Sydney —> Melbourne

Posted on by Caroline
Our first few days in Australia were indeed a whirlwind. We left late on Sunday night and then (the joys of traveling over the dateline) we lost Monday altogether and landed on Tuesday morning. We were all groggy and disoriented, but we managed to have a full-ish day. We went out of the city to visit an Aboriginal Cultural Centre that ended up being largely a dud. But at least the kids got to see wallabies and emus up close. Yesterday, after an early jet-lagged morning and a few work phone calls, we walked through the city exploring the laneways and city streets. On a whim, we visited the State Library Victoria. The architecture was luminescent - a graceful melding...Read More

Easter Sunday

Posted on by Caroline
Today feels a little surreal. According to our original itinerary, we were going to fly from Denver to San Francisco and visit with family during our long layover. We are on our way to Australia later today, but since there were storms over Denver last night, our plan got disrupted and we ended up flying into Sacramento instead. And so, as always, Aunt Chini came to the rescue. She made the amazing offer to drive all the way to Sacramento early on Easter Sunday to pick us up, drive us back to visit with the rest of the family and then back to the San Francisco airport at the end of the day. We had a short, but meaningful day...Read More

Happy Ping Pongs

Posted on by Caroline
This morning, the kids and I are on a flight heading back to Japan. And hopefully from there we can make our way back to Denver. Tim will meet us there in a couple days. It’s hard to believe that it’s been less than a week since we flew back from Kyoto. That was such a dreamy trip. But we’ve been busy during this last week - a full work schedule for me and Tim, a boat day, a soccer day and a school day. Plus time to wash, fold and dry what (I believe) was every article of clothing in our house. This trip is largely logistics - we’ve got to renew passports, Tim has training and I’ve signed...Read More

On the Haruka Train

Posted on by Caroline
Our last morning in Kyoto and we’re headed to the airport. As we looked forward to this trip, we imagined a long leisurely time here in the city. Looking back, I feel like we packed our days full and we could have spent longer here if we’d had the time. I’m still hoping to do the longer posts that I mentioned before about goshuinchō and travel journals, but in the meantime, I have a few impressions of the city I’d like to share and a few recommendations I’d like to share. Kyoto is (of course) known for its beauty. We were hoping to see some cherry blossoms on this trip. We were lucky enough to catch some early blossoms, but...Read More

Spring in Kyoto

Posted on by Caroline
We have been busy in our first few days here in Kyoto. From the first day when we had to go searching for any cherry blossoms to the next day, the cherry blossoms are beginning to pop open more and more. Every one has been incredibly friendly. I'd like to do more in depth posts about the goshuinchō books and our evolving travel journal system, but I'll save that for later. In the meantime (in the spirit of sharing a little before we get ready for another full day), these are some of the highlights of our time so far: Pokémon Center (of course) Ramen shop Heian Shrine and garden Goshuinchō (honorable red stamp books) Japanese children's television Haru Cooking...Read More

The adventure begins…

Posted on by Caroline
The end of our first day in Kyoto and the 4 AM wake-up is definitely telling. But it’s been a great day. Planes, trains, vending machine capsules, buses, ramen, onigiri, a Pokémon Center, beautiful architecture, playgrounds. For half a day, it’s been full. I’m going to post a pictures and fall into bed.

Kyoto

Posted on by Caroline
We’re on board our flight to Kyoto. I’m not sure why this trip feels like the resumption of our original vision that brought us to Guam, but somehow it does. When we were first contemplating the wild idea of homeschooling, I was enchanted with the idea of visiting Boston when we studied US history. What better way to learn about the Boston Tea party than by standing at the Boston waterfront and imagining the Patriots sneaking out under the cover of darkness? Now that we’ve been studying US history all year, we started thinking about a trip to the East coast this spring. But… then we realized that this year may be an ideal year to see the cherry blossoms...Read More

Tokyo!!!!

Posted on by Caroline
I am vibrating with excitement. It’s been 991 days since we were last in Japan (not counting layovers). One of our major goals when we moved out to Guam was to travel to Japan as often as we could and that just hasn’t been possible. Up until today. The borders opened to tourists last night at 12:01, and now this morning we’re at the gate, waiting to board our flight to Tokyo. We’ll only be there a few days, and it’s forecast to be rainy, rainy, rainy. But we’ve got umbrellas and rain jackets and a raft of enthusiasm. We’re planning to visit Disney Sea tomorrow. We’ve heard it’s a phenomenal park. On Thursday we’ll explore the city, visit a...Read More

Leaving Thailand

Posted on by Caroline
Here we are, sitting in the Phuket Airport, waiting for our flight to Bangkok. We’ve fallen in love with Thailand - the people are incredibly kind, the service is attentive, the food is fresh and flavorful, the fruit is sweet, the landscape is stunning…. we’re already looking forward to our next trip to Thailand. When I started this blog, I imagined writing the kinds of posts that I wrote when I was traveling in my 20s and 30s - longer, thoughtful posts that gave me a chance to share my reflections about the culture, history and architecture of wherever I happened to pass through. But I’m slowly realizing that kind of travel belongs to a different phase of my life....Read More

Phang Nga Bay

Posted on by Caroline
We took a little mini-trip within our trip. We chartered a sailboat for a two-day exploration of Phang Nga Bay, and some of the treasures there. Our captain was amazing - attentive and thoughtful, and willing to work with us to find the best opportunities. It’s jellyfish season here, so we couldn't spend much time actually in the water, which made it all the more enjoyable to spend the time on the water. The highlights of the trip were the island resort on Ko Yao, watching the kids kayak in Ko Hong, the floating village of Koh Panyee - especially the school, and the fresh, delectable seafood and fruit….