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)___?

(Bitter)sweet Home Alabama

Grand old pecan tree
that graces the center yard
of our parents' home in
Alabama.

Hello 4 am.  Jetlag is always a good companion for some blogging.  Here goes...

We're relieved to be back home stateside, but it's not how we predicted our Travel Sabbatical to end.  Our dad's sudden decline in health and passing is still shocking and confirms that anything can happen, so plan and live accordingly.  

Start of our 30-hour journey back from Tokyo to Alabama.  Will we make it back in time?

Even though we didn't make it back  in time to say goodbye, we feel very blessed.  Had it not been for us quitting our jobs to start our travels in May, we wouldn't have had the opportunity to spend 2 precious weeks with our parents in Alabama before we departed.  Ironically, we stayed in touch more via FaceTime while we were traveling than when we were "too busy" with our lives at home.  We're blessed that we were able to give him a glimpse into our adventures.  He avidly kept up with our travel blog and was very proud of what we had accomplished.

"Welcome Home!" said
Homeland Security upon our
arrival to stateside at LAX.

Dad's passing affirms our decision for taking a career break to pursue this dream, as originally inspired by the untimely death of loved ones already gone.   There's no regret because we accepted the inherent risks when we decided not to wait around for "what might have been".

  
Thank you to our Travel Sabbatical family for your thoughts and prayers.  It's been a truly (Bitter)sweet Home Alabama homecoming.  

Everyone's Got A Story and Wants to Feed You in Chiang Mai

Reflections on one of our best weeks during our travels in Chiang Mai.  Being in nature, riding elephants, and visiting more temples was good; however making new friends, reuniting with old, and trying out some good (non-Thai) food is what will remain in our memories.  Everyone's got a story in Chiang Mai. 

What Happens in Bangkok, Stays in Bangkok

Khaosan Road during the day

The Vegas rule of engagement applies here, too.  What happens in Bangkok, stays in Bangkok.  So, don't expect any Hangover Part 2-esque accounting of events.  However, we can share a few observations to keep our blog going!

Ironically, we just left Jerusalem, the holiest and most religious city for one of the backpacker capitals of the world - Bangkok, Thailand.  Long gone are Jesus's sites, prayer books, wailing wall, churches, synagogues, mosques, and pilgrims.  

Now, we are surrounded by bars, clubs, tattoo parlors, Thai massage joints, pad thai street vendors, plastic buckets full of cheap booze, piercings, beer girls, lady-boys, hippie flowy clothing, tuk-tuks, and a sense that practically anything goes in this city that makes Vegas look like an amateur, as evidenced by the ping ping girls in Bangkok's Red Light District, Patpong Street (look it up, or read this R-rated article: Ping Pong Show by Adventurous Kate's blog).  

Sofia, Bulgaria: Our Last Balkans Experience

Sofia, Bulgaria - our last Balkans stay before we head to Istanbul, Turkey!  23 days ago, we blindly crossed the Adriatric, not knowing what to expect.  We found a region less traveled where the past differences continues to influence their hopeful future; where the most serene landscapes are peppered with memories of war and churches of all faiths.  We came out knowing a lot more about this area of the world, and are glad to have met all the kind people who safely helped us across their homeland.

Sofia is the capital city of Bulgaria with all the modern services and finds of a large, cosmopolitan city.  We could tell there's a significant Turkish and Russian influence in this city.  We also hadn't run into too many foreign business people and expatriates for the past 3 weeks until we arrived in Sofia.  We had a nice conversation and several Kamenitza beers with a retired Norwegian expatriate who made his residence in Sofia about 5 years ago.  

The best part about Sofia?  The currency exchange office took our Argentine pesos that nobody else would take!!  They also exchanged our Serbian dinar that the other Balkan countries would not touch.  It felt like a Christmas bonus. 

Reflections: 4-Months Gone By!

September 2012 marks our half-way point in our 8-month journey around-the-world.  You'll see that it's been good to escape our sanitized, over-scheduled lives and inject some grit and soul into it.  

Our experience has been an interesting dichotomy.  The travels have been slow yet fast; exhilarating but exhausting; temporary as our permanent state of being; nature's silence to offset the city chaos; unreasonable expectations causing unnecessary disappointment; pure freedom in the midst of utter helplessness (or cluelessness!); feeling so small in this big world; and the complexity of accomplishing the most simple tasks in a foreign environment.  

Quirks and Difficulties of Traveling Through the Balkans

From Sarajevo, we literally didn't have an exit plan because we couldn't make a decision on which direction to head.  We thought about going south towards Mostar, Bosnia and Hercegovina (BiH), then Montenegro, then Albania, but we found out that Albania does not allow public transportation to cross its borders from some of the other Balkan states.  It didn't sound like something we wanted to hassle with.

We considered taking a more off-the-beaten-path route, but again, cross-country transportation outside of major cities is sparse and lodging unreliable.  

We really wanted to raft down the super-deep Tara Canyon river in Montenegro, then go east through Kosovo, then Serbia, but getting to and out of Tara Canyon sounded like it would take many extra days.  Also, we're very glad we didn't do this route because Serbia would not have allowed entry had we gone through Kosovo first.  It has to do with territorial disputes about Serbia's claim over Kosovo, and it's complicated, but Serbia considers going through Kosovo first, an illegal border crossing.

Basically, we've considered several different itineraries each time, but most are eliminated due to transportation or border crossing issues.  The places we've been during the past 2 weeks represent the path of least resistance.

Getting Lost in the Medina of Tangier, Morocco

View of Tangier from highest point in old medina.

Ever since Tangier was on 2011 Lonely Planet's list of best places to visit, it's been a "must-go" during our round-the-world trip.  So, when we finally got a glimpse from the ferry of the white-washed buildings stacked up into the hillside of the medina (old town) and the ancient kasbah (citadel) fortress wall on the North African coast, we knew we had arrived to exotic Tangier!

RAMADAN

Months ago when we were planning our destinations, we discovered that we might be in Morocco during Ramadan.  We had no idea what to expect, but decided we should go anyway.  Worst case scenario being that we would not be able to eat or drink all day and businesses would be closed, but would make up for it at night with the locals.  Since we chose to stay in Spain a little longer, we only experienced the last 2 days of Ramadan, and the holiday that followed. 

Last Day in Baños: Random Thoughts and Observations

Reluctantly, we are leaving this lovely town of Baños de Agua Santa, Ecuador.  We could easily grow roots here, but the remaining 6-7 months beckons us to pack up and continue on to new adventures.  Here's a few random thoughts and observations from two career-breaking gringos:  
1.  We'll definitely be back to do all the things we didn't get around to doing/seeing.  We would love to come back here with friends for a 1-2 week vacation.  The biggest expense would be the flight into Quito or Guayaquil, but after that...it's cheap cheap everything!
2.  To have an even better experience, learn conversational Spanish so that we could get beyond superficial communication of basic needs and really get to know the friendly locals.  For next time, there's a couple of language schools in town.
3. ...however, English and our broken Spanish is getting us pretty far. :)
4.  Baños is an electic mix of locals, ex-patriats, adventure travelers, backpackers, and Ecuadorian vacationers.  
5.  Baños is very inexpensive, but also has luxury accommodations.  Both of us can easily live off of $60/day (or less if renting an apartment/room and cooking for yourself). 25-50 cents for bottled water; $1-2 for a large bottle of beer; less than $5 for a full meal; $20 gets you decent lodging for 2; $1/kg for laundry service; $1/hour bus ride; $5 haircut and shave; $5-10 to rent a bike for the day.  
6.  Ecuador is on the US $, eliminating the need to do any currency conversions. We've been paying mostly by cash. Example, there is a 10-15% up charge when paying the hostels with a credit card.  ATMs are easily accessible with a bank fee of $5 plus 10% of the total withdrawals.  Best not to hit the ATM everyday.
7. Women of all ages love to wear their ultra-tight pants and spandex.  Contrast that with the backpackers in their ultra-baggy tie-dye clothes...
8.  Stray dogs that look nourished, happy, relaxed, and BALANCED - as Cesar Milan, the dog whisperer, likes to say.   Ogi (our dog) needs to come here and let the strays school her on how to be a more balanced dog.
9.  Young kids hang out at their parents' businesses, but they are well-behaved, don't interrupt, and keep themselves entertained. 
10.  Jack Daniel's is almost as ubiquitous as Coca-Cola.  Very strong brand presence in most countries.  Did you know, Coca-Cola is in every country except 2?  Guess where?  Cuba and North Korea.  I'll take a Jack and Coke.
11.  We haven't missed or even thought about TV since we left.  I have all these books on my Kindle, too, but haven't even had time to read.   What the heck are we doing?  Nothing really, except walking around, people watching, enjoying nature, soaking in hot springs, researching our next destination.  It's tiring 'work', but someone's gotta do it.
12.  Everyone seems to have their own little mom-and-pop business selling food, beverages, souvenirs, services, providing lodging, etc.  They don't have 'staff' either.  The same person who takes your order cooks your food.  The same person checking you in also cleans, cooks, and manages the lodging.  
13.  The weather is PERFECT (to Akiko's standards) and there are no mosquitos.  Sunny and in the 70s during the day; misty and in the 50s at night.  
14.  We could tell that everyone knows everyone in this small town; yet, unlike a regular small town, the influx of travelers keeps the vibe fresh and exciting.  
15.  For a small mountain town, there are excellent restaurants from traditional Ecuadorian cuisine to American, a brewpub, international fare, French, Japanese, Swiss, Chinese, Italian, vegetarian, vegan.
16.  We appreciate that Baños is SAFE.  There is no fear of getting robbed on the streets, people are friendly, and we feel safe walking anywhere - even at night.  
17.  Baños is an excellent place to commune with nature.  There are plenty of outdoor activities, even for the less adventurous.
18.  Hyundai is huge in Ecuador! Being a Hyundai owner myself, I've noticed that half the cars and SUVs are Hyundais.  My "Sadie", the Santa Fe, will feel right at home here.

So, what's our "We can live here" factor on a scale of 1-10?  Perhaps a whopping 8.  We love it here.

-A

Week 1: R&R in Alabama

My motto for the past several months has literally been, "I can sleep later."  We have been very busy finalizing trip plans, making sure everything on the home-front was going to be taken care of, finishing up all of our projects and responsibilities at work, and saying goodbyes to all our friends and family.  Since all that is behind us now, we CAN actually sleep, and the best place for rest and relaxation is in Alabama at our parents' home.  Their home is synonymous with peace, quiet, relaxation, lazy ol' summer day, watching-the-world-go-by, kind of place.  I cannot think of a better place to unwind from the acceleration trap of work.

We love the cows grazing, the dirt roads, watching corn and asparagus grow, the wrap-around porch, walks around the pasture and pond, and hanging out with our family.

This is what we plan on doing for the upcoming week - slowly detach from our fast paced lives to make room for all that we are about to experience in our Sabbatical.  [A]

Read more about our previous Alabama Road Trip Supper Club Finds Part 2; Alabama Road Trip Supper Club Finds Part 3; Alabama Road Trip Supper Club Finds Part 4

Bon Voyage and the Kindness and Generosity of People

This is the weekend we've been working towards for what seems like forever. After a whirlwind week of getting final to-dos completed, we officially moved out of our house this afternoon, handing over the reigns to our dog/house sitter. Although we are very excited to embark on our adventures, the whole week has been bittersweet. Selling our car and handing over the keys to the house wasn't too bad, but saying goodbye to our dog has been the moment we have been dreading for a long time. After taking one last long walk around the neighborhood on this drizzly day, we hugged our white furry mutt goodbye and the tears started rolling, and kept rolling, and we kept sobbing as we headed down the road, and we haven't really quite stopped crying yet.

And then it also dawned on us that we are officially homeless...and unemployed after tomorrow...