Was just rereading some of our posts while we have been in Korea.
One thing jumps out: we have had some good times here.
Looking at our first year it didn't seem like we did a lot but looking back, we did.
This year we are concentrating on saving more money and saving for bigger trips out of the country.
Japan in July is on the agenda and The Phillipeans or Thailand for Christmas or Korean Thanksgiving.
Our advice for anyone looking to make a change or do something different or just wanting to get out of a rut: just do it! You will have a great time! The only one holding you back is yourself.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
The End
So we have been in Korea for almost 2 years. We still have a ways yet to go until we return but it is great fun planning our final trip back.
We have begun the pre-planning for this trip and are having great fun deciding the details.
Welcome to the Trans Siberian Railway! Yes. Joseph and I are going to do this end to end. We are going to go from East to West. From Vlasivostok to St. Petersburg, Russia.
We are going to hop off the train for a few days in Mongolia! I've always wanted to go to Mongolia. Joseph, not so much but he has Japan and I have Mongolia, Harbin, Shangahi...
If we can manage going to Harbin, China we will go but it may not be doable. However since we will not know the next time we will be in China it may be a good time to check it out.
Anyway, in addition to the Siberian Railway, on the list to visit and spend at least 2 or 3 days in each are:
Finland--come on. No one goes to Finland and that's why we want to go!
St. Petersburg, Russia
Moscow
Lithuania
Vladivostok, Russia
Mongolia--how awesome is this?
Harbin, China--maybe
Sweden
Norway
Poland (kinda do the trip I took the first time around and take Joseph to a few of the great places)
Prague
Munich, Germany
Switzerland
Paris
London
Now the one of the best parts is the trip to the continent of North America. You are going to love it. We aren't going to fly home--how mundane! No, we are going to travel in style: The Queen Elizabeth II cruise ship. We are able to book transatlantic passage for less than $1000 USD each for a one or 2 week voyage. YES PLEASE! After more than 3 years in Korea this ship will be the best thing. We can already imagine the food available and the lack of Kimchi!
The ship will dock in New York and we will explore the city for a few days then fly home to Florida. Our total estimated time to be spent on this trip? About 60 or 70 days. How much money are you talking about? About $8000 USD. Total. Including necessary visas, the cruise home, New York and the flight from New York to Florida. As it gets closer things will be more streamlined in terms of cost, but just now on average it should run us about that.
Well you might remember that we have a cat over here that we brought from America. What about him? Well, he's going to be shipped home from Korea to stay with...we aren't sure who because it is too far away to figure out just now.
What about all of our stuff? We will ship it home on a slow boat and it will arrive in Florida about 2 months after we send it.
What if we have a baby? Well, duh. They would come with us. They will just have their own backpack of goodies.
Well, cool but what time of year should all this take place? Funny you should ask...this will all begin to happen "around" October/November and end around December/January. So yes, it will be cold most of the time we are gone and yes, we will be in Sibera and Mongolia and a host of other places that are positively frigid during this time of year. Not to mention on a train in the middle of nowhere. Each of us with one huge backpack as our only luggage.
We. Are. So. Excited!
Does anyone else have this insane travel bug? We divulged our plan to a couple we know and they looked at us like we were nuts. When we said we'd still go if we had a kid...that look just got longer. :-) We figure as long as we are prepared and ready for the unexpected it should be an amazing trip and as long as everyone is healthy things should be smooth sailing.
We can't wait for it to be time to take this trip! We are having a fun time planning it.
If anyone has been to any of these places or ever traveled on the Trans Siberian Railway, do tell!
We have begun the pre-planning for this trip and are having great fun deciding the details.
Welcome to the Trans Siberian Railway! Yes. Joseph and I are going to do this end to end. We are going to go from East to West. From Vlasivostok to St. Petersburg, Russia.
We are going to hop off the train for a few days in Mongolia! I've always wanted to go to Mongolia. Joseph, not so much but he has Japan and I have Mongolia, Harbin, Shangahi...
If we can manage going to Harbin, China we will go but it may not be doable. However since we will not know the next time we will be in China it may be a good time to check it out.
Anyway, in addition to the Siberian Railway, on the list to visit and spend at least 2 or 3 days in each are:
Finland--come on. No one goes to Finland and that's why we want to go!
St. Petersburg, Russia
Moscow
Lithuania
Vladivostok, Russia
Mongolia--how awesome is this?
Harbin, China--maybe
Sweden
Norway
Poland (kinda do the trip I took the first time around and take Joseph to a few of the great places)
Prague
Munich, Germany
Switzerland
Paris
London
Now the one of the best parts is the trip to the continent of North America. You are going to love it. We aren't going to fly home--how mundane! No, we are going to travel in style: The Queen Elizabeth II cruise ship. We are able to book transatlantic passage for less than $1000 USD each for a one or 2 week voyage. YES PLEASE! After more than 3 years in Korea this ship will be the best thing. We can already imagine the food available and the lack of Kimchi!
The ship will dock in New York and we will explore the city for a few days then fly home to Florida. Our total estimated time to be spent on this trip? About 60 or 70 days. How much money are you talking about? About $8000 USD. Total. Including necessary visas, the cruise home, New York and the flight from New York to Florida. As it gets closer things will be more streamlined in terms of cost, but just now on average it should run us about that.
Well you might remember that we have a cat over here that we brought from America. What about him? Well, he's going to be shipped home from Korea to stay with...we aren't sure who because it is too far away to figure out just now.
What about all of our stuff? We will ship it home on a slow boat and it will arrive in Florida about 2 months after we send it.
What if we have a baby? Well, duh. They would come with us. They will just have their own backpack of goodies.
Well, cool but what time of year should all this take place? Funny you should ask...this will all begin to happen "around" October/November and end around December/January. So yes, it will be cold most of the time we are gone and yes, we will be in Sibera and Mongolia and a host of other places that are positively frigid during this time of year. Not to mention on a train in the middle of nowhere. Each of us with one huge backpack as our only luggage.
We. Are. So. Excited!
Does anyone else have this insane travel bug? We divulged our plan to a couple we know and they looked at us like we were nuts. When we said we'd still go if we had a kid...that look just got longer. :-) We figure as long as we are prepared and ready for the unexpected it should be an amazing trip and as long as everyone is healthy things should be smooth sailing.
We can't wait for it to be time to take this trip! We are having a fun time planning it.
If anyone has been to any of these places or ever traveled on the Trans Siberian Railway, do tell!
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Happy New Year!
New Year is here and 2013 has started out fine. No drama and no mess. Perfect.
Had a nice New Year's Eve. Nothing amazing. Just down home and quiet but full of laughter.
Oh, and a fight with a wine bottle. :-) We won. Barely.
A pre-dinner hour across the street at Ray and Chien's place for about an hour then back to our house with Kate.
We headed to Home Plus and got some materials for making dinner: precooked chicken and potatoes for mashed potatoes.
We also found REAL Doritos. For about 7$. I'm okay with that. Between the 3 of us we ate the entire bag. Delicious. Eddie also had a few.
At about 15 minutes till midnight we decided to open the nice bottle of wine and get ready to toast. Well, 10 minutes after midnight it still wasn't open. To top that, the corkscrew broke and got stuck in the cork. We were laughing so hard and so much. Joseph ran out to the GS a few buildings away and bought another one. In the meantime we tried to pry the screw out with chopsticks--a sure sign we've been here too long.
Took a few photos, had a lot of laughs and ate some yummy food. Kudos for Kate for making the mashed potatoes! Yummers.
Oh, and my first try with false eyelashes. Who knew they'd be so pretty?
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