Slow Travel

Day 7 — What Bangkok Gave Back

Bangkok Thailand, Somewhere With Dani, Trina's Travel Journal /

Seven days ago, Bangkok was a place on a map. Today it feels like a place I know. Not completely. Not even close. But enough to recognize its rhythms. Enough to know when the city is waking up and when it is settling down. Enough to know that some of my favorite moments happened nowhere near the places travel guides told me to visit. Bangkok introduced itself slowly. First through airport doors and unfamiliar streets. Then through morning coffee. Canal walks. River boats. Bookstores. Markets. Conversations. Tiny moments that weren’t important until they were. Somewhere between the green toast, the 15-baht river boat, the 50-baht kanom krok, and the 499-baht custom sandals, this city stopped feeling unfamiliar. It started feeling welcoming. One of the greatest surprises wasn’t the temples or the skyline. It was the kindness. The stranger who pointed me toward the correct MRT ticket. The vendor who patiently explained a menu. The people who helped without expecting anything in return. Travel has a way of reminding you that most people are good. You just have to give them the opportunity to prove it. Renee and I laughed more than we planned. Walked farther than we expected. Got lost a few times. Found things we never would have discovered if we’d followed a strict itinerary. That’s the reward for leaving space in your schedule. The best parts of a journey rarely announce themselves ahead of time. They appear around corners. At market stalls. On riverboats. At coffee carts beside canals. This week wasn’t about checking attractions off a list. It was about learning how to move with a city instead of through it. Slow travel isn’t about seeing less. It’s about noticing more. And Bangkok rewards people who notice. As this chapter closes, I leave with favorite places, favorite meals, and favorite memories. But I leave with something else too. A reminder. The world is still full of places worth exploring. People worth meeting. Stories worth listening to. And journeys worth taking. Thank you, Bangkok. Until next time. — Trina & Renee Favorite Bangkok Discoveries ✈️ The Orange Flag Boat on the Chao Phraya River ☕ Uncle Tai’s Canal Coffee Cart 🥥 Fresh Kanom Krok at the Night Market 🛍️ Krung Thong Plaza’s Plus-Size Fashion Floors 👡 Custom-Made Sandals from Make A Shoes 📚 A Quiet Bangkok Bookstore and an Unfinished Book 💛 The Small Moments Between Destinations Shop the Bangkok Collection The outfits featured throughout this journey are available through LeJean Travel Essential Boutique. Renee’s Bangkok Look Special Khopkhun (Thank you) to SomewherewithDani Before arriving in Bangkok, we wanted a way to experience the city beyond the typical tourist attractions. Dani’s Bangkok Guide helped us confidently navigate neighborhoods, discover local food spots, use public transportation, and explore the city at our own pace without feeling overwhelmed. After seven days of following recommendations from the guide, these are the lessons we learned, the experiences we loved most, and why we would recommend it to other travelers visiting Bangkok. What I loved Lessons Learned Would We Recommend It? Absolutely. Whether you’re visiting Bangkok for a few days or planning a longer stay, SomewherewithDani’s Bangkok Guide offers practical advice, local discoveries, and enough flexibility to create your own adventure. Khopkhun Dani, for helping us experience a side of Bangkok we might have otherwise missed. Explore the guide: SomewherewithDaniVisit: https://lejeantravels2.com/tours/ Travel Beautifully. Move Intentionally. Where Movement Inspires Journeys This is the LeJean Travels Way For seven days, we followed curiosity through Bangkok. We wandered markets, crossed canals, rode river boats, discovered neighborhood cafés, sampled street food, got lost a few times, and found experiences we never expected. Some moments were planned. Many were not. The best ones usually weren’t. Travel isn’t about rushing from one attraction to the next. It’s about paying attention. It’s about leaving room for surprise. It’s about allowing a city to introduce itself on its own terms. Bangkok did exactly that. Thank you for following along with Trina and Renee on this journey. Until the next destination. — LeJean Travels ✈️ Travel Beautifully. Move Intentionally. Continue Exploring Bangkok → SomewherewithDani Guide Shop The Looks From This Journey → LeJean Travels

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Day 6 — Bangkok After Dark

Bangkok Food Adventures, Bangkok Thailand, Somewhere With Dani, Trina's Travel Journal /

June 11, 2026 Bangkok has two different night markets. The first one arrives around 6:30 PM. Families are still out. Vendors are setting up. The lights are beginning to glow, but daylight hasn’t completely surrendered. The pace feels relaxed. Curious. Like the city is stretching before a long evening. The second market arrives around 8:30 PM. By then the lanterns own the sky. Music spills from every corner. The walkways narrow as crowds grow thicker. The air smells like grilled meat, coconut, garlic, spices, and something sweet you can’t quite identify until you’re standing directly in front of it. Tonight I met both versions. The evening started with a trip on the MRT. If you’ve never navigated Bangkok’s transit system before, there’s always a moment where you stand in front of the ticket machine pretending you know exactly what you’re doing. I did not. Thankfully, Bangkok remains one of those cities where strangers quietly step in when needed. One man pointed at the correct button, smiled, and walked away before I could even properly thank him. Five seconds of kindness. Problem solved. By the time Renee and I reached the market, the lanterns were beginning to glow overhead and the entire lane felt alive. This is the version of Bangkok that photographs love. Rows of food stalls stretched into the distance. Vendors called out to passing customers. String lights crisscrossed the narrow streets above us. Every few feet there was something new to discover. But the thing that stopped me wasn’t something I saw. It was something I smelled. The scent found me first. Warm coconut. Sweet batter. A hint of smoke from the griddle. I followed it without hesitation. A few minutes later Renee and I were standing beside a small vendor making fresh kanom krok, one of Thailand’s most beloved coconut desserts. Twelve pieces. Fifty baht. Less than two dollars. The vendor poured fresh batter into a cast-iron pan while customers waited nearby. The tiny cakes emerged golden around the edges and creamy in the center. There are some foods that should be eaten immediately. Kanom krok is one of them. We stood near the edge of the lane and ate them straight from the tray while the market continued moving around us. No table. No schedule. No rush. Just a perfect moment. That’s one of the things slow travel teaches you. Not every memorable experience requires a reservation. Sometimes it’s simply being willing to follow the smell of coconut through a crowded market. As the evening progressed, the market began changing. The families slowly disappeared. The younger crowd arrived. Music grew louder. The pace became faster. The lanterns seemed brighter against the darkness. By 8:30 PM, it felt like an entirely different place. The same streets. The same vendors. A completely different energy. Renee was already making mental notes about which stalls she wanted to revisit before we left. I was doing what I always do—watching people. Friends gathering after work. Couples sharing street food. Families shopping. Tourists trying new foods for the first time. Locals moving through it all as if this extraordinary place was completely normal. That’s one of Bangkok’s greatest gifts. It never performs for you. It simply exists. And if you’re willing to slow down long enough, you’re invited to become part of it. Tonight’s travel outfit ended up being perfect for wandering the market. Lightweight fabrics, comfortable movement, and enough room to spend hours exploring without thinking about what I was wearing. Because that’s the goal. Not dressing for photos. Dressing for the journey. Tomorrow brings another chapter. Another neighborhood. Another story. But tonight belongs to lanterns, coconut desserts, and a city that somehow feels different every time the sun goes down. Until tomorrow, — Trina

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Day 5 – With Trina & Renee

Bangkok Thailand, Somewhere With Dani, Trina's Travel Journal /

The River That Carries Bangkok June 9, 2026 The alarm went off at 6:15 AM. For a moment, I questioned every decision that led me to being awake before sunrise. Then I remembered where I was going. The Chao Phraya River. By 7:00 AM, Renee and I were walking toward Phra Athit Pier while Bangkok was still stretching awake. The streets were quieter than usual. Food vendors were setting up. Commuters moved with purpose. The air already carried the promise of another hot day. This wasn’t a tourist excursion. At least not entirely. The assignment was simple: Take the Orange Flag boat. Ride with the commuters. Watch the city from the water. See Bangkok the way Bangkok sees itself. The fare was 15 baht. Less than fifty cents. One of the things I love about Thailand is how often the best experiences cost almost nothing. The boat pulled into the dock with the practiced efficiency of something that has done the same job thousands of times. People stepped off. People stepped on. No drama. No confusion. The river keeps moving and so does everyone else. Renee found a seat near the window while I claimed a spot where I could watch both banks. Within minutes, the city began unfolding. Temples. Markets. Apartment buildings. Office towers. Tiny wooden homes tucked between modern structures. Monks. Students. Workers. Tourists. Entire lives moving alongside one another. Bangkok makes more sense from the river. The traffic disappears. The noise softens. The city becomes a story instead of a puzzle. At one point, Renee pointed toward a temple rising above the skyline. Neither of us spoke for a moment. We just watched. The water carried us forward while the city revealed itself one scene at a time. No itinerary. No rush. No checklist. Just observation. The farther we traveled, the more I understood why locals still rely on the river every day. The Chao Phraya isn’t just a landmark. It’s transportation. It’s history. It’s community. It’s the thread connecting neighborhoods that would otherwise feel worlds apart. By mid-morning, the heat was beginning to settle over the city. The commuters had mostly disappeared. The tourists were starting to arrive. And Renee and I had already experienced one of the most memorable parts of Bangkok. Not because it was famous. Because it was real. That’s the difference. Travel changes when you stop asking, “What should I see?” And start asking, “How do people actually live here?” The river answered that question better than any guidebook ever could. Tomorrow night we’ll trade river breezes for market lights as we head into Bangkok after dark. But today belonged to the water. And Bangkok was generous enough to let us float through it. What We Wore Shop Today’s Travel Looks Trina’s River Day Look 🛍️ Women’s Cotton Tee & Pants Travel Set – Mint GreenComfortable enough for early mornings, boat rides, and long walks through the city. Renee’s River Day Look 🛍️ Women’s Casual Two-Piece Skirt Set – GreenLightweight, breathable, and perfect for a day exploring Bangkok’s riverside neighborhoods. Travel Notes 📍 Location: Phra Athit Pier (N13), Bangkok🚤 Transportation: Orange Flag Boat💰 Cost: 15 THB per person⏰ Departure: Early Morning🌡️ Weather: Warm and humid with light river breeze

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Day 4 – With Trina & Renee

Bangkok Thailand, Somewhere With Dani, Trina's Travel Journal /

Banglamphu, Canal Coffee & The Shape of a Day June 8, 2026 Some days are built around landmarks. Some days are built around plans. And some days are built around whatever happens when you start walking. Today was the third kind. We left just after 7:00 AM wearing my favorite travel combination lately: lightweight wide-leg linen pants, comfortable sandals, and a top that didn’t mind Bangkok’s humidity nearly as much as I did. Renee insisted she was dressed smarter than I was. I disagree. We agreed to disagree. The first discovery came thirty minutes later. A small food cart on a side street in Banglamphu selling what the locals simply called green toast. Forty baht. Fresh, warm, sweet, and completely worth stopping for. The best part wasn’t the toast. It was realizing I would never find that exact corner again. Bangkok does that. You don’t memorize the city. You experience it. After breakfast we wandered through Banglamphu for nearly three hours, following side streets, stopping whenever something looked interesting, and letting the city decide the route. No itinerary. No rush. No pressure to check boxes. Just walking. By 11:05 AM we found Uncle Tai’s canal-side coffee cart. A moka pot sat on the counter. The coffee smelled incredible. I ordered immediately. One hundred baht later, I understood why locals kept stopping there. We planned to stay fifteen minutes. We stayed nearly an hour. The conversation was good. The coffee was better. The canal moved at its own pace and somehow convinced us to do the same. By noon we were walking back through the heat carrying a small bag of guava and absolutely no regrets. The total cost of the morning? 40 baht for toast. 100 baht for coffee. 140 baht total. Less than four U.S. dollars. That’s the entire argument for slow travel. The value isn’t measured by how much you spend. It’s measured by how much you notice. Tomorrow is going to be busy. For now, the fan is turning. The city is humming outside. Renee has officially called it a night and disappeared into her room. She claims the bed was calling her again. I suspect she just got tired of listening to me talk about tomorrow’s plans. Meanwhile, I’m still awake. Still excited. Still grateful. And still wondering where that green toast cart went. Are you just as excited for day 5 as I am. The Look Trina’s Look 🛍️ Women’s Comfy Baggy Linen Wide-Leg Loose Fit Pants – Navy🛍️ Classic White Sleeveless Travel Top🛍️ Women’s CloudStep Comfort Wedge Slides – White Renee’s Look 🛍️ Women’s Comfy Baggy Linen Wide-Leg Loose Fit Pants – Khaki🛍️ Soft Rose Travel Tee🛍️ Women’s CloudStep Comfort Wedge Slides – Rose Shop the looks featured in today’s Bangkok adventure:

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Bangkok Diary — The Night Before Day Four

Bangkok Thailand, Trina's Travel Journal /

Bangkok has started to settle into a rhythm. Tonight was quieter than the first few days. No temples. No markets. No rushing across the city trying to see everything at once. Instead, I wandered into a small bookstore a few streets from where I’m staying. The kind of place that feels more discovered than found. A cat slept on a shelf near the philosophy section while the owner read between customers. I picked up a book and lost track of time. Outside, a thunderstorm rolled through the city without ever reaching me. The air smelled like rain and jasmine. Motorbikes passed. Street vendors packed up for the night. Bangkok continued doing what Bangkok does. Later, I found a comfortable chair in the hotel lobby and finally slowed down enough to simply sit and read. Travel isn’t always about movement. Sometimes it’s about stillness. Tomorrow is another early start. More exploring. More stories. More corners of Bangkok waiting to be discovered. For now, the fan is turning, the city is humming outside, and I’m grateful for a quiet evening before the next adventure begins. Renee called it a night hours ago. According to her, the bed was calling her name and tomorrow’s adventures weren’t going to wait for tired travelers. Me? I’m still too excited to sleep. Tomorrow promises new streets, new discoveries, and another side of Bangkok waiting to introduce itself. I can’t wait. — Trina

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Krung Thong Plaza

Bangkok Thailand, Trina's Travel Journal /

& Custom Sandals Bangkok Assignment: June 6th – Pamper day Some days are about temples. Some days are about food. And some days are about finding a place that reminds you that everyone deserves to feel seen. After my loc detox and retie earlier in the day with @Bonita_Dreadlocks_Thailand, Renee and I headed to Krung Thong Plaza, a shopping center known throughout Bangkok for its five floors of plus-size fashion. I wasn’t prepared for what we found. Store after store. Dresses. Casual wear. Vacation outfits. Evening looks. Colors everywhere. Not hidden in the back corner. Not a single rack squeezed between other departments. Entire businesses dedicated to serving women whose options are often limited elsewhere. Fat Beauty. Fat Girls. Fatty. Love Calories. The names made us smile. The confidence behind them made us stay. We spent hours wandering the floors, touching fabrics, comparing styles, and watching local shoppers livestream directly from some of the boutiques. It felt less like a mall and more like a community built around fashion without apology. Later we made our way to Make A Shoes. The process was surprisingly simple. Pick a style. Choose a color. Get measured. Wait. For our first pair, Renee and I both chose basic black sandals. Nothing flashy. Just something comfortable enough to test before ordering more designs later. Price? 499 THB. Less than many people spend on coffee and lunch. By the time we left, we weren’t carrying much. Just two pairs of sandals and a few shopping bags. But we were carrying something else too. Proof that sometimes the best travel experiences happen when you follow curiosity instead of a checklist. Tomorrow the city takes us back outside. Tonight belongs to comfortable shoes and freshly retied locs. — Trina What Trina & Renee Wore Today’s Bangkok adventure featured the Women’s Stretch V-Neck Jumpsuit With Pockets — a lightweight, comfortable one-piece perfect for long shopping days, market visits, and city exploration. Women’s Stretch V-Neck Jumpsuit With Pockets

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Day 2: Trina & Renee

Bangkok Food Adventures, Bangkok Thailand, Somewhere With Dani, Trina's Travel Journal /

Or Tor Kor Market The first test was a market. Not the one that appears in every Bangkok travel video. A different one. The guide sent me to Or Tor Kor Market early in the morning, before the heat made thinking optional. By 7:30 AM the market was already alive. Pyramids of mangosteen were stacked with a precision that suggested someone took genuine pride in the arrangement. Golden mangoes sat in perfect rows. Dragonfruit had been sliced open on vendor tables so shoppers could see exactly what they were getting. An entire aisle was filled with jasmine garlands hanging overhead, their fragrance drifting through the market with every passing breeze. I bought mango sticky rice from a woman working from a cooler tucked into the back of the market. Sixty baht. She fanned the mango slices over the rice with one flat palm—the practiced motion of someone who has done it thousands of times before. I ate it standing beside the market aisle because there was nowhere to sit yet, and somehow that felt like the correct way to experience it. That’s what local recommendations do that algorithms cannot. They drop you into the real version of a city instead of the curated one. Bangkok is teaching me that some of the best experiences aren’t found on a list of top attractions. They’re found in conversations, recommendations, and unexpected corners of the city. Day three involves a temple that apparently nobody talks about. I’m beginning to suspect those are the places worth seeing most. — Trina Guide Tested:https://www.etsy.com/shop/SomewhereWithDani?ref=seller-platform-mcnav Shop Today’s Look 📍 Worn at Or Tor Kor Market, Bangkok Tropical Print Two-Piece Set (Orange) Why Renee Chose It Lightweight. Breathable. Comfortable in Bangkok’s morning heat while exploring local markets.

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Welcome to our Journey!

Travel Journeys /

Welcome to our blog. This is where we will share our firsthand travel experiences as we navigate international travel while managing disability, chronic pain, and life with a toddler in tow. Life has not been easy for any of us. We’ve experienced our share of ups and downs, but through it all, God has seen us through. After retirement, I knew I needed a new adventure. I had always loved traveling, but never on the scale my family and I were about to embrace. We donated, sold, packed, and stored away most of our belongings. We downsized our entire 1,200-square-foot, two-bedroom apartment into six suitcases and fourteen storage boxes. Truthfully, even that didn’t feel like enough. We sold furniture, lamps, artwork, and countless items that simply wouldn’t travel well. At first, it was difficult. Many of those things carried memories and sentimental value. But eventually I realized something important: they were still just things. When we’re gone, those possessions become someone else’s responsibility. They become items left behind for others to sort through, donate, sell, or discard. Our lives are often defined by what we hold onto, but I made a different choice. I chose freedom. Today, I no longer look at furniture and possessions the way I once did. I value comfort and necessity over accumulation. As long as I have what I need, I have enough. Leaving Arizona was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made. Arizona had become home, but Pittsburgh will always be where my story began. It’s where my parents are laid to rest. It’s where my family, friends, memories, favorite foods, sports teams, and lifelong connections remain. After my mother passed away, everything changed. For the first time, I felt free to pursue opportunities wherever they might lead. I had always dreamed of living out West, and little did I know that God was already preparing that path for me. I simply had to trust the process. When my daughter suggested we drive across the country to Arizona, I thought she was crazy. Apparently, relocating to a state where we knew absolutely no one wasn’t adventurous enough. So we packed up the car and headed west. Like many East Coast families, we started with a AAA map spread across the kitchen table. Then we hit the road. Our journey took us through Ohio, Missouri, Tennessee, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and finally Arizona. We visited the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, stopped at Sweetie Pie’s, drove stretches of historic Route 66, and made memories that still make us laugh today. The trip wasn’t without challenges. We needed an oil change along the way and eventually discovered our cooling system needed replacement shortly after arriving in Arizona. Thankfully, it was still under warranty because Arizona’s 120-degree September temperatures were no joke. But we made it. Six years later, I retired. Most people think retirement is where the story slows down. For me, it’s where the real adventure began. Today, my daughter Dani, my granddaughter Brooklyn, and I are exploring the world together one destination at a time. We’ve traded certainty for curiosity, possessions for experiences, and comfort zones for growth. Some people call it being a digital nomad. I simply call it living. Thank you for joining us on this journey. I hope our stories inspire you to travel boldly, embrace change, and discover that it’s never too late to start a new chapter. Welcome to LeJean Travels. Where Movement Inspires Journeys.

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