December 19-27 We happily write this post from the comfort of the Pacific Time Zone! Apologies for the delay--it took us longer than expected to get our bodies over the jet lag. While we can't believe this trip is over, we are so proud of ourselves for completing the journey, and very happy to be back home for a while. The plan was always to try to find a way to fly home from Tokyo, though by the beginning of December we didn't know how long we would actually be able to affor

December 17-19 We only had about 48 hours in Kyoto, and during that time we took almost 40,000 steps. We were warned that Kyoto wasn't a very walkable city, but we tried our darndest anyway. We saw a lot of amazing things. And now my feet hurt. We took the train from Osaka on Wednesday morning. Kyoto and Osaka are very close to each other, so we essentially jumped on a commuter train, similar to the Sounder back home. By the time we got on, it was standing room only, but we f

December 14-17 Our second-to-last flight of the trip was gloriously painless. Officially done with budget airlines, our Cathay Pacific flight included a meal and in seat entertainment (super grateful that I was able to use my Alaska miles to spring for such extravagance). When we got to Osaka, we had to go through a digitized arrival process and then an in person one before we could finally claim our bags, but this all went pretty quickly and we soon found ourselves on the MR

December 11-13 We were not planning on going to Taipei. It had been in the back of my mind for our Asia portion of the trip, because I have a couple of friends who have spent time in Taiwan and recommended we visit, but I hadn't really investigated it further. However, we found out we could easily fly direct from Singapore to Taipei, we could fly from Taipei to Osaka using my Alaska miles, and if we made a quick stop it would bring our final country total to 20 rather than 19

December 8-11 As soon as we got off the plane in Singapore, we knew we were in for a whole new experience. We had such a lovely, relaxing week in Samui, it was easy to forget the little things that come from time in many southeast Asian countries--undrinkable tap water, gasoline for motorbikes being sold in reused alcohol bottles, can't flush toilet paper down the toilet, etc. But even though Singapore is only a couple of hours away, it is seriously a whole different world. I

December 1-8 We were ready for a break. I hate to burst the bubble, but 3 straight months of traveling isn't always glamorous. The constant adjusting, figuring out new languages and cultures, determining where to stay next, figuring out where the heck to get your next meal--it's a lot. This trip has been such an incredible adventure, AND we are tired. So we decided to take a break from traveling and just take a vacation for a bit. If you are unfamiliar, the islands in Thailan

November 27-30 Thailand is amazing. Since the start of this trip, Cal and I have had a few places that we just knew, right from the first step, that we would love. Krakow was one, Bordeaux was another, and Bangkok was the same. Even with the annoyances we experienced getting from the airport (which I noted in my last post), there was instantly an energy and attitude that made us feel welcomed and excited for our time here. It is also, quite frankly, nice to be in a place wher

November 24-27 We weren't planning on going to Athens on this trip. We had visited the last time we were traveling together, back in 2016, and we loved it then, but didn't think it was in the cards this time around. That is, until we figured out that any trip from Morocco (where we didn't want to be) to Thailand (where we wanted to go) was going to include a long layover somewhere in the Mediterranean, and the timing just worked out to make our way back to Greece. So we exten

November 19-24 Toto, we're not in Europe anymore. As we flew into "the red city," Calvin looked out the window and proclaimed, "I've never seen anything like this before." The uniformly terracotta color of the buildings, the flat, open roofs meant for sitting and taking a meal, the constant rev of motorbikes...everything about this city is new and unfamiliar the second we emerged from the airport. This is by far the furthest we have been outside our comfort zone, and we have

November 15-19 Our final stop in Europe is Amsterdam, a city both Cal and I have wanted to visit for a long time. When we were in Bordeaux, our lovely host Bonnie even commented, "You two look like Amsterdam people," which we took as a compliment. Amsterdam is famous for its welcoming of debauchery, but it is also an incredibly beautiful city with amazing things to see beyond the Red Light District (though of course we had to pay a visit there as well for the full experience)

November 13-15 Those of you who are following our itinerary closely might be wondering why we are back in Germany. Our journey has taken a strangely circuitous route, but for good reason. We had the opportunity to see my dear friend--Ella Kim--perform as a part of the DanceWorks Chicago Company, and we couldn't pass that up! We had this trip back to Deutschland in the plans for a while, but didn't know we would be journeying back north from Italy until last week, when we deci

November 9-13 Rome is my favorite of the cities we have visited so far. I had given up on the idea that we were going to make it to Italy on this trip. The route we were planning and the Trusted Housesitters gigs we had booked weren't taking us south, and I had this idea in my head that we should only visit Italy during the summer (so glad I didn't follow this instinct). But when we found 25€ plane tickets from Bordeaux to Rome, we knew we had to go. Before we get too far int