We're moving to Thailand!

(Sorry mom- not coming home yet)

I blame it on the travel bug.  Look what this year has done to us.  It has left us with a desire to see more of the world, and chase after doing the things we never thought we'd do in our lifetime.  Not a bad thing though, eh?  In fact, it gives me goosebumps!  The cultural experiences, the new people, the food, the warmth, the adventure... it has all been calling our names ever so loudly this past year!  So we've decided to make a bold move, and will be relocating to Chiang Mai, Thailand for the next two years.

A Weekend in Paris

What a dream this feels like.  As I begin to form my thoughts on how to describe our weekend away in Paris, I'm thinking, "is this real life?".  Picnics under the Eiffel tower, cheese, red wine, baguettes?  Yes, that happened.  Our own Parisian flat complete with brioche bread waiting for us in the kitchen?  Oh yes, that happened.  Crepes, fancy hats, red lip stick and more cheese?  Why not.  That's how we did it last weekend in Paris.

Brugge, Belgium

Well isn't this exciting... a GUEST writer on our blog?  When Jon accepted my "request" to write about Bruges, not only was I (Sarah) excited because it gave me a little break from writing, but because it's exciting to have a different perspective on our travels.  When he sent me what he wrote, I honestly laughed the whole way through.  Which really, didn't at all surprise me.  Zack and I both have been friends with Jon for years now and we always spend the majority of our time together laughing.  We were estatic when we found out he had booked a flight from Canada to visit us in England, as we knew it would just be like old times.  Aside from the fact that we never would have thought we would road trip from England to Belgium...  So, without further adieu, here's Jon (with a few comments from myself, which will be in italics):

Chocolate, Waffles and Beer.

I admit - before this trip I didn't know much about Belgium, or the city of Bruges in particular. I knew they made waffles, but other than that, I hear the chocolate is good and the beer is better, that is all.  So when Zack and Sarah suggested we go -- why not? Off to Belgium we go.

The adventure started with renting a car in Cambridge, a process that apparently takes 3 hours. Renting a car in Cambridge is probably what Anger Management instructors use to test their pupils to see how long it takes before they crack. Zack would have been given a B, later lowered to a C when he threw his water bottle at me(out of anger) because he missed the exit for the euro - tunnel to France. I had nothing to do with him driving past the exit, but I guess sleeping in the back wasn't exactly helping either.  Luckily Z + S pride themselves on owning water bottles that are glorified ziploc bags with a cap so it wasn't so bad. (Sarah: just to be clear on the water bottles, they seriously are great for travelling..  Ziploc bags have nothing on our foldable water bottles.  Also, on behalf of Zack.. sorry Jon for waking you from your beauty sleep.)

Bremen, Germany

     

    

If there's one thing I've learned throughout our travels (though I have learned a lot!), it's that: it's all about the people.  Whether it's someone you breifly come in contact with, or someone who ends up a life long friend, people shape our travel experiences more than we realize.  After coming to realize this, I've tried to become more intentional about engaging with people during our travels.  Although I wouldn't say I'm shy, I am definitely not as outgoing as I'd sometimes like to be.  At times, it can be easy to go somewhere, take it all in, and leave before even engaging with the human beings that actually live there!  My goal of travelling is not to have my life be like one super long vacation (though I can't deny that it's pretty good!), my goal of travelling is to learn, to engage in other people, and to hopefully give that back to the people I engage with.  If it wasn't for the people I've met throughout our travels, we wouldn't have made this trip to Bremen.

Norway Part 2: Preikestolen, Odda and Oslo

First, an update on my well being.  (If you haven't read about what happened during the first major hike of our Norway trip, you can do so here).  I'm alive!  AND well!!  Pretty thankful about that.  And not only that, I am thankful that we didn't have to cut our trip short.  We did cut out a major hike that we had planned, and slowed down our pace immensely, but I'd like to say we still conquered Norway.  Surprisingly, just hours after the hike, I was feeling back to my normal self and feeling quite positive about things.  If there's one thing I didn't want to do, it was to ruin the rest of our trip because someone (...me) had to pass out on the top of a mountain (there's no way that sounds casual, yet I tried my best to pass it off like that).  That's not to say that I was completely back to normal.  And I think it's part of who I am to attempt to shake things off only to have them explode my emotions a few days later.  Yes, that did happen.  I found myself in tears a few days after, scared that I would never get feeling back in my fingers, and worried that something like this would happen again.  I'm not going to lie, though we had a plan of sticking to our dried food diet (mostly to save money), we ended up buying and cooking an entire bag of pasta only to devour ALL of it basically without breathing (or talking).  

Norway Part 1: A nightmare on Kjerag Mountain

                                 

Since returning from our Norway trip a week and a half ago, I've been asked many times, "how was it?!"  Or, "how awesome was your Norway adventure?".  Surrprisingly, this has been a tough question for me to respond to.  Normally, after returning to England from one of our many Europe adventures this year, I've come back bursting at the seams with stories of fun and adventure.  I usually head back to work with a spring in my step and (sometimes) even a bit more tanned!  Well guys, this is the first time I can honestly say my travel experience was, well, not so good.  Don't get me wrong, Norway is an unbelievably beautiful country.  Sometimes though, certain travel experiences can challenge us in ways that we weren't expecting.

Leeds Castle, Kent, England

This is exciting.  A few weeks ago, we visited the "most lovely castle in the world"! (Quoted from one of the Leeds Castle brochures I picked up).  And yes, it was very lovely!!  I usually write about cities/towns that we've visited or travelled to, but this time it's all about Leeds Castle in Kent, England.  We went with friends of ours who own a car, so we were able to make a little day trip out of it.  The castle was fairly busy with people, but I can understand why...  not only is the interior of the castle spectacular to take in, the grounds are so lush and green.  It is easy to spend a whole afternoon just wandering the gardens.  

Before I bombard you with a plethura of photos, here are some quick facts about the castle itself:

- The first stone castle was built in the early 1100s 

- A century and a half later (in 1278), it came into the possession of Queen Eleanor of Castile, first wife of Edward I

- It remained a royal residence for 300 years, and then became a private home where it was in turn handed down over four centuries

- The last private owner of the castle was named Lady Baillie, a wealthy Anglo-American heiress.  She acquired the castle in 1926 when it was sold to pay death duties

- Today, the influence of Lady Baillie is seen throughout the interior of the castle, bringing the Medieval and Tudor periods to life

- The castle itself has been built on islands in a lake formed by the River Len.  It has been open to the public since 1976