Vietnam

I'm so overdue writing about Vietnam and I'm not going to even post very much right now. Basically, SO much happened on the trip that it is a bit overwhelming to think about posting about it. Overall, it was an amazing trip. If I didn't have the travel bug before, I definitely have it now! Here's a quick overview of the trip for now:

Favorite city: Hoi An. It was this cute little shopping town on the coast. We stayed two nights in a hotel there, which was the longest we stayed in one place the whole trip. Plus, this hotel was the only one of the trip that had a pool. That is a win-win, my friends. It was the cleanest, calmest, safest feeling town of all the ones we visited, in my opinion. 

Favorite activity: The motorbike tour in Hue. It's hard to pick just one favorite activity because we literally did something new every day. The motorbike tour was so much fun though. Some of the highlights were stopping for lunch at a monks house (amazing vegetarian food!) and riding through the rice fields.

Favorite food: BBQ in Nha Trang. Again, it's hard to choose just one meal or food that was the best, but the bbq meat was amazing. It wasn't the most relaxing or comfortable meal of the trip though because it was crazy hot (as in sweating like crazy while just sitting still) and extremely smoky. Plus, we had to cook our own meat at our table. I've decided I'm more of the type that like my food to be cooked before it comes to the table. If I wanted to cook my own meal, I would have stayed at home! But it was an once in a lifetime (maybe?) experience and the flavors of the food were delicious.

Those are just a few of the many, many amazing parts of the trip. Much, much more to come in the next few weeks! 

End of May

One of the few signs of Autumn in Sydney. The trees don't really change colors over here, which is something I realized I really miss.

I just realized that nearly a whole month has gone by since I last posted on here. Yikes. I could chalk it up to lots of things, but really, life has just been busy. Plus, how is it already the end of May?!?!

Early May was filled with my friend Rebecca visiting. So much to say about that so a separate post or two will be coming for sure. Mid-May was just the usual busyness of life. It’s funny: when I imagined what my life would look like in Sydney before I left Seattle, I imagined having more free time than I could handle. I even made a list of things I could do to fill my time if need be. Turns out I don’t really need that list. Life has a way of being busy or at least seeming busy wherever you are.

The end of May was filled with the stomach flu and getting ready for Vietnam. I leave on Saturday! So excited and a little nervous. I don’t totally know what to expect and it’s my first completely solo trip. In all my years of traveling, I’ve always either known someone at the destination or gone with someone. While I am meeting up with a tour group (so I won’t be completely on my own), it’s still something so much different than I’ve ever done.

Expect a whole lot of blog catching up in June! Though it just dawned on me that I might be able to post while I’m in Vietnam. I don’t expect a lot of down time (but what do I know, really?) other than maybe on my 13-hour overnight train ride. Yup. 13 hours. The longest of three on the trip. Oh and two, 10-hour flights. I certainly will have time to kill! We’ll see when I catch wifi though.

Anyways, happy Monday everyone! It’s Memorial day back home (well, actually it’s Sunday back home, but if it were Monday it would be Memorial day...not sure if that makes sense. You catch my drift, right?), but a regular Monday here. Even though I’m not in America at the moment, I’m still thankful for all the men and women who have served our country.

Friday Adventure: Vietnam

Photo: Riding Vietnam's Reunification Train

How is it nearly May? My lack of blog posts the past week+ is proof that time is flying and I can’t keep up! Again, I do believe that time flies when you’re having fun so it’s all good.

Last Friday, our weekly adventure was more of an errand than an adventure, though one could argue that any activity could be called an adventure. Wow - I think I hit the record for the amount of times the word ‘adventure’ can be used in a sentence! Anyways, we made a trip to the Vietnam Consulate in the city so I could apply for my visa for my trip to Vietnam. Yup. You read that right: I’M GOING TO VIETNAM. Ah. So excited.

I’m leaving the end of May for a 11 day trek through the country with a tour group. I knew I was going to travel some while I was over here, but I was thinking more along the lines of Fiji or Bali (a week of lying on the beach? yes, please). Ash convinced me that Vietnam is the place to go though. She did the same exact tour 9 years ago and said it was the best trip of her life. That is convincing enough!

This adventure was sort of a two-part one since I had to go pick up my passport + visa from the consulate this week. My friend Rebecca is visiting (lots more on that to come!) so yesterday we ventured into the city with Anderson to pick it up. We took the bus into the city, met Ash for coffee, took the train to Edgecliff (where the consulate is), and then went back into the city to celebrate at the Max Brenner chocolate cafe (of course!) and then home again. Good day!

Tres amigos in the city

Buggy was chatting up a storm to random strangers on the bus!

Chocolate covered strawberries at Max Brenner

Much, much more on Vietnam to come!