South East Asia – 2008

Greetings!

Amazing that I’ve not written in my blog for nearly two years!   When we came to Arcata, my adventurer’s soul fully intended to chronicle every piece of excitement that came my way.   However, the depressing instability of our first few months followed by the boring stability of the last year and a half didn’t leave much fodder for blogging.   Or I was just so damn busy that I forgot to fit it in.

Round about early summer, I became numb from doing the same things to fill my 80 waking hours every week: 40+ hours at CASA, coaching for HBRA, rowing with HBRA, volunteering at the garden, hanging out with my CASA kid, book group, CSA pick-up, Kids Korner  gym trade, stitch’n’bitch, after work CASA meetings, after work other meetings, “how was your day honey” with Pat… rinse and repeat.   Driving home on the 101 every night, I felt the desperate need to escape.   And, so, passing the infamous stand of eucalyptus one dark evening, I decided I would do what it took to get OUT!

I decided to take myself somewhere I’ve never been.   Since plane tickets to pretty much anywhere are $1,000+, I researched cheap destinations.   SE Asia came up again and again.   I’m pretty much out of Spanish speaking  countries to travel, save for Spain ($$$) and Central America – a closer location I want to save for a time in my life when it’s tough to leave the US for longer than a few weeks.   So, SE Asia it is!   Join me for a geography lesson and some adventurous tales!

Click here to read entries from SE Asia in 2008.

As is the nature of blogs, the newest entry (last entry from the trip) appears first.   If you want to read from the beginning, you’ll have to navigate your way to the bottom of the stack and work back up.   Maybe someday I’ll get savvy and make archives appear a bit more logically. 🙂

RETROSPECTIVE:

I’d never been all that interested in traveling in Asia, but so many wonderful friends kept telling me about incredible places and people.   I’m so glad I gave it a shot, as I fell instantly in love.   I never quite summarized this trip.   It was a strange one for me.   The first, and hopefully last, that I’ve ever done within the confines of a regular job.   It was more rushed and allowed less time for reflection – my favorite travel gem.   I can’t wait to re-visit SE Asia’s greatest hits and see new places at  a slower place.   Hopefully next time with Pat!