Here are some selected shots from our rafting trip down the Chama River in New Mexico. Note: I was getting used to using my GoPro in a sporty way so these may not be the best, but I had a blast rafting!
Videos from the rafting trip and more trip pictures to come soon!
It’s been almost a week since I arrived back in Minnesota after my trip. In fact, at this point a week ago I was in a plane that was flying eastward as a part of my 30 hour journey from Hanoi to St. Paul.
I’m slowly but surely getting used to being back home. I’ve done some laundry, paid a couple of bills I forgot to pay before I left (oops), gone through 3 weeks of work email and documents and back into the campaign saddle. There is still a lot I need to do, mainly the rest of my laundry, moving my empty suitcase from the middle of the living room, and getting actual food in my house, but that’ll happen eventually.
As I look back, I realize the past week has seemed to just fly by. It seems as if the last 6 days have lasted as long as one day while I was traveling. Once I had this realization, I began to wonder why – time is time and it’s not like days in Minnesota are shorter than in SE Asia. . .
What is different?
(more…)
Today is my last day in Vietnam. This trip has been an utter whirlwind, and as with my Nepal trip, was exactly what I needed when I needed it. I know it has impacted me and left me with a lot of things to think about.
I’m beginning to go through the process of gearing up for the trek home – packing, getting those last few gifts for people back home, planning my outfit for the flight(s), etc – and going through a number of emotions as I look ahead from here.
Over the next few weeks and months, I will be processing everything that I experienced on this journey along with the wide variety of self-reflection I did while on the road. Don’t expect me to give a huge, in-depth recap of everything that happened over the last 23 days right away; it is going to take me some time to sort through everything, both physically (lots of laundry in my future) and emotionally. I have taken over 5,000 photos so it will take me some time to sort through all of those, but I promise there are some awesome shots that I captured, and can’t wait to share. I will be doing more updates to show where we visited and give some basic recaps when I get home, but right now I want to enjoy my last few hours in Vietnam, do a bit more shopping, and spend time with my new friends.
Much love and positivity to you all. I can’t wait to share this journey with you all. For now, I ask for some patience and time to process.
Sorry for the lack of updates. We have had a lot of busy days, and at night I am too wiped out to do much other than sleep.
We are now in Laos for two more days & then heading back to Hanoi.
This trip has been amazing and I can’t wait to share more with y’all. I have filled one 64gb card amd am working on a second.
Cheers for now!
Wow – can’t believe it’s been almost a week since I left the states. It seems like it’s been a lot longer, but that’s probably because we have been very busy since leaving Hanoi on Sunday morning.
I could write a long narrative describing what we did each day, instead I’m going with a brief recap of each day, complete with maps to show where we’ve been.
Finally made it to Hanoi. We’ve been here for about 2.5 hours and I’m currently settled in at the Hotel Celia for the night. Tomorrow we get to sleep in a bit and then head out for a tour around Hanoi to give us an overview of the city. Can I just mention that I’m excited for some awesome food? I just want to eat pho 24/7.
Seeing as I just spent 20+ hours on planes and in airports, I’m pretty exhausted. I’ll end this post with some random observations from the trip over here:
Here are a few photos from my phone of the long trek over here. . .
More tomorrow once I have some coffee and sleep.
Cheers!
