Standing Still

Facebook keeps reminding us that, around this time last year, we were bombing around New Zealand in a camper van.  Back then, our only worries were planning our next trek, finding some decent beer, and dodging the notoriously fickle New Zealand weather.  But today, instead of driving down to Milford Sound, we're loading up our (heavily used) Prius and beginning the long drive north, from Brook's father's house in Naples, Florida, to our new abode outside Boston.

The past four months have been strange.  There are a lot of things about America that are unsettling after a year abroad.  Things like manicured suburbs, mega stores, and political debates that seem based more on a 19th century mentality of manifest destiny than 21st century science and compassion.  Strange too is contemplating work, careers, and finances after our time away.  The pressure to succeed is intense and, although much of that pressure is self-created, a lot of it is an artifact of our education, expectations, and societal ideals of the good life.  At the same time, it's not always clear what success means or how to find it.  The wealth gap here is just staggering and there's a nagging sense that if you're not getting ahead, you're slipping behind.  There are many days when we're both sorely tempted to move to Chile and buy a hostel.

But instead, we're moving back to Somerville, near our good friends and family.  Erin starts a great job in May, at a well-respected research firm in Cambridge.  Brook is still casting about for the right position and (let's be honest) is getting a little frustrated with the options in the Boston area.  We'll see how this all shapes up over the next few months, as we move into our new apartment and the reality of settled life hits us.  Right now, we're hoping to re-establish our careers (which we both enjoy), spend time hiking in the Whites, and surf some freezing waves in Maine.  We're also pretty psyched to have our own bed again.

In the meantime: road trip!

Best of 2014 -- Part 2: Asia

It's finally done.  Over 10,000 photos culled, organized, and edited.  A while back we posted the highlights reel for the first half of 2014, and now we're proud to present the best of Asia in a (relatively) compact slideshow.

The second half of our trip was much different than the first.  In Chile, we took comfortable busses everywhere, stayed in nice hostels, and could speak the language (sort of).  And in Australia + New Zealand, we had our own little home on wheels and could also speak the language (sort of).  We also took it easy, wandering around at our own pace.

Asia was a different beast.  With eight countries in five months (and seven of those in 3.5 months), we moved quicker, using airplanes, buses, trains, boats, horses, and our feet.  We also were constantly thrown into new cultures, new systems, new languages, and new diets that required constant adjustment.  We learned a little Thai and a little Mongolian, learned to love Japanese food and dal baht, and learned that we're not very good at relaxing on a beach.  If we did it again, we would probably go a little slower, but we still had a great time and discovered some unexpected highlights, like Hokkaido and central Mongolia.

We hope you enjoy the highlights, although probably not as much as we did...

Because we're running into some technical difficulty embedding the video, just click here to watch it directly on YouTube: http://youtu.be/2vhys72rSgw

You can also see the photo album here: https://plus.google.com/photos/103829313469224560701/albums/6122017901103139409

Diving with Whale Sharks!

Since it's the middle of winter and most of our friends are freezing up in Boston, or Colorado, or Maine, we thought we'd share a little warmer weather with you...

Last June we spent about a week diving and snorkeling on Australia's wild west coast.  One area we visited was Ningaloo Reef, near the town of Exmouth and a full two day drive north of Perth.  It's a stark, remote place with excellent reefs, lots of wildlife, and whale sharks.  Whale sharks are gentle filter feeders and stop at Ningaloo during their annual migrations to feed on krill, plankton, and other small aquatic organisms.

We were lucky enough to get out on a day when no other boats were on the water, and had close encounters with several of these beautiful animals.  The ones we swam with were about 20-30 feet long; it's hard to tell from the videos, but they move so quickly it's hard to keep up.  We're not professional videographers, and apologize for the jerky GoPro footage...

One technical note: blogger may automatically downgrade the video resolution for you.  If that happens and the video is grainy, you can view these in HD by clicking on the little "YouTube" button on the video (which will open it directly in YouTube) and then using the gear icon at the lower right of the video to change the resolution to HD.  Here's a more complete explanation.

Enjoy!

Best of 2014 -- Part 1: The Southern Hemisphere

It goes without saying that 2014 was an awesome year.  After a month back in the States we've had time to reflect on our adventures and start putting together a few highlights.  Here's the first installment, recapping our six months in the southern hemisphere, through Chile, Australia, and New Zealand.  Enjoy it... we certainly did.

You can also view this video here on Youtube.  And if you prefer the traditional photo album format, have a look here.