HALF A YEAR IN ASIA

For almost 7 months, from November 2012 to June 2013, my husband and I backpacked through 11 Asian countries on an unforgettable, life-changing trip. It was something for which we planned and saved for a few years, and it was well worth the wait. When asked 'how was your trip,' it's hard impossible to sum up, but I can start by saying it was a collection of incredible experiences: most of the time awesome, sometimes challenging and frustrating and overwhelming, but altogether amazing.

Of course we left Cananda with expectations, plans, and some ideas of how things might go, and happily it did not all go as planned. We changed our minds about things, went places we didn't expect, climbed mountains we didn't anticipate, took yoga certification courses, and so many things that made for some incredible detours. Here is a map of our full route.

Some photos of the trip are available as beautiful giclée prints from Society6. You can check them all out here.

Here is a chronological list of blog posts from the trip.

1. Thereness. On the next flight out.
2. Half a world away
3. Welcome to Bangkok!
4. Bangkok time
5. It is most definitely Grand.
6. Wat Arun
7. Loy Krathong
8. Ancient Ayutthaya
9. Monkey butlers for all!
10. Cycling Sukhothai
11. A celebration fit for a King
12. Elephants!
13. Chilling in Chiang Mai
14. Endlessly changing horizons
15. Lesson learned...
16. Wat Rong Khun

17. The majesty of the Mekong
18. Luang Prabang
19. Kuang Si falls
20. Up before dawn
21. Well, at least the views were nice...
22. Cycling through karsts
23. When in Vang Vieng...
24. Two-wheeled freedom
25. I've seen the end of the world...

26. Close calls and near misses: traffic flow in Hanoi...
27. Honk if you love Hanoi!
28. Sapa. In the clouds.
29. Sapa. They didn’t lie! There are mountains!
30. Sapa. Hello Moto!
31. Halong Bay, Cat Ba Island, and Monkey Island

Watching the ball drop on 2012
33. Huế
34. Hoi An
35. Mud puddles are awesome
36. Two trees away from relaxation
37. A bus ride
38. Mui Ne: sunrise yoga, interesting sea creatures, a shell rainbow, fairy streams and sand dunes...
39. Camera shopping in HCMC

40. Parents in Phnom Penh!
41. A silver pagoda and a golden quilt
42. Lazy beaches and angry seas
43. Temples of Angkor, Part I: Ta Prohm
44. Temples of Angkor, Part II: Bayon
45. Temples of Angkor, Part III: Angkor Wat

46. Back to Bangkok

47. Island living...
48. The open road
49. Bottle Beach
50. Thongsala
51. Maximum occupancy, maximum shmoccupancy.
52. Mountains and jungles and monkeys, oh my!
53. Baby on beach becomes instant celebrity. Couple plunge feet first into marriage. Scandal and drama in the Monkey World!
54. Lanta Animal Welfare
55. Koh Lanta
56. Back in Bangkok...
57. Kanchanaburi
58. Amphawa, the Venice of Thailand

59. Bangkok to Bali

59. Beautiful Ubud
60. Faces of Bali
61. Sacred Monkey Forest
62. Besakih, Batur, and Tegallalang
63. Ulun Danu Beratan
64. Uluwatu
65. Kuta’s beach is trashy
66. Tanah Lot
67. From Bali to Java
68. Bromo Birthday
69. A harrowing transit day, recounted thusly
70. Yogyakarta and the temples of Prambanan and Borobudur

71. Splendid, squeaky clean Singapore

72. Kuala Lumpur
73. Thinking about palm oil…
74. The Cameron Highlands

75. Bhutan: how can you not be happy?

76. Intense India
77. Sleepless, in India
78. The Agra Fort
79. The Taj
80. Inner and outer journeys
81. Published!
82. A country apart, but worlds away
83. Share, don't teach.
84. Rishikesh: beyond the ashram

85. Annapurna Circuit + ABC
86. Portrait tees

87. Together in Kathmandu!

88. Namaste, Nepal!
89. Dal Baht Power, 24 Hour
90. In a cottage in Nepal
91. Bhaktapur

92. Pleasantville. AKA Nara.
93. Koyasan: the definition of serenity
94. Kyoto
95. Last stop: Tokyo

96. Santa Monica, California

97. Home.
98. Trip, by the numbers

99. One-way tickets

100. Going carless

101. We shall not cease from exploration

102. Certain uncertainty

103. No more calendar flips.

104. It's a dangerous business...

105. It's getting real.

106. Excited? L'il bit.