Eight months after our first Thailand trip, we were back. Same country, same coast, same questionable decision-making — but this time with twice the children. Noah was now 2 and a half, and Vitus was 3 months old. We had convinced ourselves that since the first trip went so well, this one would be a breeze. We had also apparently forgotten that the first trip involved one toddler and zero infants, which is not quite the same logistical challenge as one toddler AND one infant who needs breastfeeding every two hours in 35-degree heat.
Day 1 — December 13: The remote beach reality check
Our first night was at a very remote beach near Krabi. The kind of place you pick on a map because it looks beautiful and secluded, while conveniently ignoring the part where "secluded" also means "no air conditioning, no shops, and you are basically camping with a newborn in the tropics." The beach itself was gorgeous — soft sand, dramatic limestone rocks, and a local family nearby who were incredibly welcoming. Noah absolutely loved it, running around the beach at sunset like he owned the place.
He was fascinated by the limestone rock formations and spent ages climbing around and exploring. At 2 and a half, everything is an adventure, and a tropical beach with weird rocks is basically Disneyland.
The reality check came that night. No AC in tropical heat with a 3-month-old baby turned out to be about as restful as you'd imagine. By morning, we had made the executive decision that this trip was going to look a bit different from our first freewheeling backpacking adventure. We would be heading to Ao Nang and staying put for a while. The dream of moving from beach to beach with two kids under three? Let's just say it was quietly shelved.
Days 2–5 — Settling in, and getting sick
We moved to Ao Nang and found a proper hotel room with AC. Vitus seemed relieved. Actually, we were all relieved. The room became our base camp for the next couple of weeks, which was not exactly the backpacking image we had in mind, but survival was the priority.
Then the first week happened. Line and Vitus both got sick. Vitus had a fever and wouldn't breastfeed, which for a 3-month-old in Thailand's heat is genuinely scary and not really a situation you can brush off. Line wasn't doing much better. There were some properly stressful days where we wondered if we'd made a terrible mistake bringing a newborn to the tropics.
But here's the thing — we got through it. Vitus recovered, Line recovered, and within a few days everyone was back to normal. The photo of Noah lying next to Vitus on the bed, looking absolutely delighted to have his little brother next to him, pretty much sums up the mood once the worst was over.
The elephant day — December 16
OK, we need to address the elephant in the room. Literally. On day four we went elephant riding, and yes, looking at it now with 2025 eyes, we know it wasn't great. But back in 2012, elephant riding was on every guidebook's "must do" list. We genuinely believed we were visiting a sanctuary that had rescued elephants from the logging industry. The staff told us the elephants were well cared for, and we believed them because we wanted to believe them.
In Jesper's defence, that fist pump was because Noah was having the absolute time of his life. He was sitting up there pointing at everything, shouting at the trees, and basically treating the elephant like the world's slowest, most amazing taxi. The backdrop of karst mountains and jungle was unreal.
Noah also got to meet a baby elephant by the river afterwards, and the look on his face is pure magic. Green hat, big eyes, tiny human next to a not-so-tiny elephant — it was a moment he talked about for months.
Would we do it again today? No. We know better now. Would we pretend it didn't happen? Also no. It was 2012, we were naive, and Noah loved every second of it. That's the honest version.
Ao Nang beach life — Days 6–10
Once everyone was healthy again, we settled into a rhythm that was less "backpacking adventure" and more "really nice beach holiday with two small children." We swam in the warm sea with the karst islands as a backdrop. Noah was in his element — splashing around in the shallow water, building sandcastles, and generally living his best 2-year-old life.
Ao Nang beach is one of those places where the scenery does all the heavy lifting. You can sit on the sand and stare at these impossible limestone cliffs rising out of impossibly blue water and feel like you're in a movie. Noah didn't care about any of that — he just wanted to know if there were crabs.
The sunsets were ridiculous. Every single evening, the sky would put on a show that would make a painter think "nobody would believe this." Line and Noah would sit on the beach watching the sun go down, and it felt like we had front row seats to something truly special.
Vitus, meanwhile, was doing what 3-month-old babies do on the beach: looking mildly confused and being held by mum. Line carried him everywhere and he seemed to tolerate the whole "tropical beach" situation with impressive calm for someone who had only been alive for 12 weeks.
Family life on the road — the honest version
Let's be real: traveling with a 2-year-old and a 3-month-old is not always Instagram-worthy. Some evenings, dinner happened on the hotel room floor because going to a restaurant with two kids in meltdown mode was just not happening. And you know what? Floor dinner with the kids was fine. Sometimes the most memorable travel moments are the unglamorous ones.
But then Jesper would take both boys out to the beach and suddenly everything was perfect again. There's a photo of him sitting on a towel with Noah on one side and Vitus on the other, with the sea behind them, and it's basically the whole trip in one image — slightly chaotic, completely beautiful.
Christmas in Thailand
Spending Christmas in Thailand when you're Danish feels slightly illegal. There is supposed to be snow, and candles, and "risàlamande", and a Christmas tree that smells like a forest. Instead, we had 32 degrees, palm trees, and Noah was running around in shorts. But we made it work. We found Christmas lights at what looked like a night market, and Noah was completely captivated, sitting there in his little outfit taking it all in.
There was one quiet evening where Line lay in bed with both boys, Noah cuddled up next to her and Vitus sleeping on her arm. No fancy Christmas dinner, no presents yet — just the four of us in a hotel room in Thailand. It was a different kind of Christmas, but honestly, it didn't feel like we were missing anything.
Christmas Day itself was spent on the beach, obviously. Noah played in the sand while the longtail boats glided past in the golden evening light. It was not a white Christmas, but it might have been the most beautiful one we've ever had.
And because it's not a family holiday without someone being thrown in the air, here's Jesper launching Noah into the sky on the beach. Noah's face: pure delight. Line's face (off camera): pure terror.
Railay Beach — December 26
The day after Christmas we took a longtail boat to Railay Beach, and it was the highlight of the trip. Railay is only accessible by boat, which makes it feel special before you even step onto the sand. And then you do step onto the sand and you see those massive limestone walls rising up behind the beach and you think: OK, this is what Thailand looks like in people's dreams.
Noah was in absolute heaven. He ran around with a boogie board that was bigger than him, dug holes, built castles, and generally treated Railay Beach like his personal playground. The water was warm and clear and shallow enough that he could paddle around safely.
Vitus spent the Railay day on a blanket on the beach, watching the world go by with that calm, slightly bewildered expression that all 3-month-olds seem to have. He was surrounded by possibly the most beautiful scenery on earth and his main concern was whether anyone was going to feed him soon.
Sunsets and the great finish
The last few days of the trip were magical. Whatever stress the first week had brought was completely forgotten, and we just enjoyed being a family on a beautiful beach. The sunsets in Ao Nang kept getting better, as if Thailand was showing off for our final days.
Back at the hotel, the boys were inseparable. Noah had fully embraced his role as big brother, and there's a photo of them lying together in bed that makes the whole trip worth it — two little humans who had no idea they'd just spent Christmas on a beach in Thailand, but seemed perfectly happy about it anyway.
The silhouette sunsets were almost comically beautiful. Every evening, Jesper and Noah would walk to the water's edge and stand there watching the sun disappear, and every evening we thought "surely this one can't be as good as yesterday" and every evening Thailand proved us wrong.
The verdict
Was this trip as epic as our first? Honestly, no. Calling it backpacking might be stretching it — it looked a lot more like a standard charter holiday with a couple of adventurous day trips mixed in. We didn't hop between islands. We didn't sleep in bamboo huts on the beach (well, except that one night, and look how that turned out). We mostly stayed in one place, dealt with sickness, ate on the floor, and watched a lot of sunsets.
But it was our Christmas. It was the first time all four of us traveled together. It gave us Railay Beach, and elephant memories (complicated as those are), and those ridiculous sunsets, and the knowledge that even when things don't go to plan, you can still have a pretty wonderful time.
We went home to Denmark on New Year's Eve and started 2013 knowing that we were a family who traveled. Not perfectly, not always gracefully, but joyfully. And that was enough.
Read our first Thailand trip: Backpacking Phang Nga and Phi Phi with a 1-year-old →
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