Wanderingwaltz

Geo: 16.7837, 96.1568From Vietnam, we flew to Yangon (nee Rangoon), the former capital city of Myanmar. Whereas Justin had a vague sense of Vietnam based on previous trips (albeit 18+ years ago), Myanmar was a mystery, an enticing one, but one for which we had no intuition, other than from news reports. Myanmar has been a military dictatorship/junta replete with human rights abuses and accompanying US economic sanctions for decades. A democratic thaw in the junta's grip on power began in 2011 with (largely) free parliamentary elections. Also, the junta has also been fighting a series of low-intensity wars, some of the world's longest-running with 17 various ethnic, religious and and narco-terrorist (heroin production) groups for decades. Thankfully for civilians caught in the crossfire, 14 of these groups signed ceasefires by October 2015. http://... read more

Geo: 44.7779, -122.695We lived a dream. Over the year, we learned that living a dream has its challenges, but the rewards are numerous. We feel incredibly fortunate to be able to do what we did and to make it home safely and in good health. Now begins another journey in our lives: assimilating back to life in the good ol' US of A: finding jobs, tackling numerous house projects, and wading through the 5,000 or so pictures Justin kept (not just "snapped," but those selected to be burned on CD). We are happy to be home, in our own bed, with our own kitchen and most of all, back amongst our family and friends. Coming home was joyous because of friends who have welcomed us back into their lives. If it wasn't for them, our transition ... read more

Geo: 43.7916, 15.7121Our train from Hungary arrived at dawn in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH). As we passed the outskirts of town, in the thick morning haze, we pinched ourselves awake to prepare for yet another transition to a new country - new currency, new language, new names and a new city layout to learn. The nervous anticipation we once felt entering a new country is no longer there.After little sleep on the overnight train - due to the many border crossings (Hungary - Croatia - BiH) we rolled into the main train station at 6AM. We had arranged to be met by the staff of a family-run pension. Yet we did not spot the "bearded Bosnian." That was 0 for 2 with being met at a transport station. While discussing our dawn-time options, we were approached by ... read more

Geo: 59.4389, 24.7545We took the night train from Czech to Krakow, Poland. We had heard many horror stories (thefts) about the night train, but made it to Krakow at 5:30am with all of our marbles and packs intact. At 5:30am, on a Sunday morning in drizzling rain, we fell in love with Krakow as we walked to our hotel. Even in the early, rainy grayness, the images we had of communist Poland didn't seem to fit with the city we saw. Unlike the fairy tale-esque features of Prague, Krakow feels real and lived in.Justin booked us into a lovely room in Kazimierz, the 600-year old Jewish Quarter. Before WW II, around 70,000 Jews could be found in this district (a full quarter of Krakow's population), making it the second largest population of Jews in the world. ... read more

Geo: 7.95185, 0.60071A bit of shameless fundraising.If you are looking to unload your pocketbooks or wallets of a few dollars, we have just thing for you. While in Nkwanta, we have been involved with two incredibly successful organizations that provide much needed services to the communities in rural Africa. You could be the proud owner of some bricks that will be used to build a community health clinic in the village of Keichebi - where people will come to seek health care. The goal is to have 27 Community clinics in Nkwanta district. Right now, they have only realized 12 of those 27. A bag of concrete costs about $7, but goes along way to build a health clinic and house a community nurse who provides the first point of contact for medical care for these ... read more