Comments on: On adjustment issues and becoming (a little) jaded

By: An (early) open love letter to Laos | New York to Nomad

An (early) open love letter to Laos | New York to Nomad — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 06:03:25 +0000

[...] most of all, thank you for giving us back our travel mojo. As you may know, we needed it badly. We may still be a smidge tired of roughing it and less than keen to play 20 [...]

By: Homestays, motorbiking and chugging rice wine in Mai Chau, Vietnam | New York to Nomad

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 05:17:28 +0000

[...] We came prepared with the Vietnamese translation of, “Can we stay your home?” — homestays are common in the SE Asian villages — but to our luck, our tour guide was actually from Mai Chau, so we stayed at his family’s place. It was, in fact, an official homestay with lodging set-up for tourists, but that didn’t take away the charm. And once the tour left, we felt like, and were treated like, family. They gave us snacks, invited us to a community party and, with some broken English, even cracked some jokes. Being in this place was exactly what we needed after feeling shell-shocked and frustrated in big city Hanoi. [...]

By: Archana

Archana — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 04:07:18 +0000

You’re so right about cities vs. countryside. We felt so much better after getting out of Hanoi here and there, and now that we’re leaving today for good and for a much chiller town, I think it’ll work wonders on us. Looking forward to findng that place that really speaks to us

By: Archana

Archana — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 04:05:54 +0000

I’m so glad you get what I’m saying. It’s good to know I’m not just being a baby, And actually, your comment had a big impact on us because we realized we really should be going to beaches more to balance the craziness. We tinkered with our itinerary a bit yesterday and we’re happy with our new plan — which is now interspersed with beaches in Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia — and we’re finally back to the excitement level that we had a few months ago. Thank you for that!

By: Getting to know Hanoi, Vietnam | New York to Nomad

Getting to know Hanoi, Vietnam | New York to Nomad — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 01:27:21 +0000

[...] are, of course, the sights that everyone is meant to see, but we’re less interested in these kinds of things nowadays. We skipped the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and One Pillar Pagoda but [...]

By: Pratt

Pratt — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 19:58:44 +0000

Hey sweeties!!

My advice–get out of the tourist-filled cities and head for the hills. You’ll have more genuine experiences with locals there and you’ll be able to get away from the backpacker scene. Also, when you only have a few days in a place, it’s often hard to get a “real” experience there. I think if you find a place that you like a lot–set up shop there for a little while and get integrated into the community for a bit. If you move quickly from place to place, feeling that genuine sense of connection might be harder. Just a thought…

I think you’re right in that a lot of this is probably just the transition from “normal” life back into travel mode. I think that you’ll end up falling in love with SE Asia. I think you just need to find a place that speaks to you. When you find that place, dig in and experience it to the fullest!!

Love you both and miss you much.
Pratt

By: katerina

katerina — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 16:04:16 +0000

Hey! I definitely had the same experience in SE Asia – travel there can be really exhausting. I remember one time, my friends and I were trying to figure out how to get to one place in Thailand and every person we stopped instead told us how to get to some new Buddha statue that had just been completed. Also, the hawkers are the worst. By the end, I was becoming a rude person and hated myself every time I basically gently pushed past some elderly lady/ little kid trying to sell me something. From what I remember, the people from my exchange program who had the most authentic experiences did stuff like motorbike through remote areas (usually groups of guys did this).

I am sure you will have a great experience despite all of it! I highly recommend getting yourself to the beaches/water to take breaks. Life is just much easier and more laid back there.

Hope you guys are doing well!

By: Tanner

Tanner — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 17:12:55 +0000

This is my favorite line from this post: (But we still love you, fellow travelers! It’s me, not you.)

Archie, you crack me up. I’ve been dying reading all your posts! JELLY OF YOUR TRIP!

And miss you.

xoxo