So, its been a few days, and not much has happend toward our Mexican goal, however, I think I'll write about some of our past adventures. Our blog has just begun, but the adventure started a while back!
But first, I have to comment on how proud I am of myself for doing something I'd not normally do. I went to my new gym, all excited for a yoga class at 7pm, when i got there, no one else had their mats, and I learned that my schedule was wrong. Oh no. In its place was a latino/salsa inspired cardio dance class, which I have to be honest is my worst nightmare, since I do NOT dance, and I do NOT have aerobic coordination. However, instead of leaving and wasting my time, I decided to sneak in to the back of the class (incase i had to make a run for it) because after all, how could I move to Mexico, and not try something like this??? At first I felt dumb, then slowly better, about 3/4 through I felt like a real idiot, and by the end, I almost could say I had fun. So, I MAY have to go again, but we'll see. It was an evening of trying something new, in the name of adventure, but by accident.
So, past adventures.... I'll start with those from the time Josh and I have been together, since early 2000. We've done a fair amount of traveling, but in addition to that, we've done things that could possibly be crossed off our "bucket list" including:
-Hot air balloon ride (including somewhat of a crash landing into a tree), this was a birthday present from Josh, and i am terribly afraid of heights, and did not move an inch the whole time we were airborne. My relief came when we came to a stop in the tree, and had to jump the basket to break a branch so the basket tipped over and we fell out sideways onto the ground. We attracted quite the neighbourhood crowd.
-Shooting a small handgun while in a safe little bullet proof box of a practice range, another birthday present, and although lots of people can say they have shot a gun, this was my first. I joke about being a sharp shooter in a past life.
-A helicopter tour around Cochrane, which as my 27th birthday present this year, a complete surprise, again still afraid of heights but the view was awesome. Josh has some really great birthday idea's and I haven't been able to come even close to beating any of them.
Note that you will not find bungee jumping or sky diving on our bucket list. No thanks.
As for some extreme travel highlights checked off our list:
Thailand: riding elephants, petting a full grown tiger, and holding & feeding a baby tiger a bottle of milk. Held a pet monkey named Fanta. There were many sketchy transportation adventures in Thailand that are too many to list, as well I wouldn't say they were on our checklist, they just happend, and we're alive to tell about them.
Vietnam: shooting an AK47 into a big empty field with a wooden goat about 300 ft down. No ear protection persay, just a set of broken headphones. Sounds safe? I know. : ) Crawling through the Viet Cong underground caves, which I can't check off my list d/t clostrophobia, but Josh can.
St Thomas: Zip lines, I think i may have let out a bit of a screachy-scream on my first flight down the first zip, which happend to be the highest, fastest and longest. It was super fun.
I'm likely forgetting a few, but lets start listing our travel adventures....
In 2000, we took a month off in August and did our first mini-adventure car trip down the coast of the states, but we only made it to Oregon, and it was freezing cold, so we chickened out and headed back up to Vancouver Island for some camping.
In 2002, we got a bit braver, and booked a bus tour through Europe in May for 3 weeks. We hit London briefly, then France, Italy, Monaco, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Lichtenstein, and Holland, before meeting up with my Grandparents and aunt who were visiting some relatives in Germany. We stuck around with them for 10 days or so, and had some great war tours.
In 2003, we did a short family vacation to Puerto Vallarta with my family, and then some friends invited us to Thailand for 6 weeks, and I have to admit I was slightly afraid. We didn't plan really anything except for the islands we wanted to hit. My mother hated this even more than I did. The trip was awesome, yet horribly hot, but I think it is still my favorite trip. We also took a few days and went into Cambodia to Ankor Wat, another amazing scene, very quiet, lush, almost a secret. The people were unspoiled by the western world, and we were a sight to stare at. Unfortunately, I've heard things have changed a lot since we've been to Thailand & Cambodia, the tourism is really taking a toll.
In 2004, my family (Josh included) went to Cuba. Meh. Havana was nice. : ) Otherwise, it wasn't my favorite, nor was it very warm around New Years.
In 2006, we did an eastern Carribean cruise with my mom and sister. Puerto Rico, Antigua, St Thomas, St Martin, Bahamas. I enjoyed my first cruise, kept busy, but we felt like we were really tourist trapped for the entire time with excursions and stuff. We like to do our own thing.
In May of 2006, we flew by the seat of our pants when we went to Vietnam for 3.5 weeks with Josh's brother and his girlfriend. People at work asked "why Vietnam? why would you pick there?" We said "we like Asia". It was a good trip, less touristy than Thailand, and Halong Bay was definitely a favorite spot. I didn't find there was much to see overall.
We were married on July 7, 2007 and since its warm in Calgary we opted for a staycation at Koocanusa lake, and did a week chok full of wakeboarding. Then, in September we took off to Japan for 2.5 weeks for our real honeymoon. The culture was amazing, the people were very friendly, the language barrier was an exciting challenge at times, the food was tough to navigate, but the transportation was exceptionally organized, clean, fast, never like we've ever seen before.
In May of 2008 we were scheduled to do another trip with the in-law kids, but Josh and I ended up having to postpone until September and go at it alone. We decided to rent a car this time, which I loved. We flew to Paris, then drove down through France, into Spain from east to west and into Portugal, then back up through to Paris. We had our trusty GPS lady Elizabeth to help us along the way. We saw way more, in less time, and on our own schedule than ever before. We have have up to 4 traffic tickets coming in the mail however. It was a great way to see those countries.
So, we've seen a few Asian countries, and several European countries. We'd like to call ourselves "world travellers" but we haven't touched Africa or South America yet. Josh has been to Australia for a few months after high school, and I have been to Indonesia, Greece, Italy, and Turkey on school trips.
We've also had a stopover in Singapore, in which we went on the night safari at the zoo. Truly spectacular. No real cages, all the animals are lurking just over a small ditch, or through a few trees/shrubs.
Travel plans for the future? I was hoping we could do some Africa this May, but we'll have to hold out. We tossed around the idea of doing a week long sailing lesson in Bahamas or Tortola to enable us to skipper a 30-50 ft catamaran, but we decided we won't be using the skills for a while, and we might forget what we're doing. Maybe next year?! We've also got our sights set on an "around the world" flight that takes us to Australia, New Zealand, Figi, Bali, Bangkok & Manila with a 3 month time limit. Sounds yummy, but we'll have to play it by ear.
It's hard not to talk travel at work, especially for me because everyone there is CRAZY into travelling. I think its an emerg nurse personality trait. Adventure. Someone's always going somewhere neat!
Since I'm the queen of long blogs, I think maybe I should quit for the day.
Oh, but I did forget to mention the inspiration for our travel locations... its a coffee table book called "100 Wonders of the World" by Michael Hoffmann & Alexander Krings. The pictures are spectacular, it makes you want to go to all of them, tomorrow. Check it out! We also have a map framed in our house with color coded stickers of places we've seen and still want to see. Then you can see how little you've actually travelled.
Okay, now I'm done.