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Help Plan My Asian Adventure

2/19/2018

It's Chinese New Year and once again I'm moved to plan a MEGA trip to Asia.
I really had hoped to go before 2017, but the whole move to England, then move to New Mexico kind of got in the way. Plus there was that hurricane...

An unexpected turn of events caused me to postpone this adventure for a couple of years, but I think it's time to start planning.

I’ve always wanted/planned to sail from California, take in the Hawaiian Islands, then on to Australia, Singapore and end up in Japan. I know that's vague AF and a whole lot of land to cover. I have a friend in Maui I'm gonna spend a week with before moving on to the land down under. I'm trying to allot as much time as I can for exploring there. (2 months? 3 Months?) Then spend six weeks in Japan. And that’s where you come in. Since I have no itinerary, I thought you could help plan my trip.

I also need some logistical help:
I want to avoid flying and take boats and trains as much as possible. If anyone knows the best routes, please let me know. I want to stay away from the tourist traps and really see Australia and Asia. If you visit here much you know I'm an 'off the beaten path' type traveller. I like to eat local and stay in holiday houses over big hotels.

If anyone has traveled through the region this way before, I’d love to hear about your experience and pick your brain for information. You can email me msoneworld4me@gmail.com or leave a comment below and we can chat.

The rough plan is to spend 5 months in late 2020 having this amazing adventure. (Why does that sound so far in the future? It's only 2 years away!) While is this a huge trip, with lots of planning I want the pace to be slow and relaxed so that I have time to really enjoy the experience.

How long should I plan to be in Singapore?

Lastly, if you live in the region, I’d love to meet up, so leave information on how to contact you (if you want to host my friend and me, that would be super, too!)

I’ve been dreaming of a big Asian trip for many years. Japan has always called to me and there are so many places I want to visit.
Who knows what this trip will bring?!

Speak soon~

Throw Back To 2015

1/5/2018

Hi and Happy 2018!
Currently in America the weather has gone ape shit bananas...*Yes, that's the technical term.
Have you seen all the crazy snow/blizzard/crazy storm picture coming out of the East Coast?
I have friends flying in and they have been stuck in NYC for a day already and are unclear if their flight will take off tomorrow or not. They are chill, no pun intended, so they seem to be making it okay.

I was digging around on my camera looking for old pictures of us together and found some photos of January 2015. Oddly I didn't post these here. I only did one post for Jan 2015 and it was random crap found on my phone. Life changing it was not...but I am glad for those memories. (Because apparently I am getting Alzheimer, based on the one post "found on my phone"? WTF I was in England in Jan 2015. You would think I would have found something to blog about?)

Anyway here are the picture I found on my camera....
(Damn, did I just do it again?)

This was taken on a snowy night visit to the Long Meg standing stone circle. It was freezing!

It's located at Little Salkeld, Penrith CA10 1NW, UK

"Long Meg and Her Daughters is a Bronze Age stone circle near Penrith in Cumbria, North West England. One of around 1,300 stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany, it was constructed as a part of a megalithic tradition that lasted from 3,300 to 900 BCE, during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age.[1] The stone circle is the sixth-biggest example known from this part of north-western Europe,[2] being slightly smaller than the rings at Stanton Drew in Somerset, the Ring of Brodgar in Orkney and Newgrange in County Meath.[2]

It primarily consists of 59 stones (of which 27 remain upright) set in an oval shape measuring 340ft (100 m) on its long axis. There may originally have been as many as 70 stones. Long Meg herself is a 12ft (3.6 m) high monolith of red sandstone 80ft (25 m) to the southwest of the circle made by her Daughters. Long Meg is marked with examples of megalithic art including a cup and ring mark, a spiral and rings of concentric circles.[3][4][5]

Infra-red aerial photography has identified several undated enclosures that seem to pre-date the Long Meg circle in the area. There is also the smaller stone circle of Little Meg (Maughanby) close by.[6]" From Wiki

You know I love visting standing stones and old megaliths. I am also sure I have pictures of this in the daylight.

That was serious snow!

Hope you are warm and cozy where ever you are.

Catch you later-

Sunday Fun Days

5/22/2016

Sundays are for having fun and exploring, don't you agree?
I am so happy to be traveling again!

I have already had so many interesting things happen on this trip! You never know who you are going to meet or what adventures you will have. I promise a full post soon as I get settled in.

See you at the airport~

Oh, a quick PS

But you know, you do not even exist in my world.
Cheers!

Moving Sucks

1/2/2016

I'm packing up to move again and I am not happy!
Where does all this stuff come from and why can't I find anything?
We were not supposed to be taking this long to get packed up, either!
But OMG, I seem to forever be needing/wanting something that was upstairs when I was downstairs. But now I need/want something and its on a different continent! #FML

(NASA Pix)

So I am busy sorting and packing stuff up from one house, in hopes that it can be moved and sorted somewhere else. In the meantime, I must stop buying "replacement" items, but you know its cheaper than flying across the ocean to retrieve them. "Where is that tea towel with the cute tea cups on it? Oh never mind, I remember where I put it, just let me board a plane to go fetch it," Um I think not...

I'm also stressed over planning the year. Where are we going to travel to next? There are so many interesting places and new adventure out there. How to decide???
Suggestions?

Now back to sorting...Have you seen the good pair of scissors? Don't tell me, they are safely in drawer at the other house?!

* _______ *

See you at the airport or in a shipping container....

Not Another Christmas Post

12/18/2015

Ok I lied.
Christmas is all there is. Life has stopped completely here in Texas and Christmas is all we talk about, think about and argue about. I was rather sad last year because I was in Thornton Clevelely, England and not with my family in America. I'm really sad this year, because I'm with them. (Read about last year here.)

The angry Irish Sea

This was the view Christmas day from out Holiday House.

Meanwhile this year in Texas most people I speak with are so stressed over Christmas that they are ready for it to all just be over! What to buy and how to afford it are they big topics. I'm just not into it, I must confess. My heart is elsewhere and I wouldn't mind returning to last December, as crazy as it was.

Plus it seems impossible that the year is almost over. How can that even be possible?

Meanwhile at my mothers, the holiday menu has changed 3 times so far. I don't really care, because I'm not cooking this time and I know the only Vegan option will be the napkins. * ___ *

I've turned down 3 Holiday party invites this week, too. Call me Ms. Grinch.
It's mostly due to the fact that I'm so behind with work and my mind is elsewhere. I'm grateful to be busy, don't get me wrong, but there just isn't enough time in the day and now its Christmas! Everything will shut down until after the 1st of the year here. Places will be open, but no one actually does any work, WTF?! So I'm trying to get everything caught up so I can go screw off too.

Happy Holidays and see you at the airport~

This Time Last Year

11/19/2015

This time last year I was packing up my house in the south of France. I was so so sad that I was leaving.

I'm not going to talk about what is happening in Paris right now. It breaks my heart. Plus I do not think we need to give it any more energy or power. We need to stay positive. So if you have never been to Paris before, I suggest you do not wait, book your trip in 2016. You will fall in love with the beautiful city and lovely people. We do every time we visit.

But this trip was more about England.
So my son and I left #France and flew to #England.

We flew into London and stayed there a few days to sort my sons passport problems. Meaning we spent quality time at the US Embassy. Here is a post from that adventure. We left London, went to BATH (One of my favorite English cities) and then BACK to London for another round of passport fun.

Looking at these posts from last year the picture are so gray. :( The weather was bleak, raining and cold, but it is winter.

Lovely Gite in Bath.

We stayed warm and dry in this lovely holiday house in Bath! It was super nice and even had 2 Christmas trees! I would definitely stay there again.

From there we went on to Blackpool till after the New Year. It seemed like just a typical (except for the passport hassle) trip but looking back on it - #WTF?! We were busy as HELL.

Blackpool Tower.
This was our 1st trip to Blackpool, but not the last, we were back this August. I wonder where we will be in 2016? I think this year will be a tamer December anyway. Although there are some really nice air prices right now..Have you seen all the sales? Let's get packing!

See you at the airport~

I Miss My Family

10/15/2015

“Wherever we travel to, the wonderful people we meet become our family.”
― Lailah Gifty Akita

You know I miss them all so much. My dear family from France and all the wonderful people I met this last round in England. I never expected to be so "homesick" for them all.

I miss the people more than anything. But I do long to see the sunlight in France again, and feel the way the grass was mossy yet bouncing under my feet in my backyard in England. I yearn for the colorful flower beds, bursting with a riot of impossible color and the food, fresh from the French bakery, affordable and oh so delicious!

I miss the sparkling clear water of the lakes, especially with the sun dancing across the surface. The water so still and calm, reflecting golden light back at me as I sat for hours and observed the never ending parade of fish go by, no doubt on important fish business and the ducks that spend all day gliding around, ducklings following. I miss seeing all the many English birds that have "tit" in their names, and of course the ever present English sheep.

Also all the many shades of "greens" and the Fells, the constant fluffy clouds, loud contagious laughter of happy children, lazy Saturday afternoons surrounded by plants in the conservatory, investigating the quaint old shops in small out of the way villages, quirky neighbors and learning the true meaning of "tea". #FML

I shall see you all again very soon, I think.

London and Beyond Fashion

10/14/2015

People often ask me about Fashion trends and clothing when I travel. To be honest it can be difficult, especially when you are covering several different countries, locations and venues. What I wear in London I don't usually wear in the Pyrenees. What I wear in Monaco I don't wear in Inverness. I like cities and I also like to be in nature so I have to pack accordingly and have a plan.

#Monaco

I also dislike lugging too many oversized bags. The best thing is always pack light and purchase what you need while on the road. This makes sure your gown matches the event in style (or at least in theory.) Last Holiday season I was invited to the Opera in London. The first thing I did was google what women wear to the opera in London. Then began to assemble a wearable outfit. (Always take one GREAT Pair of comfortable High Heels with you when you travel, if you want to be on point.) And as you know I always bring along too many shoes. #MyWeakness

I like to blend in and not look like tourist so I also google places in advance.

#Rome

There are many places I wish to visit, and knowing what to wear in advance is a big help. The worst is to show up at an event and being OVER DRESSED or UNDRESSED. #FML

But for the rest of this month I'm in Texas and enjoying comfy clothes and messy hair. #Score!

See you at the airport-

#Msoneworld4me #Fashion #Random #Life

Where To Next?

9/28/2015

Another Friend just died....
One minute he was there and the next he was gone.
Loosing someone like that always gets me to pondering life. We really don't know how much time we have left and why do we waste so much time on unnecessary crap? WHY? I don't know, do you? We should know better by now, yet life, work and family seem to get in the way of our dreams. He had always wanted to travel and never made the time to actually DO IT. We would wistfully speak about traveling when we were children and the last time I was in the states we shared an evening laughing and speaking about it again...He told me some of the places on his Bucket List and when I challenged him to "just go already" he a laundry list of excuses. Now it's too late.

Do you have a bucket List?

You know, a "before it's over I want to..." List?

And is travel on it? I think for most American's it is a BIG part of the List. We work too long and hard to travel much (Err, I'm not speaking about me, but in general. If you are a regular reader here you know I travel my fair share.) BUT most people don't for whatever reason.

Is Travel on your Bucket List?
If so, why haven't you gone already? Or are you marking things off the list every month? I'd like to hear what you are doing and how.

Mine? Well, I had hopped for 2016 to be the year I explored Asia, but I'm not really sure thats going to happen. So in no particular order--
Here is my Dream Travel List:

1. Japan
2. Iceland
3. Russia
4. Vienna
5. Cambodia - The temples and lost cites!!
6. Egypt (Would love to see the ruins, but gonna wait till after the war ends.)
7. Madagascar - One word. LEMURS!
8. Maldives -It looks so pretty!
9. Vancouver - The bits of Canada I have explored are so fabulous! I want to see more.
10. Australia - I think it's going to be a lot like Texas.
11. Budapest - It looks creepy cool!
12. Greece - I can't believe I've never been. How did I miss it?
13. Holland - The tulips - OMG? Have you seen the Tulips?

London

Of Course I also want to RETURN to some familiar places. I love PARIS, New York and Washington State. It goes without saying I must return to London, Scotland, Big Bend, Mesa Verde, Colorado, New Mexico, Norway, Florida, Amsterdam, California, Spain and New Orleans and soon! Plus the entire South of France! Oh and all of Italy! There are so many places that interest me and so much to see and explore. I just found the best place in Paris for Chinese food, I gotta go back soon.

Plus there are so many things to see in each country-

Speaking of Cambodia...

I love France so much. It's my favorite over all.

I try every year to go some place new and also revisit my favorite places. I was thinking how fortunate I am to be able to travel as much as I do. But I also don't WAIT, I make the decision to travel and make it happen. If it's important to you, you will find a way.

See you at the airport~

#travel #Traveling, #USA #England #France #Norway #Japan #Bucketlist

QM2 Crossing

9/21/2015

We arrived a few days early in Southampton.

It's September and it's time to make the crossing again. I was whining and crying about leaving the UK - but the cruise was lovely. We had a wonderful time. The seas were smooth, the food was great and service is always top notch with Cunard. This was our 3 trip to date sailing with them. Read about the first trip here and our trip in January here.

We have made the crossing with other cruise lines, and each has its perks. But for overall calmness Cunard wins hands down. I just like to be left alone- let me lie in the sun, gamble or read. I don't need constant stimulation - I want to relax for God's sake.
This voyage we sailed from Southampton (UK) to New York City (USA).

Had bags delivered to the hotel.

Once again we are taking 2 seasons worth of clothing with us. Both coats and sundresses are packed.

We rode the train down from the North.

No real images of Southampton.

We lazed out and ate take out while in Southampton. #GoodTimes
And didn't do much else.

The cruise terminal is very organized and there is very little "stand up/wait in line/move one foot and stand in line" like some places I've been. We arrived, dropped bags, checked in, went through security and then boarded. Easy Peasy.