Welp, I guess today marks the official end of our sabbatical. Both Katie and I started working again today. It's crazy to think that that chapter in our lives is now over. We had been jobless and even homeless for over a year. And we came out the other side in one piece (well mostly). Huzzah!
I don't have a lot else to say about it just yet. There's obviously a lot to look back and reflect on. We also have a bit of catching up to do on what we did with our last month off too. So there will still be more posts to read for a while. So stay tuned!
Showing posts with label text only. Show all posts
Showing posts with label text only. Show all posts
Monday, October 3, 2016
Saturday, October 1, 2016
The Long Story Behind What's Next for Us
We've had many people jokingly ask us if we're ready to return to "real life". Frankly, that's annoying. We are currently living real life. Our sabbatical is not a fake life; it is part of our ongoing real life. Doing something different than the norm does not make it unreal or less life-like. Okay, rant over. Don't worry. Even if you've used that phrase, we still love you.
Understandably we've also been getting a lot of sincere questions about what's next for us after our sabbatical ends. Figuring all that out hasn't been as smooth a transition as we expected. We did a lot of intensive planning for many parts of our sabbatical year, but it didn't occur to us to have a real plan in place for finishing the sabbatical. I guess over a year ago when we were first beginning this sabbatical, we kind of thought the end would just naturally fall into place. That has not happened. And, we are not very easy-going when it comes to transition and change. Would having an exit plan helped? Can you really plan for such a thing? Maybe. Maybe not.
Regardless, we now have some direction that we're going to share with you. When I lay it out, I'm sure it'll sound fairly simple and logical. But, it's undeniable that to get to this place it's taken a lot of time, frustration, stress, communication, decision-making, sleeplessness, and tears. That's not fun to have to admit and write. We wanted our sabbatical to end peacefully, happily, and restfully. But, we want to remember these tough times. Maybe we'll do a sabbatical of sorts again sometime, and we'll want to look back on this to think about what we could do differently.
I'll start with Brandon's job, because if I remember correctly that's what we figured out first. Whether or not Brandon went back to TechSmith and whether or not he could work remote would affect our next decisions. This put a bit of pressure on him, and he took some time and very thoughtfully made his decision. We're happy to say that Brandon is returning to TechSmith. We're so thankful for their support of this sabbatical year, and it's a blessing that Brandon will still be able to work remotely.
With Brandon being able to work remote, we had to decide where to live. I can get a job pretty much anywhere, so that didn't help narrow things down at all. Throughout this sabbatical, we've definitely learned the value of community. As this has been a recurring theme, we decided we needed to invest in our Grand Rapids community for at least the next year. We've definitely felt that pull to move to another state or do something more exotic. But, we've more strongly felt the pull of community and, quite honestly, stability and routine. We believe that God has placed in our hearts to be in Grand Rapids for the time-being, and we'll see what happens.
I have been yearning for a place to call our own for some time. I've also been wanting to return to the physical therapy world. Brandon can work from home, but I need to go into work. So, we wanted to live close to where I worked. That meant finding a job in the Grand Rapids area before finding a place to live.
I have been conflicted about whether to look for more permanent work or a travel physical therapy job. Coming off all of the travel in the past year tipped the scales a bit more towards a permanent position. I started my search by finding private practices online and judging the quality of the potential workplace by the information on their website. These places didn't list job openings, but I've learned that isn't always important. I sent my resume to six different places, and then decided to contact one more clinic before being done for the week and waiting it out. One responded back with interest, and as it turned out, it was that one final clinic I had sent my resume to. They were interested in hiring someone part-time to start, which is exactly what I was looking for, and I ended up doing a phone interview on the spot. I've said for the past year that I'd like to find a part-time position to see how I could beneficially use that extra time outside of work and seek more work-life balance. The whole thing seemed providential.
The job still didn't come to us perfectly easy. The company and I had a few communication issues, and there was some negotiating to do. But, I am pleased to announce that I have a job at Owens Physical Therapy in Grand Rapids. I begin working 20 hours a week in October. I am so excited to join a team that is passionate about quality patient care with a commitment to one-on-one, 45+ minute sessions. I'm going to be able to continue to learn there, and I'll be able to teach my co-workers a few things as well.
Now onto a place to live. First, I have to profusely thank our friends again for kindly hosting us in our homelessness. It especially hasn't been easy for me to not have a place of our own. I feel bad asking for favors all the time and having to make our stays dependent on others. But, our friends have been so wonderfully gracious. And, it's actually turned into a joy staying with them. It's certainly great to see each other on a daily basis and spend more time together, and I'm now saddened to leave these times together behind.
Finding a place to live was more difficult than we anticipated. We knew that we were spoiled with our rental and landlord in Holland, but I guess we didn't fully realize the extent of our spoiling. Being spoiled by this previous experience made every rental in Grand Rapids feel like we had to settle in some way. On top of that, rental prices in Grand Rapids have spiked in the last year. We had wanted to rent a single family home for ourselves, but with the spiked pricing we began to see that would not be an option. We would prefer live below our means and use that extra rent money in other ways.
When we were both looking for rentals together, we began to feed on each other's negativity and stress about the situation. To put an end to that, we decided that just one of us would have carry out the house search and report back only on rentals with high potential. I took over that role, and I think it worked; our negativity and stress did decrease. I wish I could say that I also was able to find our ideal place to live, but I cannot. In the end, we did just have to choose a place and settle.
So, we now have a place to live. The major negatives are that the place is on a second floor (our couch won't fit up there), and that it's kind of in a dead spot in terms of easy access to highways. It's also in the city limits, so we have to pay city income tax. But, rather than dwelling on the negatives, I'd like to focus on the positives. One positive is that the space is pretty large, so we should be able to entertain and host parties. In addition, we have two bedrooms, which should make it much easier to host people. We love having visitors, so please come! We're also located in Eastown, which has a lot of good food and hip culture for visitors to come and appreciate. It should be a fun area for us to live in and explore. We're also happy that we're renting from an actual couple rather than a property agency. Our landlords seem like good people to work with, and they kindly lowered our rent $50 a month when we asked if the price was negotiable. Another plus is that we have a carport, so snow will be less of hassle for me when leaving for work in the winter. And, a final positive is that our lease is less than a year. Our landlords requested that the renewal or end date be August 1, since it's a better time for them to move tenants in and out. This works for us. We'll take advantage of our time in Eastown, but if we want to buy or look for something better/different we aren't locked into a full year.
So, those are the details. We're now doing all the time-consuming, menial adulting stuff of setting up gas, electric, trash, and internet, and ironing out job details. It's kind of an anti-climatic way for our sabbatical to finish. But, how is a sabbatical supposed to finish? Whether on sabbatical or not, we're just living our real life. Thanks for following along.
Understandably we've also been getting a lot of sincere questions about what's next for us after our sabbatical ends. Figuring all that out hasn't been as smooth a transition as we expected. We did a lot of intensive planning for many parts of our sabbatical year, but it didn't occur to us to have a real plan in place for finishing the sabbatical. I guess over a year ago when we were first beginning this sabbatical, we kind of thought the end would just naturally fall into place. That has not happened. And, we are not very easy-going when it comes to transition and change. Would having an exit plan helped? Can you really plan for such a thing? Maybe. Maybe not.
Regardless, we now have some direction that we're going to share with you. When I lay it out, I'm sure it'll sound fairly simple and logical. But, it's undeniable that to get to this place it's taken a lot of time, frustration, stress, communication, decision-making, sleeplessness, and tears. That's not fun to have to admit and write. We wanted our sabbatical to end peacefully, happily, and restfully. But, we want to remember these tough times. Maybe we'll do a sabbatical of sorts again sometime, and we'll want to look back on this to think about what we could do differently.
I'll start with Brandon's job, because if I remember correctly that's what we figured out first. Whether or not Brandon went back to TechSmith and whether or not he could work remote would affect our next decisions. This put a bit of pressure on him, and he took some time and very thoughtfully made his decision. We're happy to say that Brandon is returning to TechSmith. We're so thankful for their support of this sabbatical year, and it's a blessing that Brandon will still be able to work remotely.
With Brandon being able to work remote, we had to decide where to live. I can get a job pretty much anywhere, so that didn't help narrow things down at all. Throughout this sabbatical, we've definitely learned the value of community. As this has been a recurring theme, we decided we needed to invest in our Grand Rapids community for at least the next year. We've definitely felt that pull to move to another state or do something more exotic. But, we've more strongly felt the pull of community and, quite honestly, stability and routine. We believe that God has placed in our hearts to be in Grand Rapids for the time-being, and we'll see what happens.
I have been yearning for a place to call our own for some time. I've also been wanting to return to the physical therapy world. Brandon can work from home, but I need to go into work. So, we wanted to live close to where I worked. That meant finding a job in the Grand Rapids area before finding a place to live.
I have been conflicted about whether to look for more permanent work or a travel physical therapy job. Coming off all of the travel in the past year tipped the scales a bit more towards a permanent position. I started my search by finding private practices online and judging the quality of the potential workplace by the information on their website. These places didn't list job openings, but I've learned that isn't always important. I sent my resume to six different places, and then decided to contact one more clinic before being done for the week and waiting it out. One responded back with interest, and as it turned out, it was that one final clinic I had sent my resume to. They were interested in hiring someone part-time to start, which is exactly what I was looking for, and I ended up doing a phone interview on the spot. I've said for the past year that I'd like to find a part-time position to see how I could beneficially use that extra time outside of work and seek more work-life balance. The whole thing seemed providential.
The job still didn't come to us perfectly easy. The company and I had a few communication issues, and there was some negotiating to do. But, I am pleased to announce that I have a job at Owens Physical Therapy in Grand Rapids. I begin working 20 hours a week in October. I am so excited to join a team that is passionate about quality patient care with a commitment to one-on-one, 45+ minute sessions. I'm going to be able to continue to learn there, and I'll be able to teach my co-workers a few things as well.
Now onto a place to live. First, I have to profusely thank our friends again for kindly hosting us in our homelessness. It especially hasn't been easy for me to not have a place of our own. I feel bad asking for favors all the time and having to make our stays dependent on others. But, our friends have been so wonderfully gracious. And, it's actually turned into a joy staying with them. It's certainly great to see each other on a daily basis and spend more time together, and I'm now saddened to leave these times together behind.
Finding a place to live was more difficult than we anticipated. We knew that we were spoiled with our rental and landlord in Holland, but I guess we didn't fully realize the extent of our spoiling. Being spoiled by this previous experience made every rental in Grand Rapids feel like we had to settle in some way. On top of that, rental prices in Grand Rapids have spiked in the last year. We had wanted to rent a single family home for ourselves, but with the spiked pricing we began to see that would not be an option. We would prefer live below our means and use that extra rent money in other ways.
When we were both looking for rentals together, we began to feed on each other's negativity and stress about the situation. To put an end to that, we decided that just one of us would have carry out the house search and report back only on rentals with high potential. I took over that role, and I think it worked; our negativity and stress did decrease. I wish I could say that I also was able to find our ideal place to live, but I cannot. In the end, we did just have to choose a place and settle.
So, we now have a place to live. The major negatives are that the place is on a second floor (our couch won't fit up there), and that it's kind of in a dead spot in terms of easy access to highways. It's also in the city limits, so we have to pay city income tax. But, rather than dwelling on the negatives, I'd like to focus on the positives. One positive is that the space is pretty large, so we should be able to entertain and host parties. In addition, we have two bedrooms, which should make it much easier to host people. We love having visitors, so please come! We're also located in Eastown, which has a lot of good food and hip culture for visitors to come and appreciate. It should be a fun area for us to live in and explore. We're also happy that we're renting from an actual couple rather than a property agency. Our landlords seem like good people to work with, and they kindly lowered our rent $50 a month when we asked if the price was negotiable. Another plus is that we have a carport, so snow will be less of hassle for me when leaving for work in the winter. And, a final positive is that our lease is less than a year. Our landlords requested that the renewal or end date be August 1, since it's a better time for them to move tenants in and out. This works for us. We'll take advantage of our time in Eastown, but if we want to buy or look for something better/different we aren't locked into a full year.
So, those are the details. We're now doing all the time-consuming, menial adulting stuff of setting up gas, electric, trash, and internet, and ironing out job details. It's kind of an anti-climatic way for our sabbatical to finish. But, how is a sabbatical supposed to finish? Whether on sabbatical or not, we're just living our real life. Thanks for following along.
Monday, September 19, 2016
What's Next for Us
As you can imagine, we've had a lot of people asking what's next for us. We're ready to answer a few of your questions.
When are you returning to work?
Brandon starts Monday, October 3. I start Tuesday, October 4.
Where are you working?
Brandon will be returning to TechSmith full-time and working remote. I will be beginning a part-time physical therapy position at Owens Physical Therapy in Grand Rapids.
Where will you be living?
We will be living in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We have found an upper apartment in a house in Eastown. It's not our ideal in many ways, but we're going to make the most of it. And, most importantly, we have space for visitors!
I think that covers the life basics, so we'll leave it at that for now. More details/lengthy explanation of the process to come...
When are you returning to work?
Brandon starts Monday, October 3. I start Tuesday, October 4.
Where are you working?
Brandon will be returning to TechSmith full-time and working remote. I will be beginning a part-time physical therapy position at Owens Physical Therapy in Grand Rapids.
Where will you be living?
We will be living in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We have found an upper apartment in a house in Eastown. It's not our ideal in many ways, but we're going to make the most of it. And, most importantly, we have space for visitors!
I think that covers the life basics, so we'll leave it at that for now. More details/lengthy explanation of the process to come...
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
It's Been a Year
Well, it's been a year now since I left my job and began this sabbatical. I've been asked several questions, and I've been asking myself some as well.
1. Does it feel like it's been a year?
Yes and no. Yes, in the sense that Brandon and I have fit so many travels and activities into this year. No, in the sense that time just has a tendency to fly by.
2. Where was my favorite place to travel this past year?
Melbourne, Australia. Hands down.
3. Where else would I like to travel?
Pretty much anywhere, but after pictures of Tasmania from a fellow traveler, I think that's pretty high on the list. Not for awhile though. I'd like to put international travel and the planning and effort it involves aside for a bit. I didn't think I would ever get to a place where I'd be tired of traveling, but I'm there.
4. Am I ready to go back to work?
Yes. I enjoy being a physical therapist. I miss helping people, being productive, and feeling like I'm actually relatively good at something. I also really miss daily routine, which work is a large part of. But, we've decided to have our sabbatical continue through the summer, and I'm still going to enjoy taking advantage of that.
5. Where will you work/settle/etc.?
We don't know yet. We'll have to tackle that question this summer.
6. What have you learned?
7. What haven't you learned that you hoped you would?
I guess I kind of hoped to find a secret to balance in life. How to fit in all the things I want to do without being overloaded. I still don't know what that looks like.
8. What is your biggest fear?
I don't want life to go back to exactly the way it was before the sabbatical, and I'm afraid that will happen because it's the easy, comfortable option. We'll have to be intentional about trying to be different, and I'm not sure how we'll be different. One idea I have is to try to work part-time so that I can more easily fit in time for some other goals or volunteering into my week.
9. What has the sabbatical done for your marriage?
It's been good. When you're around each other more you run out of things to talk about and little annoyances can become bigger. But, we've learned the value of silence and just being in each other's company. And, we've become a stronger team overall. We've been able to experience a lot together, good and bad, and we have a lot of shared memories to look back on.
10. What has the sabbatical done for your faith?
While failing at times, I've tried to be more intentional about Bible reading. I'd like to make it a habit so that it's easier to continue when we return to work. Without a home of our own, we've had to rely on God's provision and we've seen that at work. I do feel the disconnection of not being able to regularly attend a church. Brandon and I have listened to and discussed sermons on the road and visited friends' churches, but I am looking forward to finding a place to consistently attend and connect with wherever we end up.
11. Is there anything you wish you had done during your sabbatical that you didn't get to?
Yes. I wish we had volunteered more. We have been able to be around to help out some friends and family, but with traveling a lot we weren't able to do regular volunteer work. When we've settled somewhere, that's definitely something I want to pursue.
12. Would you do a sabbatical again?
Yes. It might look different, but we'd definitely consider doing another one. Maybe we'd do a local sabbatical, or do a more volunteer focused sabbatical, or only take off a few months instead of a year, or work in another country for a year. There's so many ways to take a sabbatical.
13. Would you encourage others to do a sabbatical?
Yes. And, as I sort of indicated in my answer to the previous question, it doesn't have to be a full year, travel-intense endeavor. It could just be an extended stay-cation, or working remote for a few months in new surroundings, or taking a summer off, or allowing yourself a longer break when transitioning between two jobs. Regardless, I think there's value in taking a sabbatical and seeing what you might learn about yourself and the world around you.
1. Does it feel like it's been a year?
Yes and no. Yes, in the sense that Brandon and I have fit so many travels and activities into this year. No, in the sense that time just has a tendency to fly by.
2. Where was my favorite place to travel this past year?
Melbourne, Australia. Hands down.
3. Where else would I like to travel?
Pretty much anywhere, but after pictures of Tasmania from a fellow traveler, I think that's pretty high on the list. Not for awhile though. I'd like to put international travel and the planning and effort it involves aside for a bit. I didn't think I would ever get to a place where I'd be tired of traveling, but I'm there.
4. Am I ready to go back to work?
Yes. I enjoy being a physical therapist. I miss helping people, being productive, and feeling like I'm actually relatively good at something. I also really miss daily routine, which work is a large part of. But, we've decided to have our sabbatical continue through the summer, and I'm still going to enjoy taking advantage of that.
5. Where will you work/settle/etc.?
We don't know yet. We'll have to tackle that question this summer.
6. What have you learned?
- The value of a being near to a close-knit community of friends and family
- The perks of visiting a destination for a longer period of time to explore it more in depth and be able to live life there
- The appreciation of being hosted and the enjoyment of hosting. We've been hosted by so many wonderful people and miss being hosts ourselves. We hope to have a spare bedroom wherever we end up to encourage visitors.
- I'm not a true world nomad like you read about in travel blogs. I cannot constantly roam. At some point, I need stability, normalcy, comfort, and a place to call my own.
7. What haven't you learned that you hoped you would?
I guess I kind of hoped to find a secret to balance in life. How to fit in all the things I want to do without being overloaded. I still don't know what that looks like.
8. What is your biggest fear?
I don't want life to go back to exactly the way it was before the sabbatical, and I'm afraid that will happen because it's the easy, comfortable option. We'll have to be intentional about trying to be different, and I'm not sure how we'll be different. One idea I have is to try to work part-time so that I can more easily fit in time for some other goals or volunteering into my week.
9. What has the sabbatical done for your marriage?
It's been good. When you're around each other more you run out of things to talk about and little annoyances can become bigger. But, we've learned the value of silence and just being in each other's company. And, we've become a stronger team overall. We've been able to experience a lot together, good and bad, and we have a lot of shared memories to look back on.
10. What has the sabbatical done for your faith?
While failing at times, I've tried to be more intentional about Bible reading. I'd like to make it a habit so that it's easier to continue when we return to work. Without a home of our own, we've had to rely on God's provision and we've seen that at work. I do feel the disconnection of not being able to regularly attend a church. Brandon and I have listened to and discussed sermons on the road and visited friends' churches, but I am looking forward to finding a place to consistently attend and connect with wherever we end up.
11. Is there anything you wish you had done during your sabbatical that you didn't get to?
Yes. I wish we had volunteered more. We have been able to be around to help out some friends and family, but with traveling a lot we weren't able to do regular volunteer work. When we've settled somewhere, that's definitely something I want to pursue.
12. Would you do a sabbatical again?
Yes. It might look different, but we'd definitely consider doing another one. Maybe we'd do a local sabbatical, or do a more volunteer focused sabbatical, or only take off a few months instead of a year, or work in another country for a year. There's so many ways to take a sabbatical.
13. Would you encourage others to do a sabbatical?
Yes. And, as I sort of indicated in my answer to the previous question, it doesn't have to be a full year, travel-intense endeavor. It could just be an extended stay-cation, or working remote for a few months in new surroundings, or taking a summer off, or allowing yourself a longer break when transitioning between two jobs. Regardless, I think there's value in taking a sabbatical and seeing what you might learn about yourself and the world around you.
Friday, April 1, 2016
European Travels In April
Our winter road trip ended last week, and we're already about to leave on our next set of adventures to Europe. Here's what the next month will look like.
April 1 : Chicago, IL - We'll drive with our friend Pauley to Chicago where we'll meet up with our friend Tito who will drop the three of us off at O'Hare after grabbing a quick lunch.
April 2 -10 : Madrid, Spain - We get to hang out with Pauley for the week. Katie and Pauley are running a 5k on Sunday, but the rest of the time we're going to wing it. We'll explore Madrid for sure and most likely do a few day trips to some other neighboring towns.
April 10 -14 : Vienna, Austria - This is more of an in-between stop for us. Pauley heads back to Grand Rapids on the 10th and we're not meeting up family until the 15th. So Katie and I get to adventure a few days on our own. We picked Vienna because it was cheaper for us to buy a multi-city flight on top of our Madrid flight than it was to go to Madrid alone. This saved us probably $300 a ticket. Crazy. We're hoping to check out a couple climbing gyms.
April 15 - 18 : Munich, Germany - This is stop one of our whirlwind Germany tour with Katie's brother Tim, Katie's parents, and Katie's mom's cousin Pam. We have lots to see in little time.
April 18 - 20 : Hamburg, Germany - We'll be with the same crew as before +1. Our friend Nate joins up with us for this leg of our Germany exploration.
April 20 - 24 : Berlin, Germany - The whole crew heads over to Berlin. One of the main highlights will be getting to see a true German football game: Bayern Munich vs Hertha BSC. Katie and I are also hoping to get a chance to meet up with a co-worker and friend of mine that works remotely from Berlin.
April 24 - 26 : Ghent, Belgium - Katie's family either heads home or off on their own adventures. So Belgium will just be Nate, Katie, and myself. Not sure exactly what we're in for. Nate has quite a few ideas a lot of which revolve around checking out various breweries.
April 26 - 28 : Brussels, Belgium - Same as Ghent, just a new city.
April 28 - 29 : Copenhagen, Denmark / Malmö, Sweden - We chose a cheap flight out of Copenhagen to head home, so we're just heading to that area the day before our flight out. That way we'll have better options for getting to the airport at a reasonable time. We're staying over in Sweden because it was actually both cheaper and faster to get to from the airport than staying in Copenhagen. Hopefully we'll have some time to explore the city a bit. We fly out with Nate on the 29th to head back to the US.
April 30 - May 1 : Washington DC - Nate continues on back home, but Katie and I get to spend the weekend with our friends Faber (Jon) and Erica in DC before heading the rest of the way home.
May 2 : Return to Grand Rapids, MI - We're home!
April 1 : Chicago, IL - We'll drive with our friend Pauley to Chicago where we'll meet up with our friend Tito who will drop the three of us off at O'Hare after grabbing a quick lunch.
April 2 -10 : Madrid, Spain - We get to hang out with Pauley for the week. Katie and Pauley are running a 5k on Sunday, but the rest of the time we're going to wing it. We'll explore Madrid for sure and most likely do a few day trips to some other neighboring towns.
April 10 -14 : Vienna, Austria - This is more of an in-between stop for us. Pauley heads back to Grand Rapids on the 10th and we're not meeting up family until the 15th. So Katie and I get to adventure a few days on our own. We picked Vienna because it was cheaper for us to buy a multi-city flight on top of our Madrid flight than it was to go to Madrid alone. This saved us probably $300 a ticket. Crazy. We're hoping to check out a couple climbing gyms.
April 15 - 18 : Munich, Germany - This is stop one of our whirlwind Germany tour with Katie's brother Tim, Katie's parents, and Katie's mom's cousin Pam. We have lots to see in little time.
April 18 - 20 : Hamburg, Germany - We'll be with the same crew as before +1. Our friend Nate joins up with us for this leg of our Germany exploration.
April 20 - 24 : Berlin, Germany - The whole crew heads over to Berlin. One of the main highlights will be getting to see a true German football game: Bayern Munich vs Hertha BSC. Katie and I are also hoping to get a chance to meet up with a co-worker and friend of mine that works remotely from Berlin.
April 24 - 26 : Ghent, Belgium - Katie's family either heads home or off on their own adventures. So Belgium will just be Nate, Katie, and myself. Not sure exactly what we're in for. Nate has quite a few ideas a lot of which revolve around checking out various breweries.
April 26 - 28 : Brussels, Belgium - Same as Ghent, just a new city.
April 28 - 29 : Copenhagen, Denmark / Malmö, Sweden - We chose a cheap flight out of Copenhagen to head home, so we're just heading to that area the day before our flight out. That way we'll have better options for getting to the airport at a reasonable time. We're staying over in Sweden because it was actually both cheaper and faster to get to from the airport than staying in Copenhagen. Hopefully we'll have some time to explore the city a bit. We fly out with Nate on the 29th to head back to the US.
April 30 - May 1 : Washington DC - Nate continues on back home, but Katie and I get to spend the weekend with our friends Faber (Jon) and Erica in DC before heading the rest of the way home.
May 2 : Return to Grand Rapids, MI - We're home!
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Our Scary Campfire Stories
We've been having a great time here in California, but that hasn't come without some tough times. In fact we had to two pretty scary incidents during our stay here. These aren't scary campfire stories in the traditional sense of the phrase. But they were still pretty scary for us.
The first incident happened on the first morning of our stay in the round house. Both Katie and I woke up feeling pretty terrible. We didn't fully know why. Our best guess was that our bed was positioned such that our heads were below our feet all night due to the slant of the floor. Well shortly after Katie got up and moving she got really dizzy, passed out, and fell to the floor. She came to pretty quickly but was in a lot of pain due to both the fall and the swirling headache she had from before. She was also pretty scared since she couldn't fully remember what had happened. I did my best to take care of her, which mostly involved keeping her hydrated, fed, and warm. I also brought her some pain medicine, kept her awake and talking, opened up windows to bring in fresh air, and slowly helped her through various stages of sitting up. After taking care of her through the morning and into the afternoon, it appeared there was no serious damage other than a possible concussion, so we concluded there was no need to go see a doctor unless her symptoms worsened. Luckily they did not and her condition significantly improved by the next day.
Needless to say we moved our bed and the rest of the week we did not run into any issues. So we thought our conclusion about the incline of the floor was correct. Well fast-forward to this past Monday and we again woke up feeling pretty terrible. We didn't put two and two together because while we were laying down our headaches were pretty dull, but once we got up Katie felt the same symptoms she had before and panicked. The last time was so incredibly scary it understandably freaked her out. But at least this time we kind of knew what to expect so I kept her sitting in a safe position while we did all the same things we did before to help her get better. Huzzah for being more on top things! Well kinda...
Unfortunately while I was running around in a slightly panicked state trying to take care of her, I was ignoring my own symptoms and eventually blacked out myself. Sigh. The funny and probably slightly scarier thing was that I did not think I had blacked out. I had already been up for a good hour and had even showered. I just remember feeling very dizzy as I was running around getting stuff for Katie. My legs felt a bit wobbly and weak so I leaned back against the wall and sat myself onto the floor. I sat there a few seconds and eventually called out to Katie to see if she was doing okay, but what freaked me out was that she was not in the place I had last left her, or so I could remember. Not good. I eventually crawled my way back to bed to rest.
Luckily I did not have a major fall and was in much less pain than what Katie experienced the first time. Also luckily by the time this happened Katie's condition had improved quite a bit and she was able carefully take of herself and me. It took quite a bit longer for me to recover because apparently recovering from blacking out is a long process regardless of if you fell or not. It seems as though my body is better at holding out against such things, but then takes longer to recover once it all catches up to me.
Given that we had already corrected for the slant of the floor, our next best guess to the cause of all this was that we had just experienced carbon monoxide poisoning or something related to lack of oxygen. In both incidents we had got our wood-fire stove going really well before we went to bed to keep the house warm and in both cases we had not kept windows open or plugged in the carbon monoxide alarm. To be fair I didn't know about the alarm the first night. But once I did, it went off a couple times in the night that first week. I thought it was due to my poor fire building skills. The fix was to keep windows open if I got any smoke in the house while building the fire. But I started the fire so well the night before that second incident that I never bother to open the windows and just plum forgot to plug the alarm back in after being gone all weekend. Apparently at least one of those two things needed to happen. Alas... lesson learned.
We are at least alive, safe and healthy again. Our plan is to no longer use the wood-fire stove at night since we think something is wrong with its ventilation system. Instead we plan to use a space heater we borrowed from Becky and if need be, just be cold if the space heater isn't enough. We've at least had some warmer nights recently while we adjust to the new routine. We are though hoping for no more scary incidents, especially like the ones as of recent involving fire/smoke/lack of oxygen, to happen ever again.
The first incident happened on the first morning of our stay in the round house. Both Katie and I woke up feeling pretty terrible. We didn't fully know why. Our best guess was that our bed was positioned such that our heads were below our feet all night due to the slant of the floor. Well shortly after Katie got up and moving she got really dizzy, passed out, and fell to the floor. She came to pretty quickly but was in a lot of pain due to both the fall and the swirling headache she had from before. She was also pretty scared since she couldn't fully remember what had happened. I did my best to take care of her, which mostly involved keeping her hydrated, fed, and warm. I also brought her some pain medicine, kept her awake and talking, opened up windows to bring in fresh air, and slowly helped her through various stages of sitting up. After taking care of her through the morning and into the afternoon, it appeared there was no serious damage other than a possible concussion, so we concluded there was no need to go see a doctor unless her symptoms worsened. Luckily they did not and her condition significantly improved by the next day.
Needless to say we moved our bed and the rest of the week we did not run into any issues. So we thought our conclusion about the incline of the floor was correct. Well fast-forward to this past Monday and we again woke up feeling pretty terrible. We didn't put two and two together because while we were laying down our headaches were pretty dull, but once we got up Katie felt the same symptoms she had before and panicked. The last time was so incredibly scary it understandably freaked her out. But at least this time we kind of knew what to expect so I kept her sitting in a safe position while we did all the same things we did before to help her get better. Huzzah for being more on top things! Well kinda...
Unfortunately while I was running around in a slightly panicked state trying to take care of her, I was ignoring my own symptoms and eventually blacked out myself. Sigh. The funny and probably slightly scarier thing was that I did not think I had blacked out. I had already been up for a good hour and had even showered. I just remember feeling very dizzy as I was running around getting stuff for Katie. My legs felt a bit wobbly and weak so I leaned back against the wall and sat myself onto the floor. I sat there a few seconds and eventually called out to Katie to see if she was doing okay, but what freaked me out was that she was not in the place I had last left her, or so I could remember. Not good. I eventually crawled my way back to bed to rest.
Luckily I did not have a major fall and was in much less pain than what Katie experienced the first time. Also luckily by the time this happened Katie's condition had improved quite a bit and she was able carefully take of herself and me. It took quite a bit longer for me to recover because apparently recovering from blacking out is a long process regardless of if you fell or not. It seems as though my body is better at holding out against such things, but then takes longer to recover once it all catches up to me.
Given that we had already corrected for the slant of the floor, our next best guess to the cause of all this was that we had just experienced carbon monoxide poisoning or something related to lack of oxygen. In both incidents we had got our wood-fire stove going really well before we went to bed to keep the house warm and in both cases we had not kept windows open or plugged in the carbon monoxide alarm. To be fair I didn't know about the alarm the first night. But once I did, it went off a couple times in the night that first week. I thought it was due to my poor fire building skills. The fix was to keep windows open if I got any smoke in the house while building the fire. But I started the fire so well the night before that second incident that I never bother to open the windows and just plum forgot to plug the alarm back in after being gone all weekend. Apparently at least one of those two things needed to happen. Alas... lesson learned.
We are at least alive, safe and healthy again. Our plan is to no longer use the wood-fire stove at night since we think something is wrong with its ventilation system. Instead we plan to use a space heater we borrowed from Becky and if need be, just be cold if the space heater isn't enough. We've at least had some warmer nights recently while we adjust to the new routine. We are though hoping for no more scary incidents, especially like the ones as of recent involving fire/smoke/lack of oxygen, to happen ever again.
Sunday, January 17, 2016
"Adulting" and the Rule of Three
Well, we started our road trip on Saturday without driving anywhere all day. I guess that's another way of saying that we decided to leave on Sunday instead. Friday turned out to be a traumatic day of "adulting" so we weren't quite prepared to leave Michigan.
I thought Brandon and I had made up the word "adulting", but a google search proved otherwise. Apparently it's a thing. Urban dictionary defines it as the following: Adulting (v): to do grown up things and hold responsibilities such as, a 9-5 job, a mortgage/rent, a car payment, or anything else that makes one think of grown ups.
There are many benefits of adulting (including eating ice cream or cheesecake for any meal you want), but, of course, all good things come with difficulties and responsibilities as well. The first chore of adulting on Friday required us to make sure our car insurance company had our new address. We've changed our address to my parents' house after giving up our rental in Holland. The insurance company required current pay stubs or utility bills to prove our new address, both of which we don't have as we're not working or renting a place. We had done the address change on our driver's licences, so we were hoping that would suffice, but we hadn't heard back if the change was accepted or not. Brandon chatted with the insurance company online and they straightened the situation right away. It was a blessedly easy interaction.
A second session of adulting occurred on Friday after discovering that our health insurance company had not been receiving our electronic automatic payments set up through our bank and was terminating our health insurance. What?! We had done all the appropriate paperwork for this payment system weeks ago. And the company had already been doing this for our health account with them last year. And, despite requesting paperless communication from them we learned all of this from paper mail. Seriously?! After many discussions with our insurance agent and the health insurance company, it was determined that our insurance plan from last year had never been cancelled. Ironic, since we wanted to keep that one, but the insurance company required us to drop that plan and get a better one. Brandon is 30 years old, and apparently at 30 years old your health is depleted enough that you are required to have a plan with a lower deductible. So, in the end we had two health insurance plans and confusion of the automatic payments. Brandon did his best to resolve the whole thing, but with it being a Friday and the weekend coming, we're still going to have to check in again next week to get it all sorted.
Unfortunately the "Rule of Three" of the universe required that we had to have one more incident of unfortunate adulting on Friday. So on our way to get some errands done around town we were rear ended by another car. Arghhhh! We weren't at fault; the road was wet and the 20 something year old driver failed to pay attention and apply his brakes soon enough. The hood of his car was clearly a bit crumpled, but we had no visible damage other than some small paint loss. The bumper did its job. Despite having no visible damage we now had to worry that there could be hidden damage and we were leaving on our road trip out West the next day and it was too late on a Friday afternoon to have our car looked at with the weekend fast approaching. Arghhhh again!
Since then we've test driven our car a couple times and there seems to be no issues. We thought at one point during our test drives we smelled smoke, but oddly it smelled more like cigarette smoke. Upon further investigation we found a cigarette butt smashed on the driver's side floor, so Brandon must have accidentally tracked it in during our errands. The universe was just not on our side Friday. But at least it wasn't something wrong with our car. Thankfully, our car insurance company is a large national corporation so we can always have things checked out in the Quad Cities if something comes up in the next few days. And, most importantly there was no bodily injury.
So with all that adulting and the "Rule of Three" we gave up on leaving on Saturday and pushed back our road trip a day. Life improved with a visit to our friends, the Blanskis, on Friday night and then hanging out with Pauley on Saturday and doing some productive Spain planning. We gave ourselves more time to pack and to relax. So now we're calmer and ready to go. Onward and out West!
I thought Brandon and I had made up the word "adulting", but a google search proved otherwise. Apparently it's a thing. Urban dictionary defines it as the following: Adulting (v): to do grown up things and hold responsibilities such as, a 9-5 job, a mortgage/rent, a car payment, or anything else that makes one think of grown ups.
There are many benefits of adulting (including eating ice cream or cheesecake for any meal you want), but, of course, all good things come with difficulties and responsibilities as well. The first chore of adulting on Friday required us to make sure our car insurance company had our new address. We've changed our address to my parents' house after giving up our rental in Holland. The insurance company required current pay stubs or utility bills to prove our new address, both of which we don't have as we're not working or renting a place. We had done the address change on our driver's licences, so we were hoping that would suffice, but we hadn't heard back if the change was accepted or not. Brandon chatted with the insurance company online and they straightened the situation right away. It was a blessedly easy interaction.
A second session of adulting occurred on Friday after discovering that our health insurance company had not been receiving our electronic automatic payments set up through our bank and was terminating our health insurance. What?! We had done all the appropriate paperwork for this payment system weeks ago. And the company had already been doing this for our health account with them last year. And, despite requesting paperless communication from them we learned all of this from paper mail. Seriously?! After many discussions with our insurance agent and the health insurance company, it was determined that our insurance plan from last year had never been cancelled. Ironic, since we wanted to keep that one, but the insurance company required us to drop that plan and get a better one. Brandon is 30 years old, and apparently at 30 years old your health is depleted enough that you are required to have a plan with a lower deductible. So, in the end we had two health insurance plans and confusion of the automatic payments. Brandon did his best to resolve the whole thing, but with it being a Friday and the weekend coming, we're still going to have to check in again next week to get it all sorted.
Unfortunately the "Rule of Three" of the universe required that we had to have one more incident of unfortunate adulting on Friday. So on our way to get some errands done around town we were rear ended by another car. Arghhhh! We weren't at fault; the road was wet and the 20 something year old driver failed to pay attention and apply his brakes soon enough. The hood of his car was clearly a bit crumpled, but we had no visible damage other than some small paint loss. The bumper did its job. Despite having no visible damage we now had to worry that there could be hidden damage and we were leaving on our road trip out West the next day and it was too late on a Friday afternoon to have our car looked at with the weekend fast approaching. Arghhhh again!
Since then we've test driven our car a couple times and there seems to be no issues. We thought at one point during our test drives we smelled smoke, but oddly it smelled more like cigarette smoke. Upon further investigation we found a cigarette butt smashed on the driver's side floor, so Brandon must have accidentally tracked it in during our errands. The universe was just not on our side Friday. But at least it wasn't something wrong with our car. Thankfully, our car insurance company is a large national corporation so we can always have things checked out in the Quad Cities if something comes up in the next few days. And, most importantly there was no bodily injury.
So with all that adulting and the "Rule of Three" we gave up on leaving on Saturday and pushed back our road trip a day. Life improved with a visit to our friends, the Blanskis, on Friday night and then hanging out with Pauley on Saturday and doing some productive Spain planning. We gave ourselves more time to pack and to relax. So now we're calmer and ready to go. Onward and out West!
Monday, January 11, 2016
Winter Road Trip Plans
Yes, we know. We haven't made a blog post in a very long time. We've been frequently asked "What's next for you guys?" and "Are you looking for jobs yet?". The answer is that no, we're not making decisions about jobs yet. Instead we're headed on a road trip out West for the next couple months to visit and spend time with some friends.
Our plans continue to fluctuate on a nearly daily basis, but for now we're planning on leaving Michigan this Saturday, January 16th. It's definitely come quickly! We're finding that we're jamming a lot into our last week in Michigan what with seeing my parents one last time, climbing at our local gym one last time, catching up with a few more friends, starting the packing process, and recovering from some nasty colds.
Our first stop is the Quad Cities for nearly a week. We were able to catch up with a lot of family during the holidays, but missed out on time with our friends there. So, we're hoping during that week to catch up on life with a bunch of friends as well as spend time with Brandon's mom.
After the Quad Cities, we'll be driving out to Colorado for our first snowboarding of the season. We and our friend Nate were able to get an awesome deal on a four pack of lift tickets for Copper Mountain that were are excited to make use of. Nate is flying to Denver to join us for a little over the week, and we'll be able to stay with his family there.
From Denver we'll be driving all the way to our friend Becky in Santa Cruz, California. When we visited her about a year in a half ago we had a hard time tearing ourselves away after just a week. We're hoping to spend at least three weeks out there to live life with her. Her life includes a lot of rock climbing, which we're thrilled to be a part of. I'm sure we'll also enjoy some warm weather and the ocean as well.
As incentive to eventually leave California again, we have our friend Jill to visit in Park City, Utah. It's been far too long since we've seen her smiling face. We'll get to spend at least a week and a half living life with her, which will definitely include some snowboarding.
Our time frames for California and Utah are pretty flexible. We just need to reserve enough time to make the drive back to Colorado for the week of March 7th. That week is spring break for our nephews in Nebraska. The family is headed to Granby Ranch in Colorado for a spring break ski trip, and we get to join them and Brandon's dad there for a couple days on the slopes.
As luck would have it, my good friend Heather is a teacher and her spring break is the week of March 14th. So after some time with family we'll get to spend some time in Fort Collins, Colorado with Heather and Jonathan and meet their new baby. We'll then bring the trip full circle and return to the Quad Cities for the wedding of our friends Mike and Anna on March 19th before returning to Michigan.
Whew! A lot of planning, coordinating schedules, and driving, but it should all be worth it! Of course, the whole plan depends on the ability of our little blue Ford Focus, Lucille, to make it through the weather and the mountains. It's bound to be an adventure!
Our plans continue to fluctuate on a nearly daily basis, but for now we're planning on leaving Michigan this Saturday, January 16th. It's definitely come quickly! We're finding that we're jamming a lot into our last week in Michigan what with seeing my parents one last time, climbing at our local gym one last time, catching up with a few more friends, starting the packing process, and recovering from some nasty colds.
Our first stop is the Quad Cities for nearly a week. We were able to catch up with a lot of family during the holidays, but missed out on time with our friends there. So, we're hoping during that week to catch up on life with a bunch of friends as well as spend time with Brandon's mom.
After the Quad Cities, we'll be driving out to Colorado for our first snowboarding of the season. We and our friend Nate were able to get an awesome deal on a four pack of lift tickets for Copper Mountain that were are excited to make use of. Nate is flying to Denver to join us for a little over the week, and we'll be able to stay with his family there.
From Denver we'll be driving all the way to our friend Becky in Santa Cruz, California. When we visited her about a year in a half ago we had a hard time tearing ourselves away after just a week. We're hoping to spend at least three weeks out there to live life with her. Her life includes a lot of rock climbing, which we're thrilled to be a part of. I'm sure we'll also enjoy some warm weather and the ocean as well.
As incentive to eventually leave California again, we have our friend Jill to visit in Park City, Utah. It's been far too long since we've seen her smiling face. We'll get to spend at least a week and a half living life with her, which will definitely include some snowboarding.
Our time frames for California and Utah are pretty flexible. We just need to reserve enough time to make the drive back to Colorado for the week of March 7th. That week is spring break for our nephews in Nebraska. The family is headed to Granby Ranch in Colorado for a spring break ski trip, and we get to join them and Brandon's dad there for a couple days on the slopes.
As luck would have it, my good friend Heather is a teacher and her spring break is the week of March 14th. So after some time with family we'll get to spend some time in Fort Collins, Colorado with Heather and Jonathan and meet their new baby. We'll then bring the trip full circle and return to the Quad Cities for the wedding of our friends Mike and Anna on March 19th before returning to Michigan.
Whew! A lot of planning, coordinating schedules, and driving, but it should all be worth it! Of course, the whole plan depends on the ability of our little blue Ford Focus, Lucille, to make it through the weather and the mountains. It's bound to be an adventure!
 |
| A possible route from Michigan to California and back. That's a lot of miles and a lot of hours. Hopefully the only car maintenance we'll need is an oil change and tire rotation. |
Thursday, December 17, 2015
FAQ - What Have We Learned?
We've already gotten a good number of questions about our travels so far, but the question of "What have we learned...?" has been the most frequent and hardest to answer due to the number of different ways you can come at it. We'll cover the other questions too in a different post, but I thought we'd spend some time just on this one question for this post.
- Overall
- The biggest take away of the trip was importance of our friends, family, and community. We missed them more than we thought we would, especially near the end of the trip.
- The importance of hospitality and generosity. Some of the best experiences we had were due to others' generous hospitality. It's something that we want continue to model and improve on in the years ahead.
- Personal
- We learned less about ourselves and each other then you might think. We did reaffirm some things we were pretty certain of from before, but for the most part, maybe due to our age, we've reached a stage where we know and are comfortable with who we are
- We still sometimes need our own "me" time
- We still still need to work on being less selfish
- We still prefer staying places longer because we get exhausted and stressed very easily when we're jumping around too much. We don't like change, and there are just too many details to figure out when you're constantly on the move.
- We liked blogging more than we thought we would. Katie especially found it fun and even therapeutic.
- We developed more of a taste for wine given that the beer selection in Australia and Thailand was either poor or very expensive.
- Katie has grown more fond of cats thanks to some recent positive experiences.
- We really liked having a grocery store or two that was within a quick 10 minutes or less walking distance. We may look for such a luxury in the future.
- Skills
- How to drive on the opposite side of the road
- How to drive with two people on one motorbike
- How to cook Thai food
- Katie can use her physical therapy skills to help with my occasional dental problems
- How to surf on fake waves
- How to better surf on real waves too
- We got pretty good at playing Hanabi
- Travel
- How to navigate the Melbourne and Sydney public transit system
- Finding a budget airline like JetStar can be extremely helpful when piecing together a multi-flight trip on a budget.
- Don't sit near the bathrooms on an airplane if you can help it
- If people are being obnoxious on your flight, it is better to do something about it, like politely asking them to stop, instead of holding it in and being bitter/annoyed all flight.
- Having a working map/gps on your phone that works offline is extremely helpful when traveling.
- Finding a church to temporarily plug into is a great way to make some valuable connections in the areas you're visiting.
- Always double check your directions/address/contact information. We learned that lesson the hard way.
- Airbnb is awesome (thus far)
- Wool clothing really does work well for traveling light.
- General
- Australia's craft beer scene is really young
- Australia doesn't have pumpkin puree
- Australian footy is really fun to watch
- The Melbourne/Sydney public transit is great
- Deep water solo rock climbing is awesome!!!
- It's definitely cheaper to eat out in Thailand than to make your own food. And it's super delicious too
- Thai massages are quality
- Medical/dental stuff really is quite cheap in Thailand. We can see why medial tourism is so big there.
- Hawaii doesn't have sand flies... yet. They used to not have mosquitoes either, but they were accidentally brought over in the 1800's. But even so, they weren't as bad as we're used to.
- Chromebooks are just okay. They work well for doing stuff on the internet. But they do not work that well offline. So even though that situation of being offline is really rare these days (probably even less than 5% of the time) I would still not consider them a good replacement for a normal laptop, at least not for our needs.
- Things we wished we would have learned or are still working on
- The secret to work/life balance
- The secret to never being stressed
- The secret to always being happy/content in all circumstances
I'm sure there is more I could add, but that's already a pretty decent list. Apparently we learned a lot. So I'll just leave it at that for now. If you have any questions and/or want to learn more from our experiences, feel free to let us know. We'll be happy to give any advice that we can.
Cheers!
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
How We Did Packing for Nearly Three Months of Travel
It's hard to know what to pack for nearly three months abroad. We mulled over what to pack for awhile and packed and repacked again and again. In the end, we came up with this and wondered if we'd have any regrets.
I'm proud to say that we used everything that we brought with us, except the two following items:
There were some specialty travel items that we brought with us, and we were curious if they'd prove their worth. They did.
There are only a few additional things we wish we'd brought with us:
Overall, I don't think we did too bad packing! Hopefully we can continue to experiment and refine our list for future travels.
I'm proud to say that we used everything that we brought with us, except the two following items:
- Padlock: We brought the padlock was in case we ended up staying in a hostel with a locker for our belongings, but we didn't end up staying in a hostel
- LifeStraw water filters: We had access to safe water everywhere we stayed. They've proven handy for drinking out of Lake Michigan instead of hauling a heavy water bottle to the beach.
There were some specialty travel items that we brought with us, and we were curious if they'd prove their worth. They did.
- Wool clothes: Wool clothes are supposed to be moisture wicking and stink proof, allowing you to wear them for several days in a row. Some travel friends had recommended them to us, so we decided to try them out. We got a dress for me and a t-shirt for Brandon on sale from Icebreaker. Brandon wore his shirt for a week straight rock climbing in Thailand. This was an extreme test to put the shirt through, so it did stink by the end. Thankfully, washing it helped. I wore my dress off and on throughout the trip and only washed it once. Both items worked out well enough that we may invest in some more wool items in order to pack less clothing on future trips.
- Undress: Brandon alerted me to the Undress after seeing their kickstarter online. Essentially it's a dress that allows you to change from one set of clothes into another in public without being naked. The best way to understand it is to watch the video here. I found it especially helpful to change in and out of my swimsuit when camping in Hawaii. Instead of paying $80 for the dress, I showed my talented sister the simple design and video, and she was able to make a knock off version of the dress! It's been invaluable.
- Keens: Brandon is a religious Converse Chuck wearer, but the physical therapist in me could not allow him to wear those all over Australia and Thailand. He grudgingly tried on some more supportive alternatives and agreed to buy a pair of Keen sandals to bring on the trip along with his pair of Chucks. He ended up almost exclusively wearing the Keens, and there were no complaints of back or leg pain over several miles of walking. Needless to say, this made me quite gleeful. But, I'll leave it at that. And, now that we're home, we're both happily back in our Chucks.
There are only a few additional things we wish we'd brought with us:
- An extra sweatshirt: Melbourne in September-October was cooler than we expected. We made do, but I almost bought another layer at a thrift store.
- More quickdraws: We have 13 draws for climbing, but some of the taller routes we climbed required 15-17 draws. It would've been nice to have more draws so we didn't have to downclimb to retrieve and reuse the draws so much
- Lightweight pants: The temples in Chiang Mai required women's knees and shoulders to be covered. I had climbing pants (too form fitting) and jeans (too hot), but lightweight, airy pants would've been better. I bought a cheap pair in a market for $3, and they've already fallen apart.
- Rash guards: The sun in Hawaii and Australia is really strong. Even with liberal use of sunscreen it's safer to have a rash guard/swim shirt if you're going to be at the beach for a substantial amount of time. We ended up buying some online and shipped to our friends' place in Hawaii for our return. They worked so well, we'll probably wear them most beach days now.
Overall, I don't think we did too bad packing! Hopefully we can continue to experiment and refine our list for future travels.
Saturday, November 28, 2015
A Review of Flights: Jetstar, AirAsia, and Thai Airways
We have taken many flights on this nearly three month adventure to the Asia-Pacific region. Nine flights to be exact. Our international flights were done on three carriers: Jetstar, AirAsia, and Thai Airways. How did they all stack up?
Jetstar:
Jetstar was our primary budget international airline. We flew Jetstar on the following journeys, which were all direct flights:
Jetstar:
Jetstar was our primary budget international airline. We flew Jetstar on the following journeys, which were all direct flights:
- Honolulu to Melbourne
- Melbourne to Phuket
- Bangkok to Melbourne
- Melbourne to Sydney
- Sydney to Honolulu
As a budget airline there is a base ticket price with extra services requiring additional fees. Picking a seat, provision of a pillow or blanket, in-flight entertainment, all food and drink, and any baggage over 7 kilograms (about 15 lbs) would cost you more.
We paid extra to be sure we would sit next to each other on the longest flights. On some shorter flights we did not pay extra and we were still seated together. We made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and brought granola bars and a Nalgene bottle of water, so we never paid for food or drink. However, some of the food looked quality and was not as exorbitantly priced as we expected, competing with airport food prices. It looked as though Jetstar was developing relationships with healthy food providers, such Sumosalad. We paid for in-flight entertainment on our long flight from Melbourne to Phuket, which at $10 AUD ($7 USD) was well worth it with several new release movies. Other times we attempted to sleep or listed to audiobooks/music on our phone.
We pre-paid for either 20 or 25 kg of checked luggage each time we flew on Jetstar. The amount was still low enough to make the budget flight price well worth it. Jetstar was vastly cheaper than any other airline flying in/out of Australia to the regions we were looking at. However, it is important to book your luggage amount before arriving at the airport to avoid a hefty fee; this is typically done during the online ticket booking.
We were not sure what to expect of Jetstar with it being a budget airline. As it turns out, we were impressed. The check-in process at the Jetstar desk was very efficient, moving quickly with even long lines of people. All representatives were polite.
Check-in at the Melbourne Airport was the fanciest. We did not interact with a customer service agent once. We printed our own boarding passes and luggage sticker at an electronic kiosk. Then we used an electronic system to weigh and send our checked luggage off on our own. Pretty slick.
In the air, we had kind of expected the flight attendants to pester us with trying to buy stuff. This seems like a thing some budget airlines do. Luckily this was not the case. We did not interact much with the flight attendants, because we did not pay for in-flight extras. However, on the few occasions we asked for assistance the flight attendants were kind and responsive. For some reason, Bangkok airport security forced every passenger to dump their liquids for a second time, even those bought or filled in the airport, before entering a secured gate for boarding. This was outrageous, because the gate area did not have access to clean water. Thankfully, the flight attendants gave out free water without complaint when asked.
If you cannot tell from the information above, we would definitely fly with Jetstar again. Unfortunately the only location Jetstar services in the United States is Honolulu. We wish they would expand their United States network more.
AirAsia:
AirAsia is the budget airline of, well, Asia. Go figure. We flew AirAsia once direct from Krabi to Chiang Mai. Like Jetstar picking a seat, provision of a pillow or blanket, in-flight entertainment, all food and drink (even water), and any baggage over 7 kilograms (about 15 lbs) would cost you more.
Since our flight was short we did not pay to select seats, but we were still seated next to each other. We brought our own food or drink, which was good because the offerings were pretty slim and unappetizing. As usual, we paid for 20 kilograms of checked baggage.
It is hard to know if we were dismayed by AirAsia or by the strange set up of Asian airports or both. In the Krabi airport we went through checked bag security, then got our boarding passes and dropped our checked bag, then went thru carry on bag security, and then reached a waiting area for our gate. You could not go to the actual gate until the flight was called. It was an odd, highly inefficient system. Also, in Krabi and Chiang Mai we respectively entered and exited the airplane on the tarmac. Passengers were jammed into a shuttle bus between the airplane and the gate. This seemed to be done only for AirAsia flights.
As a budget airline, AirAsia also flew to the smaller domestic airport rather than the large international airport in Bangkok. We needed to leave from the large international airport in Bangkok to Melbourne with Jetstar. As free shuttle service is provided between the two Bangkok airports, but we were not in the mood to test it out. In looking at other carriers in Thailand we were surprised to find many options that did not claim to be budget airlines, but had lower costs. In fact, Thai Airways and Bangkok Airways were only a little more expensive than AirAsia. When factoring in that they had free baggage allowances up to 30 kilograms, they became nearly the same price. The tipping point was that Thai and Bangkok Airways flew into the large international Bangkok airport and provided free meals. Goodbye AirAsia, hello Thai Airways.
The moral of the story is still check AirAsia prices to see if they are far lower than other carriers. Be sure the budget airline really is budget. Carriers with more amenities can be more competitive in Asia.
Thai Airways:
We flew Thai Airways direct from Chiang Mai to Bangkok. As mentioned above, we discovered that Thai Airways and Bangkok Airways were competitively priced with AirAsia. Free baggage! Woot! The only reason we chose Thai over Bangkok Airways was that the flight time was better for us.
Our Thai Airways was only an hour long. Maybe less. Service was impeccable. A meal was provided throughout the whole plane immediately and efficiently. Yes, a meal. On an hour flight. Let me re-iterate. A meal! This is so shocking for us Americans who are used to peanuts and a drink on a multiple hour flight if we're lucky. The meal consisted of a chicken sandwich bun, juice, and dessert pastry. Hot coffee or tea followed. Another round of beverages was offered afterward. All in just one hour. We felt like royalty, and we were just in economy. FYI there are actual "royal" classes on Thai Airways, called Royal Orchid and Royal Silk. I wonder what kind of treatment they get!
Yes, we would fly Thai Airways again provided it fit into the budget price bracket we desire.
American domestic flights:
Of the nine flights over this three month journey two take us to and from Honolulu and home. These flights are not direct, because that would cost us a fortune. From Detroit to Phoenix to Honolulu we flew US Airways. In a little over a week we will fly Honolulu to Seattle to Chicago on Alaskan Airways. There is not much to say about these flights. Most, if not all, of you readers should know about American domestic flights routines. Enough said.
All of our airfares combined:
We are not home yet. We have that one final flight ahead. But, we have paid for all of our flights. All of our painstaking hours upon hours upon hours of searching for budget flights paid off. The grand total was under $4000 for Brandon and I combined. Not too shabby for three months of travel in Hawaii, Australia, and Thailand. It helped to have exchange rates in our favor as well; the American dollar is currently strong. Throughout the good and bad flight experiences we are thankful for the capacity to do these travel.
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Why Don't I Love Thailand? Everyone Else Does.
Everyone I talk to LOVES Thailand. Really. Everyone. Then they ask me if I love Thailand and I amicably put on a small smile and a slight nod. I have spent the last several weeks trying to really love Thailand like everyone else. I was seriously stressed trying to force myself to love Thailand. What was I missing? Finally, in a moment of breakdown a week or two ago it felt good to admit (and swear a bit) that I just don't love Thailand. And, you know what? Brandon admitted that he doesn't love it either. So, I guess we're partners in crime in not loving Thailand. And, that's okay.
Just because I don't LOVE Thailand does not mean that I HATE it. I've just traveled more enjoyable places. There are things I like and there are things I don't like. We'll start with the things I don't like, so we can end this post on a more positive note with the things I like.
Things I don't like about Thailand:
Please try to understand that I'm not trying to incessantly complain. I'm just trying to be honest. I think too many people paint a rosy picture of Thailand travel. Or, if it's just me, you can choose to ignore me. Regardless, let's move on to the positive stuff.
Things I like about Thailand:
Just because I don't LOVE Thailand does not mean that I HATE it. I've just traveled more enjoyable places. There are things I like and there are things I don't like. We'll start with the things I don't like, so we can end this post on a more positive note with the things I like.
Things I don't like about Thailand:
- Feeling like a walking ATM:
- Transportation has become a nightmare for us (read this post). We have especially felt ripped off by taxis. You pay the driver, the middle man, and whoever else wants a cut. You feel like you never win.
- We have been charged more in at least one Thai restaurant because we need the English menu. If you looked closely the prices were 10 baht higher on the English menu vs. Thai menu. Thankfully though this hasn't happened at most restaurants.
- Poor sanitation:
- I've struggled with this one for awhile. Smelly, gray water in the ditches, a leaky toilet, water running across the entire bathroom floor to a hole in the floor, a cut on my foot, no soap, no toilet paper, and more. I just don't like it. Am I suddenly high maintenance now? I hope not, because that offends my ego. Am I just a paranoid health freak? Maybe...I am in the healthcare field.
- Note: I've felt much more comfortable in Chiang Mai than Tonsai, because the sanitation is so much better and the place we're staying is lovely.
- Figuring out where everything is:
- When you're looking for something like laundry or a motorbike, people just say, "oh, there's a ton of places just around the corner...". Well guess what? They're not just around the corner. WE can't find them anyway. It seems there are sections of town more condensed with laundry or more condensed with motorbikes. It would be nice to have these specific recommendations. I realize this is our fault; we probably need to be more direct with our questioning.
- Getting sick:
- Thankfully I have antibiotics on hand for traveler's diarrhea after my experience in Guatemala. However, I don't like having to pay attention to the safety of what I eat and drink all the time. It gets exhausting. I never thought I would say it, but I miss fresh salads.
- Mass amounts of people in a small space:
- I start feeling like throwing elbows after being a crowd too long where my personal bubble is offended.
- Exhaust fumes:
- I did not expect the high levels of traffic and exhaust fumes. It is toxic and wearing and relates to the mass amounts of people in one space.
- It is very, very hot in Thailand:
- I knew it would be hot. And, I know I'm used to a Northern climate. But, the heat + sweat + exhaust + mosquito bites gets to you after awhile
Please try to understand that I'm not trying to incessantly complain. I'm just trying to be honest. I think too many people paint a rosy picture of Thailand travel. Or, if it's just me, you can choose to ignore me. Regardless, let's move on to the positive stuff.
Things I like about Thailand:
- Food and drink:
- While I do miss tacos, Thai food is spectacular. I love the flavorful curries, stir fry, noodle dishes, and more. I'm going to have to try to re-create it all when I'm back home
- Fresh fruit abounds here, so fruit shakes are plentiful, cheap, and delicious. I love fruit and am going to miss the variety here, especially the passion fruit, which I have come to love
- Thai massage:
- I had never had a massage before, so I can't compare Thai massage to Western massage. But, I love how the Thai massage includes yoga-like stretching. And, it's so cheap!
- Rock climbing:
- Experiencing different types of rock and enjoying the views while climbing in Tonsai was spectacular. Our day of deep water solo was one of my favorites in Thailand.
- Crazy Horse rock climbing crag was one of the things that drew us to Chiang Mai and has been a worthwhile, fun experience...especially climbing in a cave!
- Motorbikes:
- Admittedly, I was a nervous passenger when we first started riding motorbikes here. But, I love it now. The independence it gives is wonderful, the wind in the face is refreshing (if outside the city and not going too fast), and Brandon has become a very adept driver.
- People watching:
- There's so much to see in diverse Chiang Mai. I enjoy watching locals and tourists and taking in our surroundings as we walk around the city.
So, overall, Thailand just did not meet my expectations. Maybe it was just a perfect storm of unfortunate experiences. Or maybe it's just me at this point in our trip. Or maybe there are other people who feel this way too, but just don't say it. Honestly, I don't intend to travel again in Thailand, or Asia for that matter. Though I could make an exception if I had some really good reason or if Brandon and I had some really cool, "Asia experienced" travel companions.
Finding Community in Chiang Mai
It has definitely been harder to find and forge a community in Chiang Mai, but we did our best. We had many interactions and times to share stories with people in Chiang Mai, like while climbing at Crazy Horse, or while doing our cooking class, or meeting a stranger at a street food place who paid for our meal, or selling our rope to a fellow climber. These were enjoyable but were all just brief bits of community.
We have been able to spend some time with our host, Alana. She has been pretty busy living and working in Chiang Mai, running her blog and doing freelance work. But, we have been able to have some memorable times, like chatting over wine, making Mexican dinner, and meeting some of her friends. It is nice to have an English oasis to return to after wandering about Chiang Mai all day. Swapping stories and hearing about her experiences in Chiang Mai have provided wonderful community for us.
We have also had the pleasure of meeting, Pam and Larin, friends of Brandon's aunt. They have been living in Chiang Mai for around ten years, raising four boys and working in a Chiang Mai school library and at Chiang Mai University. They have kindly taken us out to dinner and welcomed us into their house to play cards and hang out. It has been interesting to hear about their cultural experiences in both China and Thailand. They have introduced us to new foods and informed us about things to do in the area. We feel like we have gotten a unique view of Chiang Mai from them. It has been wonderful to spend time with such real, warm, and welcoming people. We hope we will be able to connect with them again.
I suppose when you are only in a city for two to three weeks, you cannot expect deeper community. However, we feel very thankful to have had longer, more meaningful stretches of time with Alana, Pam, and Larin.
We have been able to spend some time with our host, Alana. She has been pretty busy living and working in Chiang Mai, running her blog and doing freelance work. But, we have been able to have some memorable times, like chatting over wine, making Mexican dinner, and meeting some of her friends. It is nice to have an English oasis to return to after wandering about Chiang Mai all day. Swapping stories and hearing about her experiences in Chiang Mai have provided wonderful community for us.
We have also had the pleasure of meeting, Pam and Larin, friends of Brandon's aunt. They have been living in Chiang Mai for around ten years, raising four boys and working in a Chiang Mai school library and at Chiang Mai University. They have kindly taken us out to dinner and welcomed us into their house to play cards and hang out. It has been interesting to hear about their cultural experiences in both China and Thailand. They have introduced us to new foods and informed us about things to do in the area. We feel like we have gotten a unique view of Chiang Mai from them. It has been wonderful to spend time with such real, warm, and welcoming people. We hope we will be able to connect with them again.
I suppose when you are only in a city for two to three weeks, you cannot expect deeper community. However, we feel very thankful to have had longer, more meaningful stretches of time with Alana, Pam, and Larin.
Saturday, November 14, 2015
Dental Problems: An Update
A few days ago I made a post about the issues I ran into with some extreme sensitivity with a couple of molars. Well I thought I'd give a quick update. And the news is that things have greatly improved.
Katie and I decided to be as proactive as we could be with making the pain go away. So we've tried a whole bunch of stuff.
Katie and I decided to be as proactive as we could be with making the pain go away. So we've tried a whole bunch of stuff.
- I've tried to keep that area as clean as possible to avoid any irritation
- Related to that first point, I went to a dentist and got a cleaning (only 500 baht... $15 USD)
- I've been taking ibuprofen to reduce any swelling
- I've been drinking lots of water.
- Based on one of Katie's former coworker's recommendations, Katie's been doing some physical therapy on me. She's been working on the facial muscles, releasing any trigger points that refer pain to the jaw.
- We've been having some beer or wine with or after dinner. This seems to help me relax more and also reduces inflammation.
- Mentally I feel better about any pain I do have. It helped going to that first dentist for a checkup. Knowing that there is no infection or anything else structurally wrong helps me not to worry
- Prayer. I know a lot of you who read that first post have been keeping me in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you so much!
I'm not sure which of those things helped the most, but I guess it doesn't matter. The pain has greatly reduced. I still have to be careful because I'm not back to 100% just yet, but it seems as though the worst is over for now.
Friday, November 13, 2015
Welp, Europe is really happening.
It looks like our international travels will indeed continue this Spring!
I'm sure we've mentioned this in a previous post or two, but the backstory for the Spring is that we had this crazy idea of offering to our friends and family that we'd travel anywhere they wanted to go. We've had our fill of doing major solo trips of just me and Katie for now and instead want to focus the rest of our time this sabbatical being with and investing in the community of our friends and family. Probably because these communities that we love are the thing we're missing the most on this leg of our journey.
Well we've had a good amount of interest in our open invitation to travel, but it is always difficult to make concrete plans coordinating with many different interested parties. And the biggest obstacle to overcome was just getting that first trip planned so other trips can hopefully fit around them. There has always been part of us thinking there was a chance these trips, at least the ones to Europe, weren't going to happen at all given some of the challenges we faced.
Well our friend Pauley, who was one of those interested parties who was going to take us up on our crazy idea, just booked his flight to Madrid for the beginning of April. So that means we're committed now to at least one trip in Europe. Super exciting! I'll be honest, it feels crazy considering we're not even back from this trip. But I'm also feeling super excited to have some adventures with someone who is so excited to travel with us. I am a little worried he's going to make me run a 5k. But maybe I can find a skateboard in Madrid to use so he can just pull me along.
We do have a lot of challenges ahead. There is still a lot to coordinate and research. And on top of that, we have a feeling Europe is going to be a bit more difficult to stay on budget with considering we won't be staying in just one place for an entire month. Hopefully we can fit in all the trips people want to do and not go broke. But setting those challenges aside, I can't wait to see what other adventures fall into place with other friends and family during our time in Europe and during the rest of our sabbatical!
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Thai Dictionary: Everyday Words
It took a long time to learn how to say these words, because Thais rattle them off so quickly. But with the help of our host we have finally learned them! Here are the two most common words we hear on an everyday basis:
- สวัสดี is pronounced sa (long)-wat (long)-dee (medium) = hello, goodbye, good morning, good evening
- ขอขอบคุณ is pronounced khaawp (long)- khoon (long) = thank you
Additionally, it is polite to add "kha" on the end of a phrase or question if you are female or "khrap" on the end if you are male. For example:
- A male saying thank you = khaawp-khoon-khrap
- A female saying thank you = khaawp-khoon-kha
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Dental Problems In Thailand
As Katie mentioned in a previous post, I've run into some issues with my teeth. Basically my lower left molars from time to time develop this extreme sensitivity to temperature changes and pressure, which as you might expect makes eating not very fun.
This isn't a new problem. I've had this on and off again ever since I had this crappy/botch job of a crown put on my farthest back molar over 3 years ago while living in Lansing. I have not returned to that dentist. Since then I've had it looked at by other dentists and every time the story is the same. No one knows what's going on. Nothing seems to be problem if they just poke around in my mouth. X-rays don't seem to show anything either. So that's good in that there is nothing rotting or anything. But any procedure we go forward with is not guaranteed to solve the problem. And on top of that, when I've managed to make it into a dentist before now, the problem wasn't flaring up. So it was hard for them to determine anything.
Well fast forward to this trip. Over the last few weeks I've had some very minor spouts of those teeth acting up again. I usually just treat it with using Sensodyne tooth paste and if it gets really bad I take ibuprofen to reduce any swelling so the nerve is less likely get angry. This has worked really well the last 9 or so months. And that is the longest time period yet where I haven't really had any major flare ups.
But of course nothing can be easy on this leg of our travels. The pain while I would eat was getting worse and worse until finally it was so bad I couldn't finish one of my meals. Then on top of that some slight pain/irritation lasted all night. Since this was a bit more out of the ordinary, I determined that I'd had enough. We're in Thailand where medical and dental care is cheap. I should just go into a dentist and at least make sure nothing is seriously wrong. So we did just that.
Well the next step was not a fun process. I absolutely hate the dentist. I've had a lot of work done over the years and a good chunk of those were very painful and traumatizing experiences. So needless to say I was stressed beyond normal stress. I wanted to give up several times during the entire process that I'm about to explain and was on the brink of another spout of bad depression symptoms. But luckily Katie was very patient with me and helped just enough to keep the process moving forward.
The first problem to solve was figuring out where to go. Like I said, Thailand is a huge place for dental tourism. So there are a lot of places, all with varying levels of capability and price. We first did a bunch of google searches, read reviews, and checked websites. We also got some tips from some our host and a couple we ate dinner with that we met through my aunt. But after all that research we were still not really certain where to go. But at least we had a list that was smaller than all the dental clinics in all of Chiang Mai.
On that list:
Dentaland - A place recommended to us by that couple. 20 min walk west of the city center. Seemed more focused on pediatric dental care, but it is hard to ignore a recommendation.
Grace Dental - One of the biggest and most well known places for expats and dental tourists to use in all of Chiang Mai. All the dentists have international training, including some in the States. It just comes with a higher price tag. Located really just a few blocks form Dentaland.
Payon Dental - One of the cheaper options, but had good reviews online. But they seemed less capable of handling complicated stuff. But they were located close, just east of the city center on the other side of the moat.
Dental4U - A little farther east of Payon. Also had good reviews online and seemed like they had more specialty stuff, making me a bit more confident in their ability to help me.
Dental World - This came up in our web searches, but also happened to be the place our host uses. It was located near the south east corner of the city center, just south of the moat.
CM Dental - A place with really good reviews and a variety of treatment options. But it was kind of farther away.
Empress Dental - Another recommendation by that couple. Really impressive treatment options and staff has had the kind of training that Grace has, but is just a bit cheaper and less well known. So I thought it might be easier to get into. But it was also the farthest away.
I first emailed every single place with basically the same message explaining my situation and asked about price and availability. The responses were frustratingly slow. But I'm not sure email responses would be any better in the States. It would have been better to call, but our phones don't work here. It would have just been another thing to figure out. I did get a couple email responses but they weren't very helpful.
This was a time where I was ready to give up. All the unknowns were just too much. So I just laid down and took a nap while we waited for more responses. After I work up, I as still stressed and frustrated, but the only way to move forward was to take some advice we got and just start stopping into places. We had rented a motorbike for that day the night before since we were supposed to be going rock climbing, and that was going to be our means of getting there. So at least we got to put it to good use.
I did my best to plot out all the dental places on our list on our map that works well offline. This was a very annoying process because google maps doesn't even do very well with Thailand addresses. And the map app we use that works well offline has most the streets in Thai. So it is a long grueling process to figure out exactly where these clinics were located and then saving them in my other map.
We decided to start with the clinics that were west of us since the first two on our list were so close. We first tried to find Grace Dental. This was only our second time out on the motorbike together. So that added to the adventure. We got to place I had saved on the map and there was no Grace Dental to be found. So we parked our bike and after 10 minutes of looking up down nearby streets we found it. It looked like a very nice place. We walked in and explained my situation to the secretary, but the earliest they could get me in was Wednesday. And there was no guarantee they could do anything more than an initial evaluation. But I set up the appointment anyway figuring that if we found a better or quicker place I could cancel the appointment.
We then walked from there to Dentaland since it was just 4 blocks away. This place didn't look quite as nice, but the staff was again very friendly. But they had some openings that day and once I explained more, they were able to set me up with one of their dentists that specializes in crown, implants, and dentures. We weren't expecting to find that at this clinic. So we got an appointment setup, but it wasn't until 7:30 p.m.
At this point we had two seemingly good options. I was tempted to continue our exploration of clinics to find something either sooner or a bit better looking. But that sounded exhausting and stressful. And Katie had thrown out the idea of taking a long motorbike ride out to see this temple. I liked that idea better so we did that. She already covered that in another blog post. But it was great distraction for the day. Just what I needed to bring my stress levels down.
As the appointment time was nearing, we took off again from our house and had to walk there since we had to turn in the motorbike before the appointment. It took us about 35 minutes to walk there, which wasn't bad considering we got just a little lost. But we were still about 25 minutes early. This worked out well since as I had expected, they were able to get me in early.
The dentist was a nice, middle to late aged gentleman. His English was pretty good. I had no problems explaining my problem and going through the whole history of it all. There were a few times where it wasn't easy to understand what he was saying, but he always took the time to clarify.
The dentist first poked around little bit in my mouth. He hammered a bit on the molars that were giving me problems. He scraped and poked the gum line. Nothing seemed to be the problem. The only time I was in pain was when they asked me to rinse or they used air to blow on an area. Next they got an x-ray of the area, and again everything looked fine. His only guess was the same guess as my Stateside dentist: that the back molar crown was not sitting on the gum line perfectly. I asked if we could try one more test because even though it made more sense for my back molar to be the problem, the front one seemed to also have a pretty bad trigger. So he got some small pieces of ice and and held them up to various parts of those molars. The back tooth, fine. The front tooth, crazy painful. But there was nothing that indicated there was any problem with that tooth or the crown on it. So as usual, I seem to fall in the "special case" category of things.
The only course of action he could come up with was to do a root canal. I've heard of this procedure, but never really knew fully what was involved with it. So when he told me that it'd take 2-3 weeks to complete it. I was surprised. Part of the problem was scheduling. And since they have to remove my current crown to do the root canal procedure and then replace it with a new one, there's a lot of waiting while things get created. Sigh...
As one last effort to try to take advantage the cheapness of Thailand dental care, we decided to look up more information about the procedure, email my dentist back in the States about it, and if we wanted to still try to move forward with the idea, email all those clinics again to see if any of them would say they could perform all the procedures in the next 9 days. My dentist back home, which by the way is Huisman Family Dentistry in Holland, MI, was super awesome and got back to me within a few hours. He basically said that it was a valid course of action but it comes with a lot of risks given the short time frame and the complicated-ness of my situation. I agreed but was still curious if it was any clinics would say they could do it. I decided to let the answer to that question determine my overall answer. And so far the answer has been a resounding NO. Most all the places need 2-3 weeks to do that procedure. And my one hope that one of the bigger places like Grace could do everything in-house and quicker, also said "no" due to scheduling issues.
So I'm stuck with just putting up with my dental issues and hopefully they'll just fade away again like they have in the past. I'm starting in on a regular higher dosage of ibuprofen to reduce any inflammation. I don't love having to do this every time since that much ibuprofen is not the greatest for you. But I don't have a lot of other choices. At least I'm not in constant pain. It just isn't very fun to eat right now. And luckily being here in Thailand was a blessing in that it wasn't very costly to at least check if something more major was wrong. It only cost us a day or two of our time and 650 baht ($20 USD) without any dental insurance. That's not too bad.
Last thing I'll mention again is how thankful I am to have a partner in crime out here. It was not a fun experience, and my stress levels were the highest they've been in a long time. But having Katie here was a major, major blessing. I think I owe her another really awesome blind date or something.
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