This is the amazing tale of one of our programs who are experiencing a quarantine hotel in Thailand before they can explore this incredible place! 

Relaxation Time (quarantine)


With a thousand different printed documents, masks on our face and passports in hand we have all made it to Thailand for this amazing adventure. We have travelled from all over the United States to get here through this new world of ‘covid’ travel. The what’s app group was bombarded as we all arrived in Chicago and got to meet for the
first time. The group clicked instantly as they travelled to Doha for their first layover where everyone was looking out for each other, Delaney tipping off everyone about the best places for dinner (at 12am) and Noah making sure everyones bags were safe, ready for the
next flight to Bangkok. Touchdown in Thailand saw us all go through a really well organised covid safety team dressed head to toe in PPE, seemed like something out of a movie. The staff were all really excited to have us here, they showed us our way into the air-conditioned vans set for our hotel quarantine. (We decided to re-name it relaxation time, sounds nicer).


Check in to the metropole hotel we got to wear cool plastic bags over our feet, gloves and masks and shuffled our way to our rooms. Daniel and Sheila were glued to their peepholes hoping to catch a glimpse of anyone walking past. The five-star hotel has everything, food
delivered three times a day, a washing machine, our own bathroom and city views. This is going to be something we look back on and laugh about in the future, what an experience and there aren’t many other people doing it, we are trailblazers.

Everyone checked in with Daniel and Sheila over what’s app and zoom and the first thing we all talked about was which was the best food delivery app in Bangkok (priorities). Cole started eating his vitamin gummy’s to tie him over to dinner until he figured out that we
had access to 3500 different food options on the ‘grab’ app.

We established a good relationship straight away assessing everyone’s mental health and general well-being, coming up with ideas of what to do in our free time here. Suggestions of
reading, journaling, workouts, yoga and some people jogging from one end of the room to the other. Daniel has been leading fitness sessions in the morning with Luke, Jordan, Jade, Noah and Delaney and yoga and mindfulness sessions are run in the afternoon. This has become a routine with a group check-in session run at 10:30 every morning that the students have split up into pairs so they can lead the group. Luke and Jade ran the first session playing ‘two truths one lie’ that showed us a lot of interesting things about one
another. Mckayla’s extreme lifestyle, horse riding incidents and diving into shallow pools. Turns out Elliot has never owned or worn a pair of blue jeans and Emma has an obsession with Dean from Gilmore girls, who happens to be Luke’s cousin! The next session ran by Delaney and Noah had us all playing an inclusive ‘find the imposter’ style game with a lot of laughs and chatter. Caroline and Jordan aren’t very good at keeping a straight face, and Luke is too good at it!

On day three we had a zoom with Lucy who will be taking us through the service work for ‘daughters rising’ and where we will be meeting the elephants, the mention of a ten-month-old elephant saw everyone’s face light up, Sydney and Anna couldn’t wipe the smiles off
their face, this adventure is going to be unbelievable.

We have all been really open and honest with one another, we are vulnerable about how feel in here and supportive of anyone who isn’t feeling the best. We are taking all the positives out of ‘relaxation time’ and accepting it as part of the whole journey that we are all
embarking on together, as our group.


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Author Orla O'Muiri Posted

Category Thailand Departure Spring 2021