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Spring Break 2025 – Latvia, Estonia and Finland
Spring Break 2025…Latvia, Estonia and Finland! Since having kids, we haven’t taken a trip overseas and I’ve been pushing to try it with the kids. Some people say young kids will not remember anything, or going on vacation with kids is just parenting in a different place. Both of those may be true, but we felt at 6 and 4 years old, the girls would be able to enjoy a new environment, and as a family, create unforgettable memories together. We decided on Europe as the flight times are reasonable-ish at 8-12 hours (not like 16 hours to Asia!), and not so overwhelmingly different from home that the girls would be uncomfortable. On the other hand, Latvia, Estonia and Finland would provide many new opportunities to interact with other kids in the park, experience new traditions, tastes and smells (our kids worst nightmare), or learn some new words in the local language. Though they may not fully appreciate it yet, this opens up their eyes to the different ways of life, which is so important!
As usual, the flights out of Chicago are considerably cheaper than flying out of Grand Rapids and with 4 tickets required, the drive to O’Hare was inevitable. To break up the drive and flight, we made a pit stop at Lincoln Park Zoo and had a stormy afternoon exploring the free zoo before heading to the airport. Our flight was overnight from Chicago to Warsaw, Poland with a short layover, and then Warsaw to our final destination of Riga, Latvia. The girls were pumped to watch movies and endlessly munch on chips, while Sarah and I were hoping they’d sleep the whole way there. Both sides got what they wanted 
The girls devoured their Doritos over Moana 2 and passed out for the remaining 7 hours. They crushed it. Our fears of an extended flight time with antsy girls were extinguished 
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We landed in Riga, Latvia in the evening after a short layover in Warsaw and took a $25 taxi to our hotel located on the outskirts of Old Town Riga. As we only had 3 days in Riga, we had no time to waste! After the girls took out their 5 minutes of pure joy jumping on the hotel beds, we threw on our outdoor gear and found a place to eat in the Old Town. After a delicious meal and a cold local brew, the travel day hit us like a rock. We all passed out early, only to be woke up by the girls at 2am as their body clocks hadn’t adjusted . Thankfully after 2 hours of coloring at 3am, we were able to get back to sleep.
A requirement for our family when traveling with the girls…a hotel pool. The Baltics, turns out, knows how to have a pool area. The hotel “spa” area included steam rooms, hot tub, a cold plunge pool, saunas with varying temperatures and of course, a swimming pool. We spent the morning enjoying and “pampering” ourselves with the pool facilities.
In the afternoon we hit the medieval-esque Old Town walking along the cobble streets, keeping our eyes out for souvenirs and treats. The loop took us through the Old Town to the House of Blackheads, to St. Peter’s Church and along the riverside where we found a playground and the Freedom Monument. The girls also got their first souvenirs, a highlighter and wooden phone .
That evening, Neeva randomly suggested we take a bus to a restaurant instead of walking, so we hopped on the bus and ate dinner at local burger joint and ended the night with a flight of craft beer from Nurme Brewing Company on the outskirts of downtown Riga. Successful day in Latvia.
The next morning after another night of coloring at 2am (time change can be tough), I woke up early to grab our rental car as we were going to be roadtripping from Riga, Latvia north to Tallinn, Estonia. Having your own car on travel days is the best. Being able to leave, stop, eat, pee, sing at the top your lungs, whenever you want, is priceless. Although, trying to grasp the flow of traffic and local traffic laws in an urban location is always interesting. What’s the worst that could happen? Just don’t slam into a tram!
From Google Maps, the drive time was approximately 4.50 hours if driving straight through. As our Latvia stop was mostly city, we wanted to also see the nature side of these countries. Our first stop was a pull off along the Baltic Sea and the girls ran around in the sand and practiced their cartwheels. Funnily, I could’ve swore we were in northern Michigan. The landscape, sand and water definitely had some northern Michigan vibes. Guess we could’ve driven 2 hours north vs. a 12-hour plane ride As we crossed the border into Estonia, we stopped in the beach town of Parnu and navigated to the seaside park and boardwalk to burn off some energy.
9 hours later, we finally made it to Tallinn, Estonia. Again, after the mandatory jump on the beds of the new hotel, dinner consisted of chicken with a side of a game of Go Fish.
Like Riga, our hotel included a great pool area full of saunas, hot tubs and a pool. After breakfast most days, we’d hit the pool for a couple hours. It was the girls’ favorite part of the trip and Sarah and I were able to take turns relaxing in the saunas. After we got our swimming fix in, we packed the day pack (and Noa’s purple backpack full of her treasures) and put our walking shoes on.
Within a five minute walk was our first stop, Tallinn Old Town. Similar medieval vibes as Riga Old Town, but much larger and livelier. Our first glimpse of the flower market at the castle-like entrance to Old Town was like something out of a storybook.
We spent the afternoon strolling through the alleys and climbed our way up Toompea Hill to get a panorama view of the city. The girls had a blast running through the castle grounds and towers.
That evening we grabbed a flight of beer and food from the largest and most popular brewery in Tallinn’s craft beer scene, Pohjala Brewery. The beer was tasty and the girls loved their ice cream smores.
Outside Pohjala brewery were electric mopeds, so Sarah convinced me to make an account and take a spin on the “vespas” to the seaside. If you ask the girls, the “vespa” rides were a highlight of the whole trip!
The next morning we grabbed coffee and pastries from Rost coffee shop and enjoyed the Estonian version of a cinnamon roll outside in the chilly weather. After wandering through Old Town the previous day, our day was wide open to meander through the other parts of Tallinn.
We ended up at Balti Jaama Turg, which is a three-level market hall with food, clothing, vendors and eateries. We grabbed some grub and an IPA form Humalakoda brewery which was in the market hall. As we debated grabbing a taxi back to the hotel to avoid the 45 minute walk, Sarah and the girls convinced me again to take the “vespas” for a ride. We ended up taking the vespas all the way back to the hotel…and received lots of stares from the locals on the way! Ended the evening with a trip to the pool where we met a lovely family from Norway. Great company and conversations.
Ferry boat day! To get from Tallinn to Helsinki, Finland, we booked a 2.5 hour ferry. When I first booked the ferry, I was imagining a boat similar to what you would take to get to Mackinac Island, but I was way off! The ferry turned out to be a cruise ship, with multiple restaurants, coffee shops and stores across multiple levels. There was even a large playground area for the girls to horse around in. What a fun way to travel.
A portion of the Euro trip was scheduled around a visit to Tampere, Finland. When I studied abroad in Taipei, Taiwan in 2011, one of my roommates, Tuukka Salo, was from Tampere, Finland. We kept in touch over the past 14 years, but we haven’t seen each other since the day we walked out of our dorm in Taipei. After talking about getting together for years, we were finally making it happen! Tuukka and his wife, Karoliina graciously invited us to stay with them in their home and we were so excited to meet the family and live the Finnish lifestyle with them for a few days.
From the ferry port in Helsinki, we boarded a 2 hour train from Helsinki to Tampere. Another wonderful surprise was the kids play section on the second level of the train car. The girls loved it!
We were welcomed to Tampere with Tuukka and a welcome sign their kids drew for us. It was kind of a surreal moment for me, finally reuniting with my close friend from 14 years ago. So, so good to see Tuukka! We loaded up the luggage into his car and made the quick 5-minute ride to their flat located in the city center. We were welcomed by Tuukka’s wife Karoliina and their 3 boys, Voitto, Toivo and Oiva and to an enormous feast of local Finnish food prepared by Karoliina. Over cow’s blood black sausage, we picked up right where we left off and enjoyed catching up and getting to know Tuukka’s family. Voitto, the oldest boy, has been learning the accordion so Karoliina and I joined him for a mini-Finnish jam session .
We had no plans and no requests for our time with Tuukka and his family. We only wanted to experience their day to day lives and what a typical weekend looks like for their family. The next day we walked to the local soccer stadium to watch Toivo play soccer and eat at Hesburger, the local fast food joint for lunch, a highly recommended restaurant by the boys. The afternoon was spent roaming Tampere, making stops at playgrounds and parks, and soaking in the family life.
The following day, Tuukka and Karoliina had to put in some hours at the office and the boys had school, so we had the morning to walk around Tampere on our own. Sarah finally mustered up the courage (unlike me) to jump into the lake with other Finnish ladies to do the cold plunge, which is a very normal and very regular outing for Finnish people.
We promised the girls we’d stop at Flying Tiger, which is a Miniso type store, selling knick knacks and crafts for cheap and of course, the candy store. After work and school, the family took us to their local public pool so we could experience the sauna and swimming pool. I probably shouldn’t type out verbatim what the girls said during their sauna experience, but let’s just say there was a lot of hairy, old naked people in the sauna no shame! The evening was spent at home hanging out altogether playing games and building lego’s.
It was time to sadly say goodbye to Tuukka and his family. What a truly unforgettable experience for all of us. We’re so grateful to Tuukka and Karoliina for their incredible hospitality and for so generously opening their home to us. Having four adults and five kids under one roof for four days is no small feat, and they did it with such warmth and kindness. There may have been a language barrier with the younger kids, but the smiles, giggles, and shared moments putting together puzzles or playing Finnish folk music spoke volumes—it was a fun and eye-opening adventure for both our kids and Tuukka’s. Priceless. Until next time!
After a 2-hour train ride, we were at our last segment of the trip in Helsinki, Finland. After 10 busy days of moving around, everyone was excited to relax a bit and enjoy the hotel and we didn’t plan anything huge for Helsinki. On top of that, Helsinki was pretty cold. The girls were not too excited at the thought of walking around outside for 5 hours in the snow and wind. Our hotel was a 15-minute bus ride from the city center, which would typically not be ideal, but the hotel had the best spa facilities yet. There was an incredible rooftop with a swimming pool, hot tub, cold plunge and saunas, which the hotels in the city center did not have.
We did get to the city center for a day and climbed the stairs to Helsinki Cathedral in Helsinki Square and strolled through the winding neighborhoods surrounding the square. To get out the cold, we stopped for a flight at Helsinki Bryggeri Brewhouse and went back to the hotel for some more swimming.
Our last day, we were supposed to leave at 4pm for an evening/overnight flight direct to Chicago, but I checked my phone at the last minute to check and our flight was cancelled and re-scheduled to the following morning. The re-scheduled flight ended up leaving at 8am with a total travel time of 15 hours (including 4 hour layover), which is not ideal when flying with kids. To our surprise, the girls crushed the flight home! Getting a meal on an airplane, eating snacks and watching movies was one of the highlights of their trip .
Spring Break 2025 to Europe was a complete success! From roaming the old town squares to indulging in the local food, every day was an adventure. The kids had a blast, making memories and forging new friendships, while we soaked in the sights and way of life. There were plenty of laughs, along with a few chaotic and stressful moments (like trying to figure out which leotard Noa wanted to wear that day!), but in the end, the good moments definitely outweighed the tough ones. Whether it was visiting iconic landmarks, playing go fish, eating cow’s blood, or just sharing meals together, this trip was filled with memories we’ll always remember!
Door Bros Trip 2.0
Central Asia, a part of the world that is pretty unfamiliar for us West Michiganders and place Jordy nor I had traveled to before. Both our wives are saints and allow us to take time away from our children and dog to explore some of these far flung destinations. Jordy and I have similar interests in that we enjoy Islamic architecture, the hustle and bustle of city life and the tranquility of the mountains.
The first portion of the trip was Uzbekistan, which was once a part of the former Soviet Union and borders Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Tourism in Uzbekistan has skyrocketed in recent years and for good reason!
We drove to Chicago to fly out of O’Hare en-route to Tashkent, Uzbekistan. After 20 hours of travel, we arrived in Tashkent, the sprawling capital of Uzbekistan and the largest city in Central Asia. Upon landing, we snagged our 40 GB SIM cards for a whopping $4, grabbed a Yandex (Uzbek version of Uber) and arrived at Sapiens hotel at 1:45am. $80/night put us in the city center and the hotel had a rooftop bar and restaurant. Bar closed at 2:00am and a cold beer 5 minutes before closing after a day of travel sounded great.
Jordy and I both have tattoos and on Door Bros Trip 1.0, we got tattoos in Lahore, Pakistan (still need to write the Door Bros Trip 1.0) and it was one of the best memories from the trip. We wanted to repeat that in Uzbekistan. After many Instagram searches, we finally landed on Pintados Tattoo Studio. They were willing to work with our short time frame and zero Russian language abilities. Katerina did an excellent job on our Uzbek architecture inspired tats.
Later in the afternoon we toured the Minor mosque, a modern mosque with towering minarets and a turquoise dome. Our first glimpse of Tashkent!
Friday evening we hit the town looking for a local craft beer. We found it at a place called Beerkovich which had a local American pale ale and an IPA. The craft beer scene in Uzbekistan is different than the US but it’s on its way! Uzbekistan is an Islamic country and is more conservative than the US. We found out that rather than go to a taproom and hang out at the brewery, most locals grab a bottle to go and drink at home. The “taprooms” consist of tiny storefronts with a couple tables indoors and a small outdoor patio. The shops usually have a cooler with a variety of craft beers and 20+ taps where people get a 1 liter plastic bottle filled with their beer of choice. In American terms, people basically fill a growler of craft beer and take it home. We decided to grab our plastic liter ($2.15!) and enjoy it on the outdoor patio. Looks just like pee!
The next day was our first full day in Tashkent and it was all about seeing the sights. We spent the morning grabbing coffee and exploring the Hazrati Imam complex, which is the religious heart of Tashkent with fully restored mosques and madrassas (former Islamic schools). We strolled through the bustling Chorsu Bazaar with hundreds of stalls selling local food, clothing and household items. Great experience to people watch and get a feel of the local day to day life in Uzbekistan.
From Tashkent, we took a 4 hour high speed train to our second stop, the ancient Silk Road city of Bukhara. We arrived late at night and wandered through the dark alleys of the old town in search for our stay at the Minorai Kalon hotel. For $85/night we had a room with a view of the most famous landmarks of Bukhara and a rooftop restaurant.
Bukhara is famous for its old town filled with charming alleyways, covered bazaars and ancient neighborhoods. The most famous landmark is the Po-I- Kalyan Complex, which includes a courtyard surrounded by the impressive Kalyan minaret, Miri Arab Madrassah and the Kalyan Mosque. The sheer size and detail in the ceramic tiles in the architecture is amazing. We enjoyed spending the morning, golden hour and evening watching the colors change on the buildings while also trying to snag an Instagram worthy photo :).
Other notable sites in Bukhara included the Ark of Bukhara, which is a massive fortress overlooking the old town. We also spent afternoons drinking the local green tea and smoking shisha overlooking the beautiful Lyabi-Hauz pond.
We walked outside of Bukhara old town to taste the legendary and most popular food in Uzbekistan. Plov! The recipe is pretty simple and consists of long grain rice, carrots, onion and lamb cooked in sheep fat. The recipe is cooked in a giant Kazan or cast iron cauldron. No trip to Uzbekistan is complete without stuffing yourself with Plov. So good.
After 2 days in Bukhara, we took an afternoon train to Samarkand, one of the oldest cities in Central Asia and home to the country’s most famous sites. We stayed in a quaint boutique hotel for $100/night within walking distance to the sites.
Uzbekistan has to be one of the most affordable countries we’ve ever visited. My brother and I could have a delicious meal of grilled lamb, vegetables and potatoes for less than $10 for both of us. Again, our first night we were on the prowl for some grilled souvlaki (kebabs) and a craft beer. We didn’t find much for craft beer, but we did run into two Russian pilots who were eager to discuss politics and practice their English. We had a great evening exchanging cultural and political differences AND similarities with our new Russian friends.
The top attraction in all of Uzbekistan and one of the main reasons we chose to go to Uzbekistan was to see the Registan Square. The Registan Square is a large plaza consisting of three madrassah’s or Islamic schools facing the center of the plaza built from beautiful color tiles. It was truly breathtaking. Again, we wanted to experience this site at all colors of the day. We spent the morning and evening walking through the courtyards and trying to grasp the sheer size of the buildings.
Other sites in Samarkand included the Amir Temur Mausoleum, the Shah-i-Zinda and the Siab Bazaar.
Uzbekistan was fantastic. We decided to opt out of hiring a guide and decided to do it all on our own. We enjoyed going at our own pace and taking as little or as a long as we wanted touring the sites. It was extremely affordable and the sites were some of the best in the world.
Second half of the trip was crossing the border by foot into Tajikistan.
We took a 45 minute $3 Yandex (uzbek version of Uber and ridiculously cheap) to the Samarkand – Panjakent land border crossing, which was surpisingly very fast and efficient. After passport control for both sides, we were walking our way into Tajikistan. Before the trip, we booked a 4 day guided tour which included a private car from the border to the town of Panjakent. From Panjakent we’d drive to the 7 lakes, also known as the Marguzor Lakes and the Fann Mountains. The trip also included a hostel-homestay accommodation overlooking the sixth lake and finally, a private taxi to Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. Keep in mind, I booked directly with the owner of the outfit, who through whatsapp, typed perfect English. More on this in a minute…
We were pumped, we had crossed the border with no problems and looking for our guide on the other side. Turns out the guide was 85 years old and didn’t speak one word of English. Apparently the Russian to English google translate works amazingly. OK, we can deal with this. We’re sure we’ll be hooked up with an English speaker as soon as we get to the homestay. Well, we were wrong. Through google translate, our 85 year old guide turned us over to another driver and we also picked up his 80 year old sister. Again, both of which didn’t speak a lick of English. Just have to roll with it! The drive up to the homestay was a 5 hour, scenic roadtrip. And when I mean scenic, I mean a one-way road along mountain cliffs with one foot of gravel separating us and the river 500’ below. We even got stuck behind a landslide for an hour!
We passed lakes one through six, which were high-alititude blue and beautiful, and finally made it the homestay. The homestay was situated overlooking the sixth lake and provided an amazing view of the lake and the whitecapped Fann Mountains in the distance. Our room was very basic with barely any running water, but we had a bedroom view of the scenery. The 80 year old sister turned out to be our cook and we feasted delicious local meals, which included local lamb dumplings, all around a floor table above the rooms….couldn’t even stand up!
Although the views were second to none, we were a little thrown off by the tour. The tour was supposed to include a guide, hikes and scenic trips to the lakes. Unfortunately, we didn’t know any Russian and our hosts didn’t speak any English, and absolutely zero WIFI for google translate… on top of that, we were the only two tourists at the hostel. We decided to make the best of it and explore the grounds, lakes, and hikes ourselves. By the end of the next day, we had seen all we could on our own two feet and decided to cut the tour a night short. It just wasn’t what we thought it was going to be. Thankfully, two Russian tourists came late at night who spoke a bit of English and we were able to negotiate our ride to Dushanbe for the following day.
The ride to Dushanbe from the Fann Mountains was worth the price of the whole tour. We first stopped at the seventh and most impressive lake of the seven lakes. We spent time wandering around the lake and admiring the peaks of surrounding mountains.
The drive to Dushanbe from the hostel was a hair raising, white knuckling drive along the cliffs for 8 hours. The drivers are insane. We were holding on for dear life and thought our driver would take the hint and give us some breathing room, but no, our driver put the pedal to the metal and continued the crazy drive. I’m so thankful I’m alive to type this blog!
The drive consisted of multiple stops to view the mountains and we even got stuck in a traffic jam….of sheep! Epic road trip.
The conclusion of the trip ended in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. We arrived a day earlier than we expected so we had to find a café with WIFI to find a hotel. We booked a brand new hotel in the center of the city for $60/night. What a deal! Turns out Tajikistan is even cheaper than Uzbekistan. Our last night was a Friday night, so again, we were on the lookout for a craft beer…not much of a craft beer scene in Tajikistan. We settled on the cheapest food and beer in the world and drank for a local pint for a whopping $1.15.
Even though Dushanbe isn’t the world’s most popular tourist destination, we spent the day walking the city and checking out the local sites which included Rudaki Park, the National library of Tajikistan, Rudaki Avenue and the Ismoili Somoni Monument.
What a trip for the Door brothers! Definitely off the beaten path, but we loved every minute discovering the ancient mosques and madrassas and the unique daily life of the cities. Epic!
Friends Trip To Middle East
May 2014
Friends trip to the Middle East! Jord and Jodi Ritsema and Sarah and me taking on the beautiful Arabian peninsula. If I recall, this trip was after Jord had gotten his masters in Petroleum engineering and we had been talking about taking a big trip all together. We floated lots of ideas around and decided on some destinations off the beaten path (not so much anymore…thanks instagram!) At the time, I was working for Irwin Seating company and had made some contacts and “virtual friends” from our logistics operations in Qatar and Kuwait and they had me convinced this part of the Middle East needed to be seen. So it was decided – Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and UAE. A whirlwind trip to the Arabian Peninsula.
The girls weren’t able to get as much time off of work as Jord and I, so we decided to fly out 6 days early to Qatar! Neither of us knew much about this tiny state located along the Persian Gulf. Jord was in the oil industry and knew this part of the world was sitting on some major oil money. What else would we discover? Upon arrival, we took a taxi from the airport through downtown Doha, the capital of Qatar, filled with ultramodern skyscrapers. I’m a nut for cityscapes and Doha was amazing. We booked an Airbnb and shared a villa with an Iraqi guy at The Pearl. The Pearl is an artificial island near Doha’s West Bay District. It’s known for its yacht marinas, luxury shopping and residential villas…wow, who would’ve thought we’d be here? $50 per night offered a beautiful view of the Pearl.
We visited this part of the world in May. The summer temperatures are insanely hot and we were right on the brink of not being able to be outside. It was HOT. We weren’t going to let the heat deter us from wandering Doha.
We spent the day strolling along the Doha Corniche which is a 4.5 mile promenade along the Persian gulf and downtown Doha. The corniche provides views of downtown Doha, the traditional dhow boats in the bay and a view of the museum of Islamic Art.
At the end of the corniche is Souq Waqif, which is a must see and do while in Qatar. Souq Waqif is Qatar’s oldest Souq or marketplace. Wandering the narrow alleys felt like an authentic Qatar vs. the modern downtown skyscrapers we walked by earlier in the day. The Souq consists of tiny stalls and stores selling anything from spices and herbs, to garments, perfume and even birds. It’s also known for its many restaurants and cafes and by the time we arrived, we were looking for some traditional food and shisha!
I mentioned earlier, I had made some contacts with colleagues from work, Hiba and Elias, who are both originally from Lebanon, but living in Qatar. They took us out for a delicious Lebanese dinner. Definitely a highlight from the trip. We ended that night with the most expensive pint of Guinness we had ever bought at the only upscale hotel in the country to serve alcohol.
Qatar is a very small country so we filled our remaining couple days enjoying the Pearl, visiting Katara cultural village, eating and smoking shisha.
Off to Kuwait! A close virtual colleague of mine named Ragheda, lived in Kuwait City and over the years had been telling me about her family’s life in Kuwait. Sounded interesting. Why not visit? Ragheda picked up Jord and I from the airport late at night and dropped us off at our hotel in Al Salmiya, Kuwait City.
Like Qatar, Kuwait is a very small gulf country. However, in May with temperatures so hot, Ragheda picked us up and drove us around Kuwait City visiting the highlights. We visited the famous Kuwait Towers, the Grand Mosque and the sea side fish market. Jord also wanted to get a very jersey shore-esque haircut from a local barber. 
Ragheda even used her persuasive Lebanese to get us into the top floor of the newly built Al Hamra tower to get a staggering view of the Kuwait City skyline at night. So epic.
The second night at the hotel, Jord and I received a frantic Google call from Sarah and Jodi. They had ran into major traffic on their way to O’hare and were not going to make their flight to Kuwait. All this planning down the drain! We couldn’t believe this was happening. Getting on a new flight the next day was going to cost $2k each!! Sarah was crying to the desk lady and at the last second, the ticket lady said there was a slight delay and if you RAN to the gate, you might make the flight. Those girls ran their tails off! Sweaty and out of breath, they boarded the plane for an enjoyable 15 hour flight.
Sarah and Jodi flew into Kuwait City with a bunch of army guys who asked what in the world they were traveling to Kuwait for. “Tourism!” they replied….those army guys thought they were nuts. Sarah’s luggage never arrived, so the girls had fun shopping for local dresses and garments at Souq Al-Mubarakiya, one of the oldest souqs in Kuwait. We spent several hours wandering the marketplace. Jord even got suckered into purchasing a keffiyeh and flip flops that were two sizes too small 
.
We ended the trip with Ragheda over a Lebanese meal and shisha at the Avenues Mall.
Off to Bahrain! None of us knew much about Bahrain, but decided it made sense to make a stop enroute to Dubai. Highlights from our short stop in Bahrain included the girls first experience hearing the call to prayer over the loud speakers in the middle of the souq, Al-Fateh Grand Mosque and Bahrain National Museum.
Bahrain is a Muslim country but is the most lenient with alcohol, so we took advantage of it by visiting a rooftop bar in downtown Manama and enjoyed a beer. We also enjoyed a laid back day at beach and yacht club along the gulf.
The epicenter of the trip was UAE…more specifically Dubai. Home of the Burj Khalifa, tallest building in the world. This was a dream destination for us. We booked a ballin’ airbnb on the Dubai marina and as a cityscape nut, the skyline was unparalleled. Our balcony faced some of the tallest buildings in the world.
Dubai has an extensive metro that takes you to all the different neighborhoods and taxis were dirt cheap – land of the oil.
We made the most of our time here. We visited Old Dubai, which provided a window into the day-to-day life of the city’s local community. We enjoyed lunch and took a traditional dhow boat ride.
We accidentally snuck into the Jumeriah Beach hotel that took us onto the beach and offered us a perfect view of the only 7-star hotel in the world, the Burj Al Arab.
Again, as a Muslim country, for the most part, the UAE is a dry country. The only way you could get alcohol is purchasing it duty free when flying in. We picked up some coronas and enjoyed Papa John’s on our balcony watching the skyline come alive at night.
A highlight of Dubai was going up to the 124th floor of the Burj Khalifa. The view was insane. From the viewpoint terrace you could see the Palm Jumeriah, home to the elite residential communities and the Palm Atlantis. You could get glimpses of the World Islands, the man made islands made to look like a world map, and the desert extending out to the horizon.
We also did a day trip out to the desert to experience the thrill of dune bashing (silver lake still beats Dubai!) 🙂 the day ended with a traditional UAE meal with camel rides, henna, belly dancing and shisha.
Our last day trip took us to Abu Dhabi, another emirate in the UAE and home to the magnificent Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. Truly breathtaking. The mosque is open to all visitors, not only Muslims, and we were given the appropatrie clothes in order to enter. Amazing experience. We spent hours trying to capture this place with our cameras and couldn’t do it justice.
10 years later and us 4 reminisce about this trip often. The ridiculously close call of the girls making their flight is something we laugh about frequently. I remember our parents wondering why on earth we chose to this destination. Before Instagram, Kuwait brought up ideas of terrorism and war and the girls experienced that sentiment first on hand the flight with army personnel. Having Ragheda, Hiba and Elias to show us around provided in the inside track to these places and we were able to experience first hand the hospitality in this part of the world. Sure, experiencing the call to prayer blasting across the city, which is a normal occurrence in the Islamic world, while trying to sleep in a Sony hotel in the middle of a bustling Souq can be uncomfortable. However, it also brings these intense feelings of being in a new world – which is an addictive and fascinating experience for me. In the end, we had an unforgettable trip visiting this part of the world. Can’t wait to be back.
Pura Vida
Pura Vida! We managed to get a week vacation just the two of us to Costa Rica. Huge thank you to our families and friends who provided many days of activities, pillow slides, hot tub dips and countless ice cream cones for our two girls back at home. We appreciate you all so much!
We flew into San Jose, Costa Rica…not San Jose, California. Three weeks before the trip, I was confirming our rental car with the agency and I received a “can you check your confirmation code again? I see that flight arriving in San Jose, California.” Crap! I booked our departing flight to San Jose, California, not San Jose, Costa Rica! Thank you car rental man for your attention to detail!
I should also note that 16 hours before we were supposed to leave, Sarah did not have a passport. Apparently, the passport agency has been overwhelmed and our expedited renewal was not going to happen within the 7 weeks we were quoted. After a stressful week of trying to land an in-person appointment and/or miraculously getting the passport overnighted, we decided to send Sarah to Detroit the day before the trip to get her passport renewed. A full day in Detroit later, 6:00pm, 12 hours before our flight, Sarah had a passport! Whew!
OK, back to Costa Rica…now that we were officially on our way. We landed in San Jose, the largest airport, after an easy 7 hour journey, and picked up our rental car and headed out on a 3 hour ride to our first stop – La Fortuna, the land of Volcano Arenal.
We stayed at a nice, laid back hotel roughly 5 minutes drive from the downtown touristy hub of La Fortuna.
La Fortuna is definitely a mainstay on every Costa Rican itinerary. It’s home to the Arenal Volcano, which is now dormant. The area is famous for adventure, with opportunity around every corner. We came for the hiking.
After devouring a less than average plate of Nachos in downtown La Fortuna, we found ourselves speaking with a local hiking guide over a Volcano IPA and he suggested skipping the usual route, Arenal 1968, but rather hike the El Silencio trail around the volcano. Local advice always trumps the guide books.
The El Silencio route was amazing. We showed up in the morning with two other cars in the parking and the trail to ourselves. A perfect half day hike.
In the afternoon we drove 5 minutes past downtown La Fortuna to a famous local swimming hole called El Salta. Turns out it’s a popular spot to grab a beer, swim in the waterfalls, cliff jump and take a turn on the rope swing.
Next stop on the itinerary was Monteverde, home to the cloud forest hanging bridges, the infamous ziplining and exotic flora and fauna. The drive from La Fortuna to Monteverde is near 3 hours so we decided to split that up with a side trip to Rio Celeste. Rio Celeste is a large waterfall located in the Tenorio Volcano National Park and is famous for its turquoise colored water. Other than getting soaked in a rainstorm, it was a perfect pit stop.
For the Monteverde portion of the trip, we booked an AirBnB in Las Juntas, which on a map, appears pretty close to Monteverde. Turns out I was wrong….mileage wise, yes it’s not bad, but I didn’t consider the condition of the roads in the equation. Once off the main highway, the roads become almost undriveable. The roads were steep and the potholes (more like craters) were destroying our tires. I thought for sure we were going to be stuck changing flat tires. By the grace of God, we made to the AirBnB and were welcomed by our host with an ice cold Imperial beer and some grilled steak. The view off the back porch was worth the bumpy ride in.
When you Google Costa Rica, ziplining is the probably the first thing that pops up. At first, we weren’t huge on ziplining. Seemed a little cheesy for $60/person. Totally wrong! The ziplining was a blast! 13 different zip lines with the longest being 1 kilometer long and 300 feet above the jungle. Definitely worth it and the sweeping views of the rainforest were incredible.
The Monteverde Jungle is also famous for the hanging bridges, which are long suspension bridges ranging from 60-300 feet above the trees.
On our way back to Las Juntas, we had to stop at Monteverde Brewing Company for a flight of beer.
La Fortuna and Monteverde are tourist hotspots and the towns cater to the tourists with many restaurants and bars to choose from. Las Juntas, the little town of our AirBnB was super local. Accessed mostly by dirt roads, with only a couple local restaurants, we had to get a glimpse of local life. Based on a recommendation from our AirBnB host, we decided to grab a beer at the local watering hole. Along with our Imperial beers, we were served a tasty salsa concoction of hot dogs, rice and chili sauce. Although I thought the place as fun, Sarah was feeling a tad uncomfortable being the only girl around. Understandable, but glad we did it.
Last stop on the itinerary was the coastal town of Tamarindo. Before heading out, our AirBnB host suggested we take a hike on the property to the river and check out their own waterfall and swimming hole. Good times chilling in our own waterfall.
Las Juntas to Tamarindo was roughly three hours along a (thankfully) paved highway. Not able to check-in until later afternoon, we had a beer at Volcano Brewing Company and walked along the famous surfing beach. The last two days consisted of rest and relaxation at the pool, cocktails at the Mercadito, pour over coffee at Tamarindo Coffee Roasters and watching the surfers with the sunset backdrop at Playa Avellana.
Pura Vida – Pure life or simple life, is a phrase heard everywhere in Costa Rica. So blessed to experience the Pura Vida lifestyle this past week!
Kottu Roti and Ella in Sri Lanka
From Kuala Lumpur we took a 3.5 hour flight into Colombo, the capital of the island country Sri Lanka. Up until this point, I had always been the one planning, scheduling, and researching where to go and what to do in the different countries we visited…this time, Sarah took the reins. We decided on Sri Lanka and it was solely up to her to decide what we were going to do! We landed mid-afternoon and took a 1 hour cab ride through the city out to our AirBnB on the outskirts of Colombo city center. We stayed with Jay and his wife, both Sri Lankans, who provided a nice room and travel advice for our stay. As we only had one day and one night in Colombo, we threw our packs down and went off to discover this new and exciting country. Neither of us had ever traveled to South Asia and we were a little apprehensive as we walked along the roads filled with trucks and rickshaws and questionable food stalls preparing local curries.
Our first stop, by way of Jay’s strong recommendation was a country club. We weren’t super interested in visiting a country club, but he insisted it served the best Kottu Roti and the coldest Lion Stout in the city. Apart from no one else in the dining room, Jay was right, the food was delicious.
After our wonderful lunch, we walked through colorful Buddhist temples and strolled around a lake in a local park. Prior to coming to Sri Lanka, I was picturing India with it’s chaotic traffic and hordes of people teaming the streets, but in reality, we found the parks and surrounding areas to be quite nice and serene. As we were planning to go to India after Sri Lanka, we thought it would be a good introduction to this part of Asia.
Our next stop in Sri Lanka was Kandy, the second largest city and the gateway to the rest of the island. We arrived by rickshaw super early at the train station and found out most of the train was sold out. We ended having to purchase 3rd class tickets for the 4 hour train ride. Other than hugging our Sri Lankan neighbors most of the way, it was a decent train ride for only a couple dollars.
Kandy turned out to be a little underwhelming for us. It was small city and it was easy to walk around but we didn’t find there was a lot to do. We stayed in a small hotel with a bakery on the first floor and fell in love with the local donuts for breakfast.
We had fun discovering different curry restaurants to try for dinners, and enjoyed walking around the lake, but two days in Kandy was definitely enough. It was time to move on to the part of the trip we were most looking forward to.
One of the top things to do in Sri Lanka is to take the unbelievably scenic train ride from Kandy to the small hiking hub of Ella. The train ride is a windy 6-7 hour ride through the green mountains and tea plantations of Central Sri Lanka. Luckily for us, we snagged an open doorway and watched the beautiful countryside roll by.
We arrived in Ella and walked along the train tracks to our AirBnB that was perched on a mountain skid that offered an amazing panorama of Little Adam’s Peak and waterfalls cascading down other mountains. We couldn’t have asked for a better view from our balcony. Ella was a very small town with a center tailored towards visitors coming in to hike the surrounding area. There were a few local restaurants and shops located a 10 minute walk down the hill from our place. Sarah booked us for 4 nights in Ella and each day consisted of hiking a different mountain, swimming in waterfalls, and eating the most scrumptious homemade Kottu Rotti. Sri Lanka in general is a pretty quiet country without much going on after night falls. Sarah and I always had to purchase a beer to go from the restaurant if we wanted to enjoy a drink in our room as there aren’t convenience stores or bars. Ella was super relaxing and refreshing. Beaches are usually our go-to destinations to relax, but soaking in the mountain scenery was great.
Our last day in Sri Lanka we took the same train we took to Ella to bring us back to Colombo. It was a 10 hour ride all the way back so we booked a cart with AC and started to mentally prepare for our last stop for the summer…India.
KL and the Petronas Towers
From our hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam we took the free van ride to Noi Boi international airport to make our way to Kuala Lumpur (KL), the capital and largest city in Malaysia. KL feels and looks different than other nearby SE Asian cities. Immediately upon driving into the city and hopping aboard the monorail, it’s hard not to notice the Indian, Middle Eastern, and Chinese cultures and buildings all mixed together. On one side of the street could be a local mosque filled with KL’s large Muslim population, and on the other side of the street could be narrow alleys filled with Chinese vendors. I previously visited KL in 2012 after studying in Taipei and I remember not loving the city. The only thing that came to mind when thinking about KL was how blistering hot and humid it was. For a second, I wasn’t thrilled to be going back to that immense heat, but knew KL deserved a chance to redeem itself!
So we took the 1 hour bus ride to KL’s city centre and took the monorail to our AirBnb’s closest station. We were ecstatic for our accommodation and decided to splurge a little ($50 per night) and enjoy the city for a few days. Honestly, that $50 per night was worth just the insane view from the rooftop pool. That was pretty much the only reason we booked that place J. For me, KL has one of the greatest skylines in the world. The Islamic inspired Petronas Towers that dominate KL’s skyline are truly breathtaking. From our Airbnb’s viewpoint, we were offered one of the best panoramic views of downtown KL.
We spent the next few days walking around and exploring the different areas of Kuala Lumpur. We poked around the colorful textile and spice shops in Little India and bought some cool Indian clothing. Later, we ventured into Petaling Street, aka Chinatown. This is one of best areas to shop for trinkets and souvenirs to bring home. The street is literally packed full of tiny stalls selling anything from pirated DVD’s to scrolls of Chinese calligraphy.
Nighttime is the best time in KL. Jalan Alor street has to be one of the greatest food streets in the world. Once night falls, the street erupts into a full blown food market with stalls and restaurants selling the local cuisines. We decided to pop a squat at a Malay stall and tried some of their tasty chicken and beef kebabs with an ice cold Tiger Beer.
After stuffing ourselves at Jalan Alor night market, we took the monorail to the most popular destination, KLCC Park, home of the Petronas Towers. It’s one thing to see these towers from afar, but it’s another when standing directly underneath them. At night, this area is filled with not only tourists, but local families relaxing along the ponds and enjoying the daily fountain shows while gawking at the size of the Petronas Towers. A little embarrassed to say this, but we definitely spent some time trying to get the perfect selfie with the towers J
Kuala Lumpur definitely did not disappoint and has become a favorite city of ours. The food is fantastic and views are incredible. Can’t wait to head back someday!
Vietnam was Pho-nomenal
I was never super interested in visiting Vietnam until this past year. I had heard mixed reviews of backpackers loving the contrast between city life and nature, while others complained about the pushiness of the local touts and the constant hard selling tactics they used on travelers. Sarah and I decided to see for ourselves. A couple of my study abroad friends had taken trips to Vietnam and loved it…it was time for us find out first hand.
Vietnam is actually a very large country. There’s so much to see and discover between the southern city of Ho Chi Minh (Saigon), and the northern capitol of Hanoi. We started our trip in the largest and most populous city of Ho Chi Minh City. I remember walking out of the airport after waiting for hours to get through the visa line, to an incredibly humid day and a SEA of Vietnamese people. As I’ve said before, Sarah and I love to stay in AirBnB’s for multiple reasons, but one reason in particular, is the inside scoop of how to get to the accommodation. It’s hard to explain the feelings of arriving in a foreign country and having to walk out the airport doors to an unknown world. It’s very overwhelming especially when you have a million Vietnamese taxi drivers grabbing your arms and bags trying to get you to take their “cheap” taxi. Luckily for us, our AirBnB host gave us excellent instructions on how to get to the apartment while not getting horribly ripped off…like most first timers do.
Other than the extra dollar the taxi driver made us pay for having two bags or something, we made it to the apartment in one piece, not broke, and very sweaty. One note on the weather, Vietnam is ridiculously humid. We thought Taiwan was bad, Vietnam was insane. Plus our apartment was on the fifth floor with no elevator J
Ho Chi Minh City was fantastic. It had a large city look and feel, but was walkable if you had time. Sarah and I stayed right on the edge of where the uppity financial district meets the “everyday life” part of the city. We spent our days sampling the local coffee and the delicious Vietnamese Pho soup, while literally dodging the hordes of scooters on our way to shop for handicrafts at the Ben Thanh Market.
Another reason we loved Ho Chi Minh was the great backpacker vibe and nightlife. We enjoyed our nights scoping out tiny eateries and rooftop bars. The night that stands out the most was our first night in Vietnam. We were roaming the city streets searching for a restaurant in the pouring rain and quickly decided to run under an awning to get some cover. A group of 3 people from the Netherlands asked us to join them. Eight hours later we had exchanged hundreds of stories and made new friends…just from getting out of the rain. It’s one of the greatest joys of traveling. It’s meeting people from every corner of the world, not being afraid to look dumb or act a certain way, casting all judgements aside and swapping stories about life.
We spent roughly four days in Ho Chi Minh and decided it was time to move on. We took a 1 hour flight north into Da Nang city. This was the closest airport to our next stop and one of Sarah’s favorite places of the entire summer…Hoi An. Hoi An is considered the most atmospheric and romantic town in Vietnam. This little town sits on a river with old women offering people the chance to light a lantern and float their wishes down the river. The cobblestone streets are lined with lanterns and buildings built centuries ago. Hoi An had an old town feel that was so calming and enjoyable. We rented a motorbike during the day and cruised through the miles of rice paddies to the pristine coastline of central Vietnam. We’d haul out the hammock and hang or lay out at the beach and read. Hoi An was paradise not only during the day, but at night as well. We’d rent bikes in the evening and pedal to the old town and eat local Vietnamese cuisine over a 25₵ beer. It felt like a candlelit, date night dinner with Sarah every night!
From Hoi An in central Vietnam to Hanoi in northern Vietnam, we decided to take the local train. The ride was a measly overnight, 18-hour trip. I was actually looking forward to this ride because we booked sleeper berths to relax the ride away. We shared the 4 bed berth a nice couple from Switzerland and made it to Hanoi.
We arrived in Hanoi early in the morning and walked to our hotel in the popular French Old Quarter. Hanoi had a much different atmosphere than Ho Chi Minh. It was more cramped, with little alleys and streets darting around like a spider web. It seemed like we ran into an older Vietnamese woman, balancing baskets with a pole over her shoulder, with her triangular rice hat, on almost every corner. Others were crowding around little stove tops with beef noodle soup brewing, while sitting on little plastic stools for breakfast. Hanoi felt…local.
We spent our two days in Hanoi strolling around Hoan Kiem Lake, walking through the shops in the Old Quarter filled with knock-off goods and trinkets, and almost getting runover by a million motorbikes screaming through the city streets. Meal time was our favorite time in Hanoi. Sarah and I both concluded that Hanoi had the greatest food in all of Vietnam. There wasn’t much of a nightlife scene in Hanoi, so we found a little corner shop that we ate at every night. It was a tiny little place that looked to be family run, and the food was unbelievable. The soups and meat were to die for.
From Hanoi, we took an exhausting but very worthwhile day trip to one of the most popular destinations in Vietnam and all of S.E. Asia…Halong Bay. What made this Bay so breathtaking were the hundreds of limestone islands that rose up outstandingly from the ocean, covered in jungle vegetation. For the day tour, we boarded a junk boat which was essentially an old Chinese sailing ship that was used for sailing around the Bay. It was an overcast day, but we thoroughly enjoyed taking the kayaks around the cliffs and exploring the islands up close.
Our last stop on our Vietnam tour was Tam Coc, Ninh Binh. This part of the trip was completely last minute and not planned….and turned out to be our favorite part of the trip. Tam Coc is loosely referred to the Halong Bay on land. For us, we thought it was even more impressive than Halong Bay. The area was stunningly beautiful. The limestone cliffs and flowing rice paddies were never-ending and the colors that erupted over the cliffs at twilight were spectacular. It was such a peaceful setting. We stayed at a little B&B and enjoyed looking at the scenery from the porch in mornings and taking hikes through the cliffs during the days. The main attraction in Tam Coc was to get in a row boat and have a heavy Vietnamese lady row you, with her feet, between the cliffs and through tunnels along the river. It was probably the best $5 we spent the whole holiday.
Other than the sweltering heat, you were awesome Vietnam!
A Second in Singapore
After a beautiful week soaking up the sun and surf in Indonesia, we made our way back to the airport only to find out that our flight to Singapore had been cancelled. Crap. I had purposely booked a full day and night layover at one of my all-time favorite city states, Singapore. Again, I visited Singapore 5 years ago on my previous SE Asia tour and fell in love with the city. It’s literally a melting pot of people, colors, religions, and languages squeezed into one of the most technologically advanced and wealthiest cities in the world. Jam packed into this concrete jungle are areas for anyone’s tastes. In one day, you can visit Little India for your slice of the Hindu culture, haggle in Chinatown, or shop ‘til you drop on Orchard Road. Immediately upon landing at Changi International airport and onboard the conveniently placed MRT line from the airport to the city, you are surrounded by people from all over the globe. I love that feeling.
Anyways, back to the cancelled flight BS. If any of you readers get over to SE Asia, avoid Jetstar Airways like the plague. Horrible airline on all fronts. We found out our flight was cancelled when we got to the airport and went up to the counter and asked to get rescheduled onto the next available flight to Singapore as we needed to catch a connecting flight to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The Jetstar agent looked at us like we were idiots. He basically told us we were sh*t out of luck, go find another way. We couldn’t believe this! We ended up having to race around the airport asking every and all airlines if they had anything available to Singapore. Thankfully we found a flight for 7 hours later that evening, but we had to pay for it out of pocket, but even more disappointing was not being able to spend the day in Singapore.
Fast forward 9 hours and we finally landed in Singapore at about 8pm. I was in a very bad mood, and to top it off, I lost one of my flip flops. That really ticked me off. We weren’t flying out of Singapore until the following morning at around 11am, so we decided to make the best of our situation and go into the city. I originally had lofty plans of hanging out along the river at Clarke Quay over a nice dinner, spending time in Little India, and winning my money back at the ultra-lux Marina Bay Sands Casino and Resort.
None of that happened which disappointed me, but we were able to spend some time walking around the Marina Bay and the gardens, and finally laying on a bench watching the city lights of downtown Singapore. It wasn’t the ideal day, but it worked out. Sarah was still able to get a glimpse of one of my favorite places on earth.
We took a cab back to the airport around 12:30am tried to find a dark, quiet place to sleep. It just plain sucks to sleep in the airport.
That was a long night of waking up every 15 minutes with a sore back. Thankfully our flight to Ho Chi Minh City was right on track. Off to Vietnam!
Sea Turtles and Rice Paddies
The end to our time in Taiwan was incredibly bittersweet. On one spectrum, we were very sad to be leaving the place we came to love, but on the other hand, we were GEEKED about our 2 month jaunt around Southeast and South Asia!
After waving goodbye to a group of our closest friends at Taipei’s Taoyuan International Airport, with our backpacks in hand, we were aboard a very cramped, direct AirAsia flight to stop number one…Indonesia!
Indonesia is, uncommonly known, the fourth largest country and has the highest Muslim population in the world. With over 18,000 islands, it’s a diver/snorkeler/layer outers dream come true. It was the perfect place for Sarah and me to start off our summer of travel. She could tan the day away while I was able to revel in the underwater world with my favorite marine fish.
We flew into Denpasar International Airport on the super popular island of Bali. I visited Bali 5 years ago with my younger brother Jordan and his friend, Alec Green and we had the time our lives. I really wanted to share those experiences with Sarah, so we started in northern Bali in a place called Ubud. Have you ever read the book, “Eat, pray, Love?” In a nutshell, it talks about a girl who falls in love with an Italian guy while practicing yoga amidst the enchanting rice paddies that surround the villages in Ubud. My brother, Al, and I really regretted not going to Ubud last time, so I made it a point to visit this time. It did not disappoint! Southern Bali, especially the Kuta, Seminyak, and Legion areas are incredibly busy and don’t have a lot of local culture to experience, so Ubud was a great choice to start the trip.
It was about a 2 hour taxi ride north of the airport and we were dumped literally into the rice paddies. We spent the first 3 days in vacation mode…wandering through the paddies, watching the rice farmers gather their rice, laying out by the pool, and indulging in the native Nasi and Mie Goreng noodles.
A highlight from the previous trip to Indonesia was the Gili Islands. Gili Trawangan, Gili Air, and Gili Meno make up the Gili Islands, which lie about a 2.5 hour boat ride from the eastern shore of Bali, or a 15-30 minute boat ride from Lombok. 5 years ago, these were off-the-beaten path, unspoiled islands. At the time, many locals lived on the largest island, Gili Trawangan, and us guys were excited to be on a slice of paradise that the hordes of travelers hadn’t discovered yet. I knew Sarah would love this place. We debated and debated on which island to stay on as the smaller two islands were very laid back with not much to do once the sun went down. Present day Gili T had lost its “untouched” luster a little bit as many new restaurants and guest houses had popped up over the past 5 years. We weighed the options and ultimately decided to stay on Gili T. Although we lost some culture, it offered more opportunities for dining and accommodation, but most importantly for me, was the night market.
Gili T is the only island with a night market run by the local people, serving freshly caught fish, and unique chicken and beef dishes. Every night was spent scarfing down the delicious Indonesian cuisine washed down with a Bintang brew discussing the two most asked questions in the backpacking world, “Where’ve you been?” and, “Where you off to next?” Where in reality, no one actually really cares, because they’ve probably been there or they’re heading there next. Same stories over and over!
We spent our days snorkeling in what had to be one of the best off-the-beach reefs in the world. Just a few steps in the water and we were surrounded with fields of soft coral swaying to the waves, and colorful clownfish and moorish idols swimming through the mazes of hard stony coral. We even got to swim next to several majestic sea turtles!
We took one day to visit the smallest island of Gili Meno. The “port,” was very small and that was where all five of the island’s restaurants were located, with some upper class guesthouses surrounding. But once we walked 15 minutes farther down the beach, we could’ve been on our own private island in the South Pacific. It was unbelievable. We snorkeled among some of the finest reefs in the world with not a sole in sight…couldn’t beat that.
It wasn’t all paradise though. For the two months we were gone, we tried to stay within a budget of $30 dollars per night for accommodation. Now, that’s not that hard to do considering you can stay in a 40 person hostel dorm room for $6 per night, but do you want to be sleeping with 39 drunken people? Toss up. If you would’ve asked me 5 years ago, $6 a night was the the way to go – no matter what. Nonetheless, I’ve grown up a bit, and have really enjoyed having our own place. We used AirBnB whenever possible. Rather than your typical, sterile hotel room, AirBnB is a website where anyone can put their homes/vacation homes/treehouses/boats/castles up for rent. Sarah and I love to use AirBnB because it offers a true window into the lives of the local people. Instead of a one bedroom, one bathroom hotel room, we’ve stayed in 30th floor; three bedroom condo’s overlooking skylines of some of the biggest cities in Asia….all for a fraction of the price.
When places like the above didn’t work out or AirBnB didn’t have budget options, it was good ol’ hostelworld. We did our best to stay away from the dorms rooms and at least get our own room. This usually meant $30 for a board for a bed, giant cockroaches, and a mosque prayer playing over the loud speaker and an ear splitting level from 2-5AM EVERY single night…basically our experience on Gili T. Other than the hostel we stayed in, Gili T ruled. It’s one of our all-time favorite spots. The mixture of local culture, beach, ocean, and nightlife made for an incredible week. Indonesia is a must for anyone taking the hike to Southeast Asia.
Last Days in Taipei
Where to begin? It was one heck of a summer and a lot has happened, things learned, and new places explored. I’m going to begin a series of blog posts that I wasn’t able to get to when we were traveling this summer. Time to fill you in!
June 30, 2015 was officially our last day as Teacher Kyle and Teacher Sarah the English teachers. What a year it was…already, as we look back and reminisce on our teaching days, it brings back challenging but great memories. We’ve come to the conclusion that teaching really has it’s ups and downs, perhaps more than any other job we’ve ever had. There were days that were just plain fun. The kids were joking around, paying attention, and listening. I loved introducing my older kids to things like paintball or sim city and see their eyes light up with imagination. They actually wanted to write journal entries about these topics. Can you believe that?!
Other days were extremely frustrating and draining. You know the feeling when you finally get out of work after a bad day and just want to hit something? It happens with teaching, too. You FINALLY get all your first graders sitting in their seats after 20 minutes of everyone (actually no one) needing to go to the bathroom… and then Emma drops her gigantic pencil case. An explosion of every type of pen, pencil, eraser, whiteout, ruler, scissors, tiny anime creatures, and stickers scattered all of over the floor. Commence 9 first graders rolling on the floor laughing uncontrollably. The first couple times it’s kind of cute, but after repeating this on a daily basis, it gets old, real old.
All in all, teaching was a valuable and rewarding experience. We remember our first week of teaching and how nervous we were and how much easier it got as the weeks went by. I don’t know if any of you readers remember my first post on teaching, but I’ll recap a bit. We taught for an English institute that was an after school program for the Taiwanese kids. We taught the kids after they had been in their regular Chinese schools all day. Our school was also a for profit institution. This made our jobs interesting. We would run into kids that were great students but others really gave us a run for our money. I had a 7 year old student who wrote me a note telling that I should go to H-E-double hockey sticks (he wrote the real thing). How does a 7 year old know that word?! With the school running for profit, there was nothing I could do about it. The school needed the tuition money. At times it was incredibly frustrating not getting support when it was needed. On the other hand, we had kids that were very serious about their English learning and it was exciting to see how much their English levels improved over the year. Our last day at school, we gave all the students our facebooks and we have been in touch with some of them, which is very cool. I hope to stay in touch and see where they end up in life. We truly learned how to interact and work with people of all ages from a culture far different than ours.
Our last few days were busy saying our goodbyes to all the wonderful people we met over the past year. What a weird feeling saying goodbye to the people we called our family while we were in Taiwan. Sarah and I spent an entire night with our night market family. They threw us a huge goodbye party with all the people we encountered there this past year. We felt truly loved and felt we had made not just great friends for the year, but friends for a lifetime. Sarah put together an ABC book for our little kiddo’s so they could continue their English learning through memories of the foreigners from America. We had spent so much time getting to know this family who literally didn’t speak a lick of English. Sarah, who barely speaks a word of Chinese, was able to connect and develop a relationp with Joan and the kids through smiles, hugs, me translating, and her trusty English-Chinese dictionary 🙂 We ate until we were stuffed and I was challenged by every macho guy around the table to an arm wrestle…weaklings 😉 We are excited to visit Taipei and especially our 737 night market to see our “family” again one day.
Fast forward one more day to July 1, our last day in Taipei, Taiwan, our home for the last year. What a strange day it was. We moved out of our apartment at 9am and we weren’t leaving until 1am that night, so we had all day to ourselves and our backpacks. We wanted to hit all of our favorite spots one more time. It was such a surreal feeling as we sat in our hammock looking over our favorite Bihu Lake. Were we really leaving tonight? Our time here was finished…already? The place we’ve come to love…when would we come back? The feelings were all over the board…Excited, sad, apprehensive. It was done. Our time in Taiwan was done and we had a freaking blast of a year. We met some amazing Taiwanese friends who we already miss dearly. Thank goodness for snapchat! We also have to thank them profusely for the caravan ride to the airport. Literally all of our friends packed into 3 cars just to take Sarah and me to the airport. How awesome is that? We were a little overwhelmed with the love from our friends.
We couldn’t help but put on big smile as we walked to the departure gate and said goodbye to Taipei.
Kyle & Sarah
Opening Doors to Asia 