurants, cafes, and the most amazing street food. We had to try a little of all the street foods and everything was so delicious! My favorite place was Milky Bee Ice Cream! They have perfect rose shaped ice cream in several different flavors. You have to try one if you are ever in Seoul!
Before visiting Seoul, I was not sure we would have enough to do. Brandon kept telling me what an amazing city it is. He was absolutely right, and there was so much that I didn’t have time to fit in. I need to go back and finish my Seoul bucket list before we leave Okinawa. Seoul now has a piece of my heart!
When we moved to Okinawa in 2016, tensions with North Korea were high. Over the next year, every time I turned on the news it was talking about a potential war. That same year, I would attend several emergency evacuation briefs in case they had to evacuate the families off this island. All I could picture in my head was a scene out of Titanic. All the women and children would be evacuated, but we had to leave our husbands behind. Even my older boys knew what was happening, and Braydon wanted to go home. I told him that at any time Daddy thinks we need to leave he will tell us. And I told Brandon the same thing…if you think we need to go home tell me before any evacuation might happen.
During all of this, I told Brandon I would never visit South Korea. I did not want to take my boys over there if anything were to happen. Fast forward three years later and there I was planning our next vacation to see the cherry blossoms in Korea. I am so thankful that the tensions with the North have calmed down so that we had the opportunity to visit this amazing country.
Brandon travels to Korea all the time, usually a few times a month. A few years ago, he saw all the beautiful cherry blossoms. He knows how much I love cherry blossoms and he couldn’t wait to bring me to see them. Korea is only a quick fight from Okinawa. We flew Peach airlines to Incheon Airport. The airport had robots that would meet you and help you with any questions you might have. The boys had the best time questioning the robot.
We decided to rent a car and take a road trip through Korea to see the cherry blossoms. Brandon also signed up to run the Cherry Blossom Marathon so our first stop would be to Gyeongju. It was late by the time we got to Gyeongju, but we were able to see all the cherry blossoms lit up at night.
We stayed at the Gyeongju Hilton, and I highly recommend it. The view from our room was absolutely magical. The hotel sits right on Lake Bomun, which is one of the best places to view the cherry blossoms. There are lots of restaurants within walking distance and even a Starbucks right next door to get all your cherry blossom drinks and snacks.
The next morning we took a short road trip up to the Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival. It’s held every year around the first week in April. It’s the biggest cherry blossom festival in Korea. The two main areas to view the cherry blossoms are Yeojwacheon Stream and Gyeonghwa Station. We really needed a full day to see all the cherry blossoms, and it does get very crowded in the afternoon so I recommend getting there as early as possible. We were only able to visit Gyeonghwa Station because of our limited time. It was absolutely beautiful to see the trees lined on the side of the train. There were lots of vendors selling all kinds of amazing street food and cherry blossom snacks and souvenirs.
It was late afternoon by the time we got back to the hotel from the festival. The boys just wanted to relax in their rooms so Brandon and I headed up to the lounge to watch the sunset over the lake. We had to get to sleep early so Brandon could be ready for the Cherry Blossom Marathon the next day!
While the boys were getting ready for bed, I headed down to take a walk around the lake to see the trees all lit up at night! It was such a magical sight!
The best time to have the cherry blossoms all to yourself is early in the morning. The boys and I got up early and took a walk around the lake while Brandon started his marathon. We had so much fun taking pictures and stopping at Starbucks for warm drinks and muffins.
After Starbucks, we met Brandon at the finish line! I was so proud of him! He amazes me more every day. I can’t even imagine running that far. He had an awesome time for this marathon. We headed back to the hotel through the cherry blossoms that were starting to fall off. It looked like it was snowing cherry blossoms. It was a magical experience!
Before we moved to Okinawa, Brandon attended USMC Command and Staff College in Quantico and there were several international students at the school. While working in Korea, he met his new counterpart from the ROK Marines that he would be working with. It just so happens that he was one of the international students at the school with Brandon. He invited us to meet his family and set up a beautiful lunch for us. He had an entire room reserved for us in a hotel that overlooked the cherry blossoms. He has two boys that love beyblades and so do my boys. They were able to battle each other while we ate lunch. It was such a neat experience!
We finally said goodbye to our new friends, and headed to Daegu to visit E-world and see the starlight cherry blossom festival. It ended up being a little bit of a disaster. I never imagined so many people would come to see the starlight festival and it took us hours just to go a few miles. I would recommend going on a weekday for this festival and to get there early. We did stay for a little while and I was able to get a few pictures!
After several wonderful days of adventures, we headed up to Seoul to see the cherry blossoms and have a few more adventures along the way!
