Author: ourfernweh

Being home for a couple months has given me time to reflect on the whirlwind of an adventure we just had. It is really hard to believe that we had the amazing opportunity to do and see so much in the past year. The normal routine of life has set in, and I often find myself smiling at the memories of our trip. I have looked through all of our pictures many times, reread our old posts, and tried to relive every part of it, but sometimes it feels like all of it was a dream.

I’ve often thought about now that it’s all over would I do it again? And I have to say looking back on it, I absolutely would make the same decision. To pick up our lives and move to a small island in the middle of the ocean. To live out of a backpack for two and a half months. To push the limits of my comfort zone (which is pretty big to begin with). But at the same time, to learn things about myself that I otherwise would not have. To create these memories that are uniquely ours we can back on for the rest of our lives. To discover that the world is a lot smaller than we think, and that beauty can be found in the biggest city and the smallest village.

I would give the same advice to anyone. If you get the opportunity to live somewhere else, travel to a different place, explore new terrains, and learn about different cultures, DO IT! Don’t let fear, excuses, or judgment deter your chance for a new experience and to become the best you possible.

Thank you for following along with us for the past year. That is all I have for now, until our next adventure.

I know this is terribly late, but I did want to recap the last week of our trip. It went by so fast it’s hard recall everything that happened, so bear with me. The first couple days we stayed with our friend in a suburb of London called Guildford. In these few days we got to relax, explore the beautiful town of Guildford, watch some really good British reality TV shows, and eat some more of Tim’s delicious cooking.

On Wednesday we took the train from Guildford to London. I was a bit antsy that morning because we were FINALLY going to get to see my mom! After the longest train and tube rides ever, we made it to the hotel in Regents Park where we would be staying and meeting my mom. We found the room, knocked on the door, and BAM, reunited! It was so incredibly good to see her again after all that time. The rest of the day was spent catching up, walking around the beautiful Regents Park (which is massive!), and turning in early as we were exhausted and mom was a bit jet lagged.

The next day, my mom had to go to a “meeting” at their office in London, and we had planned to meet her later for dinner with some friends. John said he wanted to go take some pictures of the birds we saw in Regents Park the day before. This being typical for both of them I thought nothing of it at all. After walking around the park a bit and snapping a few photos, we were walking down a path when John started taking something out of his backpack. I thought he was searching for his binoculars, but when he turned around he was holding a small brown box and had gotten down on one knee…and you can probably guess the rest. We got engaged!

We went back to the hotel to meet up with my mom (who obviously didn’t have a meeting) and John’s cousin Ericka who had flown in from Spain where she was teaching.The rest of the day was a celebration with family, friends, and of course, champagne!

The next few days were pretty busy. Filled with site seeing, catching up with family and friends, and eating way too much amazing food, we went all over London by bus and tube. We hit all the major spots like Big Ben, parliament, West Minster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace. Somehow we timed it perfectly to be able to see the changing of the guards ceremony at the palace. The last day (which was also Mothers Day) we took a boat down the River Thames to Greenwich. We got to see the Prime Meridian line which separates the Eastern and Western hemispheres and is origin of Greenwich Mean Time. We also enjoyed some lunch outside and did a bit of shopping before heading back.

Our last week went by way too fast. The day that I had feared would come was actually here. Our trip was over. While I was more than excited to go home and see my family and friends again, it was bitter sweet to know that the adventure we had talked about for so long was over. I started thinking about our trip and all of the exciting things that I couldn’t wait to share with everyone when we got home, and I realized that even though this trip was over, our adventure was just beginning.

Our first destination in Europe was Perugia, Italy. After our whirlwind month of bouncing around Asia we were looking forward to hitting the breaks for a bit and seeing some familiar faces. John’s family graciously welcomed us into their home for our time in Italy. Their beautiful house in the hills of Umbria was the perfect place to relax and take in the views.

We spent our time in Perigia (and one day in Florence) hanging out with family and friends, learning about the history of the town, and, most importantly, eating the most delicious food known to man. We were lucky enough to be staying with some amazing cooks that seemed to always be preparing or thinking about the next meal. They also introduced us to my new favorite food the Torta al Testo which is somewhat like a flatbread panini with delicious creamy cheese, arugula, and prosciutto (or anything else you can imagine to put in it). Getting to spend time with family and friends was by far the best part of Italy. We had a great time with everyone reconnecting and making new memories.

  
  
  

Our time in Perigia went way too fast and soon we were headed down to Sorrento for a few days. This beautiful city by the sea was the perfect place to close out our time in Italy. While we were there we did a day trip on a boat that took us to the island of Capri. It was a great day full of sun and beautiful views. We also got to spend a day in the picturesque town of Possitano. We had seen pictures and heard stories of its beauty, but none of them did justice to the sight of the houses built into the mountains on the ocean.

  
  
  

Our last day in Italy we spent in Rome so we could catch our early flight the next morning. In a short amount of time we crammed in a few last bits of Italy.

  

After two weeks in Italy, it was time to pack up and head north. Our next stop was Edinburgh, Scotland. We instantly fell in love with this historic city. Our week there flew by as we dove into the history, did some site seeing, and even nerded out a bit at the Harry Potter stuff around town.

  
  
  
  
  
  

After Edinburgh it was time for our road trip! We picked up our rental car and headed to the Isles. Along the way we drove through the beautiful Loch Lomond national park and stopped off a few times as the views were breathtaking.

  
  

Our drive ended at the port where we hopped on the ferry that took us to Islay. Our first stop on the island was the Lagavulin distillery. We had booked a tour for the next day but John couldn’t wait that long to see it. We took a short hike down to the old caste ruins across from the distillery for a great view and a bit of fun exploring the land. The rest of our week on Islay was spent hiking, birding, and whisky tasting. There are 8 distilleries on Islay. We toured 2 of them (Lagavulin and Caol Ila)  and visited a few more.

  
  
  

When our time on Islay came to an end we headed back to the mainland to drop off the car and meet up with our friend Tim who drove up from England. The three of us then drove up to Oban where we caught another ferry to the Isle of Mull. Mull was incredibly fun to explore. With its high peaks, miles of open land, and hundreds of roaming sheep, we had a great time walking through the fields and enjoying the views! One day we took the short ride over the neighboring island of Iona to hike around there for the day. We grabbed a bite of fresh scallops from a seafood shack on the water on our way back that afternoon. Our last night on Mull we went to the main town of Tobermory. There was a music festival that weekend so there was live Scottish music in all of the pubs. It was so fun to listen to the music and join in the celebration!

  
  
  

After our exciting weekend on Mull we ferried it back to Oban for two nights after which we headed back to Glasgow for a few days. We took it easy for this week just walking around and doing a bit of site seeing.

  
  
  

The three weeks we had in Scotland quickly came to an end. With a lot of new memories and a bit of Scotch we hopped on a short flight down to London for the final week of our trip. It’s been an amazing experience so far, and we’re so sad it’s coming to an end, but too excited to see some more friends and family this week in London!

One of the benefits of staying in hostels is the ridiculously nice people that work there. They have great knowledge of things to do, places to eat, and tips to get around. Our first day in Bangkok, one of the women that worked at our hostel recommended we go to a floating market that was open on the weekend. This turned out to be a great adventure. 

After about 2 minutes of walking around we came to the river where  we saw some boats. Right away this guys asked us if we want to ride on one of the boats. We weren’t sure what it was or where the boat was going but it looked fun so we got on with a few other people and the boat took off down the river. After going down the river a bit the boat stopped at this seemingly random dock where we got off and walked around. It seemed to be a very small market at some of the houses along the river. Then we got back on the boat. It stopped again at a rather large shrine before bringing us back to the dock we started at. Getting to see the river and the houses on it was a fun time in itself.

After our boat tour we walked around the market and had lunch. There was such a variety  of different and unfamiliar foods that smelled delicious. John’s goal for Thailand was to eat Pad Thai at least twice a day so of course we found a place that was making fresh Pad Thai.  After that we were intrigued by something interesting at another stand. They had these bright colored dumplings in coconut milk which were really tasty. Overall a successful day one in Thailand!

   
    
    
    

  
 
On Sunday we headed over to the weekend chatuchuk market. It is one of the largest markets in Thailand and only open on the weekend so it’s lucky we got to see it. 

   
   

  

On Monday we flew up to Chiang Mai. The short flight took us out of the huge city of Bangkok and closer to the peaceful forests of northern Thailand. Chiang Mai was much smaller and less chaotic than Bangkok. Our first day we walked around the city square, visited a couple of the smaller temples, and went to the night bazaar in the evening to walk around. 

   
    

   

  

     
    
   

  

On Tuesday we got up early and headed north for our day with the elephants. Before our trip we did a lot of research into which organization we wanted to go with for our experience with the elephants. We wanted to make sure that there was no riding allowed at the park (because this is really harmful to the elephants) and most importantly that the organization was responsible and treated the elephants humanely. We found Elephant Nature Park which is an organization that rescues elephants from street shows, circuses, and riding camps and rehabilitates them back to their natural environment. The park was a huge beautiful piece of land with elephants roaming freely in every direction. We spent the day feeding them, waking through the forest with them, and to top it off bathing them in the river at the park. It was such a great experience that will never be forgotten! 
   
    
    
  
 

Our last day in Chiang Mai we walked around more of the city to see a few of the bigger temples and the gate of the wall that used to surround the city. 

   
    
    
  

After we returned to Bangkok from Chiang Mai we had one more full day there. We visited the Grand Palace and Wat Pho (one of the bigger temples in Bangkok). These were quite extraordinary and beautiful to see.  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

That night we had dinner at our favorite Pad Thai place that we found. We also got their coconut ice which is like heaven in a cup (coconut with shaved ice). 

   
 

Thailand was our last stop in Asia. It was a great way to wrap it up with lots of culture, beautiful landscapes and animals, and delicious food. 

Our week in Bali was very relaxing. We had no plans before arriving, so we took it day by day. We stayed in the village of Ubud, which is towards the center of the island. I think the biggest surprise to us was how busy it was. When you think of Bali you think peaceful rice fields and zen yoga (both of which you can find), but all of the tourists and motorbikes made it a bit hard to find at first. 

 

   

  
We spent our first day walking around exploring the new place we were in. On the short walk from our guesthouse to the end of the block there was probably 50 shops and cafes (all of which I wanted to go in and try). We walked around looking at the shops and going through one of the markets. 

   
    
   
The next day we went to the Bali Bird Park. We walked around for a couple hours looking at the exotic birds they had there and we even got up close and personal with some hornbills! 

One of the things I was most excited about going to Bali for was the yoga classes (not too surprising as there are yoga classes and retreats and yogis all over!). I tried out 3 different studios and types of yoga. They were all really great and the studios were beautiful, open, and secluded from the hustle and bustle of the busy street. I will say it was extremely hot! I’ve never done hot yoga, but it seemed like this could be hot yoga to the max because it’s just that hot outside. 

   
  

 Tuesday morning we took a walk up to the rice fields. It took us a few tries of back and forth before we actually found the path to them, but once we got there it was really something. Acres and acres of rice fields and they were all at different stages, so some were grown some were being plowed, and some just planted. That path to walk on took us through what seemed like an endless amount of fields and along the way had little cafes and shops fills with art or other souvenirs. We ate lunch at a great little place overlooking some of the fields. 

   

  

     

  
  
    
   
     
Our last day in Bali we took a cooking class. This turned out to be a very cool experience. Our teachers had such great knowledge and pride for their Balinese culture and food that showed in how they described the technique and ingredients we used. We got to try first hand the hard work that goes into the deliciously amazing food we’d been enjoying that week. 
  
    
   

Our time in Bali was filled with culture, beauty, and great food. Ubud was the perfect place to get a taste of Bali, a smaller city that made a big impact. 

Our week in Borneo can be summed up in one word, magical. We spent our time on the island of Borneo in the region of Sabah which is part of Malaysia (I had to do a bit of research to figure out exactly where we were and what parts of the island were part of which country). We stayed at Sepilok Jungle Resort for the majority of our week. It is a beautiful place right on the edge of the rainforest. The buildings are joined by walkways over the ponds and everything is surrounded by trees.  

   
       

The resort was right down the street from the Rainforest Discovery Center. We spent two days there exploring the forest, walking the canopy trail, and of course lots of birding. Needless to say John was in heaven the second we arrived. At one point he got so excited I believe he said “Oh my god! So many fricken good birds!!”. On one of our hikes we had the great opportunity of seeing a wild juvenile orangutan and its mother. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience and we are still in awe of how beautiful they were.

   
  
 

  
On Wednesday we took a day trip to the cave and the Kinabatangan river. On the drive to the cave we saw hundreds of acres of palm plantations used for the production of palm oil. This is the main reason for deforestation in Borneo and other parts of Malaysia. While I was aware of this prior to coming here, seeing the stark contrast of untouched rainforest with the palm plantations reinforced the need to protect what forest is left and the use of sustainable palm oil. (If this is something you want to read more about here is a good article to get started http://www.ucsusa.org/global-warming/stop-deforestation/palm-oil-scorecard-2015#.VuOPvdWeqnM ). Once we got to the site of the cave it was about a 10 minute walk in the jungle to get there. This massive cave is home to hundreds of swiftlets and is protected 24/7 by guards from people who try to illegally steal their nests for birds nest soup. Walking around the cave I was a bit nervous. There were cockroaches and giant centipedes everywhere and I thought for sure I’d get pooped on by one of the birds flying around (which I did). Once I got over my nerves though it was a very cool experience to walk through such a large cave in the forest. 

   

     

   
  
Next we headed to the river village of Bilit. We took a boat to the lodge where we had lunch. We got to walk around the lodge and the village a bit before our tour. It was humbling to see this small beautiful village along the river hidden in the middle of the rainforest. While we waited we also got to see some long tailed macaques hanging out in the trees above us and getting into trouble stealing things at the lodge.

   
   

  

We embarked on the river tour in the late afternoon. On a small boat with only 5 other people we floated down the river with nothing around except the forest and a small house now and then. Within the first 5 minutes we spotted some proboscis monkeys on the river bank. The driver pulled over and we got to enjoy watching them swing between the trees for a little while before moving along. As we continued down the river, more and more wildlife popped up everywhere. We saw macaques, an orangutan, a crocodile, and of course lots of beautiful birds. On our way back up the river the sun was setting behind the forest and the world never felt more beautiful or at peace. 

   
    
  

After a busy week of hiking, exploring, and birding we spent our last afternoon in the forest at the pool in the resort. It was nice to relax in the cool water after sweating nonstop from the heat and humidity (Seriously the worst humidity I’ve ever felt!). 

  
 On Friday we headed back to the city of Sandakan before our flights the next day. We spent the day exploring the city and found a great place for lunch on the ocean where I had the best curry I’ve ever tasted. Our hotel had a great restaurant on the roof with a view of the whole city. We had dinner up there while we enjoyed our last Borneo sunset. 

   
   
Borneo is a place unlike any other. It quickly won my heart from the first day here. I can definitely see why John wanted to show me this place after his first visit here 2 years ago and I can’t wait to come back in the years to come!

From the get go the city of Seoul exceeded our expectations (which for John were already pretty high). After getting lost in the airport, getting on the right train, and finding our way to our hostel, we walked around the neighborhood of Hongdae where we were staying. We both agreed it was nice to be back in a city, especially one that reminded us so much of Chicago. 

     
  With so many cute coffee shops and restaurants on every street we walked down, it was a bit of a stimulus overload and made our lunch decision very hard. The place we walked into turned out to be the perfect welcome to Korean dining. Once we sat down the waitress brought quite an array of objects to our table: Two cups, a water bottle, two small plates, two small bowls filled with mystery stuff (turned out to be Kimche, yum!), a big bowl filled with napkins, wet towels, 2 sets of chopsticks, 2 long spoons and a pair of scissors. We looked at each other with the expression of “what did we get ourselves into?!”. Then we looked at the menu that consisted of one item that came in small medium or large size and a choice of thin or thick noodles. We chose small size with thin noodles, seemed pretty safe. Then we started looking around to see what other people were doing with all of this stuff that had just been given to us. First, wipe hands with towels, next poor water into cups, eat Kimche with chopsticks, pretty simple. Then our food came out, it was like a big plate of chicken pieces and noodles in a stew like sauce, really delicious! We soon also saw people using the scissors to cut the noodles (that were otherwise impossible to bite into smaller pieces). Over all it was a fun first experience in Seoul! 

  
The rest of the day we just walked around taking in all of the unique buildings and new things. There is a university very close to where we’re staying so we walked through there a bit. It is a beautiful campus in the city and John even saw his first two new birds here! 

  
The next day we took the metro to the downtown area of Seoul. We visited Bukchon Hanok Village, a Korean traditional village and street, that was full of beautiful old buildings and art. It seemed like people still lived in this village which is pretty cool living in this little gem of history in a huge city. We found a neat coffee shop and got a sweet potato latte which was amazing and a Yuja tea. Then we walked to Gyeongbokgung palace. We got there just in time to see the changing of the guards ceremony which was very cool. The palace was beautiful painted all sorts of colors and filled with history. 

   
    
    
    
    
After lunch we walked around the downtown some more and along the stream that runs through the city. Then we decided to see Namsangol Hanok Village  which was in a beautiful park. Unlike the other village this one seemed maintained for tourist purposes and not for actual living anymore but the buildings were still beautiful and fun to walk around.

   

  

  
  
Saturday morning we went to a coffee shop so John could do some homework. We got the best hot chocolates ever (yes hot chocolate because we’re children). It was nice to take it easy in the morning after a long day before of walking and sight seeing.

It rained most of the day, so instead of walking through Namsan park to see the tower, we decided to try one of the cool ice cream places I had found on Pintrest. They make ice cream in the shape of roses which turned out to be just as tasty as they were pretty!

  

That night we met up with some former Thougtworkers who showed us a great time in the Itaewon neighborhood. We walked around a bit to explore and then found somewhere to have dinner. After that we headed to a karaoke bar where we got a taste of Korean karaoke and of course some Soju (the most popular alcohol in South Korea). We all had a blast belting out songs for the rest of the night. 

   
 Our time in Seoul was short but definitely sweet. We loved the city and the people in  it and will be sure to visit again some time soon hopefully! Now we are off to Borneo for a week with a full day of travel ahead. 

Our time on Saipan has quickly come to an end. Tomorrow we leave the island and begin our journey home in Seoul, South Korea. 

In our last two weeks here we managed to squeeze in a few new adventures. On Saturday we took the ferry out to Mangaha which is a tiny island off the shore of Saipan. Nobody lives on the island, but you can go out there for the day (some people go camp out ther for a night or two) and hang out. With the sun over head and beers in our hands, we spent a great day there with friends enjoying our last Saturday in the Marianas.
On Sunday we took the 20 minute plane ride to Rota, another island in the CNMI just south of Saipan. With only about 1000 people living there it is one of the most pristine places I have ever been. The forest was endless and untouched for miles and the cliffs along the shoreline made for an epic view any way you looked. We only had two days to explore this beautiful place but we saw as much as we could. Going with John of course meant seeing the birds was one of our top priorities. We spent a few hours at the bird sanctuary and saw some amazing new species! We also spent a few hours driving around in search of the Rota Crow (an endangered crow species only found on that island) and the Guam Rail. Our perseverance paid off and we ended up seeing both birds (we even got a picture of the rail which was pretty exciting!). After driving around a bit more to take in the scenery, we headed over to the swimming hole that was probably one of the coolest places ever. It’s pretty much a natural pool right on the ocean but blocked by rocks so you can relax and swim all you want. We couldn’t believe that we were the only ones there and spent the whole afternoon playing in our private pool on the ocean! For dinner we met up with some of the people studying the Rota Crow at one of the three restaurants on the island. It was really interesting to hear about the work they are doing and their lives on Rota versus life on Saipan. 

   
    
    
    
    

 After our two days on Rota we headed back to Saipan for a day to do laundry, pack, and say bye to our friends there before leaving for good. We have made so many great memories and new friends here it is hard to say good bye to such a beautiful place. The only things making it easier is the excitement of our journey ahead and knowing we will see our family and friends back home soon! 

The past two weeks have gone very quickly, but time is starting to slow down a bit as we approach our two week countdown to our departure from Saipan.

Last weekend we finally got to see one of the most unique places on Saipan, the Grotto. This is a very popular dive and swim site. It is often closed due to bad weather, but this time it was open and we got to walk down the steep winding stairs to the Grotto. At the bottom you are surrounded by tall cliffs and there is water where you can jump in and swim or dive. The day we went it was pretty windy so the water was rough. We decided not to go in, but it was still just as beautiful to see.

On Monday we went to Garapan to join in the celebration of Chinese New Year. This year is the year of the golden monkey so in addition to the lanterns hanging there was also golden monkeys on display. All day they had dragon dances happening around different spots on the island, and we got to see one later that night. It was pretty fun to watch and try to figure out what was going on (at the end one of the dragons ate a cabbage that was hanging from the ceiling and we’re not quite sure why, but it was pretty funny to watch!).

This week was also very exciting in that one of Saipan’s iconic restaurants opened back up. The Shack has been closed since typhoon Soudelor in August as it got hit very hard. The typhoon left many families without homes, water, and power for months, and the owner of the Shack (Glen, aka the nicest guy in the world) decided to dedicate his time to helping other families and establishments on the island recover and get back on their feet before repairing his restaurant. When we heard that it had opened back up this week we were thrilled! John had talked about the Shack before I got to the island; how much of a staple it was in the group’s life and the amazing food that they had. When we went I finally got to meet Glen (and his mother who cooks the delicious holiday plates on Thursdays). John got the rib plate and I got the vegan chili. Both of them were so good, and I’ excited we’ll get to go back there a few more times before we leave!

With only two full weekends left we wanted to visit some of our favorite places on the island before we leave. Sunday we went to Forbidden Island again. This time it was extremely windy which made for a seemingly intense hike down and too rough of waters to swim in. It was still just as beautiful though, and we soaked up every part of the view we could for the last time.

 

With only four weeks left on Saipan, it’s crazy to think our time here is really coming to an end. The past few weeks have been pretty routine. Besides working, most of our time has been spent planning and booking various things for our trip, reading in the woods, or just relaxing at the beach.

Last weekend we did go to a local barbecue at one our friends’ house. They made ribs, chicken wings, salad, and red rice (a classic Chamorro dish). Everything was delicious and it was so nice of them to welcome us into their home for an evening of pool & darts.

Two weeks ago was John’s birthday. Saturday we started with happy hour at the beach bar and then went to a BBQ on the beach with some friends and a few people visiting from Guam. Sunday was spent relaxing and we finished off with a buffet dinner at Coral Ocean Point resort. It was really nice and the food was great, plus we got our local half off discount, (though it was somewhat strange as we were literally the only ones there that were not tourists!). Other than that is has pretty much been business as usual here.

I thought it might be interesting to show a few pictures of everyday things around the island. I hope they give a better picture of what Saipan is like (besides the beautiful beaches and fancy resorts).

When Saipan was the hot Japanese tourist spot (back in the 90’s/early 00’s) they built a mall and a few resorts in anticipation of the mass numbers of people that would travel here. Then the airlines canceled the direct flights to Sapian/the Japanese economy crashed so now the mall and resorts remain empty and abandoned.

Here are some houses in one of the villages called Dan Dan.

This is the market right down the street from our apartment that we go to regularly for groceries, and the one below it is a larger grocery store.

This is the movie theater on the island. It got quite a face lift after typhoon Soudelor including all new seats, a new sign, and a new roof!

One of the High Schools in the village of Kagman and a road.

The laundry mat we go to and Java Joes Cafe next door where they have (in our opinion) the best burger and fries on the island.

Just a street sign with the directions of different villages (we live in Capital Hill).

 

There are bus stops around the island in all the villages for school buses to pickup and drop off kids.

This is Memorial Park and the museum that talks about the Battle of Saipan in WWII. Across the street is a great restaurant Cafe at the Park.

This is the hospital on the island.

The rest of the photos were taken in Garapan, the most populated and touristy of the villages (because most of the beach resorts and shops are located there).

A great Korean restaurant right across from Fiesta resort (where we get the amazing eggplant hot pot!).

Everyone is getting ready for Chinese New Year. There are decorations in the plaza, in many of the resorts, and in the restaurants.