Every Day

Travel day two. We started our day at 9:30 pm on Saturday. We drove to the airport with Justin so he could get to his flight at 1 am, ours was at 3 am. The airport was packed for that late. It's weird how most of the flights out are in the middle of the night. We walked around and found Justin's flight but couldn't find ours. I guess they only open the check in counters two hours before the flight which is inconvenient. So we figured out where our counter was going to be and looked for a spot to chill for the next two hours. Sitting on some luggage by the counter was a young couple that looked like they were waiting for the same counter so we walked up to them and said, "china eastern?" They nodded and said they have been waiting at the airport all day. Then we started talking about how both of us had huge issues with our layovers in China (can't be in China for 24 hours). This couple showed up at the airport the previous night and were told they couldn...

Thursday was our last unplanned day to explore Phuket and we wanted to soak up the sun! Brookie sent us to Karron beach nearby. When we got to the beach it was a very very hot day so we decided to walk along the shops side of the beach to catch what little bit of shade there was. You guessed it, I bought more sarongs (addiction) and the more you buy the better deal you can get! I also decided that this day was the perfect day to get the local ice cream. The ice cream is prepared right in front of you on a cold plate and there are very simple ingredients, your flavoring and cream. There were dozens of flavors from fruit to candy to chocolate and of course I wanted the Nutella flavor (another addiction of mine). They put your flavor on the cold plate and then pour the cream on top and try to contain the liquid. After a few seconds, the cream begins to harden and thats when they start scooping up and mixing the ice cream. Some of the "ice cream makers" have a rhythm that mak...

The evening after our snorkel trip in Phi Phi, Ty and I were pretty tired. We also decided that some alone time would be nice. So I went to get a pedicure while Tyler went to grab a massive meal (even though we had a late lunch on the boat lol). It was so nice to just sit on a comfy chair and scroll through Facebook while a woman did my nails. It was quiet and calming. Afterwards, I felt like a new woman walking down the main walkways of Phi Phi with my beautiful toenails! I did a great job of averting the glances from the people in the local bars trying to get people to go in. I just wanted to meet up with my Ty and see how his night was going. I found him at a restaurant slurping down clams and looking very happy. That boy loves his food. After he paid, we decided to walk a different way that we had not explored before, away from the craziness of the main part of the island. We wandered into many little art stalls with beautiful pieces (and relatively cheap too!). We both wishe...

We started off our day waiting for our shuttle to the ferry just like Saturday except this day our shuttle didn't show up on time. We sat on the corner of our apartment complex and watched the minutes tick by and the vans drive past. We started to get nervous and thought we might need to get a GrabTaxi to the ferry. At a half hour until our ferry took off, and looking on the phone for a GrabTaxi, our driver was waving at us from the median. We ran across traffic like frogger and hopped into the van and hoped we would make our ferry. We made it in time, about 5 minutes early in fact and watched more Mr. Bean on our 2 hour boat ride to Phi Phi. Once we got to Phi Phi, it was nice already know what to do. We had our 20 Baht ready for our entrance into the island and we knew to look for our hotel on the many signs that people were holding on the dock as we walked in. We didn't find our hotel so we took a map and wandered in the correct  direction. Once we got to our place, we w...

Monday we took our time getting up and moving and then went to breakfast at this local place. Ty had two breakfasts and I had a smoothie, fruit and toast. All this food was around 7 dollars for both of us! Around noon, I jumped on the back of Brooke's scooter as Ty drove behind. We wanted to check out some of the local sights. First, Brooke took us to the kathu waterfalls. It was a beautiful spot for locals. There were stairs up to the first falls which were constructed into pools for people to wade and swim in. In its prime it was probably very beautiful but now it was a bit run down. We walked up to the second and then third levels of small falls and waded in the water and climbed on the rocks. The water was the perfect temperature. Not too cold but cool enough that it was refreshing. After our pool time, we hopped on the bikes to head to our first temple of the day. It was a beautiful temple that didn't have many people. We walked around and then lit insense and pray...

After we got back and had our not so hot shower, we relaxed for a bit before figuring out where to go for nice man at the front desk suggested a good Indian place and we all decided a change up in our diet would be great. We have been having a lot of Thai food. The mosquitoes in phi phi were insane and very itchy and I had not brought many long sleeve/pants options, so I wanted to find a shawl or some pants that I could wear to combat the mosquitoes. I found a beautiful dark blue shawl with elephants on it that I absolutely love! There are so many cute  things buy at the shops there. After shopping, we went to dinner and enjoyed our Indian food. At first our food didn't come with rice which was strange for Indian so we had to order some for like 75 American cents. Dinner was cheap(ish) and delicious and not Thai and after we went to the beach. The tide was very far out so the beach was very long. The bars on the beach were already pumping some music trying to get people to c...

Jet lag. It's a fierce thing. I woke up this morning so cranky and discombobulated but slept amazing when I did sleep. Tonight we go to bed early! We had a slow day today as well trying to figure out how to get around and what to do in Thailand. There is an exercise room for our condo complex that we visited a little before noon. It was nice to get some movement in. Our host dropped of the scooter around that time. Ty needs some practice time before we take it anywhere far. So we got an app like uber called grab taxi. It's cheaper than getting a taxi off the street and then you know about how much it'll be before you even get in the car. So we went out to lunch at local place with my friends boyfriend. Lots of sautéed veggies here in Thailand for us vegetarians. After our late lunch, we were exhausted and needed a minute to relax before we got our grab taxi to Patong. It's a larger town near the ocean where we walked along the beach!  There was a popular road that...

Our first day in Thailand has been a slow and relaxing one. We decided not to plan anything in today because we knew we would be very jet lagged. We are exhausted. So we laid around and relaxed in the morning before we got ready to explore the surrrounding town. We walked along the busy road, motorbikes whizzing past, to a local market which sold fruits and veggies. It was super hot but it felt lovely. We came across a fruit stall with a lovely woman where we bought a bunch of fruit. We already had some and it's all delicious. We bought some apples but also some fruits that I've never seen before. I like to try new things in other countries. Later in the evening we met up with my friend to have dinner. The three of us piled onto one motorbike and off we went! What a sight that was. Dinner with my friend, her boyfriend, Ty and I was fun catching up and eating good food. It is nice to know someone when you visit another place. They know all the good places to go! Tomorrow i...

This is the longest day of my life. Literally. No, like actually literally. Or maybe a bunch of the shortest days of my life...anyway... We started off in Wisconsin, not early but it wasn't leisurely either. Then the bus to the airport in Chicago where we were to catch our first flight to shanghai. When we checked in we were informed that we were given an illegal flight through china on our way back home. Apparently you can't even have a layover in an airport for longer than 24 hours in China. The airline was nice about it and helped us in anyway they could but they told us we would have to call our booking agency because it was their fault, not the airline itself. Good thing we gave ourselves plenty of time in the airport because we needed all of that time to figure it out. I called the company that gave us our tickets and the first thing the gentleman said was that we would have to pay a change fee on top of the price for the new ticket. I was not happy with that so I inquir...