The commute from Bangkok to the island of Koh Lanta was a long one, but during the 3 hour drive from Krabi to the island itself I had the pleasure of sitting next to Andrea, an awesome American from California who was traveling around SE Asia with her friends Christian and Sebastian.

We chatted a good portion of the ride and when the subject of Thanksgiving came up (which would be occurring in 2 days time) we decided that we would all spend it together! She was also meeting up with two of her friends from California so that would put us at 4 Americans and 1 French guy (Sebastian) to celebrate the holiday.

I ended up using some of my American Express points and splurging on 2 days at the fancy schmancy Pilanta Spa Resort where Andrea, Christian, and Andrea’s friends, Natalie and Brook, were staying.

So after a morning of lounging on the beach I showed up at the resort by tuk tuk and was immediately handed a glass of orange juice while someone else took my bag from me. I liked this place already.

The room I was staying in was fantastic. Big bed, A/C, jacuzzi, rain shower, and personal pool. It was an epic episode of ‘Treat Yo’ Self Thursday - Thanksgiving edition’.

I met up with everyone poolside and we made plans to head off and get some Thanksgiving massages before dinner. The weather had other plans however as the skies rumbled and opened up. But it was Thanksgiving dammit and we would not be dissuaded. We jumped on some motor bikes in the driving rain and pulled up to the massage parlour soaking wet. The little Thai ladies rushed out to us with towels and quickly ushered us inside as we attempted to dry off.

Andrea and I both got the hour long coconut oil massage which cost us a grand total of…$12. Another check in the win column for Thailand.

That night, after a few beers before dinner (graciously brought by Sebastian), we set off to the restaurant across the street for our Thanksgiving feast. Of course there’s no turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, or pie on the menu, but we made do.

We also had banana splits and ‘banana with chocolate in the slide’ for dessert. Yummy.

Not wanting to have to settle a bill between 6 people or make them split the bill 6 ways, we ended up splitting ourselves into 3 ‘families’ for dinner and dubbed ourselves Family 1, Family 2, and Family 3…it is Thanksgiving after all! Sebastian and I were proudly Family 3.

While it might not have been your normal Thanksgiving it was still a wonderful way to spend the day with new friends. I’m thankful that I was able to get to know these amazing people and have a little taste of home in the process on a day that could have otherwise been a bit depressing (as being away from family during the holidays always is). Thanks guys!

Have you ever spent a Thanksgiving abroad? What did you do to celebrate?