I have literally been across the world and back again in the last month and a half. Because my round the world trip is going to have me visiting lots of new places and going on all kinds of adventures I’m going to start doing a monthly recap of where I’ve been, what I’ve done, and the highlights/lowlights. Let’s begin!
Flights Taken: 8
Boats Taken: 13 (one of which was 8 hours on a wooden slat)
Death Trap Van Rides: I’ve blocked it from my memory
Where I’ve Been:
USA
Ukiah: I spent a few shortlived days at home, visiting some friends and family and soaking up the quiet, fresh, California air
Santa Barbara: I road tripped down to my favorite town to visit friends for a week. SB didn’t disappoint, with plenty of wine, hiking, beach time, good food, and laughs with my favorite people
Las Vegas: My dad had a work trip and invited my sister and I to join him. I didn’t really have the time or money, but of course I went anyway. We had a blast partying the night away and seeing a Penn & Teller show and—my favorite—Cirque du Soleil! To top it off, my long time friend Hallie (who I visited in Panama) drove all the way from Utah for one big night out.
Korea:
I had a 24 hour layover in Seoul so I went into the city for one last helping of delicious Korean food and to sort out some banking details.
Philippines
For my third visit to this lovely country I spent three weeks in Boracay, Palawan, and Coron. Plenty of beach time, island hopping, shipwreck diving, and getting my tan on.
Vietnam
I had to say goodbye to my travel buddy Chelyn and head on my own to Hanoi, a city in northern Vietnam. I’ve been getting my bearings and planning adventures for the next month!
Lowlights:
Food poisoning that felt like some kind of exorcism and left me questioning the reason for my existence
Dropping my suitcase in the ocean. Yes, only I would do that. Good news? It floats. Bad news? It’s not waterproof.
Saying goodbye to Chelyn and facing travel in a new country all alone.
Highlights:
Laughing my head off so often with my bestie and travel buddy, Chelyn
Getting my advanced diver certification and diving WWII shipwrecks
Drinking coconuts on incredible beaches and blissing out on life
Love the lowlights and ending on the highlights!
Thanks! There’s always gonna be a few lowlights but the highlights make it all worth it 😉
Thanks! Gotta show the bad with the good 😉
Sounds brilliant (despite the low lights – food poisoning abroad is just hell!). Where did you get your advanced diver certificate? I want underwater pictures! 🙂
Underwater pictures coming soon, although I didn’t get very many good ones because it was mostly dark in the ships. I got the certificate in Coron through Corto Divers, who I highly recommend if you’re ever there! 🙂
Such a great start to your RTW journey. 😀 I know it can be sad to say goodbye to good friends and have to go off and do it alone but you’re going to have such a fantastic time and meet so many new people.
🙂