Life update!

Well, it certainly has been a while since I have posted anything of quality (besides pictures) let alone a blog. I'm going through a huge life change in terms of my direction and where I want to go/not go. I have decided that traveling is the life for me and I'm going make it my full time job. The cool part about that decision is that traveling means all types of places and locations, including the US. Which means I'll hopefully be coming home for longer periods of time and I'll be able to time my trips by my schedule and not by someone elses.

A new addition for a new life direction. A momento of my time in Asia as it is a traditional bamboo tatoo and also a tribute to my mom. 

I'm trying to be smart about this decision, I know it's a hard lifestyle but I can't be more excited about it. This means that I'll be living a minimalist existence for the next few years, taking jobs where I can find them to fund my travels until they can start paying for themselves. Any support is gladly appreciated (an email or response to a blog saying good job or I miss you is what I really want). 

Kanabachuri, Thailand. A beautiful waterfall and hike combo.

This blog, I will be keeping updated for those that want to know what is happening in my personal life. It will be more personalized to me and my current locations. I recently started up a new blog/website that will be my primary focus for the next year or two, building/growing it as much as humanly possible. Adrian's Travel Tales is the name, once it is live, I'll put a link to that site for those that wish to follow there. 

Celebrating with a very large, blue beverage at a local market in Bangkok called On Nut Market. Thank you Caroline and Marcus for the wonderful introduction to Thailand. 

Anyways, that's the update. I'll be posting another personal blog here in the new day or so, giving you a glimpse into Thailand and my month here, wow! Time flies. Love to everyone! 

-Adrian Ann 

The best way to travel in Southeast Asia

Plane, train, sleeper bus, tuk-tuk, motos, bus and cars. There are so many modes of transportation here in Southeast Asia and they are all so special in their own right. Here is a breakdown of the pros and cons of each. 

Plane - Pros: Fast, on time (normally/ish), easily acessible. Cons: Expensive, normally outside of main areas of town and full of barangs (western people).

Train - Pros: Fast, on time, great people watching. Cons: More expensive, limited hours of service, limited locations. 

Sleeper Bus - Pros: Cheap, easily booked, saves money on lodging (overnight buses). Cons: Somewhat uncomfortable, only fits people about 5'10" and shorter, some Lao sleeper buses are doubles so if you're a single rider, you'll be sleeping next to a random person, slower.

Tuk-tuk - Pros: Very easy to find, cheaper (watch getting charged the "Barang Price"), exciting people and traffic watching. Cons: Bigger so they can take longer, overcharging drivers, easy to get belongings stolen. 

Motos - Pros: Fast, cheap, easily found. Cons: Life threatening driving experiences, not for long distances. 

Bus - Pros: Cheap, they will go all over and stop anywhere, easily accessible, full of nice locals. Cons: A million and a half stops for random people getting on and off, longer times, crowded at times. 

Cars (personal or taxi) - Pros: fast, easily booked, can go anywhere and at anytime, direct door to door service. Cons: Expensive, longer times if a lot of traffic (in city), crowded at times if you put 4-5 people plus bags in a car. 

All are amazing experiences though, very entertaining from watching locals and all they can fit into a tuk tuk/moto/car to watching Barangs that don't know how to travel. It's a humbling and growing experience I truly suggest for everyone! 

Cambodia - An outsiders view of the most beautiful place on Earth

At first, it's hard to see the beauty of Cambodia. Landing at Phnom Penh International Airport and getting into a Tuk-Tuk on the way to your house, apartment, hotel or guesthouse. The ride is bumpy, dusty, loud and life threatening at time. Hopefully you end up at your destination with all your belongings still in your possession. The sights along the way are wonderous and almost indescribable. From 6 people fit on one moto, to a moto with a plethora of live chickens hanging upside down to beggars on the side of the road (some selling flowers and others just begging). 

 

Walking around the city, you'll see colonial buildings with beautiful architecture next to shacks that are 10' by 10' and house 10+ people. Markets hustling and bustling with locals buying their daily ration of vegetables, walking around heaps garbage left because the garbage collectors have been on strike for a few weeks. 

 Why, then, you might ask, is it the most beautiful place one Earth? 

Simple, it's the people. The nicest people you've ever met. The strength that they show, rebuilding their nation after the devistating Khmer Rouge regime, and the smiles they have for everyone. A helpful spirit that shows in their everyday actions, from pushing stuck buses off the road to giving alms to the monks, even though they hardly have enough to eat themselves, to stopping traffic to let the elderly pass the road. Old men that invite barangs (western people) to drink with them, even though there's hardly a common language. 

I have struggled when trying to write about Cambodia because it's such a beautiful and heartbreaking place. The beaches and historical sights are unbelievable. 

   

It's all an amazing experience that I just sit and wonder at how I am lucky enough to live here. There are amazing people here, from the local Khmer to the Barangs I call my friends. 

The hardest part about writing this is just getting started so hopefully we'll see more of these posts about my experiences around the country and Southeast Asia in general. :)

Dinosaurs lay eggs out of their butts…What?

I was gracefully informed, by a 7 year old today, that dinosaurs lay eggs out of their butt. Along with this revelation, he stood up and pointed to his rear end to show me exactly where he thought they came from. He said this is almost a questioning fashion and I, frankly, had no response for him. I was trying not to laugh out loud at the amazingness of the question. First of all, we weren't even talking about reproduction of dinosaurs, we were talking about fossils. Somehow, in his tiny Cambodian brain, he leapt to the fact that dinosaurs lay eggs and apparently they come out of dinosaurs butts.

As a new teacher to this class, I strove to keep my calm and politely answer this child without getting into the mechanics where eggs actually come from. Not a conversation that is appropriate for a 2nd grade class, nor should they be learning the facts of life in their second (or in some cases 3rd) language. As I have been thinking about this for the past few hours, I have also decided that I am still way too immature to explain the birds and the bees to anyone, I giggle when someone says "duty" still. 

When answering his question, after a dead silent 30 seconds where everyone, including my 25 year old Khmer Teaching Assistant, was eagerly waiting for my reply, I vaguely nodded and said, "uh-huh." This is the first blatant lie I have told my students and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I mean, I'm building up Christmas and the magic of Santa for all its worth (I have to reassure my students Santa is INDEED real and he can see every time they cheat off each other's papers) but I believe that is part of childhood that needs to be lived by all. How do you explain where dinosaur eggs come from? Seriously,…. How? Question for the ages… or in this case, for a seven year old, and a 27 year old teacher out of her depth with that particular question.

 

 

Bucket List - Before 40

What is a bucket list? Many make bucket lists to do before they die. I decided to make a list for before I turn 40. I've got a plethora of time before the due date so my bucket list has been growing exponentially every time I look at it.

HOWEVER, things have been getting slowly crossed off. Yesterday was one of my most exciting bucket list cross offs so far. Riding a scooter is a fun experience no matter what, but riding a scooter through Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh no less, is supposed to be one of the more exhilarating places. My dear friend Cassandra has been letting me stay with her here in HCMC. We had a fun time, including riding through the busiest roundabout in the world, just seeing downtown Ho Chi Minh.

 

The things on my list range from visiting a certain place to a certain country to a certain experience to eating certain food or certain beverages in certain places. Jungles in Laos, Mongolia, Pho in Vietnam, Italian cooking class in Italy, wine in France. Some events get partially checked off, such as visiting all 7 continents. Some create permanent memories, a traditional tattoo in Thailand or China. Others will be over in only seconds, bungee jumping off a hot air balloon.  

Some are physical, dancing Argentine tango in Buenos Aires, some are mental, reading 52 books in one year, and some are emotional, visiting Auschwitz. Some require planning, getting my PhD. Some require me not to think, experiencing the real Oktoberfest.

All in all, it’s a goal to work towards. A never ending, always moving goal to make sure I am always challenging myself. The end goal, checking everything off, is not the most important thing. The important thing is to experience each thing to the fullest. Not rush to the next event but appreciate where I am and have something to always be looking forward to.

What Super Typhoons have taught me

How Do You Find a Super Typhoon?

I have found, in my limited experience, that Typhoons are not to be messed with and are kind of an inconvenience. They disrupt school, work, the government and most annoyingly, my travel plans.

So far in 2013, there have been exactly 2 super typhoons that have been in Asia (since I've arrived). Where have they hit? They have hit Hong Kong (in September) and they will hit Vietnam (tomorrow).

Where was I? I was in Hong Kong in September and I am currently in Vietnam. Each time, they have changed my plans in regards to what I want to do. Not that this is a bad thing, but it is kind of ridiculous. However, in staying in Hong Kong, I was able to really evaluate my feelings on Taiwan and that helped me decided to move away. Here in Vietnam, I've had to change and delay a few plans because of the impending storm.

As my wonderful friends have pointed out, they seem to follow me around when I am traveling.

So I've come to the conclusion that I need to stop worrying and planning and just go with the flow. I have always had a tendency to worry and fret. I've been making a conscious effort to stop worrying as much and these typhoons have given me the chance to practice.

I can't control the weather, I can't control anything else (for the most part) and trying to makes me feel unaccomplished. So instead of trying to control other things, I focus on controlling myself, my worry, and it has made all the world. Life is a lot more relaxing when you stop worrying. This doesn't mean that I don’t worry about anything, but I've stopped worrying about the things that are truly out of my control. I do what I can to make myself ready for whatever comes but worrying about 'what if' isn't a healthy place to be.

Now, this has been quite frustrating for some friends and family because I always say 'No worries.' It's not that I don't care about impending storms that might be deadly, or whether or not I get my deposit back from a landlord, or if I safely make it through a night of drinking in a new city. It's that I set myself up, as much as I can, for success and realize that is all I can do about it. I can't live my life in fear of what might happen and not do things because what might happen. I don't put myself in stupid situations (i.e. traveling to Central Vietnam where the Super Typhoon is about to hit) but I also don't sit inside of a padded room. 

Live life, love life and have fun!

How I became a Millionaire… Overnight! 3 easy steps

 

Step One

Move to Asia

 

Step Two

Have $100 USD

 

Step 3

Exchange it to Vietnam Dong

 

PRESTO - $2,000,000 (VD)

As I exchanged my money and received over 12 million Dong, I was a bit flabbergasted at what to do with it all. My first instinct was to change it all into the smallest bills possible and then roll around in it all. Granted, that is very materialistic but how many people can say they've rolled around in millions of dollars. Most are worried about not losing their money so it's all safely locked up in a vault somewhere.

My trip was an amazing experience, from Taiwan to the Philippines to Vietnam. As someone mentioned, "crows fly in a straight line…… Adrian… Not so much" *cough Robb cough.* I do have a tendency to take the long way around, but it always leads to great experiences. This time, I sleeping in an airport lounge that I was physically escorted to and physically stopped from leaving until it was 'time.'

 

 

Again, a story for another time.

This post is about money, and how numbers are really meaningless. So far, I've been in places that 1USD is equal to 8 Hong Kong Dollars, 29 New Taiwanese Dollars, 4000 Cambodian Riel and 20,000 Vietnamese Dong. I can't wait to find out what it's like in Laos, Thailand and other Asian nations. Growing up, I always thought being a millionaire is the ultimate goal in life. Money, while not all important certainly makes life easier. And the magic number to me was always $1,000,000.

Now, as an adult, 1 million doesn't seem as much anymore. Even USD. Granted, I have nowhere near that much money. Actually I'm closer to a million dollars in debt than I am in savings (thank you school loans). That being said, money doesn't mean as much as it did when I was a kid. Maybe it's because I'm on my own, not depending on my wonderful parents for everything I need in the world. Maybe it's because I've see how I can live on very little, compared to what I did in the US, and I'm just as happy if not happier. Maybe it's because I have seen people in SE Asia (Cambodia for starters) that live on less in 2 years than then amount of money I spent in one weekend in New Orleans for a bachelor/bachelorette party last year.

It's not about the money anymore. It’s about the people, it's about the experiences I have, it’s about making each day count to the fullest. Today I am a millionaire. Tomorrow, who knows? The only thing I'm sure of is, today I'm happy. I'm happy because of where I am, what I am doing, who I have supporting me (emotionally) and the hope I have for what tomorrow will bring.  

Next step in the Epic Journey of Life

My first blog, where to even start?

I have decided I should blog for a multitude of reasons. The person that told me I need to start blogging (and I actually listened to her) is someone that I haven't known for long but I really admire. She had the strength to move abroad to China when she was 27 years old (like me) and has made an amazing life out of traveling, loving and experiencing the world. She has lived through the experiences that I worry about the most, from losing a loved one back home, to meeting her soul mate, to finding a path in life that allows her to follow her passions. I have thought, many times, "WOW" I want to do that. And she kicked me in the pants, as we were having dinner on my last Wednesday night in Taipei. "Why not?" She asked.

"Why not?"

It's funny because that's the answer I give to so many people, all the time, when they ask why live abroad, why live in Asia, why leave a life that you loved with friends and family that are amazing.... Why not?! Well, she threw the same question back at me and after mulling it over for a week, I decided... well... ok. Nothing to stop me, no reason to start but no reason not to start.

So here it is, my personal blog about living in the world, experiencing each moment and reminding myself that I love my life. I loved it in Seattle, WA, I loved it in Cambodia, I love it now here in Taiwan (even though it got off to a rocky start here on this island paradise). I have exactly 24 hours left in Taiwan before I leave for the next step in my adventure.

My next post will be about my experience here.... but that's to be saved for another day (or time when I'm sitting at the airport with nothing but homework to do.. Because we all know that creating a blog is much more important than homework for my masters degree!)