After The Waves: Our Itinerary
Playing the long game with unfinished business on the other side of the world.
I have two more articles to share that were written by Usheen to round out the news articles package. The difference being that the first two were written about us, and the second two were written by one of us. She wants to give them a read - for the first time in more than fifteen years - before she gives me the go-ahead to post them. I also have the email we wrote together and sent to our mutual friends back at home. That will go up at some point, too. We’re also working on an outline for a podcast that will live here on Substack.
We talked a couple of days ago about what we want to do with the podcast and had a long conversation that was full of ideas and thoughts on the beginning of our plan to return in 2024. There is a lot to do in the next couple of years before the 20th Anniversary, but we are both in agreement that we want to do it.
The interesting thing is that having had this idea of writing about this experience and the desire to go back in my head for so long now, I have my idea of what it looks like. My vision is going back and repeating the same itinerary, city for city, and then completing the trip in the way it was supposed to have been done. When we talked on Sunday, one of the first things she said was that “well, we don’t need to go back to Chiang Mai because we’ve already been there”. I chuckle to myself recalling her saying that because it’s a perfect snippet of how our personalities differ.
We’ve been friends since 1998, and have traveled together on multiple occasions, both in groups and just the two of us, within the U.S. and internationally. We have a lot in common, but we are very different personality wise. She is go-go-go and gets restless very easily. I can go-go-go when I need to, but I’m also happy not to leave the house for days at a time.
Not surprisingly, our travel styles are also very different - she’s happy to fit three cities into a 5-day trip and I am happy to immerse myself in just one - but for some reason we work really well together when trying to compromise and figure out a plan.
That ability certainly served us well in December of 2004. As we begin to plan and compromise on the direction of the podcast and the return trip, I wanted to share the original itinerary (that she basically designed, and I was happy to go along with).
Thursday, December 16
- Emirates Flight 202 JFK to Dubai Leaving 11:30pm
Friday, December 17
- Arrive Dubai at 9:05pm
- Accommodations: Staying with Usheen’s friend
Saturday, December 18
- Full day Dubai
- Accommodations: Staying with Usheen’s friend
Sunday, December 19
- Emirates Flight 386 Dubai to Bangkok 8:25am
- Arrive Bangkok at 5:20pm
- Accommodations: Grand Hyatt Erwan
Monday, December 20
- Full day Bangkok
- Accommodations: Grand Hyatt Erwan
Tuesday, December 21
- Thai Airways Flight 106 Bangkok to Chiang Mai Leaving 10:20am
- Arrive Chiang Mai at 11:30am
- Accommodations: Chiang Mai Plaza Hotel
Wednesday, December 22
- Full day Chiang Mai
- Accommodations: Chiang Mai Plaza Hotel
Thursday, December 23
- Full day Chiang Mai
- Accommodations: Chiang Mai Plaza Hotel
Friday, December 24
- Half day Chiang Mai
- Thai Airways Fight 310 Chiang Mai to Bangkok Leaving 5:15pm and Arriving 6:25pm with a one hour stop. Thai Airways Flight 215 Bangkok to Phuket Leaving 7:25pm and Arriving 8:45pm
- Accommodations: Baan Laimai Beach Resort
Saturday, December 25
- Full day Phuket
- Accommodations: Baan Laimai Beach Resort
Saturday, December 25 was the last normal day of the trip, and I guess in some ways, was the last normal day of our lives. The earthquake happened right about 8am in the Indian Ocean, just off the island of Sumatra, and the first of two waves hit our hotel in Phuket at approximately 10:00am.
Sunday, December 26
- Full day Phuket
- Check out Baan Laimai in afternoon for other side of island
(we never made it to the other side of the island)
- Accommodations: JW Marriott Phuket
Monday, December 27
- Full day Phuket
- Accommodations: JW Marriott Phuket)
Tuesday, December 28
- Bangkok Airways Flight 252 Phuket to Koh Samui Leaving 9:20am
- Arriving Koh Samui at 10:10am
- Accommodations: Amari Palm Reef Resort
Wednesday, December 29
- Full day Koh Samui
- Accommodations: Amari Palm Reef Resort
Thursday, December 30
- Full day Koh Samui
- Accommodations: Amari Palm Reef Resort
Friday, December 31
- Bangkok Airways Flight 120 Koh Sumai to Bangkok Leaving 9:30am
- Arriving Bangkok at 11:00am
- Accommodations: Davis Bangkok
Saturday, January 1
- Half day Bangkok
- Usheen: Family Wedding & Reunion Thai Airways Flight 501 Bangkok to Karachi Leaving 7:15pm and Arriving Karachi at 10:50pm
Sunday, January 2
- Kim: Back to U.S. Emirates Fight 385 Bangkok to Dubai departing 1:20am arriving 5:00am Connecting to Dubai to Bangkok departing 8:00am arriving JFK 1:25 pm
Saturday, January 8
- Usheen: Emirates Flight 605 Karachi to Dubai Leaving 5:40am and Arriving Dubai 6:45am. Connecting to Emirates Flight 201 Leaving 8:00am and Arriving JFK 12:50pm
As I scroll through this itinerary, and especially after talking with Ush on Sunday, I’m happy to see some details that I might not have immediately remembered poke through - some good, some bad.
But most of what I see here is a lot of unfinished business. I’ve played a long game on a lot in life - some wins, some loses. I’m hoping to take the W on this one.
© 2022 Kim Selby, All rights reserved. All photography © Kim Selby unless otherwise credited.
I remember that day well. I heard it on the news and sent a message to Maria: where are Kim and Usheen? Somewhere in Thailand, was her answer. “You need to turn on the news.” That’s when I messaged Usheen: where are you? Are you safe? She sent me an on-the-scene report on my original Blackberry. Unfortunately, no way to preserve it. I put that day in the same category as 9-11. Glad you are going back to take care of unfinished business. Hugs