Journey into the wilderness!

Hi my lovely friends and fam!! I might just be the worst blogger ever. We've been on the road for a little over 2 weeks and this is the first blog post I've done?! Oops. For the sake of saving you all from reading a novel, I'll try to give you the sparks notes version of what's been happening thus far...

Sheesh where to begin?! I guess I should start by saying that while in Arizona, the van (it's name is Zep by the way) got a makeover! Thanks to hours of hard work put in by my dad and our friend Billy, we now have all new wooden floors and cabinets, metal cabinets and fridge, storage areas, and curtains( thanks mom)! We're pretty fancy now. One might even say that we are "glamping." 

After leaving AZ in the new and improved Zep, the first stop was Ocean Beach!! Along with Arizona and Alaska, OB has my heart. The best part of this little hippie town is that my bestie LC is now a resident there!! We went paddle boarding, hiked, bummed on the beach, and ate yummy food. What more could I ask for?! We also got to see Chris's friend Zack! Heading further north, we got to spend a night at my other bestie Mel's house and see my friends Megan and Brooke! SoCal was good to us. 

After seeing all these amazing people, we headed to farm land to stay a couple days with my Aunt Cathy and Uncle Chuck in Winters! They're a hoot and we had a blast with them. They also fed us steak. Yum. Another plus of staying at their house is the fact that the second happiest place on earth (after Disneyland) is just a short drive away...NAPA VALLEY! We went to 3 different wineries: Artesa, Girad, and Long Meadow Ranch. If you are ever in Sonoma or Napa, I highly recommend all of these!! We had the best time, and it also helped that we made friends with the bartenders (wine pourers?). Becoming buddies with people in wine country has it's perks. 

Other than the obvious of indulging in good wine, another highlight of Napa was having the cops called on us because we looked "sketchy." Not US of course, but the van specifically. Zep was parked outside of a park one morning when a cop showed up and started questioning Chris. Luckily he was super nice and even laughed when, in response to the 'sketchy' comment, Chris explained that "I'm sitting here editing on my computer and my girlfriend is doing yoga in the park while we wait for our winery to open..." Sometimes we may look like hippie gypsies (yes, I really was doing yoga in that park), but 'sketchy' is a bit extreme. #vanlife

We continued up north driving the beautiful coast and made some more stops at awesome Wwoofers (it's a long explanation-I suggest googling:) that Chris stayed with last year, and my second cousin Chad in Humboldt. The best way to explain Chad is someone who decided that growing up is overrated, which is so great. So of course we had the best time visiting him. He is a surfing bachelor that tells the most entertaining stories. He's gotten bite by a shark surfing AND picked up the real Christopher McCandless (Into the Wild) hitch hiking back in the day!!! So.cool. 

Our last stop before Oregon was the Red Wood Forrest!!! Talk about an indescribable experience. Pictures don't do it justice. I also got to run for the first time since leaving for the trip!! It sounds nonchalant, but it was major because I had pulled a back muscle and hadn't been able to run for 2 whole weeks!  Those of you that know me, know that 2 weeks without working out is like a death sentence to me. I get a little cranky. And by a little I mean super. So not only did I get to run, but Chris got a happy girlfriend :) Really the victim in the hurt back situation was him, for having to deal with me. 

Due to a shortage on time, we didn't really get to see too much of Oregon. But we managed to make a stop at Crater Lake and watch the sunrise! What makes this place really special is the fact that it was actually made by a volcanic eruption that created a giant hole in the ground (get it, crater?) and then a ridiculous amount of melted snow created a lake over time. Nature is crazy! It was also freezing there and the lake was surrounded by snow! It was surreal. 

...Okay this is becoming a little longer than spark notes...

We booked it through Oregon and straight into Washington! Now, you may be wondering how the van is handling all these miles. Wellllll...Zep had a little mishap...

It was a rainy morning in Washington on our way to driving to Spokane, and Chris had just replaced the brake pads a few days before. I don't really know what brake pads even are, but if you don't either don't worry, it's not vital to understanding the story. Anyways, the brake pads weren't strong enough or something for the amount of weight that we have on the van. Long story short, Chris went to stop at a red light and the brake pads didn't work. If you don't know cars (like me) this means THE CAR WOULD'NT STOP. Holy &@$* is right! And because it was also raining, we proceeded to SLIDE THROUGH THE LIGHT (Mom if your reading this, don't worry I'm alive), the whole time Chris trying to control the flying swerving van and me sitting there yelling a lot of words I'm assuming sailors use. Obviously, I'm really helpful in these types of situations. I'm giggling now thinking about this awful 30 seconds as I type this, but I'm also literally still praising God that not a single car hit us. Needless to say, we decided it mightttt be a good idea to upgrade the break pads, and we changed them immediately. And by we I mean Chris. What a stud. 

With brakes as good as new, we headed up to Spokane to see our good friend Savannah! Every time we are in Spokane, I become more and more obsessed with that place. We ended up staying at Savannah's for 4 days and had the best time. Including a great Easter Sunday! Nights filled with wine drinking and days that consisted of exploring and running. All my favorite things! I'm currently training to run my first full (yikes) marathon in Alaska in June! So I got to experience a fantastic and beautiful (okay fantastic is pushing it..) 16 mile run through gorgeous Spokane! All around it was a great few days.  Although poor Chris had to listen to endless girl talk for 4 days. I was pretty much ready to move in with Savannah, but Chris claims he wouldn't be able to handle living with the both of us. Nonsense. 

And that brings me to now! Phew. If you are still reading, thanks! Obviously I'm not very good at short stories. Sorry guys.  But I'm typing this on my phone as we are headed to the Canadian border! It's been such an amazing adventure so far, and I'm so blessed to be able to have spent time with as many people as we did!  One of the best parts of traveling is finding a little piece of home and comfort with friends from all over! What is this awesome life?! I can't wait to see what our drive through Canada and the Alcan holds! Maybe I'll get better at this blogging stuff by then..

Xoxo! 

Leaving Tucson!

OB!!

Typical tourist pic in Napa!

Vineyards for daysss!

Incredible views while driving the coast (which is also the worst drive for people who get car sick. Like me..) 

The Red Woods!

A red wood stump that had fallen! Seriously, you could live in there it's so big!

Crater Lake! Burrrr 

My view in Spokane while running!

Riverside State Park- "The bowl and Pitcher" 

Us and Savannah! 

Yayy for creepy vest-wearing Easter bunnies with free candy! 

The house in Spokane that my mom and Grandpa lived in 40+ years ago!!

Left my heart in Koh Tao!

Hiii guys! :) I've really been slacking in the blog department! I have no excuse other than I was busy becoming obsessed with this cutie little island called Koh Tao. I've been on "Koh Tao time" as the locals would say. AKA zero sense of time and no sense of urgency whatsoever.Why hasn't the whole world adopted this concept? It was by far my favorite place we've been in Asia yet! Our "plan" was initially to stay for 4 days, get our diving certifications (eeep!), and head off to the next tropical location. Well, I don't know what happened but we got sucked up by Koh Tao for 2 whole weeks! I could've stayed longer for sure, but we decided we should spread our wings and explore the islands across the country. Although I'm currently writing this while laying in a hammock overlooking the ocean, I must confess I'm homesick for Koh Tao! Perhaps I'll retire there...

Highs

~Officially becoming an open water scuba diver!!! Embarrassingly, the reality of this is that it took me 7 days to get this certification instead of 4. Oops. Who knew I had an intense fear of oceans and drowning?  We had originally signed up for the class that was 4 days long, and consisted of videos, homework, 1 pool skill learning session, and 4 open water dives where you had to not only dive, but also repeat all the skills in the ocean that you learned in the pool. Prior to starting the course, I was SO excited I could pee. Sadly, the emotions changed quickly. I should've known I had rocky waters ahead (literally...) when I struggled in the dang pool. 5 hours of stress later, I relentlessly agreed to go in the ocean the following day. And the only reason I had even the slightest bit of reassurance was because we had the best instructor possible!! Javier was extremely patient with me and constantly assured us that he would let nothing bad happen. But even with his encouragement, I still had two small panic attacks on dive attempts in the ocean and never made it all the way down. After two days of contemplation on a boat and watching Chris succeed, I decided to face my fears. Thanks to Javie's patience (seriously, I would've given up on instructing me a long time ago!), I was able to complete it!!!! It took 2 days of one on one instruction with Javie, lots of anxiety, some tears (I know, Im such a wimp), and another pool session but I'm officially an open water scuba diver! And it was probably one of the most fun/coolest things I've ever done!!!! I saw barracuda, so many schools of fish, butterfly fish, groupers, rainbow fish, beautiful coral, and more! AND during my extra days of classes, Chris was able to do an entire other session and get his advanced open water diving license. Yay! So proud. I loved it so much, I even plan on diving a lot more in the future! I truthfully just wish I was a mermaid.

~Becoming good friends with our dive instructor Javier and his girlfriend Barbara! They were actually from Spain and living in Koh Tao temporarily so Javie could teach scuba. It started when, as a Thank You present for getting me through diving, Chris and I took them to dinner. Who knew we'd become bffs! We had so much fun exploring the island with them everyday. Plus they knew the best snorkeling spots! Can't wait to adventure to Spain to visit :)

~More new friends! Iv'e discovered that one of my favorite parts of traveling is meeting other backpackers from around the world. Interestingly enough, they are always guys, as guys tend to travel alone more often than girls. But we hung out with both of the guys from mine and Chris's advanced diving class and they were great!  Sam was the other student in our open water diving course and I instantly decided we should be friends when he didn't laugh at me for crying in class.  Him and his friend Adam also introduced us to the best Thai food spot.  Jacob was in Chris's advanced class and was traveling alone. He was really nice and we went out one night to celebrate our diving success!  Learning about the ways of other countries from someone your age is fascinating. Also, everything is funnier in a British accent. 

~Amazing mojitos! You haven't had a real one until you've had one on an island.

~Eating incredible food next to the ocean every day. Obviously, my blog post wouldn't be complete without talking about the food we've been eating. Handmade pizza, fruit shakes, fish and chips, bottles of wine (duh). Mmmm

~Paddle boarding! This is when you rent (for super cheap, of course) a large surf board looking type board with an oar and stand on it while paddling around the ocean! It sounds monotonous but with a go pro it's a great time. 

~Doing as the other backpackers do and renting a motorbike to explore the island. Have you ever seen the Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen movies where they travel the world and ride on mo-peds with a good looking guy? Yeah, it was just like that.

~Staying in cutie bungalows on the beach! 

~Going to a real life lady boy show. In Thailand, a lady boy is basically the American version of a transvestite. Except they are extremely popular here and their shows full of dancing,wigs, and lip singing are known by all. We were extremely impressed to say the least. They look more like girls than girls do!

~Watching fire dancers on the beach! Multiple nights, we went to a bar on the beach called Next Two and would get drinks while watching this incredible talent. This group of boys were like nothing I've ever seen! They would spin sticks of flame and even a jump rope  covered in flames for the stupid drunk tourists to do. Oh, and also fire limbo. Watching drunk white people almost catch on fire while trying to show off is wildly entertaining.

~Hiking steep hills for hours to look at an amazing view of the entire island! Followed by a yoga class at Shambhala Yoga :) 

Lows

~Poor Chris getting food poisoning. I'll spare you the details.

~Crying over diving anxiety in front of Javier and the rest of our class (even though our other class member was awesome and became our friend). Not my finest moment. Embarrassingggg...

After an amazing experience such as this, nothing else has quite compared!! But we are still currently enjoying our new adventures on another beautiful island called Koh Lanta. I'm definitely not ready to leave the seemingly unreal island life yet! Soaking up every incredible second. 

Sending love to everyone! 

XOXO! 

An example of one of the beach bungalows we stayed in! Simple (that air conditioner didn't work), but nothing is better than waking up to sound of the ocean 

Hammocks everywhere!

Fire dancers! I definitely don't regret not attempting to jump with that rope of flames..

The Lady Boys! What else would you expect them to be wearing? 

I think Ive mentioned in a previous post that everywhere in Thailand there are stray cats. I used to be super grossed out, but now I somehow think they are really cute and fluffy (but I swear I'm a dog person). Especially the island ones. And they best part is that you will find them in the strangest places and everyone just thinks it's normal. This one was at a restraunt! Right in front of our dinner table. Just takin a little snooze

Hanging out on the bar. No big deal 

This ones my favorite. At a 7-11 register! Like what?! But don't you just wanna snuggle him? 

The inside of Shambhala Yoga! So artsy 

Stumbled across this little cutie on our hike! But don't let his looks fool you. He was so aggressive and you couldn't get too close or else he'd bite. Eek

Our new friends Barbara and Javie! Such a blessing meeting these two. I was also in need of some girl time! 

Motorbike cruisin!

It was seriously the best

Just in case you needed to know the direction to Alaska or lady boys. 

An awesome picture Javier snuck of Chris and I! 

Go pro action while snorkeling! 

An indescribable experience

Officially open water diver certified!!! Quite possibly one of the happiest moments of my entire life 

ELEPHANTS

Hiii! I'm sorry it's a been a little over a week since my last post, the travel life is time consuming! Just kidding, I've just been lazy. Oops. But now I have lots to update you on about our explorations :) Lucky for you, it won't be as long as the last post! Just some sweet nothings about adventures in Chiang Mai and Laos! 

After the orphanage, we slowly made our way up north to the incredible Chiang Mai. It was extremely touristy, but my favorite spot in Thailand thus far! It's a big city with so much to do and most importantly, SO.MUCH.FOOD. All different kinds! After having rice three times a day at the orphanage, saying we were sick of Asian food is kind of an understatement. We spent 6 days in Chiang Mai filled with gourmet pizza, whole wheat pancakes, peanut butter, sandwiches, and Mexican food. I actually had the best burrito of my life in Thailand (other than Chipotle of course). Weird? On top of having healthy food places, this was obviously my dream come true. 

Speaking of food (I swear I really have other hobbies besides eating...), we got to take an awesome cooking class! It was taught by this adorable Thai woman right in the backyard of her house. We even went to the market with her to pick up ingredients before hand. And it was the real market, the kind where there are no tourists and everyone stares at you like you are a multi colored hippo or something. I learned how to make curry paste, yellow curry, fried rice, and banana steam cakes! Hope your drooling because it was all so yummy. She gave us cookbooks so I can attempt to put together these magic creations back home! 

Okay, time to stop talking about food. There are other things we've done besides eat like Americans! For example, fish spa! Yes, it is exactly as it sounds. I've always wanted to try it so when we walked by one on the street, I convinced Chris it was a necessity! Obviously there are health benefits to willingly having fish bite your feet, right? Literally all you do is sit down and stick your feet in a giant tub filled with little fish. And then they just go at it. They supposedly are eating dead skin (gross, don't think about it), but it actually feels like death by tickle. Probably never doing that again. 

Another first time experience was going to a Mauy Tai match!! Which is basically a big arena full of foreigners and different bars. It's like the fights on tv! It was awesome and really entertaining, even if it was partly staged. While in Chiang Mai, we also got to check out the well known Sunday Night Market. Every Sunday from 4pm until midnight, they close down an entire long street and random booths set up shop! It's full of hundreds of street vendors, art, and cheap souvenirs. It's also more crowded than Disney Land. My favorite part of the market was getting a Thai foot massage in an alley. Sounds sketchy, I know. But it wasn't at all and that's why Thailand is so awesome! 

Saving the best Chiang Mai activity for last...elephant day!!! I have a new obsession with elephants after this experience. There are many excursion options, so we did research and made sure to go through a company that treats the elephants well. It was a perfect full day trip, starting when our crazy tour guide picked us up. He literally calls himself "Eddy the Elephant Man." With a name like that you have a lot to live up to.  We went to the middle of the jungle to an elephant camp and started off by feeding them bananas! Elephants are HUGE. I mean really ginormous. You don't realize how massive they really are until you are standing next to it as it tries to basically eat your hand. Pounds of bananas later, we got trained to ride them bareback! And by trained, I mean they taught us a few commands in Thai and then you were thrown up there.  Somewhat terrifying but once your sitting on his back and petting his cute fuzzy head its fine. After the "training" and a great lunch (again with the food), it was time for the full ride! This part was interesting because we had paid to just both be on one elephant. But Eddy liked Chris and I so much that last minute he told each of us to jump on our own elephant! Which sounds nice, but of course my elephant was the extra giant one with no ropes at all! Even though it's bareback, they all had a rope around them to hold on to. But not me, I just had a mahout  (elephant trainer) sitting on the back with me who spoke zero English. Sounds safe huh. Thank God for that fuzzy hair on the elephants head. It was all I had to hold on to! But we both survived the jungle trek and then got to swim with the elephants in the river!!! That was the best part. We also got to see a 6 day old baby elephant. Needless to say, I told Chris I want a pet elephant for Christmas. 

After the best day ever, we took a longgg 12 hour bus ride to Vientiane, Laos. Luckily the seats in the bus were reclining and massage chairs! We planned on going to Laos to get our Thai visas extended. Our 30 days were up and we needed to get a 30 day extension tourist visa, which you can only get when you are out of the country. It sounds simple, but it was such an extreme process. Once getting to a town near the border of Thailand and Laos, we had to jump in a taxi to take us to the border. Then once at the border, we showed our passports and had to wait a bit to get on a bus that would take us across the border to Laos. At the Laos border, we had to fill out some paperwork and wait to get our Laos visas. From there, we had to get in yet another cab to take us to the Thai embassy. At the embassy we filled out some more paperwork and dropped off our passports in order to pick them up the next day with our visas. It was exhausting! But we ended up staying at this incredibly awesome hostel called Sihome Backpackers Hostel. It was full of wall paintings done by young artists all around the world! It was also brand new and had only been open for a couple of weeks, so it was exciting to get to experience it fresh!  A couple of guys named Steve and Phil were in charge and they do a great job at making everyone feel at home. We met some pretty awesome people our age from all parts of the world! Australia, Switzerland, Ireland, Germany...just to name a few! The hostel had beer to purchase and even gave you free vodka. We found out that playing drinking games with Europeans is a challenge! We loved the hostel so much, we ended up staying 4 nights. We did some awesome sightseeing in Vientiane, including a day trip to the beautiful Tad Xai waterfalls! Now I can check swimming in a waterfall off my to-do list. 

After leaving Laos, it was another grueling bus ride to Bangkok! We arrived yesterday morning, and now I'm sitting in a coffee shop on Khao San road as we speak :) It is only a quick stop though, because tonight it's another 8 hour bus ride followed by a 2 hour ferry. Next stop: Koh Tao island! 

I promise I won't get too distracted by the beach and neglect to update on island adventures :) lots of love! Xoxo

An example of a street food vendor in Chiang Mai! You learn to get over health code ideas real quick in Thailand 

Have you ever had dragon fruit before?! It's a main fruit here and I'm obsessed. Not just because it's so pretty, but it's super delicious as well! 

Fish spa! 

Chris couldn't handle it! 

The Muay Tai match! 

Inside some temples in Chiang Mai 

Our cooking class set up! 

Showing off his yellow curry creation 

The steamed banana cakes I made! Mmm

Eddy the Elephant Man throwing a plethora of bananas on the truck 

Feeding the elephants!!!! I was a little skeptical at first 

Awww this is Jenny! 

They literally kissed me!!! It was so tickley 

Just a view of Chiang Mai 

 The Mekong river at sunset! In Laos 

These are all paintings on the walls of Sihome Backpackers Hostel! 

The Laos victory monument! We climbed all the way up there! 

The view  of Vientiane! 

Tad Xai waterfalls!