Annie and Matt

annieandmatt

Annie and Matt

Go To http://travelshus.com for travel blogging entertainment.

This blog is written by Annie, though its representative of Annie and Matt's travels together. We traveled for many years together (with a terrible camera) before taking a honeymoon around the world in 2010 and 2011 (with a better camera).

Where We've Been:
Continental US, Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, the UK, Ireland, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Czech Republic, Spain, The Netherlands, Costa Rica, EL Salvador, Guatemala, Trinidad & Tobago, Argentina, Chile, Greece, UAE, Oman, Nepal, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand

Where We Dream About Going:
Colombia, Tanzania and the top of Kilimanjaro, Malayasia, India, South Africa, Peru and Macchu Picchu, Bolivia, Croatia, Brazil, Jordan, Egypt, Israel, Ghana, Namibia, Ecuador, Morocco, Turkey, Philippines.....

Yup, I needed a break.

Central America Caribbean » Puerto Rico » Isla Verde January 17th 2012

Isla Verde Palms

annieandmatt

Matt and i decided to take a last minute trip to Puerto Rico to cure some of the post-travel and cold-weather blues. A decent amount of time separated now and last time we traveled to somewhere without specific purpose. It was time for something - easy, close, whatever. Something. Preferrably not cold. With two weeks notice, we booked ourselves into the Intercontinental on Isla Verde for a few days of beach, sun, and sleep. Our friends Danielle and Rick, the couple who came to visit us in Hong Kong, came with us, which made it a fun weekend with friends. It was a happy coincidence that the weekend we were in PR was the same weekend of the San Sebastian festival, the biggest festival in Puerto Rico. Its somewhat similar to Mardi Gras in that people ... read more

Easing our way back...

North America » United States » Hawaii » Maui May 24th 2011

Big Beach

annieandmatt

Arriving in Maui was really bittersweet. It marked our re-entry into the US, but it also was week in the South Pacific. We might have been a little ungrateful at the time since this was an ending to our year, but we absolutely enjoyed every last second we had left of both the trip and our beach binge. It took a few days to get to Maui from Bali, involving 4 flights with 2 being overnight flights, 5 cities, one shower at the Sydney airport, and a lot of really bad food. Once we got to Maui though, it was nice to relax. One of my best friends from home is Hawaiian and we were orginally going to stay in her families condo in Kahana as a wedding gift. As I grew up in California with ... read more

Quintessential Bali: a Perfect Farewell

Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Kuta May 19th 2011

Kuta Beach

annieandmatt

Kuta is where our travels through Indonesia both started and ended. On our first trip, we were anxious to get out of the tourist hub to see the real Bali and experience our last international destination on this trip as much as possible. The constant surrounds of Australians and tourists seeking another place to party were harsh to swallow. The beach was also quite dirty at the time as the local government was just then responding the bad press of the Time magazine article "Holidays in Hell." It undertook a massive clean up while we were there. However, after having experienced Bali and other parts of Indonesia beyond Kuta, you realize that "the real Bali" is all around you if you can see beyond the McDonalds and the Quiksilver shop. The women selling dresses to the ... read more

Mini Bali

Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Nusa Lembongan May 15th 2011

Lembongan Sunset

annieandmatt

Lembongan is kinda like a mini Bali, or what Bali would have been like back before tourism blew up. Its quiet and beautiful but still has plenty of Balinese cultural flair. Here we found the best snorkeling on the entire trip. On Matt's birthday, we hired a guy (named Ketut, of course) to drive us around in his fishing boat to a few snorkeling spots around Lembongan. For a couple of hours. All for the excellent price of $10. Not only was it nice to have our own boat that came and went when we wanted it to, it but it was also amazing to be taken to untouched reefs teeming with fish and alive soft corals without the bother of large tourist boats or very little boat traffic at all. In addition to this, we ... read more

Gili Heaven

Asia » Indonesia » Lombok » Gili Meno May 8th 2011

Gili Meno awesome water

annieandmatt

Gili Meno is basically the closest you can get to an island paradise. There are no motorized vehicles, very little foot traffic, its not very built up, and on all sides its fringed in white powdery sand (with little specs of red here and there) with perfect warm turquoise water. During our few days here, we found a secluded beach on the south side of the island to renew our vows. Since we had decided to spend our first year of married life away from the normal everyday realities of New York and our US culture, we decided we would make yet another commitment to each other beyond you know, getting married. To never forget how the trip has made us feel about life, about each other, and about the future. To further celebrate, we spent ... read more

Oh Gili T, we finally meet.

Asia » Indonesia » Lombok » Gilli Trawangan May 2nd 2011

Gili Trawangan

annieandmatt

Once I started obsessing about Bali, I quickly learned about the Gili islands and then it all went to hell - I was in full on fantasy travel planning mode. Anyone who knows me would know that this amount of excitement turns me into a beast who talks to fast and cant hold a conversation about anything else. Matt was pleased with me. To explain to you why i got so excited, heres some background. The Gili islands (Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno, and Gili Air) are basically known for their white sand, insanely clear turquoise water, and off-the-beach snorkeling. Most travelers come here to marvel at the beaches as well as do nothing. Unless you come to Gili T. And then you come for the night time activities as well. Most nights of the week one ... read more

From Java to the Jeeva

Asia » Indonesia » Lombok » Sengigi April 30th 2011

the Lombok coastline

annieandmatt

After our quick trip through Java, we flew back to Bali and headed straight to Padangbai on the eastern side of the island. Its a small town which is known mostly for being the jump off point to Lombok and the Gili Islands. We spent a few days here getting prepared to spend the last month of our trip ensconced in beach and snorkeling - this involved going to beach and buying snorkels. We then boarded the public ferry to Lombok and after 4 hours on the boat and another 2 hour van ride, we arrived at our hotel in Sengiggi. Here we spent a night in a normal traveler style hotel, watched the royal wedding at a bar in town, and anxiously awaited our move to the fanciest and most luxurious hotel of the whole ... read more

Batik, Borobudur, and a train ride to Jakarta

Asia » Indonesia » Java » Yogyakarta April 22nd 2011

Jogja

annieandmatt

We had about 5 or 6 days to explore Java and we were bound by the cities to where Air Asia flies. (One must only hear about Indonesian airlines having the absolute WORST safety rating in the world a handful of times before one will decided to not take a local airline whence flying from Bali to Java) Therefore, we were limited to exploring Yogyakarta (Jogja) and Jakarta. Which was all well and good since both of us had a peaked interest in seeing Borobudur, the largest Buddhist temple in Indonesia. Its only about 45 mins outside of Jogja, so a visit would be easy to do from the city. Jogja, incidentally, is also the Batik capital of Indonesia, which made it a great place to blow all our money and extra backpack space on gifts. ... read more

The Biebs descending on Java the same day as us.

Bali, At Last

Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Ubud April 14th 2011

Mongwi Royal Palace

annieandmatt

I think I talked about going to Bali the most out of any of our destinations pre and during the trip. Much to Matt's annoyance. 9 months into the trip, we arrived at the Denpasar airport. We spent the first day or so sleeping and walking around Tuban before heading up to Ubud, the art/culture/monkey center of the island. Personally, in retrospect, it was alot more tourist centric than culture centric. (as we learned during the rest of out Indonesian experience) Nonetheless, the rice fields were breathtaking, the shopping was abundant and the heat was intense. A good day of rafting and one of tourism in an air-conditioned van helped keep us cool and relaxed.... read more

Return to Oz - A Quick Taste of NSW and Queensland

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Port Douglas April 7th 2011

Port Douglas

annieandmatt

After NZ, we stopped back thru Australia on our way back to Asia. We had originally planned on spending 2 months traveling around the country, but inflation and the extreme cost it takes to stay in Australia on a budget forced us to only see the things we were dying to see, and then move on. Thus, we spent 3 days hanging around Manly Beach, and then 3 days in the heart of Sydney checking out the beaches, the city sites, and the nightlife. We then flew up to Queensland and spent my 30th birthday in Trinity Beach before ending our quick Aussie rounds in Port Douglas and the Great Barrier Reef. On my birthday, we opened up my bottle of Cloudy Bay Pinot Noir I had been hoarding since Blenheim in NZ, and Matt put ... read more

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