Thursday, July 10, 2008
P.S.
Julie, please tell Eric Douglas that the Thai people love West Virginia. Yesterday we heard that song again in the restaurant we ate lunch in...so very very random! Go John Denver!
Thai massage is the bomb!
Just a quick note before we start our day. Today is a new day. Gabe feels great and the sun is shining. We weren't able to see the Grand Palace yesterday because it was a Buddhist holiday but we're about to go there now. Instead we saw a sitting Buddha and a HUGE standing Buddha at two different temples. Then we took a tour of the canals of Bangkok. They call it the Venice of the East. We then came back and both got an hour long Thai massage for $6 each! It was amazing! Everyone should try it at least once. We'll be going as often as possible.
Tonight we are trying to catch an overnight train to Chiang Mai. We'll post again from there. Hope everyone is doing well. We miss you all and love you!
Couple notes for future travel to Bangkok:
1. Don't trust the Tuk-tuk drivers
2. the restaurant Whole Earth no longer exists
3. Watch for dog poop on the street
Tonight we are trying to catch an overnight train to Chiang Mai. We'll post again from there. Hope everyone is doing well. We miss you all and love you!
Couple notes for future travel to Bangkok:
1. Don't trust the Tuk-tuk drivers
2. the restaurant Whole Earth no longer exists
3. Watch for dog poop on the street
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
We're HERE!!!!
Well, we made it. It was a LONG day or two of traveling but we arrived last night around 9pm our time and 8 am your time. We are 11 hours ahead of you, just an FYI. We've already had some good fortune...and some misfortune. For one, we met a couple who was on our plane and were able to share a cab with them to our hotel...that saved us some money. We met them in the Tokyo airport which was really nice by the way. We were able to get in 10 minutes of a chair massage before boarding the next plane to Bangkok. I even purchased some Japanese socks for the plane ride that separate my big toe out from others in case I ever want to wear them with flip-flops...how convenient!
All of our luggage arrived in Thailand, thank goodness. We are very proud because both of our packs only weigh about 20 lbs each...we did a good job:) We took the cab with our new friends, checked into our hotel which is very basic but fortunately has an internet cafe downstairs. Then we decided to venture to the famous Khao San Road to check it out. There was so much to see, street vendors, models getting their picture taken and even a baby elephant that Gabriel got to touch!! We sat down at a street side cafe to have a beer and ended up sitting next to another couple that I recognized from our plane. So we had a nice time chatting with them. After a couple of local beers (called Chang) we headed back towards the hotel and stopped at one more place that had live music. There was a Thai band playing that song "West Virginia", you know, Moutain momma. It was hysterical. They played all random songs from the US. There were so many tourists in the bar, it was like Spring Break or something. We just stayed for a beer and decided to go to bed. People can get into a lot of trouble here.
So the misfortune came this morning. We haven't even been here for 24 hours and Gabe threw up. Nothing to worry about, he feels fine now. He thinks maybe he just needed to get it out of the way. It's bound to be my turn soon I'm sure:) So besides that, everything is great! We are getting ready to head out to see the Grand Palace with the famous Emerald Buddha made out of jade. And then to Wat Po, a temple that houses the reclining Buddha. It's raining here, as we expected it would, but at least it's not super hot. We'll take plenty of pictures and hopefully post some on here soon.
So the adventure begins. Just wanted to let everyone we got here safely. Love you all and miss you already! I can't believe I'm in Thailand!!!!
Love you!
All of our luggage arrived in Thailand, thank goodness. We are very proud because both of our packs only weigh about 20 lbs each...we did a good job:) We took the cab with our new friends, checked into our hotel which is very basic but fortunately has an internet cafe downstairs. Then we decided to venture to the famous Khao San Road to check it out. There was so much to see, street vendors, models getting their picture taken and even a baby elephant that Gabriel got to touch!! We sat down at a street side cafe to have a beer and ended up sitting next to another couple that I recognized from our plane. So we had a nice time chatting with them. After a couple of local beers (called Chang) we headed back towards the hotel and stopped at one more place that had live music. There was a Thai band playing that song "West Virginia", you know, Moutain momma. It was hysterical. They played all random songs from the US. There were so many tourists in the bar, it was like Spring Break or something. We just stayed for a beer and decided to go to bed. People can get into a lot of trouble here.
So the misfortune came this morning. We haven't even been here for 24 hours and Gabe threw up. Nothing to worry about, he feels fine now. He thinks maybe he just needed to get it out of the way. It's bound to be my turn soon I'm sure:) So besides that, everything is great! We are getting ready to head out to see the Grand Palace with the famous Emerald Buddha made out of jade. And then to Wat Po, a temple that houses the reclining Buddha. It's raining here, as we expected it would, but at least it's not super hot. We'll take plenty of pictures and hopefully post some on here soon.
So the adventure begins. Just wanted to let everyone we got here safely. Love you all and miss you already! I can't believe I'm in Thailand!!!!
Love you!
Monday, July 7, 2008
Living the Motto
We are down to 20 hours and counting before take-off. We currently still do not have a hotel reservation for our arrival in Bangkok and have many many things to do before departure...like I need to apply for a grad school loan yet today. Therefore, during this high stress time, I am going to employ our new motto " Mai pen rai" and tell myself to Not Worry. It will all work out.
Gabriel and I have been in Ohio for the last 5 days preparing for our trip and visiting my friends and family. Gabriel even got the chance to visit Van Wert, Ohio to meet my grandma and extended family. We've had a good time and he has been great with all of the new introductions.
We're still not quite sure about our itinerary. We have more guide books than we know what to do with (thanks mom!) so I'm sure we'll be prepared. Our latest development has been the exclusion of Cambodia from our trip. We're just not sure we'll have enough time so we're going to keep it for the end of the trip and only do it if there is time. We want to make sure we can spend some time down south on the beaches! Gabriel is now officially a SCUBA diver so hopefully we'll get a chance to take him on his first ocean dive!!!!!!!
That's it for now. Maybe more before we go. Make sure you check the blog while we're gone. I can't promise we'll have updates up in a timely manner but we'll do our best. So maybe don't make it your #1 priority to check it everyday but at least once a week would be nice:)
Gabriel and I have been in Ohio for the last 5 days preparing for our trip and visiting my friends and family. Gabriel even got the chance to visit Van Wert, Ohio to meet my grandma and extended family. We've had a good time and he has been great with all of the new introductions.
We're still not quite sure about our itinerary. We have more guide books than we know what to do with (thanks mom!) so I'm sure we'll be prepared. Our latest development has been the exclusion of Cambodia from our trip. We're just not sure we'll have enough time so we're going to keep it for the end of the trip and only do it if there is time. We want to make sure we can spend some time down south on the beaches! Gabriel is now officially a SCUBA diver so hopefully we'll get a chance to take him on his first ocean dive!!!!!!!
That's it for now. Maybe more before we go. Make sure you check the blog while we're gone. I can't promise we'll have updates up in a timely manner but we'll do our best. So maybe don't make it your #1 priority to check it everyday but at least once a week would be nice:)
Trip Motto
So Gabriel has come up with a trip motto for us that we will use when we face the obstacles of traveling in a foreign country (i.e. when we are getting sick from the food or miss our train for the 100th time).
The motto is "Mai pen rai" which simply means "Don't worry"
Feel free to use it in your daily life:)
The motto is "Mai pen rai" which simply means "Don't worry"
Feel free to use it in your daily life:)
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
6 Days....
I can't believe time has gone by as fast as it has. There are only 6 days left before we leave for Ohio. Of course before we leave we need to be completely ready for Colorado so when we return, we'll be set to go. I've definitely gone through my periods of freak out, anxiety, fear, sadness and stress. But now I am just READY! I can't wait! I am so excited for this next chapter in my life and even though it is sad to say goodbye, it won't be forever.
DAN threw me a goodbye party yesterday and unveiled the new "Brittny Davis Wellness Resource Center". This will be my legacy:) They have purchased a couple of book shelves to create the beginning of a wellness library at DAN. I just finished up doing a 4 week yoga workshop here with about 10 people to help them create a personal practice for themselves since I won't be here anymore to teach them. I had them all pay $15 per person and I am using the money to purchase books, DVD's, CD's to put in the resource center for everyone to use. They even got a plaque with my name on it for the shelves so it's official...I now have a library named after me:) Everyone was extremely nice and shared funny stories about me. They even all chipped in money to get me some Visa gift cards to use for gas money out to Colorado! It was really sweet and very challenging to not get too emotional...especially concerning Julie and not working with her anymore. I have a feeling my days with DAN are not over yet. Hopefully I'll be able to do some rep work in Colorado for DAN and work with the dive shops there.
Gabriel's last day at the Mellow Mushroom is today. He will be missed there. I believe they are having a farewell/birthday party for him on Sunday. That leaves the next 5 days to packing up and moving it all into storage. The plan is to move everything into storage and then come August, we'll move what we want to take to Colorado into a semi that will deliver to our house in Longmont and the rest will go with my parents back to Ohio for storage.
I would like to make a public statement thanking my parents for all of their help! They are also graciously helping us by babysitting Sedona, Duncan and Diego for the 5 weeks that we are gone. I'm not exactly sure how I talked them into that one but I'm pretty sure, though it will be a lot of work, they are going to LOVE it. Ohio here we come!
DAN threw me a goodbye party yesterday and unveiled the new "Brittny Davis Wellness Resource Center". This will be my legacy:) They have purchased a couple of book shelves to create the beginning of a wellness library at DAN. I just finished up doing a 4 week yoga workshop here with about 10 people to help them create a personal practice for themselves since I won't be here anymore to teach them. I had them all pay $15 per person and I am using the money to purchase books, DVD's, CD's to put in the resource center for everyone to use. They even got a plaque with my name on it for the shelves so it's official...I now have a library named after me:) Everyone was extremely nice and shared funny stories about me. They even all chipped in money to get me some Visa gift cards to use for gas money out to Colorado! It was really sweet and very challenging to not get too emotional...especially concerning Julie and not working with her anymore. I have a feeling my days with DAN are not over yet. Hopefully I'll be able to do some rep work in Colorado for DAN and work with the dive shops there.
Gabriel's last day at the Mellow Mushroom is today. He will be missed there. I believe they are having a farewell/birthday party for him on Sunday. That leaves the next 5 days to packing up and moving it all into storage. The plan is to move everything into storage and then come August, we'll move what we want to take to Colorado into a semi that will deliver to our house in Longmont and the rest will go with my parents back to Ohio for storage.
I would like to make a public statement thanking my parents for all of their help! They are also graciously helping us by babysitting Sedona, Duncan and Diego for the 5 weeks that we are gone. I'm not exactly sure how I talked them into that one but I'm pretty sure, though it will be a lot of work, they are going to LOVE it. Ohio here we come!
Monday, June 9, 2008
3 Weeks and Counting
So my last day at DAN is exactly 3 weeks from today and we are leaving the following day for Ohio. Before then I have to:
1. tie up loose ends at work (clean out desk, shred files, attend my going away party)
2. find a storage unit for our stuff
3. sort through everything I own and make a pile to give away
4. sort through everything I own and make a pile to take to Colorado
5. " " " to store in Ohio
6. create packing list for Thailand
7. pack for Thailand
8. create itinerary for Thailand
9. teach Gabriel and our friend Kristin to Scuba dive
10. figure out the best way to transport two dogs and 1 cat in a station wagon for 9 hours
11. figure out the best way to ship our stuff to Colorado
12. figure out what is the best thing to do with my 403B and Roth IRA
13. apply for another school loan
14. plan a party for Gabriel's birthday
the list goes on and on....
Though I feel ahead of the game on some things, I feel like I am running out of time of almost everything else. But, in the end, I know it will all work out. It always does. In the meantime, a quick note to self...and to others that may be reading this...I highly recommend NOT going out of the country for a whole month before you move ACROSS the country. It seemed like such a great idea at the time. Now I just have to make sure I get everything done and into place before we leave so I can actually enjoy my vacation:)
1. tie up loose ends at work (clean out desk, shred files, attend my going away party)
2. find a storage unit for our stuff
3. sort through everything I own and make a pile to give away
4. sort through everything I own and make a pile to take to Colorado
5. " " " to store in Ohio
6. create packing list for Thailand
7. pack for Thailand
8. create itinerary for Thailand
9. teach Gabriel and our friend Kristin to Scuba dive
10. figure out the best way to transport two dogs and 1 cat in a station wagon for 9 hours
11. figure out the best way to ship our stuff to Colorado
12. figure out what is the best thing to do with my 403B and Roth IRA
13. apply for another school loan
14. plan a party for Gabriel's birthday
the list goes on and on....
Though I feel ahead of the game on some things, I feel like I am running out of time of almost everything else. But, in the end, I know it will all work out. It always does. In the meantime, a quick note to self...and to others that may be reading this...I highly recommend NOT going out of the country for a whole month before you move ACROSS the country. It seemed like such a great idea at the time. Now I just have to make sure I get everything done and into place before we leave so I can actually enjoy my vacation:)
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