Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines: 6 months down. USA- We’re Coming Home.

It is definitely bittersweet to be writing this. How can 6 months possibly have gone by so quickly? I remember sitting in our newly purchased campervan [Sherman] in New Zealand crying my eyes out because I missed home- 2 weeks felt like forever to be away. I knew I would get stronger and it wasn’t just about being away or taking the longest vacation EVER [I think of it as a quarter life break], it was about learning new cultures, growing, and finding more about myself than I knew when I left. I have powered through the tears and found strength in knowing the journey was more than I even could comprehend at that time.

We have slept in campervans, cars, overnight trains, and airports; we have found ourselves staying in hostels, homestays, tents, hotels, and new friend’s homes; we have indulged in street food, picked fresh fruit that we have never heard of and tried it [in the jungle of Thailand, might I add!], grocery shopped and ate out of a cooler for weeks, and cooked endless amounts of meals on the gas stove that was bolted inside of our campervan.

What an incredible journey we have been on and through the ups and downs, we are landing back in the United States changed. Changed completely. It has been a frequent topic of conversation Adam and I have lately, “How do you think we have changed since we left?” It seems like a simple question but it’s truly hard to comprehend when you sit down and think about it.

I don’t feel like I’ve changed but more so grown in so many ways I didn’t know possible. I guess they can work hand in hand but it’s inevitable that once you start learning new things, the way you look at others will change with the new knowledge. Before leaving the US- I can admit now that I was close minded. Before this trip, have I ever been out of the country? Of course, we live so close to Canada. Oh, and I took that family vacation to Mexico way back when. Yes, maybe we can sometimes say we have been out of the country- but did you learn about where you went or was your mind in strict vacation/beach/cocktail mode? Mine was in strict vacation mode when I went and I was too young to appreciate it anyways.

We knew leaving on this trip we wanted all that traveling to foreign countries has to offer and then some. Giving ourselves about a month in each location we were able to settle in and learn about the country.

We successfully bought and sold a vehicle, made amazing life-long friends, stayed with locals, hiked around a volcano, hiked in the jungle, rode elephants, kayaked, scuba dove, covered ourselves in neon paint to attend a full moon party on the beach, got tattoos, white water rafted, and completed a Tough Mudder. Just typing this- I can’t believe that’s all true. How fortunate we are to see so many parts of the world and meet so many incredible people.

There are people that you meet who leave a lasting impression. We find ourselves lucky to come across these people in life and specifically in our 6 month journey. If you remember a previous post from our time in Australia and the amazing couple that invited us into their home, Harvey & Jane, to this day we still talk about how wonderful they are. The conversations you have and memories you make shape the way you grow and can be linked to how you may “change” along the way. We have handed our card out to many people we converse with along the way and we love the amount of emails we receive back. It’s not always easy to exchange information on the go but when you have it all written down on a card it’s much easier to hand over.

We met some amazing people through AirBnb as well- John Money in New Zealand for starters! John took us to the local bar and even made us a delicious pasta dinner and cake the night before we were heading out. We enjoyed a few beers and meals while talking about our families and how we got to where we were today. John also makes the most amazing cakes that Adam and I LOVE!! Yum. I don’t think John realized how nice it was to have a home cooked meal and how much we appreciated everything he did for us. Would we have met someone like John if we stayed in a hotel over an AirBnb location? My guess is no…and we would have missed out big time.

As I reflect on all of the great times we have had- you know some struggle came with it! Can you imagine being with your significant other for 6 months straight, every minute of every day? Can you imagine being with ANYONE for that length of time? You get real close, real quick and at times you want to get REAL FAR real quick. Haha. The best part is- we are closer than ever and on top of experiencing all the things we have, we are both absolutely confident we have found our soul mate- and how lucky is THAT!

I don’t think we can count the amount of times I said- I JUST WANT TO DO MY HAIR! I WANT TO BE PRETTY AGAIN. I WANT TO FEEL GIRLY. When you are backpacking all over- you have a small bag of clothes and that’s what you wear. EVERY. DAY. Maybe you trade some things out and buy others, but rarely because if you can’t carry it in your pack- you can’t have it. I made it to Australia until I made a very girly purchase- I bought a BRA. OMG you mean you can wear a sports bra EVERY DAY and you don’t want to? Girls- go 2 months in a sports bra and tell me you still like it. Life got much perkier after that purchase J. Yes we may be backpacking, but I realized I can’t give everything up. I still haven’t worn an ounce of make-up and absolutely love it. I am excited, however, to style my hair. I don’t know what I’m going to do with it since it’s grown so much and it really has no style- but it will be nice to not rock a braid or messy bun.

I don’t even know where to begin with all of the ANIMALS we have seen! Penguins, seals, hedgehogs, kangaroos, wombats, koalas, monkeys, elephants, crocodiles, turtles, sharks, TONS of fish and so much more. Almost all of these we have seen in the wild and in their natural habitat. We hugged elephants, took selfies with turtles and spent an entire day hanging around kangaroos. These are the types of things I thought only existed in movies and on TV…until now.

The thought of a zoo becomes sad in a sense when you see these animals in their own world- they all should be free. We saw the most beautiful birds in Australia and while in Thailand, those same birds were in cages at a pet shop. It’s so sad and hard to not get caught up in emotions when you see animals like this. And the stray dogs and cats- OMG. I could tear up just thinking about all of the stray sick looking dogs we have seen during this trip. I want to just scoop all of these puppies up and save them. BUT when it comes to the treatment of animals around the world, we have to remember that other countries don’t have rules and regulations that the USA does and we can’t expect people to act the way we think they should as they don’t know better. They don’t know to STOP letting these dogs breed… if you can’t take care of one with food, love, and attention- you definitely can’t take care of one plus all of its babies. They don’t have vets sprinkled all over like we do in the US. On Gili Trawangan Island in Indonesia, only cats are allowed, no dogs. And one of our friends told us a vet comes to the island once a month for free to service the cats. A step in the right direction to say the least.


During this journey we have seen so much and lately Adam continues to say to me- “You would have NEVER done that 6 months ago!” Looking back, almost every time he has been right. You learn to appreciate things so much more when you take a step back and look at the big picture. You stop stressing about the little things and you learn to take more chances. Life is precious, everyone’s dream may not be the same but at least we’re all dreaming!

I took a chance and pulled a 180 on my life. I’m not sure how I gathered the courage to do this but I wasn’t happy with where I was and I knew I had to make a change. It was a BIT DRASTIC- but this trip has completely changed my life. I am so thankful to all of the people we have met, landmarks we have seen, things we have learned, and millions of memories I have made with the love of my life and my best friend. And an even bigger THANK YOU to everyone who has followed along with us and enjoyed a view into a few countries through our eyes. The support from our friends and family means the world to us. Just because we are coming home doesn’t mean the blogging will stop. We plan to take a little bit of time [before settling down] to travel around the United States and explore as much as we have in other countries back in our homeland. Hopefully then we will find a place we love and want to make “home”.

Life isn’t always about your job, your house, your car, and what you are doing Saturday night. Trust me, I know firsthand- I left my job, I sold my house AND my car, and I turned every day into Saturday. I saw the world and I may have taken 6 months off and away from everything but I found more happiness in these 6 months than I have in a very long time. I learned the importance of small things, learned that having a lot of material things can have the power to hold you back, and that if for once you find the courage and strength to do what truly makes you happy- you will finally feel free.

Thailand to Malaysia: We made it out just in time! Recap on the Full Moon Party, Muay Thai, Monkeys, Caves, Sharks & so much more!

Well, that was a close one! Martial Law has been issued in Bangkok, RIGHT when we were supposed to be back there for a departure flight. We have instead decided to forfeit our flights to Singapore and take a bus straight to Malaysia making our way slowly to Singapore via bus. Smart and safe decision on our part.
 
Some background on what is happening: Martial Law.
 

Powerful photo I found online.

Martial law is the imposition of military power over designated regions on an emergency basis. Martial law is usually imposed on a temporary basis when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively. In full-scale martial law, the highest-ranking military officer would take over, or be installed, as the military governor or as head of the government, thus removing all power from the previous executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government- thanks Wikipedia.
 
What is happening is being regularly referenced now as Thai Coup. Check it out on Twitter if you’re interested by searching #ThaiCoup and a good person to follow on Twitter regarding the coup is Richard Barrow [@RichardBarrow]. Check out some of his tweets.
 
 

 

 



Victory Monument- where the video below was taken.



 While we were in Bangkok there were smaller protests going on that weren’t anything of notice to us but now that we are looking at photos, it appears we may have walked right through one. See video below. Yikes.

 
 
But all in all- we are safe and out of Thailand so EVERYTHING IS FINE, MOM! J Here are a few things to note since the last blog..
 
Thailand Full Moon Party & Muay Thai Fight.
Holy neon paint. Everywhere. Adam thought he was Pablo Picasso so he used as much paint as he could on me. I think it brought him back to Burning Man days in Nevada.
 

We were so lucky that our two friends, Maria & Sebastian, from the Chiang Mai jungle trek were going to be down in Koh Phangann for the party as well! It worked out that we were staying super close to each other so we met up prior to the party and adventured there together.

The 4 of us painted up!

The hotel we were staying at provided round trip transportation for a small amount of money so we all opted for that and were on our way. Once we got there, we immediately purchased a bucket and our own mixers- we were READY.

 
The party was CRAZY. Dancing, music, fire, everything. They even had a flaming jump rope that Adam wanted to give a go at. He did, and sizzled part of his mustache when it hit him in the FACE!!! Yikes.

#BurntStache

I kept on walking and figured that wasn’t the best idea for me to try. We people watched, laughed, and danced together on the beach all night.

Sebastian & Maria

We made it until 3am and that was impressive for me! It was a blast and having our friends there made it that much better!

Strangers proceeded to ask Adam to paint them while on the beach.

Me & Adam!

Me with Maria & Sebastian

On our last night in Koh Phangan, the four of us decided to check out a Muay Thai fight. We all had an awesome dinner on the beach and made our way to the fight.

Me & Maria during our romantic dinner on the beach! haha

Muay Thai time!

It definitely wasn’t what I was expecting! It opened up with what appeared to be 7 to 10 year olds going at it! And they were GOOD! There were some good fights in between and it ended with some older guys fighting which we thought was a joke…but it wasn’t! Another fun night and it was time to say goodbye. We feel so fortunate to have met these two and will definitely keep in touch and meet again either in Argentina or back in the US!
 
Thailand Short Recap.
I MISS IT ALREADY! Amazing food. Truly the Land of Smiles. Even when they have no idea what you are saying, they smile at you. We got to ride elephants, pet a baby monkey, white water raft, experience an earthquake, and spent 3 days in the Jungle. We met a group of awesome people from all around the world that we will keep in touch with and meet again in our [or their] travels. Cheap food and clothing. I literally bought 8 pairs of what Adam calls “dumpy pants”. I don’t care what you want to call them, I call them COMFORTABLE!!! And we got them for $5 each. We got fish pedicures and it was disgusting feeling!  


Fishy Fishy Fishy!

We bought bracelets from two lovely female monks on the street. 

I am looking rough but all in the name of GOOD KARMA! :) We haven't taken our bracelets off.

We both got small tattoos that mean: "Good Luck, Be Lucky & Good Fate/Fortune”.  We saw a Ping Pong show and it cost us over $100 for less than 20 minutes because we got scammed by the Thai Mob and had to pay it. I will have nightmares forever about what I saw. We tried tons of local street food and made good friends with our Tuk Tuk driver Tim who took us to all the best spots to eat. We took over night trains, tuk tuks, mopeds, ferries, and busses to get around- the worst was the overnight train by far. My choice of transport: Elephant. We took a flight to get to Thailand and a bus to get out. We will DEFINITELY be back. When the Thai Coup is over of course.  

Bus from Thailand to Malaysia.
It was much more than just a bus that brought us from Thailand to Malaysia. In fact, it was one ferry, one bus, and 3 vans until we got to our hotel at 9pm. The ferry and double decker bus were fine- as we thought we were home free once we got great seats on the bus! Boy were we wrong. We were crammed into vans with other backpackers and people crossing the border. The one van was blasting Thai karaoke and wouldn’t turn the music down. It sounds like it may have been funny or fun- but it wasn’t. We were practically on top of each other and it was very hot. It did lead to us all having a great conversation and meeting each other though, which was nice.
 
We met two girls from Norway that proceeded to tell us how they both have been mugged in their travels- EEK. One said she was mugged walking alone down a street at night… and that it probably wasn’t the best idea! Apparently, the guys driving mopeds will cut one strap of your purse that is over your shoulder and take it. The one Norwegian girl explained that when it happened to her, she was dragged a few feet by the guy on the moped!!! Luckily she is fine and all she had in her bag was a few bucks- she took her phone and all important things out before she left. LUCKY.
 
It was a long travel day, but we made it to Malaysia!  
 
Ipoh.
We spent a few days in Ipoh, Malaysia checking out the night markets and malls- trying to find a replacement charger for my Microsoft Surface. Sidenote: NO ONE SELLS THE SURFACE ANYWHERE. POS. Two great things that came out of Ipoh: 1. Found a man on the street to rig my charger up so it works & 2. WINNIE!
 
The charger is looking rough but we are back in action! More importantly, we met Winnie! Winnie took care of us when we stumbled into a tea house looking to grab a bite to eat. She helped us through the menu and suggested wonderful drinks and things to try for food- all were DELICIOUS!! We even sat on pillows, I loved it!

Winnie!

We were full, but told her we would stop back to get a snack for dinner later and try some of their deserts! Winnie greeted us with a huge smile when we came back and surprised us with a souvenir so we would always remember Ipoh! She also was kind enough to send us on our way with some teas. Thank you, Winnie!!! You are awesome. J
 
Kuala Lumpur & the Batu Caves
When searching for places to stay, price is always something that plays a big role on what we pick. We found a reasonable room in Kuala Lumpur in a busy area for cheap! Perfect. Until we got there. The welcome was terrible and Adam reprimanded me for being rude... which sometimes I admit I lose patience when someone has awful customer service. The room was fine once we got up there and breakfast was included. The worst part is yet to come.
 
This area was BUSY. I mean, CRAZY BUSY! We haven’t gone out to experience the night life in a city in a while so we changed and made our way out. We had a great dinner and the drink specials were flowing along with the live music!

We met some awesome people [Aylwin!] while out and finally called it a night.

When we got up to our room, we realized why it was so cheap. It was on the second floor of a dance club. The room literally shook from the loud music until 3am so we were up until that time every night. EVERY NIGHT.
 
When we wanted to stay in and have a quiet night, this proved hard. We could only watch the movie channel on the TV if they had that channel on in the reception area. When we requested for them to put it on, the guy at the front desk told us it would be 2 hours…he had to finish his show…WHAT. I was so fed up with this place. He came up at 1am to tell us he changed the channel so we could watch TV. SO KIND.
 
“Breakfast included” also didn’t happen. Since we didn’t come down the first morning for breakfast, we lost breakfast privileges for the next 3 mornings. That makes sense. We were offered white bread and hot water when we did come down and were told, “well you didn’t show up yesterday so...” Out of luck.
 
/end rant.
 
We did see the Petronas Twin Towers, the Sunway Pyramid, and the Aquarium which were awesome!


Photo of the Petronas Twin Towers from Adam's Instagram [@the_bautz]

 


SHARK!

But the coolest part was the Batu Caves. 

Outside the Batu Caves

Before departing KL, we had a cab take us to check out the Batu Caves and it was so worth it. 270+ stairs to get up to the caves and TONS OF MONKEYS.

Stairs up to the Batu Caves with a beautiful view behind!

Tons of monkeys that did NOT like Adam. At one point one charged and growled at him. They must have thought he was a big bearded mean gorilla. 

Monkey & Baby!!

Awesome cave and I still thought the monkeys were cute!

Adam inside the Batu Caves.

Monkeys!

I also have to note- this location was the THIRD TIME someone has asked to take a picture with Adam. WHAT THE HECK IS THAT ABOUT?! Who could they possibly think he is? It happened twice in Thailand before it happened here in Malaysia. Adam is starting to think he’s famous. HA
 
Where we are now: Malacca.
We just arrived today in the historical town of Malacca. There is so much to see here and we plan to explore around here for at least 4 days, probably will extend to more. It’s quiet and I think we really are going to enjoy our time here.
 
Phew, this was a long one!! Hope everyone is well at home- missing it more and more!
 
Until next time!

Jungle trekking, waterfalls, elephant riding, white water rafting, and new friends from around the world.

We made it to Chiang Mai! The overnight train was a trip. Our Tuk Tuk driver Tim brought us to the train station and we were ready to go. Not being able to read any signs, we asked around and made sure we were getting on the right train. We were ready! We saw a big “2” on the side of the train, and we knew we were in cabin 2 so all was falling into place perfectly. We walked on to the train and got situated- it was so roomy! The A/C was pumping and the beds were comfortable. Sweet.

So roomy!

Adam thought they were handing out delicious free juice! Until they asked him for 60 baht.

We started moving and Adam and I were all smiles. The train attendant was coming around collecting tickets and out of excitement, I forgot where I put the tickets. Luckily, Adam spotted them on the bunk above where we were sitting. Oops.

He was staring at the tickets and called another worker over. Oh boy. They were talking in their language and then laughed. Apparently, we were sitting in ritzy cabin number 8, not cabin 2. We had to walk through 6 cabins with our packs on while the train was in motion, which was LOVELY. We finally made it to cheap cabin 2, where the fans were broken and there was no A/C. Fitting.

Much different.

    Also to note, the toilets went right through the bottom of the train on to the train tracks. GROSS!!!!

We ended up sleeping on the bottom bunk together because I thought I was going to vomit the entire time on the top bunk, which was half the width of the bottom one. It was a joyful ride. We were happy to get off the train to be greeted by this sign.

The journey has begun.

I feel like I start all blogs off the same- but this experience was like nothing we have done since we left for our travels. We booked this 3 day, 2 night trek knowing it was going to be epic and awesome, but landing with the best group and most amazing tour guide made it an adventure we will remember for the rest of our lives.

It was hard to sift through the photos and pick what we wanted to include as there were SO many that made us smile and remember the laughs. Our 3 day journey was jam packed with trekking, elephants, laughs, campfires, delicious food, and great conversation. Let’s take it day by day…

Day 1 [May 1, 2014]
We were all scheduled to get picked up from our separate hotels, Adam and I being first. We loaded in the truck and were on our way for the 90 minute drive north to the jungle.  


From left to right- Adam, Zack [London], Maria & Sebastian [Argentina], Francois/ FX [France], JoJo & Mike [England], Sebastian [Germany], and myself.

We took this 90 minutes to get to know each other and I’m pretty sure we all knew from the start that our group was going to make some wicked memories. We were all around the same age and clicked from the start.
 

We were brought to the start of the trek where we had lunch [Pad Thai] and stepped off. The first day of hiking was warm but comfortable.

In the jungle!

After about three hours of hiking and learning about the local plant life and even some new words in Thai from Tong, we arrived to a small village. We were to drop our packs and immediately head over to the elephants.

Getting on the elephant!

Selfie on the elephant! I wasn't ready..

Awesome.

Adam riding the elephant bareback!

Is this real life??

Love.

Our elephant guide!




Maria & Zack on the elephant, and Sebastian and Tong in the water!

LOVE!

We were brought to our Bamboo Hotel and made ourselves comfortable.

 

I knew we were going on a trek like this, but I had no idea it would be this awesome.


The first village we spent the night at.

The night closed out with our tour guide, Tong, playing music around a bon fire while we all took in the first day.


Tong.

Tong.

Also- Happy Birthday Mom!! Day 2 [May 2, 2014]We loaded in the back of a truck and made our way to check out a waterfall that Tong said we could slide down.

Everyone loaded up!

FX Leading the crew.

Not totally believing him, I had to remember we spent the day prior with elephants so at this point- anything is possible.  Not only could we slide down the waterfall, but Tong would go down on his feet which was WILD!

 

Our tour guide- Tong!

After the waterfall, we had to say goodbye to JoJo, Mike, & Sebastian [Germany] as they only had a 2 day trek planned while the rest of us were signed up for 3. Time was flying at this point, but we all exchanged information to be able to stay in contact- which we already have!

The group minus 1- Where are you FX!?

We separated and the 3 day trek group started our hiking for that day- Up. Up. Up. We literally went straight up for what Tong said was about 7k. It was about 40* Celsius [104* F] and we all were feeling the heat!

Up Up Up.

Adam :)

So much UP.

We arrived at the village we would be spending the night at and were all so relived! More water and time to relax!!

Arriving at the second village where we will spend night number 2.

Me!

The 3 day group with Tong!

Our home for the night.

The group! Adam is behind the camera.

We were greeted by this adorable little girl.

The cute little girl with our phone.

She was so interested in us and was very concerned that I was so exhausted apparently. She came right over and took my buff off, took it over to the sink and rinsed it off and brought it back to me. She then started fanning me with it and blowing on my face to cool me down. She was so incredibly cute.



Fanning me off. :)

Tasting fresh Lychee Tong picked from the tree outside.

Upon our arrival, there were at least 10 women who live in the village ready with mats to give us all one-hour massages for a tiny rate of 150 Baht [less than $5]. SIGN US UP. It was amazing. I’ll hike every day if I can get a massage after. What a way to relax after a day of hiking in the heat.Tong called me in when he was ready to start making our dinner for the night, red curry. I wanted to see how it was done so he went step by step showing me what he did to make it. Simple and using only one pot. It was delicious and awesome to cook with him.

Cooking Red Curry.

After dinner, a fire was started and we all made our way out to the deck. The kids from the village school came up and performed a song for us. It was beautiful. We all just sat there smiling while these children sang and danced. Took my breath away.

The children from the village school.

Day 3 [May 3, 2014]What goes up, must come down. Thankfully. We had about a 1.5 hour hike ahead of us downhill until we reached another waterfall. From there, we would hike again for another 1.5 hours to where we would begin white water rafting. Could this tour be any sweeter?!

Down Down Down!

We got to the waterfall and it was epic. We all got in and loved it. So refreshing and some awesome photos came from it!

Wooohhh!!

iPhone Photo of the one above!

Sebastian, Maria & Adam.

It was so powerful!! Nicole & Maria.

Love.

Awesome GoPro shot of Zack!

Adam tried to dunk me... LOL :)

It was so powerful!! GoPro video below that was shot the same time this photo was taken.

We were ready to get back on the trail and hike on.

An old little hut.

Baby monkey in a village we passed!

Beautiful Jungle.

Awesome tree hugging another tree.

Foot long poisonous centipede.

We made our way to the white water rafting area and got ourselves situated. We realized this was more of a "muddy" water rafting experience at this point. Loaded up in the raft and we were off. We were all able to get in the same raft which was awesome.

 

 

 

This concluded what was planned for our trek journey, but we all wanted to meet up one last time before parting ways. Being from all over the world, we figured this may be the last time we all could be together in the same room again. We decided to meet for dinner, and Tong said he would come with his sister, too!!

Cheers to new friends!

All of us including Tong and his sister! Sebastian from Germany went home the day before.

We all met up and where the night led us was just as memorable as the trek. 

Dreadlock limbo!

Tong's glasses!

Until we meet again, my friends!