One of the places that I have always remembered fondly from our SE Asia pre-honeymoon twenty years ago was the central Javanese town of Yogyakarta. It is home to some of the world’s most amazing 8th and 9th century…
Fourth Month and the Islands of Thailand
It is hard to believe we are already past our four month mark of our journey. As for the past month or so, it has been a very different type of travel than where we started. We started the trip…
My story as a conflicted tourist in Koh Samui
For the past three days, I have been a tourist. Not just any tourist. One of THOSE tourists. The kind who go to exotic places and spend a whole week lounging by the pool with their beer belly for company…
How this crazy family celebrated Thanksgiving in Thailand
Today, I let my two boys climb several hundred feet in the air above Thailand’s jungle canopy and told them they could jump. As a matter of fact, Nathan and I followed them off. What a rush! No, it wasn’t…
Our Two Month Travelversary!
Wow. Hard to believe we are at the two month mark, our two month “travelversary” so to speak. Our trip surely feels like it’s happening fast. (Didn’t I just write my one month blog?!) This month was so different from…
One month gone, leaving our first country tomorrow! – by Nathan
I can’t believe how fast the time is going. We are wrapping up our time in Japan and trying to make sure we have done all of the things we wanted to do here. For me it has been a…
Pretending to be Samurai
The past couple of days, we pretended we were samurai and nobles hiking the Nakasendo Trail. Many centuries ago, the Nakasendo Trail was a main thoroughfare between Japan’s old capital of Kyoto to Edo, the city currently known as Tokyo. …
Feeding Deer at Todaiji Temple
Today we went to Todaiji Temple, home of the largest bronze statue of Buddha in the world and one of the largest wooden structures in the world. The temple is in Nara, about an hour south of Kyoto by train. …
The Golden Pavilion
We got to go to Kinkakuji today. Also called the Golden Pavilion, Kinkakuji is a Buddhist hall on the north side of Kyoto containing relics of Buddha. Formerly a retirement villa for Shogun Askikaga Yoshimitsu, the top two levels of…
