In a Sentimental Mood

Hello readers,

Allow me to get sentimental for a moment about my travel buddy whose unending support and care always baffles me. After a busy work weekend (for the both of us) and a night of not-enough-sleep, I threw on the iPod to wake me up a bit this morning before going, going, going some more. Lo and behold, my living room dance party shuffled it's way to an appropriate opening song whose lyrics made me think of all the places we two will soon explore in the safety, warmth, and enjoyment of each other's company:

"I say, hey, I be gone today
But I be back around the way
Seems like everywhere I go
The more I see, the less I know
But I know one thing that I love you."

Here's the song: Say Hey by Michael Franti



I dedicate this sentimental post to my travel buddy who is undoubtedly rolling his eyes as he reads this, but I say, hey, I love you.

Researching Bali

Everyone has been fantastic help in responding to our posts on Australia travel, which has gotten us very excited to keep on with the planning venture. Bali is next on the list of places to think about.

Bali is an Indonesian island located between Java and Lombok and is home to the majority of Indonesia's small Hindu minority. (Thanks Wikipedia). From everyone we know who has visited, it is a beautiful, lush, beach and culture filled place, and we can't wait to visit. Here's a summary of what we've heard so far and the plans we've made:

1) Katu. Tourists. As many tourists as flies on roadkill. We're going to go ahead and skip this one.

2) Gili Islands. It's amazing when you start asking people about travels locations and find that many of them have been to places you never would have expected. Case in point, the research assistant I work with has been to this little trio of islands off the coast of Lombok where all motorized vehicles are outlawed, you can buy magic mushrooms at the corner store, and you can walk around the perimeter of the biggest of the three islands in 90 mins. Wow. After a long debate, we decided if we'd had two more days, this would have made the itinerary, but with only 8 days in Bali, we've decided to spend out time exploring Ubud.

3) Ubud. The artistic and cultural center of Bali. Its a collection of village up in the hills, surrounded by rice patties, temples, and mountains. Bali has been a noted cultural center since the 1200s when nearby Java was overthrown and the Hindu intelligensia fled to Bali. The island remains mainly Hindu despite Indonesia being predominantly Islam. From what we've read, religion still permeates much of life in Bali from daily offerings to family relations, to multi-day ceremonies where the whole island stops to celebrate. We're excited to experience a culture so different from ours, so we've booked a place for the whole stay in Ubud, within easy striking distance of all the monasteries, shrines, and ancient architectural sites in the area.One thing we are particularly keen to check out is the traditional dancing. There are a number of dances, here is a description of one from the guide book:

"Kecak - Probably the best known dance for its spell-binding, hair-raising atmosphere, the Kecak features a "choir" of men and boys who sit in concentric circles and slip into a trance as they chant and sign the "chak-a-chak-a-chak" imitating a troupe of monkeys. Sometimes called the "vocal gamelan" this is the only music to accompany the dance re-enactment from the Hindu epic Ramayana."

A fun fact about Bali - traditionally, each persons' name starts with either I or Ni to designate male or female, then with Wayan for first-born, Made for second-born, Nyoman for third-born, and Ketut for fourth-born, then followed by something about them. For instance I Nyoman Darma Putra is a name given to a male third born who is meant to be "dutiful" or "good" (darma). When I received confirmation of our booking at Ibunda Bungalows, the email came from Ketut Sumbar Jaya. I look forward to finding out what his name means.

75 Days till Liftoff (Holy Cow)

Your booking is confirmed!

By far, one of the coolest emails I've ever received:

9:31 PM (4 minutes ago)
www.HostelBookers.com

Hi Sarah,
Thanks for booking with HostelBookers!
Please print out this confirmation and take it with you when you arrive at Alexander Hostel, Cairo, Egypt.
...
Check-in: 23/03/11
Check-out: 30/03/11
...
We hope you have a great stay!
Kind regards,
Customer Help Desk

Guess we got a place to stay in Cairo. :)

Concord/Lexington Photo Shoot

Now that was one busy summer. Sarah and I are catching up on our travel blogging and getting prepped for the rapidly upcoming big trip! Here are a few highlights from our recent visit with Sarah's stepmom Debi and her partner Surya Das. We did a wonderful tour of the historic Concord and Lexington area of Massachusetts.

This is truly Red Sox nation. Every house has the date it was built, and a few special ones have some other markers as well :)

 

Are those Canadians trying to ring the town bell?

Sarah and Surya Das in front of the Concord Unitarian Universalist Church, built in 1636.

Yep, this is one old town. This is the road that runs right through Concord MA.

 

This is called Author's Ridge, part of the Sleepy Hollow Cemetary, where a number of famous American authors are buried including Thoreau.

We got a tour of the spot of the infamous "Shot Heard Round the World" where the Revolutionary War begun when British soldiers were fired upon by Concord militiamen.

One of Sarah's favorite activities when on the East Coast - Dunkin' Donuts Coolatas!

Yes, this is me, writing at Walden's Pond... (seemed like a good idea at the time)

One of the oldest houses in Lexington, right on the town square.


Cape Cod photo tour is upcoming!

93 days until liftoff!

Bienvenue chez S &S!

I'm getting excited for our second venture into the land of airbnb.com this coming weekend. This is a fabulous site that we discovered on http://frugaltraveler.blogs.nytimes.com/ a while ago in which people advertise rooms, futons, couches, attached bungalos, etc. in their homes to travelers for cheap. In May, we stayed in Sarasota, FL in a lovely spare bedroom for the low price of $27/night. It was clean, easy to access with a yummy breakfast in the fridge for us the next morning, and it had the feeling of a real home away from home - what's not to love? Well, this weekend we are embarking on the "other end" of airbnbing - and that's hosting someone. This summer, we've had many requests to stay (after all, it's the best time to be in the 'Couv), but keeping in mind that the summer is not only busy with goings-on, shows, rehearsals, papers to write, dinner on the beach with friends and family, we've allowed ourselves to be picky when it comes to accepting requests. But this weekend, we've got some busy evenings and a spare key, so we're giving our first guest a go...and the money that we make from the weekend (less expensive than a Vancouver hotel, but, by no means cheap) will go directly into our trip fund.

Wish us luck! Hopefully our guest is happy with what she gets - a comfy futon, some snuggly cats, great transit - and she passes on the good word. Bienvenue chez S & S!

140 days till liftoff!

A Quick Word on Visas

Visas are a lot like car insurance. Lots of money, lots of hassle, very low perceived value. Ok they get you in the country of your choice and all that, but still, come on, nobody really likes insurance or Visas (apologies to the Visa and insurance sales forces).

Allow me to explain. We are visiting 12 different countries (counting the EU as one for this exercise). 7 of these countries require a Visa (Australia, Indonesia, India, Nepal, Turkey, Egypt, and the EU).  Only one of these countries allow you to get a Visa 90 days in advance (Australia) and the rest its only 60 days! That means I'll need to be applying for Visas while on the road, which seems just crazy town to me. Besides the fact that each Visa appears to cost around $100 or more, which adds up after a while. Thank you thank you thank you to Thailand, Israel, Morocco for not requiring this process, much appreciated.

If anyone has had experiences with this and can offer some advice, that would be much appreciated.

Researching Sydney

Sarah has been rehearsing like crazy this summer for Hair - the musical, which opens tonight on Granville Island. I'm very excited to go see the show, which promises to be amazing, and to cheer on my favorite hippie. But as she's been rehearsing/dancing/singing/hugging trees, I've realized the big trip is very quickly approaching. Time to plan. First port of call - Australia.

We land in Sydney first, and will probably pop in on my step-sister Shannon, the itinerant world traveler who always seems to pop up in the most fascinating places. I've been checking out things to do in Sydney and it seems be a lot like Vancouver - bustling city on the water with a strong outdoor orientation and a serious mix of populations and cultures. I'm excited to check out the exhibits on Aboriginal artwork, the Chinese Garden in Darling Harbor, and a little Bondi Beach.


I did check out Airbnb.com and found some really nice, centrally located rooms for rent in people's homes (40-70/night), which is even cheaper than the extensive hostel network around Australia. I'm sure we'll get our fill of hostel culture over the trip so perhaps we'll stick with cheaper Airbnb alternatives (or just sleep in Shannon's hammock!)

We'll only have a couple of days in Sydney, so probably no time to do exploring around the region, but once we get down to Melbourne and hook up with Tanja, Joel, and Otto, there will be plenty of time to venture further off the beaten path. If you have thoughts on good hotspots in Sydney, we'd love to hear from you!