My Slow Travel Trip to Thailand, Kuala Lumpur and Bali

Sights from my daily walks near the beach in Sanur, Bali

I’m sorry I haven’t been posting regularly, but I’ve been on a slow travel holiday. My travel pattern (back when I was working a full time job) used to be what I would call fast travel – which often entailed long flights to far away places (such as Singapore, Delhi, Hong Kong or even Capetown), but only for a weekend or perhaps five days. I now have the luxury of slow travel which enables me to experience and learn about a location and it’s culture in ways that weekend travel never could. It is more than a quick tour to the sites. It lets me wander. It lets me visit supermarkets. It lets me spend more time speaking with people and relaxing. With slower travel I get to do the things I want to, like working out in the hotel gym, swimming in the hotel pool and visiting the hotel spa or local spas in the vicinity.

Hyatt Regency Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport

A travel blogger should be able to travel and write at the same time, shouldn’t she? I always have the best intentions of doing so, but somehow it rarely happens. This is my failure. I keep trying to get it right. I guess I’ll just have to keep traveling and seeing if I can travel and write at the same time!

The Garden Villa at Andaz Bali

I’m home one week and I’ve reviewed what seems like ten million emails and snail mails, I’ve recovered from jet lag, I’ve paid my bills, I’ve gotten all of my tax info to my accountant and I’ve tried not to look at my brokerage accounts.

So here I am, snug at home in New York City, and I’ve already seen two Broadway shows since I returned. Good Night and Good Luck is the story of the broadcaster Edward R. Murrow in the age of McCarthyism. It stars George Clooney. The parallels of issues to current events are strong. The show, the messages and Clooney’s performance are all phenomenal. I also saw John Proctor is the Villain, the story of a high school class studying the Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller about the Salem witch trials. The show raises serious issues, such as the #MeToo movement, but mixes humor into the equation. The performances are all great, especially Sadie Sink who starred in the Netflix cult show Stranger Things.

The Regency Suite at Hyatt Regency Hua Hin

So, where have I been all this time? From February 18th through March 28th, I went to Thailand (Hua Hin and Bangkok), Indonesia (Bali) and Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur).

my morning coffee at the rooftop of the Hyatt Centric Kuala Lumpur

I traveled solo for the Thai portion of the trip, as my P1 was gigging in the UK then. He met me in Bali for the next 24 days of the trip.

Grand suite at Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur

This practically was an around the world trip, as I initially traveled from New York to Bangkok on Air France, with a plane change in Paris. For the return trip, we flew in the opposite direction –  overnight from Bali to Sydney, then Sydney to Los Angeles, and then Los Angeles to New York.

On the return trip, we had breakfast at the Qantas First lounge at SYD, and had breakfast a second time 14 hours later at the Qantas First lounge at LAX!

Something else that I found interesting was the different religions of the places we traveled: Buddhism (Thailand), Hinduism (Bali) and Muslim (Malaysia).

Bangkok

I’ll be writing up reviews about the trip as well as the various hotels I visited.

THAILAND

Hyatt Regency Hua Hin

Hyatt Regency Bangkok Sukhumvit (my second stay, here’s my video review from last year of the Presidential Suite – Review).

Hyatt Regency Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (at BKK airport newly rebranded from a Novotel – see post)

BALI (INDONESIA)

This was my third visit to Bali. I’ve previously also stayed at the Hyatt Regency Bali, Andaz Bali, Grand Hyatt Bali, Alila Uluwatu,  Alila Ubud and Desa Hay.

This trip, I stayed at:

Hyatt Regency Bali located in Sanur for two weeks (my third stay, here’s a review from a prior stay – Review)

Andaz Bali located in Sanur (my third stay, here’s a review from a prior stay- Review)

Intercontinental Bali Resort Jimbaran

KUALA LUMPUR (MALAYSIA)

Hyatt Centric City Centre Kuala Lumpur

Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur (my second stay, here’s a video review I made from my prior stay in 2018 – Review).

This is Merdeka 118, the second tallest building in the world, and the future home to the Park Hyatt Kuala Lumpur.

I’ve already posted quite a few photos about the trip and experiences on my Instagram page. You’re welcome to have a look (and even follow).

I will be publishing reviews shortly, but don’t hesitate to nudge me if you want information sooner.