Chic Locations: Education can start when term ends
26-Jun-2025
Category: News Stories
Family holidays in South East Asia can be tremendous fun, but also educational especially to those children who have gone past the face-painting stage and have emerging curiosity about different cultures.
Plus you have true adventure both on land & sea. Seeing elephants, giant buffalos and an incredible selection of monkeys in their natural habitat. Going underwater and swimming with turtles, dolphins and stingrays. – These are things that never lose their never loses its excitement.
Travelling around a large city on local transport. For example the Skytrain or local ferry in Bangkok, the tram in Hong Kong. Riding as a pillion passenger on a scooter around the crowded streets of Saigon or Hanoi. All amazing, and then showing adults how easy it is to get a Grab or similar (local version of Uber).
Riding a bike across rice fields and ending in a village where commercialised tourism is far from the everyday. Maybe connecting with a local student, even for a few minutes and realising the similarities are there almost as much as the differences. And maybe appreciating things taken for granted in the west have to be earnt elsewhere.
The food. Yes there will be ubiquitous names you recognise from your local high street, but stroll through a local market and it’s a very different scene. There might be some that look familiar albeit with different names, but the majority will have a taste and smell that will be totally unique.
Being curious about a religion that is very much in the minority at home. Not getting too deep but just an appreciation of the differences and maybe how they influence things.
Sitting and observing. Seeing how some music and fashion trends are universal but sometimes tweaked to local circumstances, especially when weather influenced.
My own son started travelling to SE Asia when he was young, even more frequently in his teens and now he is independent, its his “ go-to “ place – recently he spent 6 weeks travelling around Thailand and then Northern Vietnam. He is now heavily in Muay Thai boxing, chooses his resort around where he want to train so for Phuket it was the Laguna Bang Tao area. Proof that once the Asia travel bug hits, its pleasingly difficult to shake. I visited him several times and was surprised just how popular it was and also so well organised.
David Kevan Chic Locations & PATA UK board member
