a year in travels

I was able to travel A LOT this year. I've seen some fantastic places and made some wonderful memories. last year I posted a "recap" post with a list of ways I was awesome in 2013. this year was no less awesome, but I'm trying something different- reviewing the year through my travels. I spent time in 5 different countries in 2014, including my first ever trip south of the equator.

this post will also be full of my favorite photos + links to posts I've shared on these destinations, so if you're new around here it might give you a chance to explore.

we started off our 2014 travels with a 10-day trip to Bali, Indonesia. while I was terrified by the monkeys and somewhat disappointed by the crowds at Tanah Lot, I fell in love with the gorgeous orange stone temples. it was also a delicious experience: we had fun at a Balinese cooking class, tried Luwak coffee [harvested from mongoose poop!] and ate Mexican every day at Taco Casa.

in April, I celebrated my 29th birthday with a trip to Taroko Gorge - maybe my favorite place in Taiwan. my friend and I hiked through misty mountain trails, explored colorful temples, and soaked in a roof-top hot tub. I had been a little upset about turning 29, but the experience was so enjoyable I decided I didn't mind. [I also went back to Taroko in October... I really do love that place!]

then Husband and I took a long weekend in Tokyo to visit Disneyland. I can only begin to describe how completely and utterly magical it was. I laughed, I cried, and I felt like my heart was 25 years younger. it was also a lot of fun to take a "touristy" kind of vacation. I think there's value in all kinds of travel, and losing yourself in acting like a kid/geek/nerd at Disney is absolutely a worthwhile experience.

in June, I flew back to the states and spent a few weeks recovering from jet lag on the shores of Lake Michigan. I soaked in sunsets and climbed lighthouses, hiked through the state park and lounged by the pool.

the next few weeks were a blur of weddings, packing and unpacking, amazing tacos and protein/animal In-N-Out. we traveled from Detroit to Mackinac Island in northern Michigan, to San Diego, California to Austin, Texas and then back to Taiwan.

Hong Kong wasn't an intentional trip. I had to zip over for a quick 2-day "visa vacation." it was my first time traveling solo [not for business in the US, anyway] and my experience wasn't altogether pleasant. but I did my best to make the most of the situation by indulging in some Mexican food and shooting photos from Victoria Peak.

in case you're curious, I flew at least 30,000 miles this year. my passport was stamped 10 times, and I had 3 new visas added. I had a wonderful year of travels, and I'm looking forward to exploring more of this world in 2015. [starting with New Zealand in a few weeks!]

where did you travel this year - which destinations were your favorites? and where do you want to go in 2015?

linking up with Bonnie, Courtney, Cynthia, and Yalanda for Travel Tuesday

confessions of an expat: holiday edition

Christmas is tomorrow. I'd love to say that our third such holiday overseas is going swimmingly and all is merry and bright. but in truth, it's been a rough week. it's been a rough few weeks actually. so I know this is the traditional time of year for bloggers to wrap themselves in twinkle lights and do mushy photoshoots with husbands and post gift guides and free printables... but the best I have to offer is to catch you up on life lately with a list full of random thoughts and honesty.

I am almost as terrible at writing Christmas cards as I am leaving voicemails. maybe worse, because once you write it down you have to keep it, and keep going. right now my Christmas cards [the 7 that actually made it into the post] are lost somewhere in the mail system between Taiwan and the US. my mother informed me that the birthday card I sent for my dad at the beginning of December only just arrived. oops.

I'm trying my best not to be grinchy, but I'd really love to be somewhere warm right now. I know that many of you are in temperatures lower than mine [40F] and some of you are even enjoying things like snow for the holidays. but here in Taiwan we do not have central heating, and I drive a scooter which makes the wind chill factor x500. my toes are perpetually cold. I'm thinking next year when we get a Christmas vacation we need to spend it somewhere on a beach?

we blew a fuse this weekend. not an uncommon occurrence, given the wiring in our building is a little funky. normally this would not be such a big deal, but the socket in our laundry room decided to fry itself. not all the outlets in our apartment are this sketchy. but for some reason the plug that runs our washing machine AND water heater by some janky extension cord setup is this little guy. terrifying. the outlet has since been upgraded, and I replaced the melty cord. so, yay, we have hot water for the holidays.

in blog news: I've decided to put my sponsorship program on hold for a bit, after this January. I've been thinking of making some changes and with our trip to New Zealand that seems like a good time for a break. if you are interested in snagging one of the two spots left for next month, you can get them 20% off with the code "TIMEOUT"

I'm also dreaming of another blog redesign. I've been learning so much about CSS and everything else in teaching my kids about blogging, and I'm getting itchy to use it. I also can't stop thinking about my sharpie doodles from my survey results. and several new font discoveries. but I'm not sure yet how I want to mix everything together.

but back to Christmas, since believe it or not, it's tomorrow. trying to get my spirits up and this calls for the digging out of old cat-in-antlers photos.

Husband has to teach, so we will wait until he's done with class to open gifts. we aren't doing anything major this year since we've been saving for our trip to New Zealand [actually, that's pretty major] but he's super excited to give me something he bought. and we still have a few movies left on our list to watch. I desperately need some muppets in my life. OH. and we found a bottle of gluten-free vodka, so I'm totally making myself a dirty Christmas martini.

hopefully you have a very happy holiday [whichever one or ones you celebrate] and I'll be back in a few days