Awesome! I finally have some underwater photos to share! I got out to the GBR over a week ago and was fortunate enough to go diving 3 days - 8 dives! As you can imagine from the title, the totally awesome barrier reef was all about the reef and coral and VASTNESS and AWE of it all! I saw quite a few turtles, a handful of sharks, and some HUGE fishes! There were plenty of moral eels (love those creepy guys!) tiny nudibrachs and shrimp, and the schools of fish were overwhelming - in every direction - sometimes completely surrounding us! I have finally found my absolute weightless zen (neutral buoyancy) and have been super enjoying the feeling of complete weightlessness as an observer of this incredible underwater world! I did 5 dives in Port Douglas ... read more

Well, I have one picture from Singapore - smile Johnny! I went into reverse culture shock, travelers apathy, and a photo protest all at once! I got to Singapore and it's amazingly clean, well-organized, and Westernized! tall buildings, clean streets, normal cars, and of course the official language is English! There's a super clean efficient Metro subway, and on my way into town from the airport I met some very nice locals who confirmed - not much to do in Singapore, but WELCOME!! They said i must do two things - go to Sentosa island and the Night Safari Zoo. My first day I was walking around sweating soooo much, I ducked into a movie theater and watched a movie for the first time in three months! Afterwards, I took the cable car over to the ... read more

WOW, I'm officially six citites behind on my blogging, so I'll be keeping the next few short and sweet! HIGHLIGHTS! I've been up to some pretty amazing craziness in the last few weeks! I headed over to Borneo for about a week and knew I wanted to divide my time between jungle-riffic touring and underwater splendor. My first stop was the sleepy mountain and coastal town of KK where I decided to venture into my first hostel staying experience! There was a highly recommended place, the North Cabin Borneo hostel, and for about $7/night, how can you go wrong? Right away I loved it, I went right out to join the group on the patio - its so fun to walk into an instant party! They had all been there a few days and they told ... read more

WOWOWOW! Thailand, and the underwater adventures that lie within, continue to amaze! I took a ferry from Krabi over to Koh Phi Phi on the most packed, weighed down boat I've ever seen! We were a can of sardines (sardines with huge backpacks!) and the entire ride over I felt like the boat was going to sink any minute! But as soon as we pulled into the harbor on this amazing island, I knew I was in for another day in Paradise! The island is super small, but manages to host about half of the European population in its tiny streets and cafes! I was astounded at the number of travellers and tourists on holiday that were there! The store fronts were alternating souviner shops and dive shops - and that's about all the island had ... read more

My first thought in writing this blog is....I can't wait to come back! Thailand has truly exceeded expectations, and I have to thank Paul and Emma (that I met in Maldives) for their insight and inspiration to extending my time here! I was scheduled for a quick 3 day stop in Bangkok, but am now at the close of 9 exhilirating, action-packed, when-do-i-get-to-come-back-here days! I landed in Bangkok after another exhausting, 24-hour, why the heck did the airline cancel my reservation for no reason travel day. I had a guide book for southeast asia (very helpful in so many ways!) and knew exactly where I wanted to go and how to get there. Quite a change from the last few cities! I took a public taxi to Khoa San Road (after being asked 75 times by ... read more