Relaxing in Phukek

We arrived at our hotel near Bang Tao beach. We are staying at the Outrigger resort, part of the Laguna development. It is very beautiful, but there are not that many people here. This is a large development with many properties for sale - the real estate boom even reached here.

Arrived in Chiang Mai

After a long trip, we jumped right into it with an awesome cooking class and followed that up with a short walk around the old town with visits to a couple of temples. Verbecks-1, jet lag-0.

I decided to leave my computer behind, traveling with just my iPad. I just realized I can't get photos on the blog unless I take them with the iPad itself so all I have is a picture of Joanne figuring out our next steps.

If you are traveling to Thailand try to make sure you bring a phone that uses a SIM card. I picked up a free SIM card and the rate on calls is just .05 per minute even to the US.

In case you are wondering about the Thailand flooding, we are unaffected here and there were no problems at the Bangkok airport.

The Verbeck World Chaos Tour resumes

After seemingly leaving a trail of chaos behind us this past summer in Italy, Greece, Egypt, Israel, Turkey, etc. we are now heading to flooded Thailand where we seem to have fallen behind the chaos. Our original plan was to stay in Bangkok upon arrival, but we have decided to wait to see if the receding floods improves conditions by the end of our trip. The boys are staying home with Nana, so this is the first trip longer than a weekend Joanne and I have had since out honeymoon.

Look for our check-ins from the SPOT GPS device on my facebook page.

Final Post

Final Post

Back where it all began in Milan, Italy 110 days ago!

It's been an amazing journey!

We've learned a lot about each other had history lessons galore!

We are talking about our next trip which is to begin in October but all looking forward to our flight back tomorrow.

Thank you for following our blog, for your emails and skype conversations.

We have missed you all and can't believe the first leg is done already!

Love to you all,

Mark, Joanne, Hunter and Nathaniel

Chillin' out in Piedmont

Final Countdown to the trip

Chillin' out in Piedmond, Italy

Mark enjoyed the technology of the Italians cart system for shopping- Put in a Euro get a cart, put the cart back and get your Euro back. We all enjoyed having to not go out for dinner for every meal, but Mark's patience for grocery shopping hasn't improved!

Bottom picture is the boys enjoying more water!

Lake Como, Italy

Lake Como, Italy

Nathaniel enjoying the water and all of us enjoying the amazing views.

No George Clooney, but the weather was hot and a great way to end summer.

Joanne

Dinner in Trieste, Italy

Trieste,  Italy

At a popular dining spot in Trieste, our mom wanted to order the fish and you could only get it for two. This is a picture of the gentleman who not only shared dinner with my mom, but who ate dinner with us. I learned my Spanish is close to Italian and was the only one who could really speak to him.

Hunter