Asked & Answered

About a month ago or so we asked if any of you had any questions for a Q&A. Several of you responded right away with a number of insightful questions. In the spirit of holiday procrastination and broken resolutions, it took us forever to respond. But finally! You asked. We answered. If you’re up for it, we’ll do another Q&A session in 3 months (with answers in four months or so).

1. Do you miss home cooked meals?

John: Yes, and no. You get a hankering for certain things like a steak or a hamburger every once in a while. And pizza looks good at times, particularly when you’ve had a rice dish every day for a month. But home cooked meals vs. eating out, not a problem. Before we left, we ate out a lot (just something that happens in New York), so that’s not a big issue for us. Though sometimes you do just want to pop something in a microwave (or order in) and watch TV, but that might be a different question.

Amy: Yes. I also miss baking. And cereal with cold milk. And a peanut butter sandwich on soft white bread. And weak, home-brewed coffee. (The coffee in Asia has generally been instant or way too strong.) But we really did eat out the majority of the time in NYC, so it’s not a huge deal for us.

2. No food illnesses at all?

John: (knock wood) Luckily no, not yet, but see the post “Flirting with Disaster.” https://werefinemom.com/2013/12/21/flirting-with-disaster/

3. Share the most tense moment with each other (of course travel related i.e. the missing phone? The tooth? What had you two on the edge this far?)


John: The iPhone moment was pretty bad. Amy was calm, but I was freaking out. That was a bad evening. We also had some taxi issues one afternoon in Beijing that got both of us pretty heated. We got taken for a ride, and it kept getting worse – finding a reputable taxi, language issues, haggling… We had a rough afternoon trying to navigate that. The tooth wasn’t so bad, just something to be dealt with. Other than that, we’ve actually been okay. Amy was quite nervous about the overnight train, but despite the accommodation, the people we were with made it fun.

Amy: We were in Beijing and took a rickshaw from Tiananmen Square to this big souvenir market. When we were crossing a five-way intersection/traffic circle/melee, I really did think we were going to get squashed. I kept saying, “Hail Mary, full of grace” about 30 times until we made it through the intersection.

4. What has surprised you the most so far about your journey? This can be an experience, a location, a revelation about yourselves, etc.


John: We were surprised by Cambodia, both really loved it, but went into it thinking it was going to be a mess. Nothing really new about ourselves, though I’ve been feeling very fortunate and perhaps slightly more spiritual as a result. But the greatest surprise is just how nice people are everywhere we go. We meet nice folks every day – people take a genuine interest in our story. Not everyone is as fortunate to travel; some people we meet have never left their countries and are very curious about our lives. We get to be ambassadors on a daily basis; it’s great to be able meet people and share stories.

5. Do you miss home yet?

Amy: Sometimes. I miss our family. I miss our friends. But I know you’re all going to visit us along the way, right?

John: I definitely did during Christmas, and like Amy said, miss family and friends at times. But technology helps. I also sometimes feel like I’m missing out on events or big shows or whatever happening back home. But I’ll take the trade-off…

6. Has it been weird being on the road over the holidays?

Amy: Weird but fun. John was a little more homesick over the holidays than I was (see above), but it was definitely one to remember.

7. Is time flying or moving slowly?

Amy: I don’t know. Sometimes it feels like it’s moving at normal speed but then we’re like, “Remember when we were in China?” It was only 2 months ago but it feels like forever ago!

John: It depends on the day or location. Some places we’ve felt like we’ve kind of seen what we needed to and were killing time. Other places we felt like we missed out. Some days are fast and some days are slow. But it does feel like we’ve been gone a while – though we only left Japan a little over two months ago.

8. Going forward any plans to split up for a few days?

Amy: No. We had lunch separately one day in Hanoi and that was weird. I get my alone time at the hair salon once a month.

John: Not yet. We’ve kept the option there, but neither of us has wanted to take it up. We’re still having fun together.

9. Does a short trip back home soon to recharge make sense or sound completely ridiculous?

Amy: It doesn’t sound ridiculous but it does sound expensive. Seeing friends/family is definitely a recharge but we’ve been doing that along the way. Saw our friends from 10th Street in Seoul and that was so great. And we just stayed with my cousin in Ho Chi Minh City. It was awesome to just hang out with her and her family (and their dog!).

John: It doesn’t sound ridiculous, but it’s not happening. We find time to recharge on the road – Hong Kong and Bangkok were great for that because they’re basically like Asian versions of New York – something familiar. And the beaches help us get some R&R.

10. Any thought to stay in one place for extended time and work or volunteer?

Amy: Not on this trip. We are considering joining the Peace Corps at some time down the road though…

11. Are you using your high end grooming products or are these becoming less necessary on the road?

Amy: I am officially out of all of my Bumble & Bumble hair products and have been getting along OK. (Though the stylist in Hanoi told me 3 times how dry my hair was!) Believe it or not, there have been Kiehl’s stores in a lot of places so I still have all of my magical face potions. For now…

John: Grooming products??

12. Have you purchased any shoes?

Amy: Ha! Yes! But don’t judge… When we arrived in Southeast Asia, our first stop was Missy & Geoff’s place in HCMC (aforementioned cousins). We stayed there for a couple days before heading out for a month to travel around the region. We left our big packs at their house and consolidated what we needed for the month into one, smaller bag. We only packed warm weather clothes. We didn’t know (or research) how cold it would be in northern Laos and northern Vietnam. It was COLD! The only shoes I brought were sandals and sneakers. So when we went to the Metropole for Christmas Eve dinner in Hanoi, I didn’t have appropriate warm-weather dress clothes. I had a sleeveless dress with me that I thought, if paired with my black sweater and tights, I wouldn’t look like a schlub. So we went to the mall in Hanoi and bought a pair of black tights and a pair of black flats. The flats were $13 USD. And I think they’re pretty cute!

John: I’m getting rid of my Adidas in a few weeks and moving on to my back-up Vans. And my Sanuk beach shoes are on their last legs. Both will be left for someone in Southeast Asia. I’m reducing and recycling.

13. Have you had to pee terribly on any of the 5 hour plus bus rides?

Amy: No. They have all had bathrooms except for one and I didn’t drink a lot of water before that ride. (But remind me to tell you about this one time on a boat in the Panama Canal…)

John: Yes! But we had a bathroom, so no problem.

14. How about TV shows? Is John getting enough soccer?

Amy: I do miss American TV. And Eagles football. It was killing me how great a season they were having and I basically missed it. It’s all over now though. And I woke up at 8am to watch that dang Wild Card game.

John: I’m actually surprised that I’m not missing any certain shows, just certain games or event programming. I normally watch Letterman regularly, but haven’t really missed it – though I did watch his Xmas show with Darlene Love online. And I’m watching every United match I can that’s on at a reasonable hour – not after 2am.

15. What are your New Year’s resolutions and do they include brushing your teeth at an appropriate early morning hour each day?

Amy: Don’t judge about the tooth brushing! It’s a pain to use bottled water to brush your teeth. And that bathroom at Castaways wasn’t the most appealing to hang out in…you saw it! But to answer your question, one of my resolutions is to eat better. I have barely been eating any fruits or veggies. (I blame Dr. Mandel; he told us to be wary of things we couldn’t peel.) And both of us want to try to squeeze in some exercise every now and then.

16. What is the grossest thing you have seen, eaten, et cetera? Most delicious? Favorite new cocktail?

Amy:
Grossest seen: Countless bathrooms. I will spare you the details. And pigs’ heads at markets. They’re basically like a pig mask but real. See: “Silence of the Lambs”
Grossest eaten: Snail? Blood cake? Frog?
Most delicious: Fried chicken in Taipei. Banh mi in Hoi An
Cocktail: All the new beers. Beer Lao Dark was my fave.

John:
Grossest seen: The pig heads are gross – nothing like seeing a big bucket of hairy pig heads covered in blood, except maybe the occasional bloody goat head, which has been stripped of it’s hide and looks like it’s smiling at you. And some disgusting feet on people. You get used to a lot of stuff fast, though.
Grossest eaten: The 1000 year old egg was probably the grossest. Sea snail, raw conch and abalone, and chicken cartilage were terribly chewy and tough to swallow. Cod sperm sounds gross, but I didn’t know for sure what it was when I ate it – not at all revolting. Tree ants, congealed blood cake, and “Bird’s Nest and White Fungus” drink were all surprisingly not bad at all! And I truly enjoyed the “Takotamago,” a quail egg stuffed in a grilled octopus head.
Most Delicious: I’ve had some fantastic noodles in Southeast Asia. And a few Banh Mi sandwiches in Vietnam – I ordered a second at one place.
Cocktail: I’ve had a few good bourbon drinks, and Amy was right, the Beer Lao Dark is the best beer of the trip so far.

17. What has been the longest stretch of travel thus far? What is the longest coming up?

Amy: If this question is about actual travel time, our longest was either the flight from JFK to Narita/Tokyo (14 hours, I think) or on the overnight train from Hanoi to Da Nang (17.5 hours). I can’t answer for certain because we were in business class from JFK to NRT and I was hopped up on white wine and ambien. And the overnight train…well…I’ve tried to block that out.

John: Other than the flight over, we had a three-hour flight from Beijing to Taipei – flights have been relatively short on the trip itself – but that was the longest distance, I think. The train ride in Vietnam was long in time, but only about 400 miles or so – shouldn’t be 18 hours. We had some 7 hour bus rides in Cambodia. Our next big leg will be flying from Bali to New Zealand. Could be 14 hours with the layovers.

18. Do you have to constantly change currencies? Who has had the prettiest money?

Amy: Yes. We usually hit the ATM when we get off the plane to get the currency for the new country. And when we have money left at the end of a visit, we change money at the airport before the flight. Hong Kong has some pretty awesome bills. They’re the equivalent of $1 dollar, I think.

John: Laos has some good looking money, too, if I recall, when the bills are fresh and not filthy – the 500 kip I particularly liked – which is worth about six cents US. And the Japanese Yen is a classy looking currency. Just a side note: The Taiwan $500 bill has a picture of their victorious Little League championship team on it.

19. Where will you be on NYE?

Amy: We were in Ho Chi Minh City. We did an evening food tour on the back of Vespa Scooters. It was hilarious. We got home to my cousin’s around 10:30pm, watched the end of “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” with her kids, then we went across the street to the neighbors’ to set a doll on fire. Some kind of Ecuadorian tradition. It was great!

20. What item are you soooo glad you brought from home because you have not seen it anywhere abroad?

Amy: I am really happy I brought my Clarisonic, but I have seen it somewhere (Tokyo? Hong Kong?). Sometimes you feel just dirty after a flight (or an overnight train ride!). And since washing your face with Purel or Clorox wipes is probably bad for the skin, the Clarisonic is the next best thing! (Ladies: If you don’t have one, buy one. Amazing.)

John: You can pretty much buy anything over here that you can buy at home, or a reasonable facsimile thereof. Or a knock-off version. Except for really big Ziploc bags, which Amy wants desperately.

21. Where on your itinerary can you not wait to arrive?

Amy: I am really looking forward to Bali. And I’m also really looking forward to New Zealand because we’re going to see our good friends from NYC. (Shout out, Ardens!)

John: New Zealand with the Ardens will be great, plus I’m looking forward to India, and driving the Great Ocean Road in Australia. Otherwise I’m content with being patient and following our plan – excited about going everywhere.

22. Amy, are you sad that you have not been home to PA since Brittingham’s reopened and has multiple outdoor decks and swanky new interior? Was thinking of you when checked it out last week.

Amy: Yes! We’ll meet you there for drinks next December!

John: This sounds like a loaded question.

23. Can you see American football over there (wherever you are now) since there is big Eagles/ Cowboys game on Sunday night!?

Amy: Sometimes they show a replay the next day and sometimes, if you stay up late enough/wake up early enough, you can catch the game live. Of course, many of you know I am not a late-nighter. And the days the Eagles have had the Sunday night game, we’ve had to travel the next morning. But sometimes, the Birds make international news! And then they lose to the Aints. But we’ll always have this…

24. Have you had to sit next to any live animals on your bus rides (not including a cat or dog)? Birds in or out of cages count.

Amy: Not yet. But we have seen tons of animals. Cats and dogs, of course. Cows, water buffaloes. Monkeys, pigs, crazy birds. Fish and frogs. And we did see 8 piglets in a cage strapped to the back of a scooter. Nuts.

25. What is the one thing you wish you brought that you didn’t?

Amy: More giant Ziploc bags. I use them as “drawers” in my suitcase. One for shirts, one for pants, one for dresses, etc. And I wish I brought another cardigan. I bought one black cotton one from J. Crew and wear it all the time. I should have bought one in another color, too.

John: I wish I’d brought LESS stuff! But I’m slowly sending things home as I realize I don’t need them.

Amy: Stop trying to shame me, John. I did send home my hair dryer!

26. I would be more concerned about hair products and hair salons than you — there are not a lot of curly haired girls where you are! Can’t wait to hear about the salon experience.

Amy: My salon experiences in Tokyo, Taipei and Hanoi have all been great, thank goodness. I think it’s a bit of an enigma for them to get westerners in their salons so we’ve been a source of great interest. My hair is really easy, though. And my NYC stylist gave me my color “recipe” so as to eliminate some risk. (Shout out to Mai!)

John: My hair-care has been minimal. I rarely shave, either.

27. What do you miss most (aside from me)? Sent by Kim B.

Amy: I do miss you, Kimba! Honestly, it’s the people I miss the most. My family and friends. And sometimes I miss lying on the sofa with a bottle of wine, take-out Indian food, and some good TV or a movie.

John: Definitely the family and friends. Amy has heard my jokes already a hundred times; we finish each other’s sentences. It’s cute, but it’s good to have other people to share with. I also occasionally miss just hanging out on the couch in my underwear, watching “The Big Lebowski” for the hundredth time while eating cold, leftover Lo Mein directly out of the container, hoping Amy doesn’t catch me. The closest we came to that was during a rainy day in Niseko, Japan.

28. Do you have alone time? (aside from John’s time with the lady-scooter)


Amy: Not really. John is not a breakfast person so when we have free breakfast at some hotels, I’ll go down by myself and eat alone while he sleeps, showers, etc. And the hair salon is a guaranteed 2-hours of alone time every month. But that’s about it. We’re getting along very well. ☺

John: We are getting along well, and spend most of our time together. Amy goes to sleep before I do, so some nights I’ve stayed out alone, whether it’s been watching a United match at some local pub, or a night in Sapporo where I met a cool bartender and we chatted for a few hours. In Cambodia I spent a few nights talking to Ox, the owner of Castaways. But generally we’re together.

29. Do you have insurance?

Amy: Yes. We got health insurance and we also have travel insurance. The travel insurance is key because it will cover not only lost luggage but also anything serious if we needed to be evacuated from a country. (See: “The Impossible.” But not you, Mom & Jan…don’t see that movie. Ever.)

30. How are you paying your taxes?

Amy: So if you thought I was a planner, you should see John in action. He’s already estimated his taxes and sent his stuff to our tax guy. I’m just going to send along my W-4 and see what happens.

John: Not true. I prepared a checklist of documents we need to send in, I added up our receipts and deductibles before we left, and I’m waiting for all the tax documents to start coming in. Once all of them have come in (based on the checklist), we’ll submit that to our tax guy – nothing’s been sent in yet.

31. Have you found any good beers you can recommend?

Amy: Yes! As previously stated, I really liked Beer Lao Dark. And we’ve been collecting beer caps and coasters from everywhere we’ve been so we’ll have a lot of beer discussions/debate with AV aids in our basement bar when we return to the States.

John: Beer Lao Dark was excellent. The Japanese had some great beers as well, like the Hitachinos. Most of the beers in Southeast Asia have been okay, but all like Budweiser – meant to be light and cold to combat the heat. Angkor Beer in Cambodia was a good one, though, comparable to an ice cold Bud. I wasn’t terribly impressed with the Korean beer, honestly. And if there’s one beer you can get anywhere in the world, it’s Heineken. It’s in every restaurant and every bar, on every menu everywhere we’ve been. I hate the stuff.

Amy: Andy would be so happy.

32. Would you recommend travel for other couples?

John: I would recommend travel for other couples, absolutely. The bigger questions are where and for how long? You really have to know who you are, and what you want to get out of the trip. This trip, in particular, takes a lot of work. There’s been a lot of fun and relaxation, but there’s also been a lot of planning, and stress, and unpredictability. You have to be prepared for that, and you have to have a partner who can compliment and even carry you at times – when you lose your phone, or your tooth, or when you get sick – whatever it might be. If you’re both not up for that, you may need to have something that’s been planned for you. No crime in that. Or you may want to do something terribly adventurous, but only for a short time. It all comes down to who you are, both individually and as a team. But travel? YES.

33. Any words of wisdom from the travel couple? Others would be interested in what you are doing and how you are doing it.

John: As for words of wisdom, see above, I guess… Just know it takes a lot of planning, that it’s not all a vacation. You have to both agree on what you’re doing – there needs to be a lot of understanding, a lot of compromise, and a sense of humor about things. And a big sense of curiosity mixed with a large dose of tolerance and patience, for whatever may come your way. As far as any details of how to do it, that’s much harder – it all depends on what you want to do. For us, it was basically the following:

1. Research where you want to go.
2. Figure out the best time to go to those places.
3. Put together an itinerary.
4. Put together a budget.
5. Revise your itinerary based on your budget.
6. Revise your budget based on your revised itinerary.
7. Sell everything you own.
8. Revise your budget.
9. Plan as much as you want or can ahead of time
10. Say goodbye.

On Thursday 16 January, we head to Yangon, Myanmar – previously known as Rangoon, Burma. We hear the internet there could be non-existent, or at least pretty shaky, so there might be a week or so of radio silence until we get to Kuala Lumpur. We’ll try to squeeze in one more blog post before we leave, though. (Another New Year’s Resolution!) Until then, adios from Thailand!