We all knew the fairy tale had to come to an end at some point, but you can't say we didn't live it up the past 14 months. What a whirlwind of adventures we've had! Big thanks to all of you who've graciously followed us on this wacky experience of a lifetime. It surely has been one wild ride.David and I flew "home" May 10 after five great weeks in New Zealand. Our consolidator wrangled us a free stopover in Fiji, which was great despite rain the bulk of the time. It didn't stop us from downing bottles of Fiji Bitter, playing cards on our balcony, and snorkeling when the sun did appear for brief stints. We had to fly to LAX next to catch an SF flight, but that was fine with us. For the first time ever, it was comforting to see the City of Angels, if only for a few hours.
We enjoyed eight nights in Fiji, branching out of our Western-catered resort to attend a Fijian Methodist church service in the village. We always make an effort to hang with the locals as much as possible, and Fiji was no exception. It reminded us a lot of Kenya, with its 
beautiful jungles, third-world villages, and wonderfully kind people. As luck would have it, one of the girls from church also works at our resort, and she later invited us to a kava ceremony at her father's house. Her sister and brothers were there, along with her dad (who lived in the Bay Area...go figure) and all of the subsequent kids/grandkids. Too cute! We brought gifts for the family, then got down to business. Kava tastes pretty nasty but it gives you a good, mellow buzz. It also, if you drink enough of it, forces you to visit the jungle outhouse, which--thanks to the resident stinkbug on the wall and toad on the floor--wasn't my favorite part of the night, but the warmth of these folks quickly overshadowed that dicey part.
beautiful jungles, third-world villages, and wonderfully kind people. As luck would have it, one of the girls from church also works at our resort, and she later invited us to a kava ceremony at her father's house. Her sister and brothers were there, along with her dad (who lived in the Bay Area...go figure) and all of the subsequent kids/grandkids. Too cute! We brought gifts for the family, then got down to business. Kava tastes pretty nasty but it gives you a good, mellow buzz. It also, if you drink enough of it, forces you to visit the jungle outhouse, which--thanks to the resident stinkbug on the wall and toad on the floor--wasn't my favorite part of the night, but the warmth of these folks quickly overshadowed that dicey part.
New Zealand surpassed my expectations and then some. We scored a killer deal on a rental car and toodled around both the South and North Islands for 32 days. WOW! Highlights were swimming with dolphins (amazing!), hiking to the foot of Mt. Cook (the country's highest peak), strolling around the lake in Wanaka, cruising the Milford Sound, and soaking up Maori culture in Rotorua.Sadly I fell off a horse in Glenorchy just as we were preparing to
gallop up to the lookout where Aragorn and the gang hung out while filming a good chunk of Lord of the Rings. Oh well...at least nothing was broken (and the pics are beautiful). I suffered a nasty contusion on my left hip and thigh that still has me limping today. It put a damper on much of our adventure plans for NZ, but once I hit the sheep show in Rotorua while David did the more physically demanding morning of sledging, I was in hog heaven and forgot all about the injury...for a time. We all know how much I love animals!
Australia wasn't our favorite for reasons I won't ramble on about here, but the body surfing was killer (to coin a phrase from my UCLA days), and we spent most of our time at the beaches between Brisbane and Sydney. And yes, we held the requisite koala and even fed a few kangaroos (domesticated ones, that is). And I have to admit that seeing the Sydney opera house and harbor in person was pretty special.Prior to arriving in Oz via Singapore on a raucous redeye to Brisbane that left us too drunk to rent a car (no joke), we spent 10 glorious days back in Bali, where we'd visited in 2005. Our attempts to get to Lombok failed as storms persisted and we opted to kick it in Ubud versus brave the rough seas for the chance at idyllic life on the Gili Islands. We were so glad we did, as many of the old memories came flooding back 
from our earlier days there. We even reconnected with a hotel staffer from our 2005 stay who made the effort to visit us at our current guesthouse. We were treated like family at our new pad, got $5 massages almost daily, ate great food, did a colonic, hiked around the villages and rice paddies, and soaked up some sun at our pool. We made many new friends this time around and hope to return in the future to further our explorations of this magical island and culture.
from our earlier days there. We even reconnected with a hotel staffer from our 2005 stay who made the effort to visit us at our current guesthouse. We were treated like family at our new pad, got $5 massages almost daily, ate great food, did a colonic, hiked around the villages and rice paddies, and soaked up some sun at our pool. We made many new friends this time around and hope to return in the future to further our explorations of this magical island and culture.It's been wild to be back in the States, but at least the culture shock has been kept at a minimum due to our spending the last two months in Australia and New Zealand. The former has all of the things we dislike about America; the latter is a hidden treasure we don't want to share with anyone :-)
We enjoyed five short days in San Francisco (much to the chagrin of our good friends), taking in a Giants game (Americana at its best!) the morning after our U.S. return. We were still a bit jetlagged but cheered on our home team regardless. It was quite emotional to rise for the national anthem, something we hadn't done or heard in a really long time. It felt good that day to be an American, which wasn't always the case when we were traveling.We moved on to visit our good friends Cathy and Hashem, also in the City, who graciously hosted us for four more nights. We spent long evenings eating good food, drinking yummy wine, and telling stories. Hashem graduates tomorrow from SF State with a broadcasting degree, and we wish him well on his quest for his first news reporting job. He and Cathy are very dear to us, and we just hope Hashem's new career doesn't send him to South Dakota for too long a stint. We envision great things for them both.
Seeing as David's 40th conveniently landed during our first week back, we made it to Vegas last Thursday in our car (fresh out of storage) to celebrate in grand style. What better way to reintroduce yourself to American culture than to hit the land of plenty where everything is bigger, better, and glitzier than the rest. Of course, I jest. But the contrast was an interesting one, and we had a blast! Didn't win back any trip expenses (I think we lost the equivalent of a small home in SE Asia), but we had a great time gambling, cruising the strip, and riding the NYNY roller coaster at midnight. Despite a couple of late-night three-card poker streaks, where I hit two big hands, we came out behind but had a fun time doing it. Isn't that always the main thing?
We then spent one night with my college roommate Devon and her family in Henderson, NV, and had fun catching up with them and their adorable girls in their new home. We're now here in Scottsdale, Arizona, visiting my mom, and reuniting with David's parents, who flew in yesterday from Connecticut. It's really great to be back with family, who, along with our friends, are the things we truly missed while traveling. Well, and good Mexican food, too. I can't lie.We plan to spend June on the road in the Southwest to see if there are any other areas we could consider living in the future, as we've resigned ourselves to the fact that we'll probably never be able to buy in California (yes, even despite the failing housing market). But in all honesty, I think we're procrastinating coming back to the "real world" (and I'm not sure you could move me away from a coast). We do plan to return to San Francisco in July and then probably sublet for a bit until we figure out our next move. We're considering an apartment in either the Napa/Sonoma area or the Monterey Peninsula. We desperately need to get our stuff out of storage (it's been 2.5 years!), get rid of half of it, and start work on our book proposal and other creative adventures. And yes, some kind of jobs will have to be in our near future as well. We don't naively expect to become famous published authors right out the gate, but one has to keep the dream alive, right?
Of course, I'd be lying to you all if I didn't admit David and I have had plenty of conversations lately that center around when we'll be heading out into the great big world again. I think we're more acclimated now to living in Asia than we are to the modern conveniences and abundance that America provides. We're more comfortable with showers that get the entire bathroom wet, and spicy foods that make our stomachs sit upright and masochistically beg for more. I miss the cows walking down the street and the loud hum of foreign languages in my ear. 
Stay tuned! Our next blog just might come to you from the mountains of Nepal or an English-language school in Indonesia. And you know I'm only half-joking.
