On our travels I’ve noticed that Americans tend to overuse superlatives – everything is amazing, incredible, unreal. But this day REALLY was all those things. It’s a cliche to say, but truly the best day of my life … More Tonga part 4: we went on a wild whale chase and then we got engaged
Our camera was a simple point and shoot, so these shots cannot possibly even begin to convey the experience of getting close to these enormous animals. They are so different to land animals in the way they move, but in their manner and their interactions and their steady intelligent gaze, they are familiar as evolved mammals. … More Tonga part 2: Eue’iki island
When we were telling people about our trip itinerary, we got almost as many blank stares about Tonga as we did for the Congo. People were similarly curious, and wanted to know: Where in the world is Tonga? Why in the world would we want to go to Tonga? When we were first planning our … More Tonga part 1: fafa island
Many of you readers probably know we are already done with our trip and are back in the USA. Yes, we fell behind on the blogging. We have a good excuse though! Jesse broke my iphone in Indonesia. Some advice – when you are reliant on a delicate piece of finely tuned technology for email, downloading … More hong kong
Though it started out as merely wanting a change of scenery (and escaping the “boredom” of sitting on the beach in Sengiggi), we were eagerly anticipating a visit to what Harper’s Bazaar called one of the top ten beaches in the world. Part of Beloam’s allure is its extreme isolation – the Tanjung Riggitt peninsula … More Beloam beach: where jesse got bored and we learned to do shoulder stands
We were tired and covered in dust after a quick and dirty tour of Rinjani. Luckily we had a relaxing 5 days with nothing to do but enjoy the beach and get massages at Jeeva Klui Resort on the northwest coast of the island. However, we discovered Jesse is only able to tolerate utter relaxation … More Sengiggi beach: where Jesse got bored and cut off his beard
Perhaps it was having already done tough climbing on Kilimanjaro and the Himalayas, or perhaps it was the acclimitization to altitude that helped us. It could also be that most people who climb Rinjani are young and unprepared backpackers on their gap year, trekking in Toms and their layered beach clothes. Whatever the reason, we didn’t … More Rinjani part 2: return of the flesh pistons
Many travel bloggers refer to climbing Rinjani as “the most difficult thing I’ve ever done in my life.” This phrase was repeated consistently in pretty much any description we could research on the experience, but the view was supposed to be spectacular. … More Rinjani part 1: the world’s highest ash tray and dump
After all the trekking, we were really looking forward to the benefits of some civilization, and Singapore didn’t disappoint. Singapore is civilization on steroids. This wealthy city-state slash tax-haven is clean, orderly, and safe. Continuing our string of luxury digs when the opportunity is available, Jesse used his points to book us the super nice … More Singapore is fancy
On our way back to Leh from Tso Moriri we stopped at the Hemis monastery, which is the largest Buddhist monastery in the area. And the Thiksey (also written as Thiksay or Thikse) monastery, which is arguably the most beautiful. … More Ladakh: Praying at Thiksey Monastery
round the world in sixty days 