Tag: Blogging

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Our FOURTH 30 Days Abroad: By the Numbers

These posts feel a bit like the monthly baby photos– we should have brought some sort of cute stuffed animal to mark our time away!

Not to compare our travels to raising an actual human child, but I will admit to feeling a little #proudparent -ish of how we are growing as travelers.  These posts may not mean as much to our readers as they mean to us, but Rich and I really enjoying spending time together reflecting and crafting these every thirty days.

Amanda has an unhealthy obsession with Gritty, the new Philadelphia Flyers mascot. He’s ugly, but he’s our ugly. It was only a matter of time before she slid him into the blog.

Without further adieu, our FOURTH 30 days!  And if you like this post or want to see the progression of thirty day reflections, be sure to check out our first , second , and third thirty day review posts too.

Dates Included: September 24 – October 23, 2018

Countries Visited: 4 (Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia)

Cities/Towns Visited: 9 (Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Phuket, Krabi, Koh Samui, Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Yogyakarta)

TRANSPORTATION

As you can see, our modes of transportation varied greatly in these 30 days!  It’s not just planes, trains, and automobiles for us.

Flights: 7

Bus Rides: 1

Taxi/Uber/Grab Rides: 28 (22 Grab rides)

Van Rides: 3

Tuk Tuk Rides: 1

Funicular Rides: 1

Ferry Rides: 1

Train Rides: 1

Long Boat Rides: 2

Rich boarding the ferry to Koh Samui, Thailand
LODGING

AirBNB’s: 5

Hotels: 4

FOOD

Percentage of Meals Eaten Out: 60% (41 meals)

Percentage of Meals Eaten In: 21% (14 meals)

Percentage of Meals Eaten in Airport Lounges: 15% (10 meals)

Percentage of Meals Provided by Hotels or AirBNB’s: 4% (3 meals)

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

If you are a frequent reader of these posts, you know that while Rich and Amanda spend most of their time together, walking what you would assume to be the same distances, Rich consistently records many more miles than Amanda.  Will the tide turn?  Or will Rich continue his walking dominance?

Rich

  • Total Distance: 342,795 steps (158.40 miles)
  • Average Daily Distance: 11,460 steps (5.28 miles)
  • Daily High: 22,434 steps (10.30 miles)
  • Daily Low: 1,676 steps (0.77 miles)

Amanda

  • Total Distance: 296,857 steps (133.22 miles)
  • Average Daily Distance: 9,895 steps (4.44 miles)
  • Daily High: 20,759 steps (9.07 miles)
  • Daily Low: 132 steps (.06 miles)

Rich wins.  I am also confident that the day I only had 132 steps was a day that I had my FitBit off, if only because we have not stayed anywhere where I could have only gone 132 steps and still eaten food.

INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITY

We had a tough time finding anything to read where you would want to read the most: the beaches of Thailand!  As you can see, Rich and I both continued to love Kevin Kwan, the author of megahit Crazy Rich Asians.

Rich

Amanda

Reading at the beach in Koh Samui.
OVERALL COSTS AS PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL BUDGET

Flights: 16% (12% decrease)

Other Transportation (Buses, Trains, Ferries, Taxis, Funiculars): 10% (5% increase)

Lodging: 41% (1% decrease)

Food:  21% (5% increase)

Sightseeing: 3% (same)

Other (Books, Haircut, Laundry, Toiletries, Massages, Yoga): 9% (3% increase)

FAVORITES:

Favorite Meal:

  • Amanda: Rich’s birthday dinner at Akira Back in Bangkok.  We had the best sushi of my life.
  • Rich: My birthday meal at Akira Back in Bangkok. Amazing sushi.
The aforementioned sushi. It was so delicious, we forgot to take a picture of it until after we had eaten a few pieces already.

Favorite AirBNB:

Favorite Hotel:

  • Amanda: I really loved the Grand Sunset Hotel, our hotel in Phuket, Thailand.  There was a beautiful rooftop pool, and they had all kinds of little free treats throughout the day: coffee from 3-4 PM, popcorn and a cocktail from 6-7 PM, and free ice cream from 8-10 PM.
  • Rich: I loved our boutique hotel in Singapore, Hotel Yan. It was stylish, sleek, and perfectly located. They had the best toiletries and mini bar with free Cokes, M & M’s, and chips replenished daily.
At Hotel Yan!

Favorite City/Town:

  • Rich: Singapore
  • Amanda: Singapore

Favorite Beach/Pool: 

  • Amanda: So many beaches!  I really liked Railey Beach in Thailand.  Runner up goes to Phuket where we got the amazing sunset pictures.
  • Rich: Railey Beach was beautiful, but so hot! We lasted maybe 30 minutes before we were covered in sweat and retreated to the water, followed by a couple of Tiger beers with a view.

Favorite Mode of Transportation: 

  • Rich: I really enjoyed the rawness of traveling in the long boat to Railey Beach and back. It was exciting wading into the water and climbing in and out of the boat. There was a real authentic feeling that made me feel like a local.
  • Amanda: I did not enjoy the long boat because I thought we might drown.  I don’t have a specific flight, but I loved anytime we flew and got to go to an airport lounge.  It is so nice to be able to eat as much as we want and drink an extra latte without worrying about costs.
In front of two long boats in Krabi, Thailand

Favorite Book:

  • Amanda:  I weirdly read two books (Truly, Madly, Guilty and The Slap) about adults behaving badly at backyard barbecues in Australia.   Me Talk Pretty One Day was the first David Sedaris book I had ever read, and it was both hilarious and touching.  So it wins as my favorite book for these 30 days.
  • Rich:  Crazy Rich Asians. If you have not noticed yet, I…love…Kevin…Kwan… Almost as much as Amanda loves Gritty.

Least Favorite Moment:

  • Rich: We landed in Yogyakarta and our hotel was only a 23 minute walk from the airport according to Google Maps. We decided to tough it out and walk, can’t be that hard right? WRONG! We had to go a different route than what Google Maps stated due to airport security, and it added about 10 minutes to the walk in 90 degree heat with 20 and 25 lb backpacks on. When we arrived at our hotel, we were tired and drenched in sweat. FAIL!
  • Amanda: Trying to hike to the Big Buddha statue in Phuket and failing because the blog directions I followed were terrible.  I should have done more research before leading us down the wrong road in really hot weather.  Not finding a statue is really not that bad, but Rich and I got cross with one another, so that moment stands out as being my least favorite.  If you are going to argue, you should at least be able to do it in air conditioning.

Most Favorite Moments: 

  • Amanda:  I loved the day in Singapore where we walked and walked and walked and saw the SuperTrees and then had a drink at the top of the magnificent Marina Bay Sands.  It helped that we had seen Crazy Rich Asians in Singapore the night before– on our long walk, we passed so many places from the movie.  I also loved getting a Thai massage in Krabi, Thailand, and I loved our routine in Kuala Lumpur, especially getting to go to the amazing gym in our building.  On our last morning in KL, we got up to go to the gym but it didn’t open until 7 AM so we headed to the building’s putting green (yes, the building had a putting green) to do an Aaptiv strength training workout in the dark.  Right as we finished, the Call to Prayer came on softly in the background, and we were surrounded by all these huge skyscraper buildings– it was a moment where I really felt like I was a world away from home, experiencing something I never could have scripted if I tried.
  • Rich: I loved the sunsets at our rooftop pool in Phucket. I also loved our Thai massages in Krabi. But my favorite thing was EVERYTHING in Singapore. From seeing Crazy Rich Asians to eating at the hawker stands to the beautiful SuperTrees to the drink and view from the Marina Bay Sands, it was everything I imagined.  One day, I will swim in that infinity pool.
Enjoying Singapore and being on top of the world at the Marina Bay Sands.

DELTAS:

Looking back on the last thirty days, here are a few things we might have done a little differently.

  1. Eating out so much has been tough.  I think we have been to three grocery stores in Southeast Asia.  There are frequently 7-11’s or small local markets, but if I were to try to cook a whole meal, I’m not sure I would know where to start.  Eating out occasionally is nice, but Rich and I are both pretty introverted and so we find eating in way more relaxing.  And I miss cooking and eating what I have cooked.
  2. We would not have gone to Iceland.  Wait, aren’t you supposed to be talking about Southeast Asia?  Yes, stay with me.  We were looking at the budget last night, and we have done a pretty decent job staying on budget in Southeast Asia.  And yet, we are still over budget on the trip…for almost the exact amount of money it cost us to go to Iceland.  Iceland was pretty but was SO expensive, especially when viewed in light of how far the money for those 6 days would go in Southeast Asia (read: it would pay for everything for 19 days).  And we slept in a tent in Iceland and ate hot dogs.  We should have saved Iceland for a trip of its own versus including it in our around-the-world trip.
  3. We wish we had picked a better AirBNB location in Bangkok.  As I think about how much we loved Kuala Lumpur and Singapore and how meh we felt about Bangkok, I have to think that if we had been in walking distance of the things we wanted to visit in Bangkok, we would have liked it more.  Bangkok traffic was insane (makes 75/85 traffic in Atlanta and 676 traffic in Philly look light) and so it took forever to get anywhere.  And Rich and traffic are not friends.

LOVES:

  1. Our new planning routine.  Since Phuket, Rich and I have dedicated time to meet with each other to calendar out our time in each new location.  This facilitates a discussion about our priorities for what we want to see and do in each place so that we are on the same page from the jump.  If I am being honest, sometimes it is hard to really tune in and listen to Rich, not because he isn’t charming and interesting, but because we spend all of our time together and sometimes he’s talking to me, but I am daydreaming or playing on my phone or am just otherwise distracted.  During our meetings though, I can totally tune in, focus, and pay attention.
  2. The balance of beaches and cities in the last 30 days.  We had a lot of beach and pool time in Thailand, but we also spent a significant amount of time in some of the largest cities in Southeast Asia in Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore.  The balance was nice.  We could chill in the beach towns, and then enjoy walking and moving as much as we did in the big cities.
  3. Being together!  Nope, not sick of each other yet.  In fact, the longer we are gone, the more common experiences we have to compare and share with one another.  Rich was organizing our Insta stories the other night, and just watching videos of everywhere we have been and all we have done was so fun.  Remember when we watched the World Cup in Croatia (but left because the fireworks were scary and the fans were throwing beer bottles!), and then we were in Malta and we ended up at Friday Happy Hour with the St. Vincent Retirement Community, and then we were in Hanoi, Vietnam exercising with thousands of people in the early morning hours? All of our experiences build and build and build.  This is truly a trip of a lifetime, and we love sharing all of it with each other.
Sunset in Phuket
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Days 106 – 109: Koh Samui, Ultimate Chill

Sawasdee!  Koh Samui was our last stop in Thailand, and let’s just say that our time here was relaxed.  Relax with us for a few minutes, and read about what life on this Thai island is like– or at least, what it was like for us for our four days there.

Day 106: Travel to Koh Samui from Krabi

Koh Samui is an island so our travel from Krabi was by bus, then ferry, then taxi to reach our Koh Samui AirBNB.

The ferry travel reminded me a lot of our time hopping between islands in Croatia, which seems like three years ago and was actually just in July!

Rich getting on Koh Samui ferry
Boarding the ferry for Koh Samui.
Our Koh Samui AirBNB

Our AirBNB in Koh Samui was this adorable glass house.  We took lots of video– you can see it in our Thailand Insta stories— but weren’t smart enough to take photos of the house.

Our favorite part of the AirBNB was not the gorgeous styling or the big porch or the $40/night affordable price tag.  Nope.  It was that the generous host provided snacks on snacks on snacks on snacks.  We are talking cereal, chips, instant noodles, cokes, coffee, cookies, crackers– do we sound like budget backpackers yet?  Ha! We were in heaven!

Italian for Lunch + A Private Pool

Once we checked in, we ate lunch at the most amazing Italian restaurant.  Yes, you read that right.  Italian.   In Thailand.

A gentleman from Rome owns and runs The Food Lab , and he made us delicious roast pork sandwiches.  As a Philadelphia native with an Italian grandmother, Rich has a serious love of roast pork, and this hit the spot.  Watch out DiNic’s— you have some competition!

Food Lab in Koh Samui
Rich with his roast pork sandwich at Food Lab

Because everyone obviously wants to put on a swimsuit immediately after eating a roast pork sandwich, we headed to the pool for a few hours after lunch.  Our AirBNB was about 100 yards from a cute little hotel.  For a charge of about $3/person, we were able to pay to use the pool.  No one else was there so $6 bought us our own private oasis!

private pool in Koh Samui
Private pool day!

Day 107: Work, The Grandpa Rock, and Rich Receives Cheers

We decided to use a quiet island to get as caught up as possible on blogging and planning.

The biggest pro of working from our sweet AirBNB: An American drip coffee pot!  I do not want to attempt to calculate the number of Nescafe coffee packets we have consumed in the last 100+ days.  I carry them in my backpack, in my purse, they fall out as we go through security.  Don’t get me wrong– we need them to get an inexpensive caffeine fix.  Still, having actual coffee while we worked greatly enhanced productivity.

The biggest con of working from our AirBNB: We had to pay for electricity separately, which included aircon.  We didn’t want to accidentally run up a huge bill by running aircon all day so we tried to get by during the day with just fans and ocean breezes.  It was sweaty.  This was a mistake.

Visiting Hin Ta and Hin Yai Rocks

The Hin Ta and Hin Yai, which translates to Grandpa and Grandma, rocks are one of the most famous landmarks in Koh Samui, Thailand.

I like to keep the blog g-rated and family friendly, keeping in mind that my mom and stepdad are two of our most devoted readers, so I’m struggling a bit for the words to describe this unique rock formation.

I’ll include a few pictures below, share that the rocks are 100% naturally formed, and note that we were quite surprised, particularly by grandpa rock, when we arrived.  Once you see Hin Ta, there is no unseeing him.

Oops

For dinner, we walked to Emporio, a different Italian restaurant, also owned and run by a Roman chef, across the street from the Food Lab.  We ate unbelievably well-prepared carbonara, enjoying a wonderful meal together.

Sicily? Nope. Koh Samui. Totally authentic and delicious carbonara.

A quick explanation: when we were in Cambodia, we transitioned from using our American wallets to using a small coin purse to keep up with our money as we hardly ever are able to use credit cards and we often have a lot of bills and coins to keep track of at any given moment.  Elephant patterns are ubiquitous across southeast Asia, so clearly our coin purse is decorated with an elephant design.  As a result, we just call this coin purse “the elephant.”  We almost always leave our other wallets in the safe at home.

It came time to pay at Emporio, we opened the elephant, and we didn’t have as much Thai currency as we thought we did with us.  We also didn’t have an ATM card, just a credit card.  And of course, Emporio didn’t take credit cards.

We didn’t have money to pay our bill.

For those of you that know us outside of our lives as travelers, you know that this is one of the least Team Mitchell things we have ever done.  We are super conscientious, super organized, super type-A.  I guess in Koh Samui, we were just super relaxed!

So the only course of action was to go home, get a debit card to tap the ATM, and get more Thai bahts.

My Koh Samui Hero

Home, of course, was a mile and a half away.  Rich did not love the idea of leaving me sitting by myself in a not-very-crowded restaurant in Thailand for long and the place was going to close soon so he decided that this predicament required that he run home while I stayed behind.

What I should also mention about Koh Samui Thailand is that, umm, it’s a little less conservative than other parts of Thailand we visited (see: pictures of the most popular landmark above).  There are many older ex-pats with younger Thai women, you see much more revealing clothing, and there are bars with names like “The Sexy Sex Bar.”  Seriously.

So my handsome husband started running down the main street through this relaxed beach town, and the women working at the Sexy Sex Bar started cheering.  And then the women at the massage parlors started clapping and shouting encouragement too.  Then the ex-pats a few beers in started urging on their mate too.  To hear Rich tell it, running the mile to our apartment was like running the last mile of a marathon.  A very spirited marathon.  With no other runners.

My handsome, sweaty American husband returned with the money a bit sheepishly about 25 minutes later.  Rich received considerably less attention and fewer cheers (read: no cheers) walking back home with me!

Day 108: Crystal Bay at Silver Beach in Koh Samui, Thailand

About Koh Samui

More context: Koh Samui is a beautiful island, full of glamorous world class resorts: the Ritz, the W, etc.  There is a plethora of restaurants, boutiques, and spas, which clearly have the economy to support them during busy season.

We were not there during the busy season, and Koh Samui felt like a luxurious ghost town.  Beautiful, but a bit creepy.  Rich made a comment that it felt like everyone there was running away from something instead of running to something.  We liked Koh Samui, but that description felt right to me too.

Crystal Bay

Still, Thai beaches live up to every wonderful description they receive.  We walked about 45 minutes to get to the Crystal Bay at Silver Beach and found clear water, mountains, tall rocks, and soft sand.  We had a great afternoon reading, sleeping, taking pictures, and being together.

Does it get better?
My little mermaid.
Hi from Thailand!
Beach hair, don’t care.
Smiles in Koh Samui!
Rich climbs.

Day 108: Football, Work, Pool

We enjoyed our last day in Koh Samui which looked like:

  • Getting up at 1:00 AM to watch the defending world champion Philadelphia Eagles defeat the New York Giants 43-13.  Go Birds!
  • Going back to sleep, clearly.
  • Waking up much later and working most of the day.
  • Heading back to the hotel pool to lounge in the late afternoon.
Rich reads at the pool.

Rich and I had had enough Italian (ha!) so we tried a vegan place nearby for dinner, and it was amazing.

Acai bowl at the vegan restaurant

Final Thoughts on Koh Samui

Spending twelve straight days at the Thai beaches of Phuket, Krabi, and Koh Samui was a true treat.  We left with a complete understanding of why so many people move to Thailand for a slower, more relaxed life, full of beauty and rest.

Twenty total days in Thailand was just right for us.  Koh Samui provided an incredible opportunity for us to rest and work, allowing us to get  caught up on blogging and planning.  At the same time, by the end, we were pretty ready to explore somewhere else and visit cities where tourism is not the main industry. We wanted to blend back in in a crowd.

On to Malaysia!

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Our THIRD 30 Days Abroad: By the Numbers

I sit here in shock that we are ALREADY on our third 30 days post– meaning we have been gone for more than 90 days total!  We had a lot of fun putting together our first and second thirty day review posts and hope you all will enjoy reading this one as much as we enjoy working together to crank it out.

Here goes!

Dates Included: August 25 – September 23, 2018

Countries Visited:  4 (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand)

Cities/Towns Visited: 10 (Hue, Hoi An, Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Vietvianne, Vang Vieng, Luang Prabang, Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai)

TRANSPORTATION

Number of Flights Taken: 10

Number of Buses Taken: 12

Number of Taxi/Uber Rides: 3

Number of Vans Taken: 3

Number of Tuk Tuk Rides: 5

LODGING

Number of AirBNB’s Slept In: 5

Number of Hotels Slept In: 5

FOOD

Percentage of Meals Eaten Out: 62% (50)

Percentage of Meals Eaten In: 7% (6)

Percentage of Meals Eaten in Airport Lounges: 5% (4)

Percentage of Meals Provided by Hotels or AirBNB’s: 26% (21)

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

So for the past sixty days, as our faithful readers are aware, despite Rich and Amanda spending countless hours together going to all of the same places, Rich amasses MILES more of steps than Amanda as tracked by their FitBits.  BUT this thirty days, we had gyms!  Amanda ran MILES on the treadmill while Rich lifted weights.  Will it make a difference?

Rich

  • Total Distance: 329,684 steps (152.3 miles)
  • Average Daily Distance: 10,989 steps (5.08 miles)
  • Daily High: 28,060 steps (12.88 miles)
  • Daily Low: 3,342 steps (1.53 miles)

Amanda

  • Total Distance: 270,505 steps (121.2 miles)
  • Average Daily Distance: 9,017 steps (4.04 miles)
  • Daily High: 22,953 steps (10.03 miles)
  • Daily Low: 2,511 (1.1 miles)

So, nope, the running did not make a difference.  Sorry trainer Meg and Aaptiv.

Our steps are WAY down from our last 30 days where we were averaging over 2,000 more steps a day.  Europe is set up for walking as a mode of transportation in a way that Southeast Asia just isn’t.  We are hoping to get this activity back up.

INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITY

I should really rename this category.  #shade

Our reading was down a bit; we had more trouble finding books in English in Southeast Asia.  We also had to pay for all of these except Trevor Noah’s Born A Crime.  Rich and I had better luck in Europe with taking books that were left behind in AirBNBs and hotels (and usually leaving a few behind ourselves).

Rich

Amanda

We found a HUGE bookstore in Ho Chi Minh City. It was great EXCEPT the books were not in alpha order by writer or title.  Mind blowing. How were you supposed to find anything?!?
OVERALL COSTS AS PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL BUDGET

Flights: 28% (13% increase)

Other Transportation (Buses, Trains, Ferries, Taxis, Funiculars): 5% (3% decrease)

Lodging: 42% (2% decrease)

Food:  16% (3% decrease)

Sightseeing: 3% (2 % decrease)

Other (Books, Haircut, Laundry, Toiletries, Trips to H&M): 6% (4% decrease)

Rich getting his hair cut in Chiang Mai, Thailand
FAVORITES:

How do we choose?!?

Favorite Meal:

  • Rich: Crispy Pad Thai (from the MAYA shopping mall food court) in Chiang Mai, Thailand; Runner Up– Philly Cheesesteak at Vibe Cafe in Siem Reap, Cambodia
  • Amanda: The Spicy Pork Ragu Noodles at Nu Eatery in Hoi An, Vietnam; Runner Up–Red Curry with Tofu + Mango Sticky Rice at Happy Mango Thai Restaurant in Vang Vieng, Laos (We ate twice at both restaurants!)
Food court crispy pad thai– It cost less than $2!  Imagine pad thai meets nachos.

Favorite AirBNB:

Favorite Hotel:

The view from our room at the beautiful Riverside Boutique Hotel

Favorite City/Town:

  • Rich: Chiang Mai, Thailand
  • Amanda: Chiang Mai, Thailand

Favorite Mode of Transportation: 

  • Rich: Flying for $15 one way in Southeast Asian cities
  • Amanda: The van ride from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang.  We started with one driver, and then midway through the ride, we got a new driver.  We drove over the most treacherous roads.  The second driver got out to pee on the side of the road three times.  But the land was BEAUTIFUL.  It reminded me of the rolling hills of North Georgia where my family is from, and for about four hours, I could just sit, stare out the window, and take it all in.

Favorite Beach/Pool: 

  • Rich: The hotel pool at the Riverside Boutique Hotel in Vang Vieng, Laos
  • Amanda: Our hotel pool in Vietianne.  While it wasn’t the most glamorous pool, inexplicably, for one day at the pool, there was a giant unicorn float when we arrived.  Read more here about how that went for Rich.
unicorn float in Vientiane
So much love for the unicorn float

Favorite Book Read:

  • Rich: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
  • Amanda:  Either Commonwealth: A Novel by Ann Patchett OR Born A Crime by Trevor Noah.  Although Crazy Rich Asians was really fun too…#nerd

Least Favorite Moment:

  • Rich: We had a great night out in Siem Reap enjoying a delicious dinner and two amazing cocktails at Miss Wong Cocktail Bar. We had a nice walk home and then…tragedy struck. OK, not tragedy just an unfortunate accident. Our Airbnb in Siem Reap was a really cute little place that had big glass doors opening to a small lobby. First, let me start of by saying the large glass double doors had been open the entire two days we were staying there. Second, they were really really clean. I am starting to tell this story like Amanda. I will get to the point: I walked face first into the glass doors as if I were walking through an open door. My nose and mouth started gushing blood, followed by lots of cursing and a call home to my dad to ask if my nose was broken (it wasn’t). This “clean glass door” incident led to lots of ice, Neosporin, and Bio Oil to help my face heal. I am happy to report that two weeks later I am 90% of the way to being scar free.
  • Amanda: That’s a lot to follow.  We took a van from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang, and in a strange turn of events, the driver dropped us off at a location that was NOT the bus station because “of the police.”  We had a tuk tuk scheduled to pick us up at the bus stop, and since we had no idea how to communicate our new location, we decided to walk to the AirBNB.  Little did we know, this walk, in the dark, involved crossing a VERY rickety pedestrian bridge over a river carrying all of our belongings.   I’ll probably write more about this in my post on Luang Prabang, so for now, I will just admit to having a complete and total meltdown, just short of tears, in the middle of said bridge of death.
Did we mention that the day after the glass door incident was our visit to Angkor Wat?

Most Favorite Moments: 

  • Rich: The four days exploring the Nimman neighborhood in Chiang Mai, Thailand, lounging by the pool in Vang Vieng overlooking the limestone mountains, and our day working at The Workshop Coffee in Ho Chi Minh City.  Oh, also hiking a waterfall in Luang Prabang.  We will blog about these soon!
  • Amanda:  Visiting Angkor Wat .  It was like being on another planet.  I cannot believe such an incredible place exists.  When we first entered Angkor Wat shortly after sunrise, most of the visitors were going straight, and we took a left.  About 100 steps in, and we were all alone, in this huge section of the temple.  It was amazing.  I also loved bicycling to see temples in Chiang Rai and then coming “home” to the hotel to read at the pool.  oh, AND I loved being at a lagoon in Vang Vieng when all of these middle school aged boys got out of school.  Watching them jump out of trees and off bridges into the water was incredible.  I ALMOST FORGOT THE CAT CAFE.  OF COURSE, THE CAT CAFE.

DELTAS:

Looking back on the last thirty days, here are a few things we want to commit to doing moving forward.

  1. Use the 7-11.  Hear me out.  In Europe, we stayed almost exclusively in AirBNB’s with kitchens, and going grocery shopping was a must-do in every new place.  Here in Southeast Asia, it is actually cheaper to buy food out, especially from street vendors or mall food courts, than to cook.  Still, there were many times that we were one or two snacks away from being a little less hangry if we planned ahead better.  We did a good job with this in Chiang Mai, where the “Sev” (as Rich calls it) was on our street, and it made a big difference.
  2. Do more research on the places we are visiting before we get there.  I am going to admit that often I learn a ton about a historical place like Siem Reap when I blog about it after we have already visited.  Several times, people who have vacationed in a place we are visiting have told us that we “HAVE” to get a guide to explore an area, but honestly, that’s just not financially practical on a trip as long as ours.  Still, I want to commit to doing a better job at researching historical sites before rolling out the door so that we don’t miss anything while it is happening.
  3. Schedule our time on a calendar.  At our jobs, Rich and I were both super type-A schedulers with serious calendars.  For better or worse, we have relaxed those tendencies.  There are ways that not being so scheduled allows us to enjoy the moments we are in, but we also can see a pattern of not getting all of the things done that we wanted to do (i.e. blogging, planning, working out) because our “plan” for the day evolves the day of, often after an hour or two in the morning lost to playing on Insta or Twitter.  We both love feeling productive so we want to try to start scheduling out the four or five days we will spend at a place on our calendars on the travel day when we arrive.  We can let you know how it goes.

LOVES:

  1. The confidence gained knowing that we are doing this. Rich and I have been gone for more than 90 days.  We are traveling the world.  We are not by any means perfect at it, but when we run into challenges, like glass doors (too soon?), we are able to keep on keeping on.  Neither had us had ever been to Asia before and now we have both spent more than thirty days in Southeast Asia.  When we first discussed traveling the world for a year, we weren’t quite sure it was possible.  But we are doing it!  That feels great.
  2. All of the support from our friends and family at home.  There are sweet friends who I had fallen out of touch with who because of this trip I am back in touch with as they reach out with kind messages, emails, and likes on pictures.  We both feel like we have a whole big team of cheerleaders, rooting for and encouraging us on our way.  And we have made new friends with other traveling couples through Instagram who provide us tips on places we are going next or even feature us on their blogs.  THANK YOU for all of the support.  It is awesome.
  3. Spending time together. Still.  Even when we melt down on bridges and are hangry.  Having this time to travel, explore, learn, love, and process is an unbelievable gift, and we are having a blast.

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Stay Tuned…

Packing

The good news about having a blog audience is, well, I never expected to have a blog audience (a blogience?).

The bad news is that your audience wants you to write something.

And by audience, in this case, I mean my almost 70 year old stepfather who informed me yesterday that “there was really not much happening on the blog.”

Touche.

Rich and I have been busy saying goodbyes, packing stuff, and closing out our jobs.  We end work on Friday, and we take off on Monday!

All that to say, we will not bore our readers (read: my stepdad) with details of which container we packed which socks in, but we will promise to write soon when there are lots of exciting things to share.

And I will end by saying that we are just so incredibly, unbelievably excited.  I feel like I am on drugs, walking around smiling because we are about to take off and see the world.  

Back to the sock packing– stay tuned! It can only  get more exciting for our readers too!

And more packing.

 

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