Tag: city

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

• Books Read: 3 (Little Fires Everywhere, Commonwealth: A Novel, The Inferno)

Amanda

• Books Read: 5 (Commonwealth: A Novel, The Inferno, Around the World in 80 Days, Crazy Rich Asians, Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood)

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)

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!)

Favorite AirBNB:

• Rich: Cozy Stay in Nimman in Chiang Mai, Thailand ($33/night)
• Amanda: Vuong’s Riverside Room with a View in Hoi An, Vietnam ($34/night)

Favorite Hotel:

• Rich: Riverside Boutique Resort in Vang Vieng, Laos ($64/night)
• Amanda: Riverside Boutique Resort in Vang Vieng, Laos ($64/night)

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.

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.

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.