A Blog About Things We Do

(places and topics list)

Category: Travel

  • Life couldn’t get much better, I don’t think

    Pictures will come, but I just wanted to quickly post this while the spirit moved me as pictures likely won’t do justice anyway.

    Lindsay and I took a night bus from Kyoto South/West to Hiroshima, arriving this morning around 6:30am. From there we took a road trolley to the port of Hiroshima, where we waited an hour or so for a ferry to take us to the Koyou port on the Island of Etajima. Each step of this trip brought us further from the city, further and further into smaller and smaller towns. People are more likely to stare and wonder what a few gaijins are doing walking down the street with giant packs.

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  • Kyoto + Arashiyama + Nara + Kinkaku-ji + Philosopher’s Path

    Kyoto + Arashiyama + Nara + Kinkaku-ji + Philosopher’s Path

    Kyoto. Although still relatively large and modern, it’s OLD WORLD Japan – meaning the buildings, the customs, the food – everything is reminiscent of the past. it’s easy to imagine that you’ve been transported back in time, and frankly, fun to do so! From the BEAUTIFUL temples, cobblestone paths, out-of-this-world bamboo forests, wildlife (deer!) hanging out in shrines, geisha cruising the streets, beautiful waterways, short doorways and unbelievably friendly people…it’s a gem, there’s no question about that.

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  • Kurashiki + Thanksgiving in 30 seconds

    Kurashiki + Thanksgiving in 30 seconds

    Looking quite regal.

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  • Traveling can take work sometimes!

    Hello friends, family, and everybody else.

    I just wanted to take a quick second to update this blog and mention some of the things that have been going on.

    First of all, as of today, we’re still in Tokyo, Japan. Specifically Koto-ku, which means, I think, the Koto ward of Tokyo.

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  • Bucket List Massacre v. Tokyo Fish (Tsukiji) Market and Lost in Translation Stuff

    Bucket List Massacre v. Tokyo Fish (Tsukiji) Market and Lost in Translation Stuff

    Hello everybody! Kevin here! How are you!!!?

    Anyway, look, let’s get down to brass tacks. As a friend/colleague used to say, here’s the deal:

    Lindsay and I had the opportunity to go to Tokyo 5 years ago, when a friend awesomely gave us the opportunity to have an extended layover in Japan on our way from SE Asia to Chicago. But, we were homesick after having traveled for 6 (ish – Nick, we’re using the ceiling function) months on the road. On that almost-layover, we were planning on going to the Tsukiji fish market, for many reasons, but because mainly, I had always wanted to see that. But we didn’t, and went home instead. Since then, it has been an itch I couldn’t scratch, because my hands couldn’t reach, if you see what I mean (it’s like, figurative language or something?).

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  • Japan (Tokyo) Week 1

    Japan (Tokyo) Week 1

    So, wow. We’re in Tokyo. How lucky can we be?

    On our way to Toyko

    We knew as soon as we got our airplane food, we knew we were going to be in love. I mean, look at this cute little bento!

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  • South Korea (in one post)

    South Korea (in one post)

    South Korea (surprisingly) rocked our worlds.

    What started out as a 2 week trip to visit our pal, Phill, turned in to a serious desire to stay a month! Or 2! Or 3! I’m not sure if it was the clean, COOL air minutes after landing, or the orderliness of the subway, or the fact that I could run (or actually go anywhere and feel totally safe) or the fact that we were with our friend, or had a mini pig in our hostel, or what – but either way, Korea turned out to be everything we could have hoped or more. Without question we will be going back to explore the rest of the country sooner rather than later.

    The pics below will be totally out of order, but will at least show you a small glimpse of what life was like…

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  • End of India in Posts (2+ Months Late)

    End of India in Posts (2+ Months Late)

    At this point, sadly, I cannot remember what was posted or not, or what photos were shown, but the photos below are from our last few days in Delhi (well, Agra and area surrounding Delhi, anywyay :))
    Visiting the Temple where Buddha gave his first speech on the 8-fold Path

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  • Delhi + Agra (Taj Mahal)

    (note: I’ll add pictures in a bit!)

    Lindsay and I went to Delhi, though it is NEARLY a distant memory at this point. I’m typing up this account of the experience to be sure we don’t forget about this bit of our trip.

    Arriving in Delhi was great after a somewhat long journey from Varanasi. Like every other trip we took, the train ride was longer then you would think, and our train was delayed in Varanasi which was not a particularly nice train station. I think we sat around for 3 or 4 hours on the piss smelling ground, not really sure when the train was coming.

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  • Amma Darshan and Kerala House Boat and Stuff

    Amma Darshan and Kerala House Boat and Stuff

    A lot has happened since the last blog post. For one thing, we left Hampi and traveled to Kerala, which is a state in the South of India. Oh, and we went to Bangalore en route to Kerala.

    Bangalore, because to get to Kerala, we had to take two separate trains from Hampi. Both of the trains were ~9ish hours, and both were at night. It was a somewhat long few days and we felt very dirty. That said, if I were to be honest, I’d have to say that the trip wasn’t bad, and although I’m happy we don’t have any super grueling travel (well, an 18 hour layover is coming up!) anytime in the near future, I think I’ll look back one day fondly on the trip.

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  • A Week+ in Photos…

    A Week+ in Photos…

     

    No photos of the chaos that was Mumbai (thankfully Delhi is still a few more weeks away :)) But here is some of the beauty located not too far away….

    Tamarind and palm trees and monkeys galore: Elephanta Island off the Mumbai Coast.

    Kev reading up on the symbolism behind the cave carvings.

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  • I fought with the A/C, and lost…

    I fought with the A/C, and lost…

    In the past, when traveling to a new place, Kev and I have splurged and opted for the extra fancy amenities. Now, mind you, besides a bed with (what we’re hoping are relatively) clean sheets, and a private toilet of some kind (you never know just how handy that might be!), every living situation we have truly ever stayed at is meager at best. BUT when we just arrive somewhere, we might opt for a room with A/C – just to get acclimated, you know?

    Well, our arrival here was no different. We chose to go all-out, and with our rickety double bed, “clean” sheets and private bathroom, we went for the A/C. Great choice. Upon arriving in Mumbai at almost 11 pm it was 84 degrees. We’d be happy to have it.

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  • Mumbai is not the same as Bangkok – Travel to and Arriving in India

    Mumbai is not the same as Bangkok – Travel to and Arriving in India

    Last night we started our India trip. In short, the travel went about as smoothly as we could hope. We traveled with Swiss Air, and went Chicago -> Zurich -> Mumbai. We didn’t have any brutal layovers, no delays, no baggage problems. The food was pretty good on the flights (we had FOUR meals).

    I managed to stay up most of the time, Lindsay slept a decent chunk. My hope (and I had thought I had succeeded) was that I’d avoid most of the jet lag if I was just really tired when I arrived.

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  • On the road

    On the road

    Well, we’ve done it. We are on the road. Currently writing this blog post from my cousin Alicia’s kitchen table [edit: this isn’t actually correct any more, but I wanted to finish this post and post it for historical purposes anyway – we’re now in Sault Saint Marie].

    The past few days were a bit of a whirlwind, although that’s a bit of a cliche. I think. Honestly, maybe it’s not, I don’t know.

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  • Russian River and Packing is Underway

    Russian River and Packing is Underway

    Packing is now fully underway. Lindsay has spent the past week+ organizing, cleaning, and selling our stuff on Craigslist. Sadly, we still have a long way to go – as I lay in bed typing this, I see our bed stand, our alarm clock, our covers and sheets, our mattress, the artwork above our head, etc. All of that stuff needs to be gone in two weeks. And that’s just in our bed area.

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  • We’re going to India: Part One – India Visa Hell with BLS in San Francisco

    We’re going to India: Part One – India Visa Hell with BLS in San Francisco

    First, as a few of you know, Lindsay and I are leaving the Bay (at least for a while) and moving to India. “Moving” is admittedly a slightly strong word, as we have no intention of staying permanently, but we are going for a year. Or up to a year. At this point we have very few details as far as what we’re doing in India, but we know this: July 1st, we’ll get in the car and drive from Oakland, CA to Vancouver, CAN (Canada!). From there, we’ll drive across Canada over the period of a month, until we get to Quebec City, Quebec. From there, we’ll go back down through Canada to the US, where we’ll end up in Grand Rapids, MI. We’ll spend the rest of August in Michigan with our families (and I’ll be trying to work as much as I can, if possible). Then, September the 3rd we’ll fly from Chicago to Mumbai! And that’s about the start of the India trip. I’ll post a lot more soon about more details that we do have (our rough Canada camping plan, etc) soon.

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  • A few photos from recent trips

    A few photos from recent trips

    Well, quite a bit has happened since my last post here. I spent two weeks solo in Chicago for work. Lindsay and I went to a wedding in LA. We spent a day in Santa Cruz. I shaved my beard (and am now growing it back again). Actually that’s all I can think of.

    Chicago was a great time. I stayed in a fancy hotel and went to a pretty interesting training. Anthea came to visit, as did my mom and Tristan. I ate some great donuts, and a (not pictured) great pizza.

    Anyway, long story short, I took a few photos and figured I might as well post a few of them.

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  • Scanned some photos

    Scanned some photos

    Not a whole lot to say, but after several hours in the dark room, and many many more scanning photos one at a time, I figured I’d post a few of the photos I’m reasonably happy with (as promised in one of my previous posts).

    Sadly, I am not and was not really in the photography mood the past months (ok, year+), and it shows as I’d say the large majority of photos are very much “meh.” That said, I think that developing these photos and spending some time in the dark room has helped me appreciate photos more once again. So hopefully I’ll get back on the horse, a bit.

    So here we go…

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  • Yosemite, Lake Mono, Sacramento Beer Tour!

    Yosemite, Lake Mono, Sacramento Beer Tour!

    It’s Sunday, 9:14am. If you crunch the numbers, that means roughly of the weekend is still available for activities. But! We’ve already done more this weekend then we’d normally do in a month.

    Let’s do a quick recap of the big items. For this exercise, you’ll have to pretend you haven’t already read the title of this blog post! Don’t look now if you haven’t already read it! And if you have but perhaps are a bit foggy on it, then don’t look back!

    • Yosemite National Park
    • Lake Mono
    • Northern California brewery tour
    • Tour of our states capitol
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  • Sykes hot spring bonus video: purify water

    Lindsay says that my previous post about Sykes hot springs makes it sound like we had a terrible time. We had an awesome experience, that was physically painful and exhausting. But I am honestly thrilled that we did it. To show more of our true emotion, here is a short video we took ~5 miles out from the end of the hike (note this is after we were stung by wasps, but before the pain got too hellish in the knee department.