A YEAR OFF

Writing a travel book for Chronicle Books for fall 2018. #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ Subscribe to our mailing list

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I have been slow to post these photos from our time in (Phnom Penh) Cambodia last year because it was difficult to relive all we felt there- especially in Phnom Penh.  I did not want to write a “heavy” post, but what stuck with us was pretty serious.  The Cambodian people survived genocide; with no help from the rest of the world.  Due to political agendas at the time, the western world supported the genocide leaders and also chose not to aid during the aftermath…No truth and reconciliation meetings or hearings…no organized efforts of any sort to help heal…the genocide just ended and life went on.

Watching this new world from tuk-tuks is what we remember most vividly

Like watching a fall landscape from the highway

Smears of intense color, beauty, and a sense of loss

Stark contrasts of poverty and wealth; color and darkness

So much we did not understand and never will

The city’s heartbeat felt like a recovery patient.  Surviving a rare disease that targets youth, intellect and vitality

But preserving memories of what has passed and what took them away

But there is so much life here yet- beauty in the new generations and old

And with every laugh and smile we saw

We learned that the Cambodian heart is strong and alive

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Singapore was a perfect place for a two-day layover. For us, it represented the official transition from the West to the East - a stepping stone on the way to Cambodia that made for a gentler introduction to the rhythm of Southeast Asia. Thanks to David's cousins who live and teach there, we were able to learned a ton about the city, its history and its myriad of different cultures. Singapore is also hard to beat when it comes to delicious cheap food, and we had some incredible meals in hawker centers. We happened to be in Singapore during the Chinese New Year, so the city was decked out in beautiful paper lanterns.

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Australia was a month's worth of experiences and amazing memories in just under a week.  Looking back at our time there we realized it was the only time in our crazy adventures where we "packed it in" without ever feeling overwhelmed or tired.  We casually went from one fantastic experience to another; that is all thanks to our incredibly awesome and generous hosts (near and far) who took such excellent care of us.  

We both left Australia feeling incredibly lucky, loved and well...taken care of.  This was really a gift that we often think of with such fondness, and it inspires us to give the same to others.  The economy of generosity is contagious. Thank you dear Aussie friends.

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Nowhere had more natural beauty than New Zealand.

It is a magical place where the earth feels kind and clean. The water was inexplicably blue. There are no snakes, native mammals, predators or deadly anything... We had never felt so completely relaxed outdoors, almost cradled by nature.

On the North Island, we floated down a naturally warm stream in the middle of the night shrouded by rock faces that looked like the ebony sky freckled with glowing stars. These 'stars' were tiny glow worms illuminated through bioluminescence, and the stream ended in a powerful but soothing waterfall that massaged our shoulders with hot water.

On the South Island, we were dwarfed as we kayaked through Millford Sound and experienced its 5500-foot sheer cliffs towering above us while the 1600-foot waters created a sense of endless depth beneath us. This kayaking excursion through Milford Sound remains one of the most impactful natural experiences of the entire trip.

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Costa Rica feels like a blur now.  It was our first international trip together and our heads were spinning.  There is a difference between traveling as "travelers" vs. traveling as "vacationers", and at first, we were somewhere south of the middle.  Since we were not making money, we intuitively felt that we should not be spending it either.  Flashes of intense guilt would sporadically come out of the side-hatch and slap our faces for breaking some metaphysical law of personal economics. We found ourselves frying cornmeal mush with deli ham in a hostel while choking on cheap rum, or discussing where to find the cheapest bottled water.  This was not our plan when we quit our jobs and took off, but we eventually gave ourselves a little slack for having such a ridiculous state of mind.  And with this acceptance, these feelings faded and we started waking-up to the incredible world around us.  This is something we both hope to bring home.  

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So we are home and back to work. Before we left we were so anxious to leave our lives behind. In many ways the feelings are surprisingly similar upon our return. 

Hoping to bridge these two worlds, we thought we would post a few pictures from the trip in chronological order at least once a week.  

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Homeward Bound

Hey folks, We've been a bit MIA from the blog these last few weeks. Mainly because there was so little time left in the international journey, and we were trying to really be in each moment as much as possible. We've continued our romance with Italy this last week and a half, visiting Florence, exploring the Tuscan countryside and its beautiful towns, having an amazing time in Bologna with a friend we met in Thailand many months back and spending our last two days in Milano, the fashion capital of the world (according to many). Today we fly home. It feels sort of surreal. But also exciting. We are, as Simon and Garfunkel so sweetly sang, "homeward bound." Putting the journey of the past year into words is difficult. It was a trip of a lifetime. And we have made memories and friendships we will cherish forever and ever. It's funny to think, now that it's at a close, how nervous we were before we left. In some ways it feels like ages ago, but in other ways, it feels like just yesterday. We have been so happy to share our adventures with you all in the blogosphere. And it's meant a lot to know that folks are reading our stories and seeing our photos. Thank you for joining us. Ciao for now. We'll see you stateside.

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Our first morning in Rome, we were greeted by texts from both Justin and Christyl about attending mass at St Peter's Basilica. The service was to be about love... We had already planned on leaving our fantastic little "locals/foodie" neighborhood called Garbatella to explore the inner city. So after lunch at an insanely delicious Jewish-Roman restaurant in the city called Sur Margharita and a visit to the Pantheon and Piazza Novano, we looked at our watches and realized we had just enough time to book it to the Vatican for 5PM mass. As we approached St. Peter's Basilica by foot, we were stunned by its beauty and magnificence. David literally yelled "what!?!?" and ran into the middle of a bridge to get a better view (making Alexandra a little/a lot nervous). The Basilica is ridiculous; you just cannot take it all in. In great contrast to this jaw dropping beauty are the hideous and gargantuan lines of tourists. With only 10 minutes to go until mass, we both began to sense defeat. Mass at the Basilica was apparently something to plan in advance. David then noticed the priests around us walking with agency and suggested we ask them about attending mass. "What about that one?" David said. So without hesitation, Alexandra approached and, in broken Italian, asked him whether the line in front of the Basilica was for 5PM mass. He explained that the line was simply for people wanting to go into the Basilica, mass or no mass, but when he saw our defeated expressions at this news, he perked up and gestured 'come with me.' Without question, we followed him, weaving our way through the crowds of tourists. He kept up a quick pace, and we stayed close behind, repeatedly glancing at each other with huge eyes filled with awe and shock. At first we were making a beeline for the Basilica, but then our anonymous priest made a sharp turn to the left. We found ourselves in front of a quiet side entrance, where two young Vatican guards dressed in outfits that looked like classic court jesters were waiting to check what turned out to be Vatican City passports. We did not know that these existed! The priest, in Italian, told the guards, "They're with me" and gestured to us. The guards nodded, and we were all let through into another world: silent, pristine and holy. It is the Rivendell of Italy. Our priest looked at us with a hint of excitement, then gestured to the space around us and said "no people here" (in Italian). We followed through the Vatican into a back entrance of the Basilica and into the Sacristy. We passed by several more guards and rooms, and then suddenly we were in the center of St. Peter's Basilica. The beauty was overwhelming; David was having a hard time keeping the priest's pace as seeing such a place for the first time just stopped him. Quickly jogging a bit to catch up, the priest lead us through the crowds, had a guard open a wooden barrier and then escorted us to the mass area. He then then shook our hands, looked at us with genuine and kind eyes and silently bid us farewell. We even never found out his name. And then there we were, attending mass at the Vatican with a group of roughly 60 people, while the Pope spoke enthusiastically about babies and wine in Italian (from what we could understand). We could not stop looking around us and squeezing each other's hands. We were both overwhelmed by the experience and our great sense of partnership together.

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We have been spending the past week in the gorgeous Asti Provence of Italy. We have been a little MIA because we have just over two weeks left in the trip. So we have been less digitally active, more engaged in each moment of each day as the time left on the road draws to a close. But here's a little view of the scenery we have been admiring for the last little while, with our friends Simon and Monica and their little girl Stella. We are loving Italy. It's the perfect blend between old and new, first world and third world, rustic and comfortable. The food has been divine. The company passionate and fun. The language lively. We have ridden bikes through the countryside, stopping at local cantinas to taste an array of fantastic Barberas and other local wines. We have strolled through remote villages blissfully free of tourists. David has developed a deep love connection with pizza here. And we have reconnected with friends. It has been a great week. We have just over two more weeks left. Which obviously brings with it mixed emotions. Excitement of going home but melancholy about the trip being almost done. To say this was a life-changing year feels like a dramatic understatement. But more on that another time... For now, we will continue to enjoy the Italian sun. The company of good friends. The magic of Italian food. And our time together.

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One of the best nights of our lives- locked in La Temps Perdu in Lyon. Dancing, singing, drinking, smoking and playing music all night long. Such an amazing group of artists and musicians.   Must admit that for a night (or maybe four), Alexandra and I were totally lost in the underbelly of late-night French cafe life.  

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Many of you may have noticed that David and I are into coffee. (Bit of an understatement.) But in all seriousness, our love of coffee has led us to discover some pretty cool places and people on our travels. Places and people we might not have encountered had we not had the coffee pull. And it's been so interesting experiencing the different expressions of the new wave coffee culture around the world. When we first got to continental Europe, we were expecting the coffee to be different from what we were used to in San Francisco but still good. What we were drinking was fine, but it was more of coffee as fuel rather than coffee as an experience. Until Berlin. Berlin has a thriving coffee culture. And some incredible shops paving the way for modern expressions of coffee in Germany. We have been visiting a new one each day, and they have all been fantastic. In no particular order, the ones we have visited are: - 19 Grams - Companion Coffee - Chapter One Coffee - Five Elephant Coffee It's interesting because what our love of coffee has made us realize is that if you continue to embrace the things you love while you travel, you'll end up meeting like-minded people with similar interests who then unlock other worlds, other things to experience, for you. Coffee is one of our little keys, but everybody has their own. It's been a fun thing to remember while on the road: keep doing and seeking the things you love and you'll discover more through these things.

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Hamburg!

When David and I were in early discussions around where to go in Germany, Hamburg had been on the list but only because we had decided to visit our friend Daniel, who we met in Cambodia, and he happened to live in Hamburg. As a Beatles fan, I had heard a lot about Hamburg, but even after years of visiting my grandparents in Germany, we never made the trip north. But as we traveled, running into people who had spent time in Germany, we kept hearing things along the lines of this: "Hamburg… Well, I love Berlin, but I think Hamburg is my favorite city in Germany."

And, although we have yet to go to Berlin, (we leave today!), we now understand why people claim Hamburg as their favorite city in Germany. Part industrial, part residential, part party, part commercial, Hamburg has this blend of everything that results in a beautiful city with lots to do and lots to see while still maintaining an authentic urban feel. It has lots of great neighborhoods to explore, tons of green space, a riverside beach, vibrant (some parts more intensely so) nightlife, a thriving cafe culture and friendly people. We visited an amazing coffee roaster in the industrial-chic Speicherstadt. Browsed flea market goodies and boutiques in St. Pauli. Sat on the beach by the harbor, watching huge container ships and cruise ships and old wooden sailboats go by. We went out in the infamous Reeperbahn district. Our long weekend here was full and fun, and we are definitely sad to be going.

Part of this bittersweet departure is related to the amazing German friends we have made who we are bidding farewell to, for the time being at least. Our host in Hamburg, Daniel, was the first friend we made on the road. We met him about four weeks into our trip, in Cambodia, and traveled through Phnom Penh and Siem Reap with him. In Cambodia, we agreed we would come visit him in August, and, funnily enough, our visit with him this past weekend is like a bookend, at just over a month out from the end of our trip.

We also came to Hamburg with two other German friends, Simon and Friederike, who we met in a cooking class in Chiang Mai, Thailand. We saw them in Bangkok again, and we spent the past week with them at their place in Mannheim, then took a mini road trip up together to Hamburg. We got a sense of day-to-day life in Mannheim, played music by the Rhein River, drank tons of coffee, (including a special tutorial and tasting at Coffee Nerd), explored Heidelberg together, made gluten free spätzle (yes!) and discovered some cool scenes in Hamburg through them.

We also got to see two newer friends, Hasan and Kay, who are not German but live in Germany. We met them in London through my high-school-and-college friend Abby and decided to see each other in Hamburg after a great afternoon together in London. We all celebrated Daniel's birthday early last night with a final feast, (David killed it on the French-style roast chicken.), and it was a great end to a truly wonderful weekend in Hamburg.

The next adventure awaits in Berlin. We'll see a few more friends there too, which is fun. Visiting so many great people all over this world has been one of the best parts of this trip, connecting and re-connecting with friends both old and new. We're leaving Hamburg with a warm feeling and excitement of seeing all these great people in the States in the future.

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Hamburg on the go. The Landungsbrücken. The Rathaus. At Hafencity. Love locks. The harbor.

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Best car ever.

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Our dear friend Simon has introduced us to coffee magic in Heidelberg, Germany. Coffee Nerd is a cool shop bringing craft coffee to southern Germany. They are doing really great things here.

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Something's Missing

It's a strange feeling, to visit a place that once felt like a second home and have it feel like a completely unfamiliar place, to feel like just another visitor. This unsettling feeling has lingered over my last week in Germany, hanging in the wings and leaving me feeling bewildered. Germany is a country I grew up visiting. I would spend nearly two months here every year throughout my childhood and teenage years, staying with my grandparents first in Solingen and then in the city of Köln. Their apartment in Köln was like a second home to me. Every morning we would sit together at the breakfast table, drinking cups of tea while my Opa's favorite classical music station played in the background. We would sit together for lunch and dinner too, with my Oma preparing incredibly delicious meals throughout the time my brother and I would be staying with them. The floors were heated, and I loved to find the warm patches in the winter. I loved the elegant pajamas my Opa always wore. I loved how good my Oma smelled. I had my favorite couch in the living room where I would read book after book from my Opa's impressive collection. We had our disagreements too, but we loved each other. And I loved being in Germany with them. This visit to Germany is the first since my Oma passed away. And it's the first time the grief of their collective passing is really sinking in. It feels real now. It feels final. And being here without seeing them or staying in their warm, comforting and inviting home has really struck me. I'm grieving. And missing them. And wishing David could have met them. It's been a bit of a tough week. But it's a chance to share my memories of my grandparents with David. To think back fondly on the years I spent here with them. To have a new experience in this country and make new memories with good friends. It might not be the Germany I remember, but that doesn't mean Germany still can't have a special place in my heart, just like my Oma and Opa do even though they're no longer here.

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"Oh The Places You'll Go"

One evening in Paris, David and I had dinner with a friend of David's sister. She was an American who had moved to Europe at a young age, having lived in both Germany and France. She had been in Paris for a while, and she had done her fair bit of traveling. We were talking about long-term travel, and she said quite simply, "But you know... Travel isn't about the places you see. It's about seeing yourself." Her words stayed with me and David because it was something we had realized already, but hearing it from another person put it in the forefronts of our minds and conversations. There is SO MUCH we have seen in the last 10 (nearly) months. So many places. So many people. So many experiences. But we've also seen so much in ourselves. You can't help but really see yourself, at least more of yourself than you've seen before - the good, the bad, the beautiful, the ugly - when you're on the road, when you're with only one other person (basically) 24/7 and when you're thrown so far outside of your comfort zone that America begins to seem like the 'foreign place'. There have been times when we have both felt really empowered by this. And there are times when we have felt completely exposed and want to hide from ourselves. But we're starting to accept that seeing yourself this much means coming to terms with everything about yourself, even the things you've done or habits you've formed that aren't the same as what you want in your present life. In some ways, it feels like I'm seeing for the first time: the world and myself.