Christmas adventure in Bangkok renewed sisterly ties
Mairi Maclean, Journal Staff Writer, Edmonton
Maybe the three sisters back in Alberta detected an undertone of loneliness in the e-mail which arrived from their sister half a world away, the one with the big case of wanderlust.
Doris Maron, in the midst of an extended trip-of-a-lifetime via motorcycle, had written to sisters Laureen, Liz and Flo from Thailand, where she was teaching English to finance the next leg of her journey.
“It was a nice letter that said, ‘Sure would be nice if you guys would come for Christmas, but it’s only a thought,’” says Laureen Schmidt, 64, from Millet.
“Then Laureen was on the phone with Liz saying ‘I’m going, I’m going,’ and Liz said, ‘I’m going!’ Then when I took the phone it was, ‘If you’re going, I’m going,’” says Flo Maron, 63, of Edmonton, reminiscing about the brief message that propelled the trio to Bangkok last December to check up on Doris.
Sisterhood is powerful after all.
It ended up being the Christmas of a lifetime for the four of them.
“It was a Christmas without snow and it was a Christmas without a Christmas tree ... but it was special just spending time together,” says Doris, who’d retired as a financial adviser at age 55, sold everything and set out on her tour in the spring of 2001.
Now she’s e-mailing from Barcelona on her way to the Costa del Sol, her motorcycle trip now exceeding the 80,000 kilometre mark. “It was my second Christmas away from home and I was missing my family. I will definitely be remembering last Christmas. This one will not compare.”
If Doris was “absolutely thrilled” waiting in Bangkok, her sisters on the other side of the Pacific were equally pumped - they’d never travelled offshore before, nor spent Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and a good part of Boxing Day on an outbound trip that stopped in Los Angeles, Tokyo and Singapore.
“We watched the time, watched the monitor (tracking flight progress),” says Liz Whitelock, 53, who lives in Calgary. “And as soon as we got through customs we saw Doris standing there, her little red Santa Claus hat on, waiting for us.”
They hugged, kissed and held up traffic until they were told to move along. Then it was off to Doris’ tiny flat - decorated with a streamer and some Christmas balloons - to exchange Christmas gifts (Doris gave each sister a Thai-print skirt).
They also readied themselves for what turned out to be an unforgettable and energetic Christmas holiday of discovery and renewing sisterly ties.
They challenged their adventurous side with an elephant ride, during a car trip into the mountains. They toured ruins and markets and museums, went river rafting, partied New Year’s away and crossed the legendary bridge over the river Kwai before heading back in the direction of Bangkok, the end of the holiday casting a more subdued tone over things.
“It came too fast,” says Flo. “We could have had at least another week or two."
