Wrapping up the trip with day 5 and the departure day from the 2017 Stampin' Up! Incentive Trip to Thailand

Day 5 (Friday) was exciting as we got to pick up our swaps from the hospitality room. It's always very exciting to see which ones you get back and to photograph others. I will be sharing some of my favourite swaps over the next week. 

Other than that Friday was spent relaxing by the pool again (this resort was perfect for relaxation) before out final event. All we knew is we were going somewhere on a bus! When we were lining up we were given a printed card with all the details. We were off to a fabulous event at the Blue Elephant restaurant and cooking school which was under a big marquee in the grounds of an historical mansion. 

We were greeted with cold drinks and a beautiful flower bracelet, and the table centrepieces were breath-taking,

There were local handicraft and souvenir stalls, as well as Blue Elephant cooking school product (had to grab some green curry paste), There were also local people dressed in tradional costume with dancing and singing.

The food was amazing, Such a huge variety of local dishes. I particularly loved the yellow vegetable curry but of course I had to try everything. My absolute favourite dessert was the sticky mango rice. I loved how they served it too. I wish I had taken a photo. I brought a local cookbook at the airport and I cant wait until mango is seasonal again in Australia so I can make it at home.

It really was a lovely night of relaxing, eating and exploring the grounds and chatting. It was lovely to have Shelli and Sterling on our table for a while and be able to thank them in person for the trip. I love this photo of Shelli with Sam Hammond who stopped by to say hello to Shelli. It's been many years now since I have first met Shelli, over 9 I think, and I have been lucky enough to share many of these trips with her and Sterling. Underneath all the luxury of these trips though, just by being herself, Shelli has really impacted my life so positively. She is a wonderful woman with such fabulous values and is always so giving of her time, as is Sara and the whole Gardner family. I recall my husband (on the first trip he attended with me) being so blown away by how much the Corporate team mingled with us and appreciated us. We are lucky to be a part of this fabulous company.

I have many photos taken with global friends over our week in Thailand, but I have a special project in mind for them, so I will just share one for now. Again not fabulous light, but Alisa, Pam and I were happy to get a photo with Jill Olsen!

As we left the final event to go home, we were given a lovely elephant charm on a chain to remember our time in Thailand. As we got back to our rooms, we were also greeted with our final pillow gift. a beautiful boxed Thai ceramic jar (and more product!). 

The next day was departure day, and we headed to the airport in the afternoon for our flight back to Singapore (delayed, so I was able to fit in another foot massage!), and then an overnight flight back to Melbourne.  I think overnight flights are much like labour. The excitement makes you forget about how bad the last time was. It was worth it though for a fabulous trip, and our travel time was much reduced this time in comparison to US and Europe based trips. It's always lovely to be home though. Here is the sun rising on our flight into Melbourne.

If you are a demonstrator reading this, and wishing you too could make these trips, please believe YOU CAN! In my opinion, the people who make these trips don't have any secret methods or superpowers. We all start on the same points at the beginning of the earning year. It's just about goal setting, self belief, consistency and tracking. With no disrespect intended, I'm not one that believes you need to pay for any special training to achieve the trips. You already know what to do! It's just having the focus to put that into action over the year. You can do it! I believe in you. Use that time and money in your own business plan and watch those points climb!

I hope you have enjoyed my wrap up of the trip. Stay tuned for a couple of other trip related projects over the coming weeks and I promise to share some of the swaps along the way too.

Next up on the blog will be some alternate takes on my most pinned Christmas card from last year. 

Until then be crafty and happy,

Claire

(Disclaimer: less than 1% of Stampin' Up! Demonstrators make the Incentive Trip each year)