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ASH Travel - Amber Hoffman

My Experiences - Thus Far

Map Legend: 14%, 37 of 263 Territories

Possible stops on the MP

Must Haves for the MP

Places I have visited

Its the new world version of a giant map on my wall with pretty colored push pins - and way more portable. This shows where I have been, where we plan to go for the M.P. - the guaranteed stops and the hopeful stops, and it does not even scratch the surface. Happy Travels.

After having a very early mid life crisis, one might say a quarter life crisis, I decided to take a one year sabattical from my big law firm job to travel the world, to eat great food, to experience different cultures, to relax and live.

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The MP Route
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Map Title: The MP Route
Map Notes:
Chicago-Los Angeles-Sydney-Melbourne-Hobart-Port Douglas-Brisbane-Hervey Bay-Brisbane-Christchurch-Kingston-Milford Sound - Te Anau - Queenstown - Wanaka - Haast Beach - Fox Glacier - Nelson - Abel Tasman - Nelson - Picton - Wellignton - Bulls - Taupo - Auckland - Whakatane - Rotorua-Auckland - Bangkok - Luang Prabang - Nong Khiaw - Bangkok - Phnom Penh - Siem Reap - Phnom Penh - Sihanoukville - Kampot - Rach Gia - Ho Chi Minh City - Hue - Dong Ha - Hue - Ha Noi - Halong Bay - Ha Noi - Hoi An - Ho Chi Minh City - Mui Ne - Ho Chi Minh - Ha Noi - Bangkok - Phuket - George Town - Kota Bharu - Pulau Perhentian Kecil - Kuala Lumpur - Singapore - Melaka - Kuala Lumpur - Bali - Singapore - Washington DC - New Jersey - Hong Kong - Shanghai - Suzhou - Shanghai - Chongching - Yichang - Wu Han - Xi'an - Beijing - Ha Noi - Dong Ha - Hue - Phu Quoc - Hoi An - Ha Noi - Singapore - Tokyo - Kyoto - Osaka - Tokyo - Washington DC - Buenos Aires - Cordoba - Mendoza

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Joined on: October 12th 2008
Last Login: November 22nd 2009

Blog Entries: 64
Photos: 1017

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Blogs & Travel Journals

by ASH Travel, order by Date newest first.

By ASH Travel
November 19th 2009

Self-Enforced Isolation - Maitencillo and San Alfonso South America » Chile » Valparaíso Region » Maitencillo

View From Our Room
Not too shabby.

Heading Out of the City In Chile we tried to do two things: Easter Island and Patagonia. We were unsuccessful at both. We had no interest in Easter Island until our friend Justin planted the seed. Then we spent about a month trying to get airfare, but Lan has a monopoly and can charge ridiculous prices for the five hour flight out into the Pacific. We hoped for some last minute fares, but it looked like it would cost about $1000 a person round trip for about a five to six day stay. That was just not in our budget. [View Full Entry]

By ASH Travel
November 14th 2009

Chilly in Chile - Valpo South America » Chile » Valparaíso Region » Valparaíso

The View of the Andes
On the Chilean side, once we were back on the bus.

10,000 Feet Up We boarded a bus in Mendoza, Argentina to Santiago, Chile early in the morning on Sunday. We took the higher end Cato bus, but I did not feel like it was high end. We were in the kids’ section in the rear, a group of English backpackers behind us and a young South American couple who insisted on playing songs from their cell phone for everyone to hear. I had to ask him to turn it down. Also, the bus steward (think a bus version of a flight attendant) was totally rude. But, the noise and disruptions [View Full Entry]

By ASH Travel
November 8th 2009

Sipping Wine in Mendoza With New Friends South America » Argentina » Mendoza » Mendoza

Achaval Ferrer
A mighty fine and fancy feeling winery.

Mendoza - Malbec and More Before arriving in Mendoza Eric’s friend Jessica introduced us to Marcelo, who organizes wine tours in the area around Mendoza. We were not sure of our schedule before getting there and by the time we settled on a date to arrive in Mendoza Marcelo was booked, but he arranged for us to take a tour with one of his friends. The evening we arrived, Marcelo stopped by the hostel to introduce himself and ensure that we were okay doing our tour with his friend, David. Marcelo made a wonderful first impression tryi [View Full Entry]

By ASH Travel
November 7th 2009

Mendoza - a Desert Oasis South America » Argentina » Mendoza » Mendoza

Pretty Mendoza Architecture

Our early morning walk from the train station to our hostel showed us the wonderful side of Argentina that we did not see certainly in Buenos Aires, but also did not really see in Cordoba - cleanliness. Mendoza is on a grid system with a five main plazas that are pretty immaculate - with benches, working fountains, and early in the morning, city employees cleaning the park. During our twenty minute walk we saw two street sweepers, which reminded us of home and the cleanliness of Chicago. Before we even entered the hostel we concluded that we liked Mendoza. We booked [View Full Entry]

By ASH Travel
October 26th 2009

A Visit to Germany - Villa General Belgrano South America » Argentina » Córdoba » Villa General Belgrano

Oktoberfest
We just missed it by a few weeks.

Wurst and Oopma After the excessive noise in Cordoba, we needed a break. We needed quiet. We needed tranquil. So, way earlier than we felt like waking up after our fiesta at the hostel the night before, we headed to the minibus station and boarded a two hour bus to Villa General Belgrano. VGB was settled by survivors of the German battleship Graf Spee. VGB is a small town of about 6000 residents and has a decidedly German feel, although most young residents no longer speak German. We knew we had just missed their Oktoberfest celebration by almost two weeks, [View Full Entry]

By ASH Travel
October 24th 2009

Back to School in Cordoba South America » Argentina » Córdoba » Córdoba

The View
The angry lumber jack in our room, staring at me every night.

Food - an Argentinean Obsession When we left Buenos Aires, we boarded a double decker bus headed to Cordoba, towards the west of the country. We were expecting a ten hour bus ride and purposefully chose a day bus versus a night bus so that we could see the countryside. Well, imagine a ten hour bus ride through Texas. Or Kansas. Or Oklahoma. Same Same. It was flat, dry, with straight roads, some horses and cows. For over ten hours. We were fairly exhausted when we arrived, but were excited to be in a smaller city, even though Cordoba is [View Full Entry]

By ASH Travel
October 17th 2009

Buenos Aires - We're Not in Asia Anymore South America » Argentina » Buenos Aires » Buenos Aires

Great European Architecture

How to Spend 48 Hours Without Doing Anything We left our hotel in Osaka around nine am on Sunday 11 October. We took two subway lines to reach the main train station. From there we hopped a bullet train back to the Tokyo main train station. Then, we took the airport express train to the Tokyo Narita airport for our 4pm flight. After a twelve hour flight, we killed about six hours in Washington Dulles airport with some friends who came to visit us. It was still Sunday. Around 10pm, we boarded a flight to Buenos Aires, Argentina. After a [View Full Entry]

By ASH Travel
October 11th 2009

Sake, Karaoke, and a Transsexual - Overdose in Osaka Asia » Japan » Osaka » Osaka

The Kuidaore Clown
Famous clown outside of an eight story food emporium, where Bourdain went, but it was closed when we were there.

Now, I have given great deference to Anthon Bourdain in many of my entries. We try to hit places he has been. I became frustrated when we arrived in Osaka because several of the places he went to were closed, or going through renovations, or who knows what. But, I give him credit for one thing. Osaka would not have even been on our Japan itinerary were it not for our absolute favorite No Reservations episode on Osaka. Check out the episode at And, thank goodness for the tasty tidbits on No Reservations because Osaka was our kind of town. I [View Full Entry]

By ASH Travel
October 5th 2009

Temples and Culture in Kyoto Asia » Japan » Kyoto » Kyoto

Train Station
This was the outside of the train station, with a music stage.

Super Express Train We rode the ridiculously expensive super express train from Tokyo to Kyoto. It cost twice as much to take this train ride than it did to fly from Hanoi to Singapore. It took us 2 hours and 40 minutes to travel over 500 kilometers, so that was pretty cool. We could have saved ourselves twenty minutes, and paid more per person to take, I guess, the super super express train. The train was fast and clean - even the bathroom - and it ran with amazing precision. Eric was monitoring his watch to see if the train [View Full Entry]

By ASH Travel
October 3rd 2009

"Peaceful" Tokyo Insane Fashion Asia » Japan » Tokyo

No Problem
The Tokyo Subway

Sticker Shock We knew Japan would be expensive, but did not understand exactly how expensive it would be. It was even more difficult for us coming from almost 6 weeks in Vietnam. I knew that we were saying goodbye to .30 beers and $5 meals. A meal for Jackie, Scott, Eric, and I, including a ton of beers was generally around $15 at our favorite restaurant in Hanoi. This was a whole new experience. The Narita airport is 66 kilometers outside of Tokyo. No matter how you do it, it is a long and expensive ride into the city. We [View Full Entry]

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ASH Travel - Amber Hoffman

My Experiences - Thus Far

Blogs & Travel Journals