May 24, 2009 8 min read

A Smithfield native gave his young daughter the adventure of a lifetime as the two toured countries in Asia, visiting such sites as the Great Wall of China, the Mount Everest base camp in Nepal and the Long Neck Karen people living in northern Thailand. Josh Grimm traveled with his daughter, Morgan, now 8, while he was stationed with the U.S. Army in Korea. “We really enjoyed our lives there,” said Josh Grimm, son of Gene and Sharon Grimm of Smithfield.

Josh Grimm is a 1992 graduate of Tri-Valley High School, now known as Albert Gallatin High School, and a 1996 graduate of California University of Pennsylvania, with a degree in natural science. He attended college on a military scholarship and then spent 13 years with the Army, serving four years as a Ranger infantry officer and the rest as an intelligence agent.

He performed three tours of duty in Korea, stationed in Seoul, South Korea, for his first two tours, which took place in 1999-2000 and 2002-03, and was at Osan Air Force Base for the third tour, which was January 2007 to June 2008. During his first tour, Grimm made an historic trip to Pyong Yang, the capital of North Korea, in order to repatriate the remains of fallen servicemen who were killed in the Korean War. He was among the first free people in North Korea in more than 50 years.

Josh Grimm’s daughter was born in Korea on Aug. 30, 2000, and she stayed with him on his third tour, attending Osan American Elementary School. Josh Grimm exposed his daughter to travel at an early age.

“Even when she was an infant, I took her to Taipei in Taiwan for a few days and a week in Hong Kong and 10 days in Bangkok before she was six months old,” Josh Grimm said.

In June 2007, the father and daughter spent a week in Tokyo, Japan.

“It was the start of the monsoon season when we were there. It was a warm, wet spring-like mist, like a warm rain,” said Josh Grimm.

The Grimms climbed a portion of Mount Fuji, shopped and ate Japanese food.

Josh Grimm said that in Japan his daughter realized that Asians do not all speak the same language and have their own culture and alphabet.

The father and daughter took their next trip to Beijing, China, over the 2007 Labor Day weekend. Josh Grimm had been to China at least 12 times previously, with most trips because of his work.

“We toured the Great Wall and the Forbidden City and celebrated Morgan’s seventh birthday there,” Josh Grimm said of the trip with his daughter.

“We toured a jade mine and factory where they cut and sell jade. They had huge pieces like a carved tiger to small pieces that were jewelry. I bought Morgan a pink jade necklace,” he said. “We went to a silk manufacturing company where they walk you through everything from silk worms to silk blankets. Morgan saw everything and helped spread a silk blanket. We also ate duck a couple of times and went to the Hard Rock Caf?.”

The Grimms took an extended trip when Morgan Grimm was on spring break, taking a few extra days off from school to make a 14-day trip during the first two weeks of April 2008. They spent a week in Thailand and a week in Nepal and used private guides to be able to submerse themselves in the local culture.

In Thailand, the Grimms decided to venture into the northern section for a look at a different part of the country.

“Bangkok is like any ancient port city, so I wanted to go into the country – to get away from the lights and dazzling tourist things,” said Josh Grimm. “I wanted to take our trip off the beaten path and teach my daughter about people.”

They went to Chiang Mai, the second largest city in Thailand, flying into the middle of the jungle, and then set out daily to tour tribal villages.

“Many ancient tribes in Thailand are still there,” said Josh Grimm. “The Peace Corps has helped with clothing and medicines but they stay to their beliefs.”

The Grimms wanted to see old temples in Thailand. And while China is known for the Great Wall, Josh Grimm explained that many communities had walls built around their cities. They toured Chiang Rai in Thailand, a city in the Golden Triangle that also had an ancient wall to protect the citizens from invaders.

They crossed the Mekong River by boat and spent about eight hours in Laos, where they bought postcards that Morgan Grimm sent home.

What interested Morgan Grimm the most, said her father, were the people.

“She kept on watching children her age praying in a temple. We took off our shoes and observed politely and quietly,” he said. “What blew her mind is that stray animals hang out in the temples. At one point, a group of dogs came running in. The monks don’t mind.”

Yet, he noted, “The poverty is what struck my daughter the most.”

Josh Grimm said the drought season struck Nepal when they visited. They saw people fighting over buckets of water. Josh Grimm also used his first-aid kit to give medical care to a girl who had an injury and Morgan Grimm gave away juice, water and Pop Tarts to children she encountered.

“She shared her American culture,” said Josh Grimm, “and they gave her flowers in return.”

In Nepal, the father and daughter stayed in Katmandu and took off daily on trips.

“We were in Nepal when the elections took place. The Maoist communists won the election. It was the first free election in 200 years. Nepal had been a monarchy state,” said Josh Grimm.

The Grimms traveled to the Mount Everest base camp.

“We saw a lot of backpackers and mountain bikers. The climbers stick to one another,” he said. “We were not far from Tibet. I thought about going, but it’s very dangerous.”

In Nepal, they saw Buddhist and Hindu temples but Josh Grimm explained that only Hindus are permitted in Hindu temples.

The father and daughter visited a 1,500-year-old religion complex called Swayambhunat in Nepal, one of the most sacred sites of the Buddhist pilgrimage in Nepal. It is also known as the Monkey Temple because monkeys have been seeking sanctuary there for 1,000 years.

“Morgan got mugged by a monkey there. I bought her a bag of cotton candy and a big monkey came and grabbed it off her and climbed into a bush and a tree,” said Josh Grimm.

The Grimms traveled to the city of Lumbini on the Nepal/India border, a pilgrimage site where Buddha was born.

They went to an elephant camp that was set up for tourists with a show, but then they visited another that was a working camp. They also rode by elephant in the jungle and mountains of Burma, and Morgan Grimm said it reminded her of Indiana Jones movies. She took snacks and gave them to children who were fascinated by her sandy brown hair and sunglasses.

The Grimms visited the Long-Neck Karen people living in exile in the Burmese border areas of northern Thailand. Morgan Grimm saw a school that was actually a pavilion with a thatched roof, no walls, rough benches and chalkboards. She didn’t know it was a school until her father told her.

For Morgan Grimm, traveling has given her experiences beyond that of most American children her age.

But Josh Grimm said, “Children are children no matter where they come from or what their religion or economic situation. Morgan was able to play and exchange gifts and communicate with children wherever we went because children are children.”

The Grimms returned to the United States and their family is larger as Josh Grimm married his wife Seon Mi Grimm at the embassy in Korea in May 2008, and in a religious ceremony at Gans United Methodist Church in Springhill Township in December.

The family now lives in eastern Kentucky where Josh Grimm is a civilian working for the Department of Defense and a solider in the National Guard, working as an interrogator in the 2nd Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group (Airborne) in Kenova, W.Va.

Through her travels, Morgan Grimm speaks and understands Korean and knows some Chinese and French. She is a sushi buff, likes raw squid, and continues to eat Korean dishes. Seaweed is her favorite food.

Because of Josh Grimm’s work, Morgan Grimm is likely to be enrolled in Smithfield Elementary School this summer for the fall term. But the family is already thinking of another vacation.

“Morgan is proud of her travels and we’re looking at more travels off the beaten path,” said Josh Grimm. “Maybe Iceland.”