home sweet home

I'm sitting in the airport in Auckland right now, and by the time I load this I will already be in the states. As I sit here and celebrate the end of my trip with an open tab of forthcoming drinks, I can't help but feel an emptiness in my heart. I think traveling is probably sort of like a drug or how people describe the obsession with tattoos. Once you have a little taste, there's no turning back--it becomes this adrenaline rush that you become infatuated over. The more I've seen, the more people I've met, it makes me realize I've been trapped inside a bubble for so long. I've been so blind to worldly events and social and cultural differences.

I woke up this morning certain I was going to Fiji only hours after a massive cyclone had hit. I was heavily talked out of going, and urged to stay in New Zealand. I begged the staff to put me on a flight home to LA, and I was so blessed that they were compliant and very accommodating to my situation. Now, 24 hours later, I'm back in the USA already gorging myself to death on tacos and cookies.

I'm proud of myself that I had the courage to book this trip, and that I was able to do a good chunk of it alone. I've learned more about myself then I ever thought I would. Having hours and hours upon days of hearing only the voices in your head will do this to you. I experienced many trial and tribulations along the way, but I think if anything I have become stronger, wiser, more patient, and kind because of it. I hope!?

I spent approximately 170-200 hours traveling + waiting around for that travel and commuting to and from transport. That's roughly a little over a week of constant travel! After days of gruesome barf inducing traveling experiences, I really do feel like I can do anything at this point in my life. I am already extremely bored, and excited to find work immediately so I can start saving for my next trip!

Favorites on the trip: I didn't have an overall favorite because every country was so different...
1. Most beautiful: New Zealand (South island was incredible)
2. Favorite country culturally: Thailand-people were really friendly and very I felt really safe here.
3. Favorite country historically: I learned the most in Cambodia---Angkor Wat and Killing Fields were very thought provoking and educational.
4. Favorite country "fun" wise: Lao--2 day boat trip with beer and Aussies, hilarious drinking games at open air bar, I dirty danced with a dog
5. Favorite cities: Tie between Queenstown, NZ and Luang Prabang, Laos
6. Favorite beaches: Bali

actually, the more I'm typing I can find a million "favorites". I just really enjoyed this trip and highly recommend traveling. I can't wait to see and experience more, and I am so grateful for the opportunity that was handed to me!

Thanks for keeping up with my travels!

Allison

Queenstown, Milford sound, christchurch-New Zealand

Listening to while driving: jan hammer
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8KmPa6_wl14

I wanted to travel alone to prove to myself that I could do it. That I was responsible, aware, and capable enough to parade around foreign cities with only a backpack and a map in hand.  I should have known better during the first month spent with my best friend, who held on to my passport and important documents like my mother, that I wasn't and would never be "capable" by anyone's standards. 

Since Lauren's left me I have missed a flight because I was too busy eating a hamburger, I've been caught at security multiple times with "dangerous" items that I forgot about--(I.e. mace, scissors, nail clippers), I've left the city to explore without writing down where I was staying and thus tried unlocking every apartment in the vicinity. And then there was wednesday night. 

I was taking my sweet time packing and getting ready for New Zealand--researching hostels and sightseeing options and I knew I was to leave for the airport by 830. All of a sudden 730 snuck up on me and I realized I still needed to shower and pack. I rushed in the bathroom, threw more food down my throat than I actually probably needed, and quickly started todo my hair. 

All of a sudden I was in a full blown sweat like I had just climbed Everest. I strapped myself in to my overweight backpack, picked up all my extra paraphernalia I've accumulated and hoarded for the past two months, set the keys on the table and rushed out the door. I quickly slammed the door and turned my body to run down the stairs of the apartment building. I took one big stride and was immediately yanked backward like a disobedient dog being scolded by its master. 

I turned around as far as I could, but was strained and locked against the wall to no avail. My backpack had mistakenly gotten stuck in the hinge of the door and would not budge. Shoot. I had left the keys in the apartment. I tried running in place to see if it would give...no dice. Still attached and trapped, I knocked on the neighbors door and could hear them tiptoeing around and avoiding the situation at hand. I unstrapped and dumped out my entire bag to try and find my scissors or nail clippers when I remembered that I had to turn them in to TSA in Cambodia. 

With junk all over the floors i began pounding on all the neighbors doors. The clock was ticking and I needed scissors stat. Finally after pounding on 5 different doors, the downstairs neighbor answered. Without any hesitation I shouted  immediately and emphatically, "I've had an emergency upstairs and I need you to lend me scissors". There was no asking. It was not a question. It was a statement. I missed my flight the week before and lost $100+ dollars. It was not happening again. 

He looked at me like I was a crack head but when I explained it it made me sound even crazier. Luckily he was able to find some scissors and I broke myself free from the door by amputating a couple of straps. 

I arrived in christchurch on the 6th in morning at 5 Am and was immediately in love with New Zealand. The air smelled like camp and the sky was  grey and cold. Relief!!! I had been looking for fellow travelers to rent a camper van together but that fell trough so I rented a car alone. my first stop was the downtown area. I wasn't expecting to see so much devastation and was really taken aback by the slow movement toward rebuilding the city after the earthquake. 

The entire city reminded me of something out of a movie...no businesses were open and most were fenced off or crumbling to the ground. There was a cute up and coming pop up shopping mall area with stores and restaurants  inside shipping crates and and it was fun to walk around there. 

I left for my long drive to queenstown and I am completely obsessed with this place. The drive was spectacular. I drove past any and every climate or tundra you could imagine...desert, forest, lakes, wild flowers, plateaus, snow, etc. the ride was never dull, and I found myself wide jawed after ever single turn. I was in disbelief. I passed by thousands of sheep, emus, calfs, horses, all without a single person in site for miles. I would occasionally stop the car, get out, and just breathe it all in. 

I was falling asleep at the wheel and stopped quite a few times to load up on red bulls, which inevitably lead to more stops where I had to buy all sorts of food as collateral for using the toilet. At one particular stop I came back to my car and my gps was missing. My heart was racing, and again I tore apart the whole car looking for the GPS. "Why me?!?!" I kept saying under my breath. I ran back into the gas station frantically and told the lady that I had been robbed and she reviewed her tapes and filed a report. I spent a good half hour mapping out where I needed to drive, and hopped back into the car all the while trying to figure out how I was going to pay for another one. I was devastated, and felt like crying. I drove for an hour or so and then all of a sudden I heard in a robotic distant muffled voice "recalculating", "turn around as soon as possible". Thank God!!! At some point it had flung out of the holder tht was plastered to my window, into the backseat. Suddenly my annoyance with the robot turned into the most abundant, unconditional love I have ever experienced. 

Queenstown is the adventure capital of the world and is situated in the middle of a basin next to lake wakatipu, Which is situated in the midst of a cascading pine tree laden mountain range. A few days ago i hiked up on of the mountains and went luging down a portion of it. The hike was no joke at a 75 degree angle the entire time. My buns were on fire!

I posted a listing on the bulletin board looking for people to help me pitch in for gas to drive down to Milford sound. I heard back from two boys from the Netherlands and had a (youre not going to believe me) really awkward encounter trying to meet up with them.

 I heard back from a guy named Marco who sent me an email and told me he and his friend would be making dinner at 7pm sharp and to meet him in the kitchen to discuss the trip we were going to take. He told me he was tall, really blonde, and was with a guy wearing a brown shirt. After my long hike, I decided to buy a bottle of wine and sip on it while I waited for the boys. In walked a tall blonde guy wearing a blue shirt and I saw him give his buddy (wearing a brown t shirt) a high five. Check. Knowing that I am prone to awkwardness, I decided to wait before I just ran up and assumed that he was Marco. That is until he walked past me and his friend said, "see ya later mark". There was no doubt in my mind this was my guy, so I ran up to him with my glass of wine and said "heyyyyy marcoooo!!?" In a semi seductive voice. When I heard,"huh? Who is Marco?" I wanted to die. He asked me to explain why and what happened so I explained that I was supposed to meet a tall blonde guy wearing a blue shirt and I thought it was him all the while I'm sipping on my wine all alone lookingike a total lush. 

I keep running into him. I went to grab a cutlery later that evening and our hands both reached for the same fork at the same time. Ugh. 

We drove for 5 hrs and made it to Milford sound. The drive was indescribable. We had to pull over in the middle of nowhere to just bask in the beauty, and i now have a full understanding of the word "breath taking", because the view really did make me choke i was so stunned. I have looked over my photos, and the actual scenery no justice whatsoever. There were thousands of little waterfalls trickling down massive sky scraping boulders, and snow caves all over the place. We took a huge liking to a native kiwi bird called the kea. I don't usually like birds at all but this bird actually ran (yes ran)  up to our car right when we parked. It was a beautiful conglomeration of green and yellows and when it took flight the underside of its wings were a bright shade of orangish red. 

We did a cruise through the Milford sound yesterday and it was quite spectacular. The entire town was made up of 1 restaurant, two hotels, and no gas station. Luckily we made it back. 

I got the flu and was really sick yesterday and today. Last night I was having trouble breathing and almost went to the hospital. It was really scary. I still don't know what is wrong because all sorts of things ache on my body. I might go and get things checked out over here since Idont have insurance back home. I hope I'm not dying!

I drove today to fox glacier and will check it out in the morning before driving back to christchurch to return my car and head to Auckland and the rest of the north island. Check back in a few! 

Goodbye Australia

Melbourne has been really incredible. It's so similar to San Francisco with it's cute little cable cars and trendy shops and restaurants. Every single store I've been into is perfectly planned out and decorated to a T. Andrea has taken me all around the city and I've explored most of the neighborhoods here.

The first day I came in I took the bus to her work downtown and we went for some sushi. I love the "to go" sushi in Australia....they are cheap little pre-made hand rolls that you order at the counter and can eat quickly. We don't really have places that are similar in the US, as most of our sushi isn't all that great if it's been pre-made and sat in a fridge for awhile. This was top notch, some of the best sushi rolls I've ever had!

At night Andrea took me to a work related event at this rooftop bar that was to promote a new music app similar to spotify. Friday she was "sick" and stayed home from work and took me to a place that served $2 incredible pizzas, and showed me her city on wheels. Friday night we went to a xmas party in an art studio and watched some of her friend's bands play. I met some of her lovely friends who we have hung out with the last few nights. 

Yesterday  I took off and adventured around the city by foot. I walked downtown which took me 2 hours round trip, and hit up ACMI, which is an art gallery for motion pictures. There were some really cool exhibits that were interactive. For example, there was a Wii exhibit and I played tennis against a machine and of course got way to  into it and threw my hand against a pole and bruised it up pretty good. Nerd injury!  I also stopped at the hall of remembrance which is a large building dedicated to loss of Australian war veterans. I was approached by some really strange man who I decided to be friendly with but he started getting really creepy and so I walked away. Weirdo!

Today I hit up a place called "Lentils as Anything" for the second time now. The restaurant runs on a donation basis, and given my financial situation I have taken a liking to it. More than that, it is probably one of the best meals I've had since I've been abroad. Delicious! 

I made burrito bowls for Andrea tonight and it was really good. I got stuck outside in a rainstorm when I was on foot and ran into a shop to seek cover. The weather has been pretty scummy here. The first day I arrived it was 100 and today it was probably 55 or 60. 

It's been really interesting not relying on technology to get me around town and keep me occupied when things get awkward in social situations. I am frankly sickened by the amount of people I've met up with who are constantly on their phones mid conversation. Am I really that boring that you can't hold off for 2 seconds to check your twitter page? Reaaaar, sorry I had a moment there. But I think we are all guilty of doing this at some point....I've just become more aware of it since I don't have internet access to have the option.

I've gotten very lost multiple times but rely on human interaction and old fashioned maps to get me where I need to be. I went on a run the other day and came back to what I thought was Andrea's apartment. I tried getting in for a good 45 mins before I figured out I was on the wrong street. Not my fault they all look the same!

Tomorrow I move on to New Zealand. I posted an ad on the equivalent of craigslist, on a site called Gumtree, to find a couple travel partners. I've heard back from quite a few girls that are my age that are wanting to rent a camper van with me. Hopefully I can get something figured out quickly here! This is my last country I'm in and I'm ready to go all out. I've kind of been being a cheapskate lately and I don't want to regret not seeing more while I'm here.

My brother is the best brother in the world and randomly wired me a good amount of money to borrow. I couldn't believe that he did this for me and am so grateful to have a little extra to spend while I'm here. He was emphatic that I go all out and that I will definitely not regret spending this money in the future. 

Thanks Scott! I love you!

meeeelllllllbbbeeeeeen

After staying in Adelaide for an extra week, I was finally set to fly out to Melbourne last night, but after a couple stupid moves on my part I broke my mean travel champion streak and missed my flight. 

I was noticing the other day that I haven't been irritated at all for the last 2 months of travel. I think when you're traveling you get in a certain mindset where you can't allow trivial things to bother you anymore because it's all a part of the adventure. 

I went out the other night with Michael and his roommate Paul and I met a bunch of his girlfriends who were so lovely and nice. Their friend Nat took me thrift shopping the next morning..or what they call "op shopping". I bought a couple things that I didn't need, but who really NEEDS things anyways? We sat in an adorable vintage kitchen shop at a communal dining room table and chatted with strangers over coffee. I loved this concept and the wheels are spinning in my head with similar ideas.

We went to the cricket match, which was basically just a "who's who" event where everyone comes and drinks outside the stadium and watches the game that's being played 100 yards away on the tv screen. I really don't understand cricket, but it was fun to be there anyways. Turns out the one game that lasted 5 days ended in a wash. That's a lot of work for no outcome!

I had Michael and Paul over for dinner the other night as a thank you for entertaining me for the last week. I made pizza with caramelized onions, basil, goat cheese, and roasted tomatoes with a balsamic reduction sauce. An orzo salad, and sweet potatoes that I accidentally doused in truffle oil and made it taste like trash.  

The downtown area of Adelaide is adorable and I didn't discover it until the last couple days of my stay. It was very quaint and posh but had elements that reminded me of an old western film, or maybe similar to New Orleans although I've never been there. I couldn't afford to buy anything, but still tried out outfits and dreamt of the day I would be able to.

It's so strange to be surrounded by holiday cheer in 95 degree heat when I never had a halloween or thanksgiving to help get my bearings straight. Trying on tank tops and cute dresses while listening to Jingle Bells was different than anything I've been accustomed to around this time of year.

I am now in Melbourne staying with another friend of a friend who knows Angie and Michael from a trip to Portugal a few years back. Andrea stayed with us in SF a few months ago when she was visiting. She lives in a really cute part of town next to really good restaurants and retro shops. It will be really fun to explore the area. We just walked around and got the best Gelato I've ever had. As of two weeks ago I had dropped 10 pounds since I left on my trip and in two weeks I've already added it back plus some. Woof! 

Tomorrow I'm meeting up with another guy I met last year in SF who lives here as well. This past year was definitely the year of the Aussie. I think all signs are pointing for me to move here. Life is too easy...minimum wage is about $25...rent is cheap, people are the nicest people in the world.  I love it.  I love all the connections, and decided to re-instate my facebook page to be able to keep in contact with the people I have met along the way. 

See you in a couple days!

Sydney, Adelaide, Australia

Photos- www.instagram.com/alliseb

Gday mate! Sydney was gorgeous. Very quaint and cute mixed with big cityness. A friend from college let me stay with her in her adorable new apartment in rosebay. Rosebay is in Sydney near the opera house and is like the Montecito of the area. We hit up target and Kmart and it has been so nice to feel like I'm back in civilization after a month of sweaty trekking. I am in shock with the prices here. Granted, Aussies make much more than Americans so the cost of living is higher as well. For someone who isn't currently making any money, I find it extremely challenging to spend $20+ on a drink. I can always gauge inflation based on gas, obviously, but also on the price of avocados. At a whopping $4-5 dollars per avo, my pockets are nearly penniless already. Luckily Meghan was so gracious to let me stay at her house, and I even had my own room! 

I helped her babysit the spawn from hell for an afternoon and it was like one of those really bad nightmares that you can't wake up out of. After babysitting two year old Alfie the whole day we had to go and pick up the other boys at school. We show up and there are just a few parents lingering around outside waiting for the bell to ring. Everyone is calm and collected until "ding ding ding" and there's a mad dash of hundreds of kids who are all wearing the exact same thing plus a large brimmed hat to block out the scorching Aussie sun. I'm immediately panicked because the two year old has run off and I I have not a clue what the other boys look like. Meghan quickly introduces me to them and runs off to look for Alfie. I'm in a full sweat trying to keep tabs on the two other boys who had run outside, but to me they may have well been ants in a sea of spilt sugar. As I'm running around trying to find them I'm sifting through a kid who has completely dropped trou to sit in a fresh puddle, an abundance of booger picking, and frantic hand throwing screaming fits. I have a completely frazzled look on my face and am trying to scold these children who I haven't even been introduced to. in the meantime, Meghan comes back with a non Chalant look on her face with Alfies body perpendicular to hers as she has one arm wrapped around his mid section and his feet flailing in the air. Instant birth control right there!

Meghan had to leave for the week so I hung out at her apartment with her lovely boyfriend who was so gracious to allow me to stay there. I did a lot of exploring and figured out the bus and ferry systems in the city. Sydney reminded me of a more condensed version of San Francisco with its scenic views and ferry system. I explored the opera house, the botanic gardens, awesome shopping areas, art museums, the "ghetto" which was not really ghetto in the least considering I'm used to crack junkies breathing down my neck in San Francisco. I did a lot of cooking, running, and hiking along the beautiful bluffs. I took a bus out one day to the blue mountains, which is reminiscent to the Grand Canyon plus some incredible waterfalls. I hiked down into the canyon and back up while passing through old coal mines and the steepest railroad in the world!

My bus driver was obsessed with his microphone. He had a handheld mic, as well as a headset and I'm pretty sure he loved the sound of his own voice. I was drifting off to sleep and he turned on his mic saying "wakey wakey!!" To point out in detail the flowers that were in the surrounding area. His name was "jc" and he wore suspenders and kept making Jesus jokes that were weird and uncomfortable. Needless to say, it made the trip that much more enjoyable being able to laugh not with but at someone for an entire day. 

I got to Adelaide last friday and am staying with my roommate/friend from sf's family. I've met her mom before and they are both so so lovely. It's really comforting to be around parental figures at this point in my trip. I'm going through a really tough time right now and feel immensely better being around familiar faces. Clara's mom is a printmaker and art teacher and has an epic studio in her house dedicated to her work. Their house is adorable and reminds me of a diner from the 50's. part of their house used to be a deli back in the day...really cute and funky!

Clara's best friend Michael (who met angie in portugal a few years ago, then introduced us to clara who was only meant to stay at our house for a couple days...but we haven't let her leave and it's almost been 10 months!) has been showing me around and took me out the othernight for a night on the town. We stayed out until 5 am dancing and had so much fun. He is actually hilarious.  He has already planned my entire week for me and I really appreciate planners because I am not one whatsoever! 

Monday night I went to his family's Italian dinner, and they were all so nice and the lasagna was off the chain.  Monday we wet to wullunga beach which was picturesque, Tuesday we went to the pool and then out for Mexican food which was delicious, wednesday was quiz night with his radio station, and yesterday he took me to a cricket match.

Michael  has traveled for a year alone, and we've discussed the awkwardness of meeting or even just interacting with anyone in general and how your voice changes a few octaves and gets really awkward. We have a lot of things in common and have similar personalities-we both sniff Everything, hate when people talk about their dreams, and other pet peeves of the sort. He and Clara met in junior high and used to spend every night on the phone together while they watched the Simpsons. So cute! 

Clara's dad Tom took me to the local central market that immediately reminded me of mercado centrale in Florence Italy. Tons of different vendors selling all sorts of produce, cheese, and meats. I bought a bunch of stuff and made a thanksgiving meal for Tom and Olga last night. I didnt make anything super thanksgivingy because I could never do it well and it would probably just make me homesick in my ugly attempt. Tom bought kangaroo meat and I am anxious to give it a try. he's has been super nice in driving me around everywhere and I'm thinking its time for me to invest in a pair of rollerblades or a bike because I've decided to stay here for another week. 

I am "earning my keep" by putting together ikea furniture and making dinner for Olga and Tom. I am hoping they are not too upset with the fact that I'm staying longer then planned but I feel so at home here and am enjoying laughing and doing non touristy things. 

I went through a few days in sydey where I almost felt I was becoming invisible. The good thing about traveling alone is that you can kind of do whatever you'd like whenever you'd like. However, you have to be pretty intentional about reaching out to strangers if you desire any company. I'm pretty shy when I am meeting people so this is not easy for me at all, but its good for me to be forced out of my comfort zone. Luckily here in Adelaide I've been surrounded by gracious and hilarious people and barely a second goes by where I'm not communicating with someone. 

I'm happy, healthy, and well. Just trying to figure out how on earth I'm going to afford the rest of this trip. Hopefully I can find some light work I can do in New Zealand to help me out with some chump change. 

I've had requests to write more frequently which I will try to do! I really really appreciate all the emails, texts, and FaceTime from family and friends. Your smiling faces have been a Godsend. Please keep in touch!! See you all in exactly one month! 

Bali, Indonesia

Friday we left Thailand and moved on to Indonesia. We had a 6 hr layover in Singapore and decided since the visa was free to hop out of the airport for a nanosecond to see what all the hype was about.

I have to say, Singapore was just a big huge tray of assorted caviar in comparison  to the cluster of crap that had been flung at us in the days before. We all patched up our bruised and beaten scars, lathered our bodies in after sun burn spray and calamine lotion, got our rabies shots out of the way and reveled in exuberance for a half a day. Singapore was by far the most beautiful, well planned (you heard me irvine), most architecturally sound city I've ever seen. Every building was oddly shaped and decorated in an abundance of metal art installations and up-kept flowers and plants. I kept looking for one piece of trash and one little flurry of tackiness but I was at a loss. We asked our taxi driver for his advice on where to go and he said the Marina Bay Sands resort. I had not a clue where we were headed, and if you can believe it, when we approached I actually recognized the hotel from an email with photos my grandpa had sent me years ago. The email was a forward that highlighted the extremities of this hotel. 

It looked as though a arched cruise ship was plastered atop three buildings. I still can't figure out of the thing doesn't topple over. We were too frugal to invest in the $20 hike to the top because you could only walk around in a very small area. However, if you google it you'll see theres actually an infinity pool that trickles off the side of the high-rise. We walked around in the shops and checked out the casino (which was $100 to get into!) and I have to say, everything was rodeo drive X 5000. The mall had an indoor mini venice that ran through the interior, and there was an ice skating rink with faux ice (I don't even understand how it worked). We've been used to our $5/meal luxury, so a $19 veggie burger and fries was a bit of a shock. Nonetheless, I am so glad we decided to venture out and wander around the elegant city. My sister and brother used to think that I enjoyed checking out restrooms on road trips as a child when in actuality I just really had a small bladder. Maybe they were right about my fascination because I tend to find myself referencing restrooms quite a bit here. Compared to the bathrooms here that charge you according to whether you "urine", "motion", or "bathe" in a fly infested dung hole, the free and very swanky restrooms in Singapore were very impressive with their touch screen survey at the end asking to rate my experience (which was always of the highest caliber).

We finally got to Bali and were welcomed at our incredible hostel, the Island Hotel. It's adorably decorated and very welcoming. I'm currently on the top bunk of a 12 person unisex dorm room. I've never shared a hostel room with guys before and I have to say, waking up to intense eye contact coming from the bloke across my bunk space was weird and uncomfortable. I have to sleep in my chones because it's 100 degrees out and our A/C broke, so hopefully I'm not awkwarding anyone out. Sharing a bathroom with boys is also sort of weird, and I have become quite the germaphobe. I'm glad I didn't pack my blacklight.

Yesterday we hit up the local beach in Kuta where we're staying. Someone we met at our hostel overheard us talking about wanting to rent surfboards and told us he's been here a million times and has a friend who would lend us some. We followed his directions (left, right, left, straight) which were typical for Thailand, Lao, Cambodia, and Bali now as no street is really properly labeled. Miraculously we finally found Sam, a tan curly haired toehead indonesian who probably sleeps in kelp at night, that's how much he lives for surf. I immediately fell in love with the beach because it reminded me of the beach I grew up on every weekend in Newport. The water temp was perfect, the swell was beautiful, and the beaches were plentiful. We barely got out of the water the entire day.

I was sitting in the water where the waves were breaking, drinking a beer and zoning out when all of a sudden I looked down the way and saw a huge group of 12 year old kids on a field trip. I thought I was imagining things when I saw a few boys posing for photos behind me, until their teacher approached me and asked if it would be okay if I posed for a photo with the little boys. Immediately I felt like a slut and felt pretty weird about it. Drinking is not really kosher here due to the strict Hindu religion, nor is immodesty. Since we were on a surfer beach I didn't feel weird about being in my bathing suit. I knew they were wanting to take photos with me because I looked like the the big western ho they had seen in the movies, but that didn't stop me from throwing out my peace signs and pretending I was a celebrity for 5 minutes. Before I knew it I was posing with the entire middle school, plus all the teachers asked me if they could get one with me as well. Awkward while standing next to the lady in the burka! :)

At the end of the day when our skin was crispy and the sky was purple, we said our goodbyes to Sam, who asked us what we were up to the next day. We told him we wanted to go to Ubud, the countryside, for the day. "Perfect, I know just the person who can take you", he said in broken up english, and introduced us to "Bang Bang", the custom sunglass seller we had been trying to avoid on the beach all day. Bang Bang handed us his business card (which really did say "Bang Bang" on it) and told us he would be at our hostel at 930 am. They're very punctual on this side of the world and were here on the dot to pick us up. Our late night dancing and sweaty lack of sleep made it a difficult task to arise in the morning, but alas we were off to (do I dare say it again?) one of the top 5 most beautiful places I've ever been.

We stopped at an oasis of colorful terraced rice patties with surrounding palm trees, and then moved on to taste luwak coffee. On my flight over to Thailand I was watching a special on Indonesia and Luwak Coffee was highlighted so I already knew all about it. Luwaks are like a opossum mixed with a mongoose and they eat only the good coffee beans as well as other fruits in the area. They then rid themselves of the coffee that is collected by workers in the area. They look like little nutrageous bars and the coffee beans are not digested. They are peeled, cleaned, and roasted, then finely chopped by a stone and mortar. The amount of work that goes into the process was impressive. We taste tested the coffee and it was really good. I feel weird about calling poo coffee robust but it was very robust.

Sam and Bang Bang took us then to the mountains to a restaurant that overlooked a panoramic view of a volcano and more rice terraces on the horizon. We ate an all you can eat buffet of greasy delicious food and then headed to Tanah Lot which is a Hindu temple carved out of rock right on the beach. It was very therapeutic and relaxing to be there, and we drank and splashed holy water on our faces while the monk's blessed us by adorning our temple with pieces of rice and a plumeria bud behind our ear. 

Today we will try to find some good snorkeling and shop one last time before Lauren heads home tonight. She's bringing some of my stuff home so I'll have a lighter load on this trip. I'm really sad to see her go. Everyone questioned our ability to get along well for a month, and I think she and I chose eachother as friends back in junior high because we both were so drama free and couldn't handle the catty pre-pubescent teens that surrounded us. We have really worked really well together and my idea that I can't spend every waking breath with someone for more than a week has been shot. It's been over 730 hours where she has been in my vicinity and to be honest I love her more than ever! She has really put things in perspective for me and has helped me sift out my negative thoughts about myself and my future.  I'm learning that friendships and relationships are what you put into it...and having the faith that I have had to not just make this trip work, but to keep her as my best friend forever has made me forgive the stupid small stuff that isn't worth arguing over. 

In a couple days I'm moving on to Sydney and I'm excited to be able to see this awesome country but also I'm really excited to cook. I've eaten every meal out for over a month and I just want a home cooked meal! I'm staying with a friend from college, Meghan Long, who moved there after school. She was so gracious to let me stay there and I can't wait to see her. 

Koh tao, koh samui, koh Phagnan

Holy cow,  its been awhile. I can't believe we've already been here for a month. Time flies! We tallied up that we have spent about 100 hours or more thus far just traveling. Most of our bus trips have been tolerable and nothing to write home about but after days of a million bus transfers and bumpy commutes I just would love to be home for a second and be cold and sit by a fire eating squash soup. 

Last week we were awoken on our sleeper train by someone at 4 am saying "get off right now...you have 3 minutes!" We grabbed our bags and got off the bus 24 hours after straight travel. We were in a daze and it was pouring rain and pitch black and we were outside with our huge backpacks and skimpy pjs. We waited for another couple hours to catch the ferry and then hopped on board. When we stepped on board, we were directed to go into this room upstairs. I told the worker that I wanted to go downstairs and he said "no! you go upstairs!" As we were sitting there for awhile and the ferry starts moving, the employee comes up with a sign saying that we had to pay extra for the room we were sitting in. Being the cheap skate that I am, I said no way and pretended not to understand. When we worked it out it was $1, but it was the fact of the matter--and i wasn't feeding into any shady business schemes! What I didn't know is that my stupid idea would lead to the most miserable traveling experience I have ever been dealt.... Or maybe it was tied with our 8 hr windy bus ride where someone put their "cripple sticks" as Lauren called them in in carsick misery, (aka crutches) in our foot space. 

We got kicked out to the upper deck and at first it was very refreshing and nice. Within minutes the sky opened up and there was a torrential downpour. We had nowhere to go and sat out in the rain for 3 hours while the bullet water pelted our skin to death. The storm was like something you would expect in the Bermuda Triangle, and immediately my face was green and blue as the ocean. The weather reminded me a lot of the intro to gilligans island. Pure chaos. I was so worried that my spew wouldn't quite make it from my stomach into the ocean because the ferry was so rocky that we were gripping the guard rail for our lives and at times could practically hang from it. The boat that was once full of excited travelers turned almost instantly to barf fest 2012. 

I turned around, and my eyes were so heavily blurred from the rain that I could only make out shapes and outlines of things. I saw a figure coming toward me with sea leg syndrome and full squirrel cheeks. I grew up with a brother who got motion sickness driving down the street to the market, so I knew what those full cheeks indicated instantly and as my mom would say "i got the hell outta dodge". i slid risky business style quickly enough to escape most of the debris that was blown by the heavy winds back into the boat. 

After several  hours the boat was silent, travelers were no longer happy, and the majority of people looked like they had legitimately been beaten with a crowbar. our clothes were so wet that we may as well have entered a wet t shirt contest. We both chose white tanks that day and nothing was left to anyone's imagination. We couldn't go back into the air conditioned room because our jaws were already chattering like we were in the arctic sea, so we sat in a ball and clung tight to the rail until we reached land. 

We finally made it to koh Tao which was our favorite of the Thai islands we've visited so far. It reminded me a lot of Kauai, Hawaii...super lush and filled with small villages and bamboo huts. Our hotel was right on the crystal clear calm beach that was lined with restaurants and bars that we walked barefoot to at night. 

We moved over to koh samui, which was much more touristy, commercial, and heavily westernized. We took a cooking class and made soup, our own curry, and lemongrass chicken nuggets. Every dish was very elaborate with its ingredients, and I could honestly probably never recreate the meals, but they were delicious and very authentic anyway.

At night time we had planned to go to a Muay Thai boxing match, which is really popular over here. We walked to the stadium but when we got there we decided it was too expensive and walked back. On our stroll home we passed a bunch of beautiful showgirls and were flabbergasted when one of the fully busty women opened her mouth and spoke in a deep raspy man voice. The group of lady boys beckoned us to come to their show, which was free minus the fact that they forced $12 beers down our throats. I would say it was pretty well worth the money. We saw a Whitney Houston show, the dream girls, Madonna, Christina aguilara..and the list continues. Pure hilarity.

The next day we hit up the beach. Lauren sipped on a couple mojitos while I took a long 2 hr walk. When I got back she convinced me that we needed to get henna tattoos. As if henna wasn't already pretty lame, I talked her into getting Popeye the sailor man on her arm. It was the easiest I've ever had to work to convince someone todo anything. I laughed hysterically while I watched her struggle uncomfortably in regretting her Popeye decision. The henna will not come off for 2 weeks, so it's been a very interesting conversation starter. 

I was really excited to get over to koh phagnan for the full moon party. Another one of my  best friends, Angie, met us here and I was so so so excited to see her. I screamed like a cheerleader and jumped up ans down like i had just won the lottery when she walked in the door. She's so great and positive and just very easy going and fun to be around. Unfortunately we all got rocked on koh phagnan, and I felt so bad for Angie for having to start her vacation with so many little hiccups. 

The morning of my birthday we rented motor bikes and had an amazing day. We happened across a safari place with elephants and we decided to stop and feed them some bananas. The girls had gone over to the elephants and something caught my eye in my periphery. I thought it was a cat tied on a leash because it made really weird meowy noises. I went over to investigate and saw that it was a baby monkey. No. Freaking. Way. Lauren was starting to get overwhelmed by the amount of time I spent dedicated to trying to find a monkey to hold. I went through a phase in my life where I asked for an orangutan every consecutive year for about 5 years from Santa. its been a lifetime dream of mine to hold one. The monkey climbed up  on my shoulder and tried taking my sunglasses and then I grabbed a newborn puppy that was wandering around and presented it to the monkey who gently pet the puppy and picked at his ears. Cuteness overload!

The monkey was cute but very erratic. He was so calm and falling asleep while we cuddled him, and then all of a sudden would get this disturbed, possessed look in his eye and would purse his lips uncontrollably. His eye contact was humanely frightening and it gave me no choice but to throw the monkey out of attack distance. It took us awhile to recognize that his crazy eyes meant he was about to leap on your head and bite your hand off. He liked crawling inside angies purse and playing with our cell phones, and if you ever took something away from him he would freak out. He bit all of us but really liked nibbling on Lauren's skin. I looked over and he had his teeth sunken into her skin and was spasming his head back and forth from side to side like how a lion would rip apart its prey. Lauren's reaction was shockingly non existent, but the blood was enough to let us know that it was probably time to move away from the monkey. I have never giggled so consistently for the amount of time that we did. It was just so enjoyable and we laughed at its every move until he turned into a little satan gremlin furby.

The owner loved us and gave us a tour of the facilities. He was the craziest guy I've ever met. He brought out a few cobras and kissed a king cobra on the head. He swallowed two scorpions and coughed them up, had a centipede bite his arm (which he said he's done every day for 10 years or something crazy). His arm was filled with scars from all the animals that had bitten him. The king cobra attacked him one time and he told us he had 20 minutes to get to a hospital before he would die. It was crazy to be feet from this angry hissing snake that could attack at any time. I asked why the cobra hasn't attacked him again and he said its because he and the cobra are friends now. He took us into the crocodile cage where we watched him feed chicken to. Those things sound like engines when they're mad!!

We continued on and ate lunch at a restaurant on the ocean and threw off our clothes to take a dip. We took Lauren to the hospital on our way back to get a rabies shot and when we walked in the doctor asked what was wrong and she goes, "yea um, I was bitten by a monkey?" We all just burst out into laughter and couldn't ever imagine saying this ever again in our lives. Lauren was intent on getting a rabies shot, partly because she read a bunch of articles that said you can catch gonorreah and other stds from monkeys and that sounded pretty unappetizing to her, which I thought was completely plausible. 

We had an excellent day and the workers at the restaurant went out and bought me a cake when they found out it was my bday. I was handed some pretty heavy news that night that i am trying to not allow ruin my trip but I am physically and mentally exhausted and pretty homesick. Luckily I have the best friends I could ever ask for and I was so lucky that they were here for me because I really don't know what I would have done without them. We went to this full moon party that we had planned our trip around and I had a breakdown as soon as we got there and  Had to leave. The girls were so great and were happy to be there for me to talk me through my troubles. When we got home we were locked out and the concierge was no longer awake. We all thought the other person had the key because we had a major misunderstanding. Therefore we had to sleep outside. I couldn't sleep so I walked down the beach and watched the stagnant ocean water the entire night until the sun rose.

Angie noticed her credit card was missing and so we took our motorbikes out again and went looking for it. She crashed her motorbike and her $6/24 hr retail turned into quite a hefty fine for all the damage. Luckily she came out with just a few scratches on her body so it could have been much worse. What I love about Angie is that no matter what crap is handed to her, she always creates something positive out of the situation. She has been such an amazing travel companion and I really strive to be like her and think more positively and look for the good in every situation. When the company told her what the damage would cost she said enthusiastically, "it's actually perfect because I have that exact amount of money in my savings account. I'll just use that!!" Gosh what a trooper. 

We were all just so emotionally and physically beaten to the ground that we decided a box of franzia and some French bread and Brie would be the only things that would brighten our day. We sat out by the pool with our two piece plastic wine glasses with detachable stems, and didn't give a care about anything around us. We cannonballed, raced each other down the length of the pool, and thn would run into the ocean that was the same temp I would take a bath in. We swam out to a shanty fishing boat and laid out on it until the sun set. 

Given the circumstances of the day, we turned a pretty horrible day for everyone into one of the best I've had since I've been here. I love that I can be myself around these girls and say whatever I want without judgement or weirdness. 

We ran into our New Zealand friends today in Thailand  who we met in Lao. The girls were so nice and I was glad we got to see them again! This has happened several times now where we will run into the same people over and over again in different countries. Our favorite was this Australian guy who stubbed his toe and said a very explicit but strange series of words while he hopped on one foot in agony. We quote him all the time, although we don't know his name. We randomly ran into him on the streets in Bangkok after weeks of traveling.

I am really concerned about what I'm doing when I get back. I had a pretty clear idea of my plan and that plan is no longer an option, so now I am very concerned about which city I will move back to and what I will do for a living. I can't help but worry incessantly all day about my life back home and I went from feeling very content to deathly afraid of the future that lies ahead of me. I am trying to stick out the rest of my trip and I'm hoping I can get past this speed bump.  

Angie brought me a new iPhone so if you want to iMessage you can text me without fees. I lost all my contacts ive had for 10 years so if you could please email me or text me your number it would be greatly appreciated. Email is allison.sebek@gmail.com. Can you believe that for how spacey i am ive never lost my phone in 10 years? Also, we are all posting photos on Instagram so if you want to check out what we are doing you can follow us at @alliseb @laurenkaci @angie_oh

Tomorrow morning we are flying to Indonesia. I'll try to update this more frequently but we have just been on the go like nobody's business. Indo will be more relaxing and I'm pretty excited to move on!

Sent from my iPhone

ANKGOR WHAT?

We moved on to Vientiane, which I can't say was anything special. Perhaps the bar was set extremely high with our first stop in Laos being beautiful Luang Prabang. Vientiane was extremely humid, desolate, and very underdeveloped. Every building we saw was unfinished, and there was trash strewn about the poverty stricken town. We visited their main attraction, which translated to "Arc d' Triomphe" in Lao. We hiked to the top and after blowing a load of sweat, made our way down. We found it hilarious that the sign at the bottom read "this monument is even less impressive up close"---I really appreciated the honesty. 

We crashed out super early and woke up at the crack of dawn to catch our flight to Phnom Penh in Cambodia. We were really "weirded out" that our ATM spit out US Dollars upon arrival. Everything is priced in US dollars and we aren't really even sure why the Riel is still used. The USD is preferred, but when you pay in dollars they give you change in Riel. Bogus! We walked probably 7 miles around town and it is by far the most humid city I've ever been to. We felt very interrogated by every store or taxi driver we walked past--"lady, you wan tuk tuk??" "hello? Tuk tuk lady?"---and it was hard to be friendly, but we had to keep reminding ourselves that we were in one of the poorest countries in the world, and work is hard to come by. 

Our friend, Ramon, was sitting in our hotel lobby early morning Friday waiting for us to awake to ask if he could take us around town for the day (just a little example of how persistant they are!) At first he quoted $158 (so specific!) and I said "no way!" to which he immediately came down to $25 each. His Tuk Tuk (think a golfcart attached to a motorbike) drove at about 10 MPR in the bike lane while other trucks and bikers honked their way past us. 

Ramon took us in the little engine that could to S21, a high-school-turned-prison camp that was during the late 70's run by Pol Pot and his communist Khmer Rouge regime. It was extremely horrific and surreal to be standing in a blood stained jail cell that once belonged to an innocent civilian who either died there or was taken to the killing field outside the city where their life was brutally ended. We walked through room after room of torture rooms, cells, and chambers dedicated solely to displaying photos of the inmates.

The photos were taken when each Cambodian entered the prison. They had a number attached to a placard that was hung around their neck, and most of their faces were expressionless. Some of them looked horrified, and others even had a little smirk on their face. It seemed as though most of them had not a clue what their future held. I studied these photos with detail and could almost relive the horror that took place within the walls I stood inside. It was shocking afterward to be driven to the killing field, and coming face to face with skulls belonging to people who's faces I had just seen in those images.

Ramon insisted on taking us to a shooting range before our stop at the killing field. We were driven down a sketchy rocky alley way and pulled into a gated area, where we were met by a man in military garb who shut the gate behind us. He showed us a list of different guns we could shoot....AK47s, tommy guns, shotguns, grenades, etc. I have to say, it wasn't our first time at a shooting range together, but it felt very wrong to be shooting rounds before going to a scene where a horrific mass crime took place-so we left AK47less without hesitation.

When we arrived to the killing field it was eerily silent except for the laughing and screaming coming from the playground next door.We walked around with our guided audio tour for the next couple of hours and walked through the horrific mass graves. Every time it rains, more human remains are revealed and excavated...it seems to be never ending. All over the ground were pieces of  shredded clothing from prisoners that were slowly becoming unearthed. The tour ended with a 17 story stupa that housed skulls and bones that had been excavated over the years.

It was so tragic to see first-hand the evil doings of such a corrupt communist government, and it was especially strange because it didn't happen all that long ago. the Cambodian government was just starting to slowly be rebuilt and re-established when I was an infant, and is still slowly advancing to this day. War is awful, but a purposeless war against your own people is just unfathomable to me. I don't get how power can make people do such heinous things. Knowing that most of the people responsible are still alive and haven't even been tried yet is simply disheartening. 

We moved on to Siem Riep yesterday and went temple trekking at sunrise this morning around Angkor Wat today. I had no idea what to expect as I self-admittedly didn't do much research before hand. To say the least, I was flabbergasted. I feel like I keep saying this but it was the coolest thing I've ever seen. We went to about 6-10 different temples, all of which were built around the 12th-15th century. The amount of detail in the bas reliefs and sculpture were incredible and I couldn't believe it was all carved into stone. For the period in which it was built, without the use of modern technology, I was stunned to learn that Angkor Wat only took about 40 years to build. Especially considering the scrawniness of the Cambodian people today, it's hard to imagine these tiny people having the strength to build such a wonder hundreds of years ago.  The temples were created by Hindus, overtaken by Buddhists, and then seized by the Khmer at some point. We saw a lot of Hindu symbols that were changed to Buddhist symbols and then were either defaced or stolen by the evil Khmer.

It was cool too because Lauren and I were off at temples completely alone in the middle of the jungle, climbing up all sorts of stones and cliffs. In the US there is NO WAY this would fly. too many liabilities and a plethora of stupid idiots that would sue if they tripped over their stupid clumsy feet. I counted at least 45 different ways I could die and no one would ever know if I was alone. Open trenches, crumbly ceilings, steep ancient stairways (that we raced up to the top) where you would actually break your neck with one mis-step. Upon our super hot 10th temple or whatever it was, Lauren and I found ourselves at one point unknowingly zoning and staring off into the distance. I was thinking to myself, "wow, this is the most incredible thing I've ever seen but I'm so hot and ready to go home". It was like Lauren lived in my brain....after about two minutes of dead silence she turns to me and goes, "TEMPLED OUT!" I'm glad we were on the same page.

Cambodia has been very interesting with some comical interactions. Nobody really speaks english here, so our charades have improved by the ten fold. We went to a restaurant yesterday and I ordered a coffee. When they brought it out it was super strong so I asked for some milk. The server came back saying what I thought was "we only have breast milk". After turning that away out of disgust, Lauren was weirded out that I was so weirded out, and finally I came to realize he had said "we only have FRESH milk". Stuff like that happens quite often but it makes things more interesting.

Lauren was attacked by a little kid (probably 7 years or so) who grabbed her arm and told her he wouldn't let go until she bought him a meal. He took us into a 7-11 and put baby formula on the counter for her to buy. We saw a lot of young children carrying newborn babies in slings while their parents were off working. I was hit a couple weeks ago in Laos when we got off the boat. I had a big bag of snacks and was completely attacked by little boys who stole all of my shwag. I got so hungry later and was really missing my seaweed and chips but obviously they needed it more than I did.  I can't stress how poor this country is...people BEG you every 4 feet for something, and negotiating is very easy. I bought a hand woven blanket from a woman who told me it was $30 and I pitched $15 and it was immediately sold to me. It's really sad to see the state of this country, and I am so grateful for the life I have back in the States. As confused and directionless as I may be now, I know that I have the support and love of many, and the foundation to do great things when I return.

Walking around in this country has made me very thankful for the things that I do have...and those things are very simple. Public toilets with actual seats that don't charge a fee for you squat over a hole with other people's piss all over the ground, running water, trash cans, being able to eat ice cubes/water without having to spew (in piss soaked public toilets), toilet paper and soap available in every restroom, A/C, bug free-ness, etc. 

We are simply disgusted by the lack of sanitation here. I consider myself to be anything but a germ-a-phobe...maybe even a "dirt bag" as my dad calls me...

However, when a server comes up to your table and blows a snot rocket out the window while you're eating your soup that he just brought you, it may ruin your appetite (and the ambiance). It was a truck stop so I forgave him. We got a massage yesterday in a nice spa that was really cheap, and before we sat down I went to the bathroom. There was no running water or soap to wash my hands, which made my stomach a little turbulent knowing that our masseuses were likely rubbing poo lotion all over our faces and bodies. 

There are absolutely no traffic laws here. As Lauren described it, "If you zone out and un focus your eyes, the cars and motorbikes kind of look like ants that don't know where they're going". We've seen families of 5 on a tiny motorbike-Dad driving, and two sons sandwiched between a mother carrying her newborn in a sling. We've seen people hauling large ladders, glass windows, mattresses, and bikes. Everyone owns a motorbike and you can go whatever way you want on the street...and pedestrians do NOT have the right of way. 

I sound very negative in my descriptions but really everything (minus the snot and dirtiness) has been really incredible here. We feel very safe, so all you worriers can put your little panicky brains back where they belong. Plus, I have mace and some other learned jui-jitsu moves that I was taught before the trip. I never feel unsafe with the base kid, and these little scrawny asians have nothing on us.