Our Thanksgiving Day was spent in Krabi Thailand.  An excellent seafood dinner with a bottle of wine was what we chose to indulge in to cure our homesickness for turkey day.  This was our first Thanksgiving away from the states and nothing compares to being home on the holidays, but it was good to feel like proper adults instead of budget backpackers for an evening.

Appetizers

Main Course

Dessert

Our Thai-Thanksgiving dinner consisted of a first course Thai shrimp ravioli and crispy Thai seafood salad.  Clearly they don’t know what a ravioli is as they took a skewered shrimp wrapped it with an egg noodle and fried it.  They served this crispy creation in a shot glass half full of sweet and sour sauce (the flavors worked well and presentation was nice).  The Thai salad consisted of calamari, shrimp, fish, and vegetables all tempura fried and tossed in a sweet and spicy fish sauce.  No lettuce and not healthy but the “salad” was sure tasty.  For our main course we had a whole grouper and two whole squid grilled with a side of vegetables sautéed in oyster sauce.  Trying to keep the Thanksgiving Day tradition of having a whole protein on the table, the fresh seafood simply grilled over charcoal was delicious.  For desert we had a rendition of our favorite Thai desert sticky rice with mango but this time it was toped with coconut ice cream.  This lovely food was all washed down with a nice bottle of French Sauvignon Blanc.

Reflecting on our past year, there is so much we are thankful for.  Thankful to have each other in thus momentous journey we are on.  To have the determination, dedication, and preparation in the previous years which is now paying off with this amazing experience.  Thankful to be native English speakers and born in America.  Thankful for family and friends back home and all the new ones we are meeting along the way.  Thankful to be coming home for a re-charge and receiving a lot of needed hugs from loved ones.   And all the little things, clean towels, hot water, paved roads and so much more.

It is hard to believe we are just hitting our 4-month point in our travels, as it feels much longer.  We have had so many wonderful days and so many exhausting days.  The food and the landscapes we have come across have been mind-blowing.  This last week we have hit a bit of burnout as being a tourist in Southeast Asia has started to wear us down.  Our goal has been to stay away from tours, touristy areas and do more on our own but it hard to do in Asia.  The next 2 weeks we will be visiting Singapore and Malaysia and then home!

Excited for the change in continent and cultures after the holidays.  Here is our updated route and plan for 2014.   Our next couple flights are booked but, as always, plans are subject to change.

January 10-April 10 – South America
Flying in and out of Lima, Peru.  Very excited to have Beth and Rob meeting us in Peru to hike Manchu Picchu!  Plan to explore our way to Patagonia through Chile and Argentina.

April 11-June 30 – Eastern Europe and Italy
Flying into Istanbul, Turkey and out of Rome, Italy.  Hope to see Zane’s cousin in Bosnia and Katie’s parents and brother will be meeting us in Italy!

July – August – New Zealand
Flying into Auckland.  Plan is to get a camper van to best see the countryside and to volunteer on a farm or winery for a few weeks.

September – Myanmar and Laos
Since we will be back on this side of the world we will finish up in SEA once again.

Stats at the end of October:

Countries visited: 8
Beds slept in: 75
Books read: 32
Flights: 13
Overnight Trains: 7
Overnight Buses: 4
Overnight Ferries: 1
Caves visited: 5
Massages: 7 (Katie is trying to get a massage in each country to compare)
Hot Springs visited: 4
Average spent each day: 76 USD

Hope everyone had a great Turkey Day!