We had a lovely Saturday which featured a monkey caught on camera, a Hawaiian-style pizza and a beach wedding Brian wanted to shoot some video for the blog showing you what this house was like. He started out his task in a deliberate film-maker sort of way but ended up shooting 25 minutes of this.Continue reading “Diani Beach, Kenya; Day 12”
Author Archives: brianfjohnston
Diani Beach, Kenya; Day 9
We chose Wednesday for the day of our “Sea Safari”. Our spot was off the coast of Southeastern Kenya to the Kisite Mpunguti Marine National Park. Early this morning we took a one hour drive down to the town of Shimoni and hired a boat and guide to take us snorkeling. This Sea Safari (namedContinue reading “Diani Beach, Kenya; Day 9”
Diani Beach, Kenya; Day 6
We haven’t posted much about our place here in Diani Beach so today we thought it would be good to share one of the benefits of staying here. Actually not just this place, but all the rental houses in Diani Beach (AirBnB, VRBO whathaveyou) seem to come with a staff included in the rental rate.Continue reading “Diani Beach, Kenya; Day 6”
Diani Beach, Kenya; Day 5
Brian and CreeperPuppy are the 2 Adventurers that look for barbershops everywhere they go because their hair needs a trim every 6 weeks or so. They received a cut in Boquette, Panama where the barber spoke no English except at the end when he said “ten dollars” for the 2 cuts. The last cut theyContinue reading “Diani Beach, Kenya; Day 5”
Diani Beach, Kenya; Day 4
We spent the majority of the day hanging out next to the Indian Ocean. We are about 4 degrees south of the equator so the water was quite warm and comfortable. The beach itself is renowned for its consistent winds, especially at this time of year. We were able to watch several kite surfers takeContinue reading “Diani Beach, Kenya; Day 4”
Diani Beach, Kenya; Day 2
We have managed to get pretty far away from home and have occasionally found ourselves in strange circumstances with shady characters but we haven’t had any issues with crime…until today. After five consecutive days of 6am (or earlier) wake up calls for game drives and travel the 5 Adventurers slept in. We ate breakfast atContinue reading “Diani Beach, Kenya; Day 2”
Masai Mara, Kenya; Day 3
Our Monday began with a visit from a troop of baboons which crossed paths with 4 Adventurers on their way from breakfast at the Mara Chui camp. We were also informed shortly thereafter that a cackle of hyenas were on the property last night. Additionally, a solitary elephant came near the night before. We wereContinue reading “Masai Mara, Kenya; Day 3”
Masai Mara, Kenya; Day 1
Our 5 Adventurers went on a quest today to see the “Big 5” in one of the most famous game reserves in the world; Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve. We arrived at our lodgings in the Mara Chui Camp in the mid-afternoon. We had a late lunch, a little quiet time before heading back intoContinue reading “Masai Mara, Kenya; Day 1”
Bangkok, Thailand; Day 8
Today was our final day here in Thailand. The 5 Adventurers leave on an overnight flight to Africa. We had one last chance for a field trip to this very fun Asian mega-city. Brian visited the National Museum of Bangkok which held the answers to many of our questions about what happened to some ofContinue reading “Bangkok, Thailand; Day 8”
Bangkok, Thailand; Day 6
What does a King Cobra, the Thai Royal family and a laundromat have in common? They were among today’s sights and Adventures during our 6th day in Bangkok. We awoke planning to get a pre-departure Covid-19 PCR test required for our next port of entry in Nairobi. However, we were also planning to see theContinue reading “Bangkok, Thailand; Day 6”
Bangkok, Thailand; Day 2
We have a list of desired destinations and fun activities for our week in Bangkok and got started on completing these right away. We wanted to take a long boat ride in one of the canals and we were able to achieve that goal in the morning. We are staying in the Old City whichContinue reading “Bangkok, Thailand; Day 2”
Kanchanaburi, Thailand; Day 4
Tiffany has had a strong desire to ride a train on our world tour. The other 4 Adventurers talked her out of the 2 week Trans- Siberian trip across Russia and out of the 1 week trip across Canada. But they relented today with a ride on the so-called Death Railway. We visited a WarContinue reading “Kanchanaburi, Thailand; Day 4”
Kanchanaburi, Thailand; Day 2
We began this school day with a field trip to the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery. This cemetery honours the remains of the captured Allied soldiers and airmen who died as POWs building the Burma-Thailand railroad during the Second World War. There are 5,000 British Commonwealth and 1,200 Dutch casualties commemorated in this cemetery (all of theContinue reading “Kanchanaburi, Thailand; Day 2”
Ayutthaya, Thailand; Day 2
Today, we rode in a tuk tuk, hired 4 Grab cars (think Uber-Asia) and rode a river boat – yet we still walked 5 miles. Phew, no wonder we’re tired. We haven’t walked this much since our hike to watch a sea turtle lay eggs in Tortuguero, Costa Rica last September. Fun fact; those eggsContinue reading “Ayutthaya, Thailand; Day 2”
Sukhothai, Thailand; Day 2
We enjoyed our breakfast at the Thai Thai Resort and needed every calorie consumed to help is with our 4+ miles of walking the Old City of Sukhothai, Thailand. We started the day with a tuk tuk ride which took us out to one of the oldest temples in the area. The Wat Si ChumContinue reading “Sukhothai, Thailand; Day 2”
Sukhothai, Thailand; Day 1
We really enjoyed our time in Chiang Mai these past 4 weeks. We did our best to burrow into the day-to-day of living there and also see the local sites. But after almost a month it was time to move on to see more of Thailand. We hired a van to drive us 4 hoursContinue reading “Sukhothai, Thailand; Day 1”
Chiang Mai, Thailand; Day 28
On our 4th and final Sunday we finally made it to the Chiang Mai Sunday Walking Market. This is a major event where the municipality closes several streets and vendors, tourists and locals mingle to hear music, eat food and buy and sell all kinds of items. The walled Old City is the location forContinue reading “Chiang Mai, Thailand; Day 28”
Chiang Mai, Thailand: Day 27
We made a school day out of some visits to two temples in the area. Tiffany was fond of telling the kids that “we had ‘Wats’ to do today”. The kids weren’t amused by that pun either. Our first stop was to visit Wat Phat That Doi Kham which features three enormous Buddha statues inContinue reading “Chiang Mai, Thailand: Day 27”
Chiang Mai, Thailand; Day 24
At least one of our kids noticed an advertisement for a quarry waterpark in Chiang Mai. The photo looked like a death tourist trap but we were interested in a recreational outing and agreed to give it a chance. The place was called the Grand Canyon Water Park park and it was themed US WesternContinue reading “Chiang Mai, Thailand; Day 24”
Chiang Mai, Thailand; Day 22
We visited one of the most famous Buddhist temples in Chiang Mai called Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep. The legend of this temple is fascinating and worth a five minute read here. It was a school day today so the kids were positioned to look, listen, and learn. This temple is named for the mountain thatContinue reading “Chiang Mai, Thailand; Day 22”
Chiang Mai, Thailand; Day 20
It was another wonderful Saturday here in Thailand as we relaxed, enjoyed a pool day and had a Dad date (with CreeperPuppy). He and Brian went to the Dairy Queen to catch up on life and other interesting topics on a 1-on-1 basis. It was Children’s Day in Thailand – celebrated every year on theContinue reading “Chiang Mai, Thailand; Day 20”
Chiang Mai, Thailand; Day 18
We are going to try to get more days of school out of the house (visiting temples, seeing historic sites, etc.) but today was a tablet school day for the kids. We did start a new book today. You may remember that we have read three books as a shared reading experience (Alice in Wonderland,Continue reading “Chiang Mai, Thailand; Day 18”
Chiang Mai, Thailand; Day 17
We had so much fun Monday on CreeperKitty’s birthday that we couldn’t fit it all into one post and decided to share it on our quiet Wednesday. After visiting the Umbrella Factory we went a little ways down the road to a place called Art in Paradise – there we got a lesson in perspectiveContinue reading “Chiang Mai, Thailand; Day 17”
Chiang Mai, Thailand; Day 15
The 5 Adventures Academy had a field trip to a factory today. It may be a bit different from what you may normally think of as a factory. The Borsang Umbrella Center makes thousands of handmade umbrellas and parasols every year. The Borsang village is the originator of the paper umbrella craft (yes, including thoseContinue reading “Chiang Mai, Thailand; Day 15”
Chiang Mai, Thailand; Day 13
Happy New Year to all of our friends and family. In June 2021, we began our global adventure. We have been to many places so far but perhaps not nearly as many as we had hoped before this Pandemic changed everything. We are hoping to get to Africa, the Middle East and Europe in theContinue reading “Chiang Mai, Thailand; Day 13”
Chiang Mai, Thailand; Day 12
Many of the stores and restaurants in Chiang Mai are closed for New Year’s Day. We had also learned that some were closed today as well. We decided to take this Friday off from school to give us a jump on the holiday weekend like many others here in Thailand. Today we indulged our AmericanContinue reading “Chiang Mai, Thailand; Day 12”
Chiang Mai, Thailand; Day 10
Computer-based lessons are unavoidable for the 5 Adventures Academy but we try to throw in variations every chance we can. Yesterday, we visited some Buddhist temples to follow-up with Brian’s religion section on Monday. Today, we played a game to follow up on Tiffany’s lesson teaching us all how to count confidently up to 13Continue reading “Chiang Mai, Thailand; Day 10”
Chiang Mai, Thailand; Day 8
In anticipation of our upcoming visits to some of the Buddhist temples in the area (there are over 300 in Chiang Mai alone) Brian prepared a presentation for school today on the fundamentals of Buddhism. The students seemed engaged by the material and provided their own perspectives on 4 Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path.Continue reading “Chiang Mai, Thailand; Day 8”
Chiang Mai, Thailand; Day 6
Merry Christmas to all! We had a wonderful time today celebrating Christmas and opening gifts from each other. The kids loved their gifts from Santa and Brian & Tiffany were grateful for a happy and healthy family. Here is one quick image of the morning disarray. We hope that all of you enjoy the companyContinue reading “Chiang Mai, Thailand; Day 6”
Chiang Mai, Thailand; Day 4
We had a fun day of school today finishing up the group reading of The One and Only Ivan by watching the Disney film from last year. Apparently they do this in public school as well (i.e., read a book and then watch a film adaptation). The kids loved the movie and the teachers thoughtContinue reading “Chiang Mai, Thailand; Day 4”
Chiang Mai, Thailand; Day 2
After school this morning the 5 Adventurers spent some time apart gathering additional ingredients for a very Merry Christmas. We decided a while ago that we’d try to make Christmas special and familiar for the kids even though we would be in Asia. We also wanted to avoid carrying gifts for each other across 12Continue reading “Chiang Mai, Thailand; Day 2”
Phuket, Thailand; Day 11
Today was our last full day here in Phuket and we chose to visit some of our favorite places to do some of our favorite activities. The boys spent a few hours in the Kid’s Club. Mom and Suaram had a long conversation in the pool. Dad read Dostoyevsky in the shade with a coldContinue reading “Phuket, Thailand; Day 11”
Phuket, Thailand; Day 10
We were looking forward to visiting the market at Nai Yang Beach which is held on Saturday afternoon but were fearful that a rain storm might put a damper on the shopping. Fortunately the rains held off and we were able to sort through a wide variety of items for sale. Tiffany was right toContinue reading “Phuket, Thailand; Day 10”
Phuket, Thailand; Day 9
The faculty and student body of the 5 Adventures Academy were happy to see the school week come to a close today. We intend to press ahead with another few days of school before the Christmas weekend but were glad to see the end of our “resort school” week with all of the distractions andContinue reading “Phuket, Thailand; Day 9”
Phuket, Thailand; Day 5
Monday morning meant back to school for everyone. Typically we will have a segment for Mathematics and a segment for Language Arts. Today we added a creative block and gave the kids an assignment. They were given 25 minutes to create a new game of their own invention. They needed to write down at leastContinue reading “Phuket, Thailand; Day 5”
Phuket, Thailand; Day 3
As a Saturday, we took the day off from school which meant that we could get a morning pool session in. It worked out great except for the quality of the hotel sunscreen which left some of the Adventurers more pink than they would like. We walked down the beach at lunch and had aContinue reading “Phuket, Thailand; Day 3”
Phuket, Thailand; Day 1
4 of the 5 Adventurers awoke early this morning (2am local time) but Mom was resolved to get onto a more accommodating sleep schedule. After reading for about 90 minutes, “lights back out” was declared. Surprisingly, all were soon asleep until after the sun came up which wasn’t too bad for our first day ofContinue reading “Phuket, Thailand; Day 1”
Travel to Thailand, Day 3
Our 5 Adventurers arrived in Phuket, Thailand this afternoon. We are all very weary from our four flights of travel but are in good spirits. The kids have been remarkably patient through it all. Here is a quick recap of our 3 day journey half-way-around-the globe Hours 1-3: Depart Leesburg, Ohio, lunch with Mamoh, andContinue reading “Travel to Thailand, Day 3”
Leesburg, Ohio Part 3; Day 3
The extended visit(s) at Mamoh’s house in 2021 are nearing their terminus as the Adventurers have begun packing for the next legs of the World Tour. Brian and Tiffany took some time in the garage considering the assorted bins and items which were so vital during the Summer portion of the Tour but may notContinue reading “Leesburg, Ohio Part 3; Day 3”
Driving Day to Leesburg, Ohio
Before we left our friends Lynn & Troy and left for Ohio again, the kids were able to try something new and still fairly novel (for them and Brian & Tiffany). We may not have planned to have a virtual adventure before 9a today but CreeperKitty caught Brian getting a VR lesson from Troy lastContinue reading “Driving Day to Leesburg, Ohio”
Raleigh, North Carolina; Day 2
Field trip day at the 5 Adventurers Academy. Today our road school visited the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh. First off, we visited Benchwarmer Bagels for some morning nourishment by CreeperKitty’s choice (seriously, that kid lives for bagels). Dad chose an everything bagel with lox, deviled egg spread and shaved onions.Continue reading “Raleigh, North Carolina; Day 2”
Raleigh, North Carolina; Day 1
We satisfied ourselves with the state of our timber farm in Chapin, South Carolina (everything is growing fine) and moved on to see friends and relatives in Raleigh, North Carolina. As part of his post-surgery process, Brian needs to exercise each day. Today he walked downtown Columbia, South Carolina which is a very pleasant cityContinue reading “Raleigh, North Carolina; Day 1”
Driving Day to Knoxville, Tennessee
Our 5 Adventurers left Leesburg, Ohio for a southern road trip today. Before leaving Ohio, we stopped in Georgetown to watch the Ohio State vs. Michigan football game. Some of you may know that Tiffany’s parents are Ohio State University graduates and remain staunch Buckeye fans. Some of you may also know that in theContinue reading “Driving Day to Knoxville, Tennessee”
Leesburg, Ohio Part 2; Day 6 (Thanksgiving ’21)
Mamoh’s house was the destination for Thanksgiving dinner for Tiffany, her sisters, her parents and their families. Mamoh was responsible for the turkey, dressing and hosting. Nearly everything else came through the door in the arms of one of her loved ones. This made for a collaboration of old favorites and new discoveries. We allContinue reading “Leesburg, Ohio Part 2; Day 6 (Thanksgiving ’21)”
Leesburg, Ohio Part 2; Day 4
Brian had said several times in the past month that “walking to the barber” was his most aspirational goal. Not just because he needed a haircut (though he did). It should be noted that the barber is a kilometer away from Mamoh’s house and that until Saturday Brian couldn’t walk to the bathroom without excruciatingContinue reading “Leesburg, Ohio Part 2; Day 4”
Leesburg, Ohio Part 2; Day 3
A quiet day with limited adventures here in Southern Ohio. Brian was able to test his newfound mobility by walking with the rest of the family to the Leesburg Library. At the library the kids were given a short book mark themed scavenger hunt. Upon completion the librarians awarded each of them a small bagContinue reading “Leesburg, Ohio Part 2; Day 3”
Leesburg, Ohio Part 2; Day 1
After Brian’s surgery, we returned to Mamoh’s house for recovery and to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday week. Brian is doing much better and was able to stand long enough to help with the dishes which he hadn’t taken on for weeks. We also got to see Tara and her son Blake who leaves for ColombiaContinue reading “Leesburg, Ohio Part 2; Day 1”
Cincinnati, Ohio; Day 6 (Back Surgery)
Today’s post will be a little different. Typically our posts will use “we” and “our” despite being primarily written by Brian or Tiffany and then edited by the other. This post will use “I”, “me”, and “my” because of the nature of today’s adventure. I (Brian) had back surgery performed today. Specifically, a Micro LumbarContinue reading “Cincinnati, Ohio; Day 6 (Back Surgery)”
Cincinnati, Ohio; Day 5
During school today, we had the kids choose between read-to-self (from parent-curated list), math facts online, or write an original piece meant for this blog. CreeperPuppy was brave enough to continue work on his opus The Hamburger Story, so check it out in the Kids Corner. He has started Book 2 of the story soContinue reading “Cincinnati, Ohio; Day 5”
Cincinnati, Ohio; Day 4
We had a fun day today with Busha and Grandpa Mike. The kids have been enjoying their morning waffle and cereal in the hotel lobby. We have learned to create limits on the toppings for said waffles. On the first morning of our complimentary hotel breakfast, Suaram came back from the waffle maker with aContinue reading “Cincinnati, Ohio; Day 4”
5 Adventures Together 