CNS-SIN-BKK We were flying with Singapore Airlines so we boarded with the usual efficiency and were quickly settled in with a glass of bubbly. We had a great meal on this segment, with some of the nicest lamb (for me) and steak (for Paul) that we had the whole trip. The flight was smooth and we landed in Singapore on time.

And so we meet again, East Coast Australia! When we originally booked the trip, we were told to expect mostly good weather but lots of crowds because of Easter and school holidays. Everyone advised us to book well in advance, but we figured we had managed a few long weekends and school holidays during our 2024 trip to Perth, so we thought it would be similar.

We know, we know… we said we weren’t going back. Yet here we are, doing exactly that 😁! Long story short, or the TL;DR version: we got a really good deal on a van we couldn’t pass up, used Air Canada mileage rewards for some nice “bidness class” flights which included an A-350 and booked a 3 month roadtrip.

Another trip to Lipe… same same but always a little different. 🤷 We did the usual flight to Hat Yai, taxi to Pak Bara combination with no issues. We were able to store the duffle (had to bring it for what’s next) at Tik’s place on the mainland again which was really nice.

The flight from YXC - YVR was easy and arrived on time. We grabbed some lunch then went and checked into the Fairmont Vancouver Airport. We had an 11 hour layover so Paul used his Amex travel credit to get us a really good deal. We relaxed and headed over to check in just in time to catch our flights to Chiang Mai.

When we were in Chiang Mai deciding on our plans for 2025, a return to Canada came up. The opportunity to see family and friends was appealing and we could take care of whatever else was needed. We started looking at flights using Aeroplan miles but getting anything other than economy was impossible and even those used huge mileage amounts.

Yep, a second trip to Koh Lipe was in the cards! While we were sitting in Huonville one day Paul commented that he didn’t feel he had enough time on Lipe when we were there in February. He had gotten sick and we ended up having to cut the trip short which wasn’t great.

Yes, we are heading back to Australia… again 🤷. Tasmania specifically–which shouldn’t be surprising since we’ve both said we could live here. While in Chiang Mai, we had seen a series from a popular YouTube channel, One Pack Wanderers, who had spent some time in Tasmania. As we were watching it, we realized two things: 1) we wanted to go back 2) it was becoming more and more popular.

Koh Lipe: February 8 to 27, 2025 With our lease ending and not wanting to miss it two years in a row, we headed to Lipe. We had gotten in contact with Mikkel and arranged a room at The Reef. Nok arranged our taxi and ferry, so everything went smoothly. Tik was kind enough to let us store our big duffle bag (with all our Tasmania gear) at her cousin’s shop at the Pak Bara pier.