http://blogs.bootsnall.com/TravelEvangelist Chicago couple departs on 1 year RTW trip...goals include eating and tracking down Ken Lay. Sun, 10 Feb 2008 16:21:29 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en It's been over a month since we returned home, and a few days since our post-RTW trip-vacation to Costa Rica. I vacillate between wanting to leave again, craving a home and a job, and generally feeling like a deflated tire or a trampoline that isn't bouncy anymore. The good thing about ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/TravelEvangelist/one-year-in-a-vacuum.html A few days ago, we were dragging our feet towards the end of this trip. When we left the South Island, we drove slowly towards the port where the ferry was docked. We didn't talk much. A dark sullen cloud hung over us, and we even discussed ways we could ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/TravelEvangelist/cue-the-music-pull-the-curtain.html Nights slept in tent: 0 Nights slept in mountaintop huts without heat: 3 Status of ‘93 Nissan: trunk no longer closes, therefor is strapped down with bungee cord (WT) Number of Canadians spotted wearing Canadian flags: 0 (slow week) Skip-Bo Score: Brooke 7, JR 3 (we're losing interest) The last post was written right before ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/TravelEvangelist/kiwi-roadtrip-week-two.html Nights slept in tent: 2 Amount of money spent repairing the '91 Nissan: $25 Times we've accidentally driven on the wrong side of the road: twice Number of near-fatal accidents we've witnessed: 1 Number of Canadians spotted wearing Canadian flags: 9 Skip-Bo Score: Brooke 6, JR 2 We were so proud of our intentions to camp ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/TravelEvangelist/kiwi-roadtrip-week-one.html It's been almost a year since we left Mothership America. There have been brief bouts of homesickness, usually related to food and family and friends. Thanksgiving in New Zealand stirred about a bit of homesickness in both of us. We reserved the last available (hostel) room in the village of Franz ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/TravelEvangelist/red-wine-reduction-in-a-hostel.html We're currently exploring New Zealand's South Island in the comfort of a 1993 Nissan Maxima, rented from a friend's roommate for $140/month. We're also doing some camping...which is interesting considering our previous combined camping experience amounts to three nights in Michigan backyards. We have a shitty tent and three insufficient ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/TravelEvangelist/kiwi-roadtrip.html After almost 10 months in Asia, our arrival in Australia was a bit surreal. All the white people...all of the big, fat white people...it was a real shock to the system. We've grown accustomed to not really understanding what anyone says, eating weird food, and generally being the largest humans ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/TravelEvangelist/the-first-world-isnt-funny.html The Japanese are dead serious about maintaining their cultural traditions. Traditions haven't become heritage- they're a part of daily life. There are actual women walking around in kimonos, albeit clutching a Gucci bag and chatting on a rhinestone-bedazzled cell phone. A long held Japanese tradition are regular visits to onsens. Onsens ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/TravelEvangelist/getting-naked-with-japanese-grandmas.html The greater Tokyo metropolitan area is home to over 35 million people- making it the most populous metropolitan area in the world. Based on this fact alone, we expected Tokyo to be extremely crowded, noisy, and dirty. We discovered the exact opposite. In four days, we heard exactly one car horn. ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/TravelEvangelist/tune-in-tokyo.html The Hong Kong airport is creepily empty and freezing cold at 3:30am. That's when I woke up. After spending 5 horrendous days in Vietnam trying to get our round the world tickets reprinted-the most frustrating experience of our trip-we landed in Hong Kong at 10:30 pm. Our flight for Tokyo left ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/TravelEvangelist/the-airplane-fat-guy.html