Blogs from Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States, North America - page 3

Well, the backpack is packed to the absolute brim, and my room is emptied out for the subletter that's moving in. I can't believe I am actually leaving for this trip that I started planning a year ago. I will arrive in LA around 5:45pm (LA time) and my flight to Nadi, Fiji doesn't take off until 10:30pm. Sigh. I downloaded some movies onto my IPod and have a lot of books, so I will hopefully be able to entertain myself. I arrive in Nadi early in the morning on Friday, January 30th. I actually lose an entire day in travel, which is semi-weird. I gain a day when I come back (also weird!) as well, so I guess it balances out in the end. ;-) I will be staying for a night in Nadi before ... read more

Home, Again We arrived safely at home, very early on Wednesday morning. We have tons of laundry (sandy!), are still in some time zone between here and Cairo, almost 2000 pictures, and many wonderful memories. Thanks for following our blog and look for pictures soon, on either Flickr or Shutterfly. We'll let you know. Love to all, Pat/Jim/Mom/Dad/Norm/Kathy... read more

So, here I am, back in the good old U-S-of-A, living life as an umemployed post-traveler, moping around my parents house, catching up on TV, and reminiscing with photos from my trip! I just wanted to finish up my blog with this little disclaimer. Although I had an amazing trip, and had many incredible experiences, there were also a lot of crazy things I had to put up with. Life on the road entails a lot of rolling with the punches, and adapting to a lifestyle that many people would have difficulty with. Paying 4$-10$ a night for a hotel room in Thailand really helped my budget, but it also meant you didn't have much control over the conditions of the room. Sometimes they would be fine.....other times, not so much. Ashley and I put together ... read more

Whit, playing our travel agent, has come up with a great set of plans for our trip. * Monday morning, Feb 25, we plan to fly from Auckland to Queenstown; probably staying at the Pinewood Lodge ($90NZ) on Mon, Tue, and Wed night. * Tuesday is our Milford Sound all day sidetrip. * Wednesday is our 1/2 day Lord-of-the-Rings tour! Go Frodo, Merry, and Pippin! * Thursday we rent a car and start driving to Christchurch (about 6 hours total). Probably stop along the way and stay at Lake Tekapo for an overnight, since we are probably not overnight-mountain-climbing due to Torrie's knee injury last weekend. * Friday we'll finish the drive into Christchurch and stay there. * Saturday morning we'll be in Christchurch, maybe do the big gondola ride to the cliff top, then fly ... read more

Torrie and I just booked our flights for Auckland, New Zealand! Thanks Werner, Marianne, and Marc for making this trip possible! Whitney, doing a study abroad there for 6 months, is our on-the-ground travel agent for our upcoming NZ adventures. She's come up with some great suggestions so far, including a hike to a South Island mountain top for an overnight! I'm interested in some South Island train excursions, but so far Whit is pushing for the fly & car routine.... read more