Silence Between Journeys: A Nine-Month Life Update (Part One)

A Little Life Update

What happened in the last nine months? The short answer: we grew a baby.

And for those interested in the longer version, here’s a little life update. I’ll share our recent travels, our current life situation, and what we hope the future will bring.

From Morocco to a New Continent

The last trip we wrote about here was Morocco in fall 2024. If you haven’t read Noah’s beautifully written post about our first time traveling outside of Europe, I’ll link it here — it’s definitely worth a read. -> Bye Europa, Hello Africa!

After three months in Morocco, we returned to Switzerland for a short Christmas break. Soon after, we felt ready to move again and explore a new continent: Asia.

Part of the reason was that friends of ours were planning a trip to Thailand. We wanted to reconnect with them anyway, so we thought — why not meet in Thailand? (Funny side note: they arrived three months after we had already left.)

Choosing Thailand (Without Much Planning)

We had no real idea what to expect from Thailand. We’d heard you could live there on a low budget and enjoy beautiful island life, but we hadn’t done much research. We didn’t really know the differences between regions or what the country had to offer. Two small connections pulled us toward Koh Phangan. We knew it was one of the most touristic islands, but we thought it would be a good place to start.

Spoiler alert: it wasn’t.

The Journey to Koh Phangan

At the beginning of January, we traveled from Switzerland to Koh Phangan: Zurich to Oman, Oman to Bangkok, Bangkok to Surat Thani, followed by a two-hour bus ride and a two-hour ferry.

Finding accommodation quickly proved difficult. Koh Phangan was far more expensive than expected, and there was only one place within our budget — a bungalow resort on the north side of the island. Overwhelmed, we booked two weeks there and planned to search locally for a more suitable home. Our original plan was to stay in Thailand for three months.

When Travel Becomes Too Much

Looking back, the journey from Zurich to Koh Phangan was simply too much. Not because of traveling with a toddler — Yuma did incredibly well — but because it was too many transitions in a short time. The night flights were manageable, though Noah and I barely slept. After arriving in Bangkok, exhaustion set in. Jet lag hit hard, Yuma stayed awake through the night, and we started the next day already depleted. By the time we reached the coast after our connecting flight and bus ride, our energy was nearly gone. A delayed ferry, with no information, pushed us even further. We eventually arrived on Koh Phangan and were picked up by the resort.

Beautiful, But Completely Isolated

Only then did we understand why the resort insisted we book transfers through them. The bungalows were surrounded by jungle and inaccessible to taxis or regular vehicles. Without their transfers, we were essentially stuck. While the place was beautiful for a holiday, it wasn’t what we needed. We had no kitchen, which was especially hard for us. We’re vegan and love cooking fresh meals — food is a big part of our daily life. The only option was the resort restaurant, making the vegan spots we had been excited about completely unreachable.

Food, Pregnancy, and Two Very Different Experiences

Noah managed the situation better than I did. While he wasn’t thrilled with the limited food options, he adapted. Every meal meant explaining — again and again — no fish sauce, no egg, tofu instead.

For me, it was much harder. Whether it was pregnancy (I was in my first trimester) or my emotional connection to food — probably both — I felt awful. I wasn’t nauseous, but eating brought no joy. I counted the days until we could leave and cook for ourselves again.

Realizing We Had to Leave

Because our stay was limited to two weeks, we started searching for a new place immediately. It was high season, everything was booked, and prices were shocking. We spoke to locals, searched every platform, and slowly accepted that living on Koh Phangan wasn’t possible for us. Eventually, it became clear: we had to leave the island — and Thailand altogether.

This realization was hard. I was still recovering from the long journey from Switzerland and couldn’t face the idea of traveling again. On top of that, we had no plan and no clear destination.

Searching for a Place That Felt Right

We explored neighboring countries, checked flights and accommodations, but nothing felt right. We were afraid of repeating the same mistake — arriving somewhere that didn’t suit us and having to move again. What we really needed was a connection.

That’s when I remembered a family we had once met at a festival who were living in Goa, India. We reached out, scheduled a call, and asked endless questions. Everything they described felt aligned with what we were searching for.

A Quick Decision and a New Direction

The decision was made quickly: we would leave Thailand and fly to India.

Within just a few days, we applied for visas (later realizing we had overpaid), booked flights, and found a home in Goa for three months — with immense help from that family.

Despite the exhaustion and my fear of traveling again, I felt hopeful. I prayed that this would finally be a place where we could settle for a while.

Arrival in India

Compared to our previous journey, traveling from Thailand to India was relatively smooth — except for one scare.

Welcome to India!

This was part one of our story — in the next post, I’ll share what it really meant to arrive in India (and in there hospital), navigate pregnancy on the road, and whether we finally found the place we were searching for. -> cooming soon