Thank You To Travel Sabbatical Fans!

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to all of our Travel Sabbatical fans for following our trip around the world.  It wouldn't have been the same without all of your encouragement.  A blessed and happy new year in  2013.  Stay tuned for more travel adventures in the future.  Until then, be safe and keep on travelin'!

Travel Sabbatical: Our Favorites 2012

Until we returned to the States, we had no idea how many people were actually following us on our adventures around the world!  We are utterly amazed and grateful from the bottom of our hearts that so many people took the time to read our blog.  We are truly honored.

Having had a few weeks to meet back up with our family and friends, the number one question has been, "Where was your favorite place?"  The difficulty in answering this question may come as a surprise...we had so many favorites!  We definitely enjoyed experiencing all the famous sites, but in general, the most memorable times have been anytime we were able to get to know the locals.  As we wrap-up 2012, this list of Travel Sabbatical favorites may help answer the question, "What was your favorite ___(fill in the blank)___?

Travel Sabbatical Insights, A Poem

The Holstee Manifesto.

As our transition back into "real life" approaches, it's natural for any extended traveler to begin having a personal philosophical debate about their experiences, trying to somehow articulate it into some deep meaningful expression before it all gets drowned out by the rat race of life all over again.   After all, doesn't it seem somewhat shallow if we didn't at least entertain the idea that we learned some life lessons from our travels rather than treating it as just one big vacation?

The following is an interesting excerpt from Notebooks by Albert Camus, a French writer and philosopher that spent his life addressing this conundrum between human need to seek inherent value and meaning in everything and the reality that we sometimes don't.  His philosophy of absurdism (no joke, look it up), may have made him cynical, but I appreciate this less romanticized explanation of the value of travel.

"What gives value to travel is fear.  It is a fact that, at a certain moment, when we are so far from our own country...we are seized by a vague fear, and an instinctive desire to go back to the protection of old habits.  This is the most obvious benefit of travel...This is why we should not say that we travel for pleasure.  There is no pleasure in traveling, and I look upon it more as an occasion for spiritual testing.  Pleasure takes us away from ourselves in the same way as distraction...Travel, brings us back to ourselves."

However, towards the end of our trip, my mind - under pressure - did begin racing with the inevitable (and usually unanswerable) heavy-hitting questions: what does this all mean, did I learn anything, did it change my life, etc.  Ironically, writing down any thoughts in complete sentences and paragraphs didn't always capture the correct sentiment without losing the simple meaning in all of the rambling.  I really didn't intend for a poem to develop (especially since I'm ignorant of any guidelines on how to write a proper one), but it seemed the most organic way to jot down my Travel Sabbatical insights. 

Certainly, I will cringe at my own sentimentality when I re-read this in the future.  Oh well, it's how I saw it at the moment.

Happy New Year everyone.

Travel Sabbatical Insights, A Poem

I want time to stand still,

To stay in perpetual freedom.

I want time to pass quickly,

To escape from this vagabond life. 

Responsibilities, 

Schedule, 

Routine, I can't recall.

Discipline, I left it all behind.

How ignorant I am.

How naive I've been.

In my world view.

My cocoon.

Ecuador.  You surprised me.

Jerusalem.  You enlightened me.

Buenos Aires.  You nourished me.

Chiang Mai.  You cast a spell on me.

Cambodia.  Your resilience inspired me.

Vietnam. Your beauty stunned me.

Istanbul.  Your grandeur seduced me.

Tangier. Your impenetrable facade mystified me.

The Balkans.  Your ongoing struggles challenged me.

Witness to history unfolding.

Sometimes repeating.

"Those who cannot remember the past

are condemned to repeat it."

Repeating. 

Personal Freedoms.
Due Process.

No longer just words to me.

I've seen a lot.

Not seen enough.

Done a lot.

More to do. 

Met many.

But only a few.

Learned daily.

Experienced much.

Took less for granted.

Left with more appreciation.

How alive I feel.
For my mom who couldn't.
For my friend who didn't.

This was no vacation.

A career break.

A gap year.

A trip around the world.

Was it a life changer?  
Or a life staller? 

Only time will tell, but right now, 

I want time to stand still,
To feed my curiosity.

I want time to pass quickly,

To acknowledge that new perspective.

Only time will tell.

The insights from our

Travel Sabbatical.

-Akiko Kubo

Things We've Never Said in Tokyo Before (Our Travel Sabbatical)

As we prepare our transition back to "real life" after 7 months, we are unwinding in Tokyo and catching up with Akiko's dad.  Tokyo is Akiko's second home and Mike's 6th time visiting, so this place is not a new experience for us.  We thought we had Tokyo figured out, but how funny that everything is relative and subject to perspective, especially after experiencing all the places we've been on our Travel Sabbatical.  

Here's a few things we've never uttered before on our trips to Tokyo...'til now:

• "Wow, it's so calm and orderly here."
• "Why are we waiting for the light to turn?  I think we should just cross the street now."
• When approaching any shop, vendor: "Irasshaimase (Welcome!) is so much better than 'You buy sometheeeeeeng!'"
• Observing cars driving down narrow streets: "Pretty sure they could squeeze in one more lane and at least 2 buses, and 50 motorbikes into that street."
• On riding the bus from the airport: "Really? It goes directly and non-stop to Kichijoji?  That's amazing."
• "I bet I could negotiate that train ticket down from ¥160 down to ¥40."
• "What do you mean it's a fixed price?!"
• "Hmmmmm.  $10 beer versus 50 cent beer.  Missing the sidewalk beer in Saigon."
• "The streets are so clean, organized, and the shops so pretty, I feel like I'm on a movie set."
• If Southeast Asia adopted Japan's trash separating system: "These boxes get thrown in that street; these plastic bags get thrown on another street; and styrofoam can only be thrown out the window on Mondays and Thursdays."
• "Dear tap water: I will never take you for granted again."
• "Are you sure they're open during their siesta time (usually noon until 1 or 2)?
• "I feel like a paranoid freak, holding onto my travel pouch like someone cares.  I forget no one wants my shit.  Everyone has a better iPhone, a Japanese passport, and way more money in their wallet than I do."
• "They could soooo accommodate more customers at this restaurant if they exchanged their nice furniture for short red plastic tables and stools."
• "Why not."
• "Can't believe those dogs are on a leash."
• "Seriously?  You actually have plenty of change for my large bills?  Weird..."
• "When the train conductor says its a one-minute wait, it's probably a true 60-second wait, instead of a one-minute-means-at-least-ten-minute-wait."
• "Toilet paper.  Oh, how I love thee."

There's probably more, but here it is.  Welcome back to civilization.  

A Very Important Visit

Today was a deeply personal trip.  Most of our Travel Sabbatical fans will not find this the least bit interesting or relevant, but our visit to Akiko's mom's gravesite was very important to us at the conclusion of our trip.  We think she was our guardian angel throughout our journey, keeping us safe from harm and illnesses, so we wanted to pay our respects and gratitude.

Akiko's mom, Yoko, was somewhat of an adventurous vagabond herself.  Akiko probably got the travel itch from her.  While living in the States, it was nothing for her parents to pack-up the station wagon and aimlessly drive off with the kids to explore the vast open road and national parks.  They also explored Southeast Asia during their 3 years spent in Singapore.  Although her full-time job in Tokyo prevented Yoko from traveling too much, she was an avid hiker and skier who liked to be in the mountains of Japan as often as possible.  Once retired, she was able to realize some of her dreams of trekking the Swiss Alps and witnessing the Matterhorn.  In fact, she went to Thailand way before we did and she's visited countries that we've not yet seen including Brazil, New Zealand, parts of the Canadian Rockies, etc.

So, it was with great shock and sadness that such an active person would be afflicted by Lou Gehrig's Disease or ALS, robbing her of her ability to move and eventually breathe.

1974?, Japan.

8-Months Travel Sabbatical, Within Budget at $50,000

No, we didn't win the lottery or have a trust fund.  We were an average middle-class DINK (dual income, no kids) household, living below our means, saving money the old-fashioned way to be spent on an event such as a travel sabbatical.

At first, we didn't know how to budget for an 8-month trip, but we took a stab in the dark by figuring out what our average daily cost might be, plus any outstanding bills to maintain our house, private health insurance, and our dog while we were away.

After 8-months and a few unexpected home repairs and veterinary bills, we are astounded by the accuracy of our $50,000 budget!  Of course, human nature dictates that expenses almost always expand up to a set budget.  Isn't that correct?  So, if we had set our daily goal at $100 instead of $150, we would've probably been able to achieve that, albeit a little less comfortably.  We're glad we set a realistic goal that fit our lifestyle and stuck to it.  We also had help from friends and friends of friends, who graciously provided us free lodging at some points of our journey.  We can't thank them enough. 

We can't remember the last time we heard these 2 words together, "Balanced Budget", yet here it is in USD:

I Could Be Turning Into A Hippie...

What is it about traveling through third-world tropics that make it seem acceptable to start ditching my REI or Northface gear for something a little more...cotton-y and flowy?

Truthfully, it's just too damn hot for the synthetic, quick-dry, über-cool, high-performance, fitted, multi-pocketed, anti-theft, anti-sun, bug repellant, superpower gear.

I find myself wearing the unrestricted, flowy, cotton-y, all-sizes, hippie wear for the rest of our Southeast Asian trip.  It's cheap, easy to wash, easy to wear. Somehow, it just happened. 

I'm not kidding.  I've got the long unruly hair, hippie-sack bag, flowy skirt, and Birkenstocks to prove it.  

I would never wear all of this together at the same time, but you get the drift.  I've gone hippie.  Omg.

-A

The Chiang Mai Spell

After visiting a place, have you ever seriously considered, or at least daydreamed, about moving there?

During the past 5 months, we've come across several places where we could see ourselves living, but nowhere is beckoning us more than Chiang Mai.  Yes, even with the tropical heat and mosquitos...