whatboundaries's TravelStream™ — Recent TravelPod.com entries

whatboundaries's TravelStream™ — Recent TravelPod.com entries TravelStream™ news feed for member whatboundaries on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/whatboundaries en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:23:17 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com Passports With Purpose — Tampa, Florida, United States http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/whatboundaries/6/1228187880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/whatboundaries/6/1228187880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/whatboundaries/6/1228187880/tpod.html Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:23:17 -0500 Passports With a Purpose

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Tampa, Florida, United States

When Lisa and I were asked if we could help with this project, it took no time at all to decide we would.  During our travels over the last year and a half we have seen many examples of people in need.  Hungry children were the hardest to see as you could imagine. Here was our chance to help and I am looking to friends, family, and fellow travelers to help if you can!  What do you get out of it?  Well, we each donated one of our Tampa Bay Bucs season tickets - so for a $10 raffle ticket purchase you have a chance to win 2 tickets to ANY 2009 BUCS home game - your choice!  Okay - all you non- Florida folks - NO WORRIES!  If you want to still help, please do!  If YOU win the tickets we will donate those tickets to a local community project in YOUR name!  You can help stop world hunger AND make someone very happy with some game tickets! So, if you are ready to help - THANK YOU!!  Below is some information on the project that is supported by this event as well as steps you can take to get your raffle ticket.  If football is not your thing, be sure to check out Beth's Wanderlust and Lipstick website link below for more GREAT prizes!!   Thanks for all your support!!  Have a HAPPY Holiday and GOOD LUCK!!Two Simple Steps!!1.  Go to http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/about-beth/passports-with-purpose and check out the great prizes!  Pick the one you would like to try to win and make note of the prize number.  (The BUCS Tickets are prize T01). 2.  Go to http://www.firstgiving.com/passportswithpurpose , click the "Give Now" button and enter your info!  Don't forget to include the prize code in the comments box. You can enter as many times as you like for $10 a ticket.  Check out all the other GREAT gifts as well!On December 30th, the winners will be announced!  GOOD LUCK and THANK YOU!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<i>Passports with Purpose is a travelblogger driven fundraiser for Heifer International, a nonprofit organization that seeks to eliminate hunger and poverty around the globe. You can learn more about Heifer here:  <i>www.heifer.org  <i>The contest is from December 1st through the 29th. The founders will pull winners and notify them via email on December 30th(Photos Courtesy: Heifer International)
]]> The Gili Islands — Gili Trawangan, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/whatboundaries/5/1222836780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/whatboundaries/5/1222836780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/whatboundaries/5/1222836780/tpod.html Fri, 14 Nov 2008 17:26:30 -0500 Egypt, Beijing, and Diving Southeast Asia!

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Gili Trawangan, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

Gili "T"From Lisa:As close to paradise as you could ever imagine...this little island near Bali and Lombock, Indonesia called Gili Trawangan (Gili T, by locals). Only accessible by ferry, there are no cars, no motorized vehicles at all except the boats - beautifully colored outriggers that bob like toys on the crystal clear water. The island transport? Horse drawn carriages and bicycles! The horses have jingling bells attached to their reins that sound like Santa and his sleigh every time they come trotting down the dirt path.There are actually three Gili Islands (Gili Meno and Gili Air also). We chose this one because it was known as the "party island" (yeah, right!). There were parties here twice weekly at the local beach-front Irish bar or one of the dive shops (top-notch diving here). These were the 10pm until sunrise type of parties, so we didn't make too many of those. :-)   Everything ran at the pace of the tides and that pace suited us just fine. Nightly BBQ's had my mouth watering, every type of fish imaginable, fresh-caught (my favorite was the Coral Trout - YUM!). This was truly a "get-away" place where I immediately felt at home. Maybe it was the blue water, so bright that it hurt the eyes, or maybe it was the 20+ meter visibility on every dive,  great food, relaxed atmosphere, meeting new friends, or the wonderful sense of humor and kindness of the people...whatever the reason, this place hits very high on my list of all-time favorites!From Cheryl:Gili "T was an amazing remote island where you go to dive and relax! It was odd getting there in the early evening, once again stepping into knee deep water and having the captain hand you your backpack!  You wade up to shore and then try to get a sense of direction.  Where is my room for the night?  Many people show up with no planned accommodations, but that is okay.  There is usually something available and it is not unusual to see a few backpackers camping on the beach until they can find some place to stay.The only motorized vehicles here are the boats.  Those that bring you to the island from Bali or Lombock, and those that taxi you around or take you diving.  Not a bad way to live.  As usual, the people here are amazing.  Always so nice and willing to help you out.  That came in handy as we arrived trying to find our room for the night!  Many folks pointed us in the right direction.  We stayed at Bale Sampan the first few nights.  It was a very nice place on the quiet end of the island.  We then moved to Manta dive - the shop where did all of our diving - for the rest of the stay. It was tough to leave this peaceful and charming little place!While we were there we met a wonderful woman named Anne from Bali.  We spent several nights getting acquainted over dinners.  After we left Gili T we met up with her again in Bali.  It never ceases to amaze me - the wonderful people that we meet along the way, and that feeling of knowing you will cross paths again sometime!
]]> Back to Bangkok! — Bangkok, Thailand http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/whatboundaries/5/1222061520/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/whatboundaries/5/1222061520/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/whatboundaries/5/1222061520/tpod.html Sun, 19 Oct 2008 07:34:59 -0400 Egypt, Beijing, and Diving Southeast Asia!

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Bangkok, Thailand

Back to Bangkok!From Lisa: I'll make mine short because Cheryl says everything very well below. :-) Thailand for me - unexpected warmth from the people, fun cities, incredibly beautiful and moving scenery, spectacular diving, and Yummy food...what else is there?? From Cheryl:One thing I have learned while traveling is that there is no way to "see" a country in a weeks time.  Well, we were supposed to have been in Thailand for just one week based on the original plan.  That original plan went out some time ago, but one week would not have been near enough to even touch the tip of what Thailand has to offer.  We ended up staying close to a month in Thailand and feel like we barely experienced it at all. The Thailand trip started in the South part of the country.  We were arriving from Malaysia at one of the border crossings.  It was a pretty interesting way to go from one country to the next.  A taxi dropped us of at the Malaysian exit site.  After you get your passport exit stamp you walk over a bridge into Thailand where you now fill out the appropriate papers to get into Thailand.  I have never walked into a new country before! After going through all the entry requirements we started walking into Sungai Kolok.  There were motorcycle taxis everywhere who offered us rides.  First off, these were more like mopeds, secondly many drive pretty crazy (which works well for them, just not for me!) and lastly, I had no idea how they planned on getting me and my huge backpack on the back of a moped that looked like it was really built for one person!  Needless to say, we walked to the hotel, which was only about one kilometer away.  The Genting hotel was had rooms for about $15 for a great room!  It was a really nice hotel, better than many we have stayed in for a long time.    It was here we were planning on catching a train to Bangkok.  The ride was to be somewhere around 20 hours or so.  We had heard of the riots going on in Bangkok and that some transport might have been affected.  A quick walk to the train station proved that right.  They guy at the counter told us that the trains might be running within the next week.  We needed to get to Bangkok within 2 days to catch up with our Intrepid tour so that was out of the question.  We found the bus station and booked a bus to Bangkok which left around noon and arrived in Bangkok 6:30am the next morning!  Talk about a LONG ride!  But when riots strike you have little choice..  The Intrepid tour took us through the Northern part of Thailand.  Starting in Bangkok, Sukhothai, Lampang, and Chiang Mai. We saw some amazing temples, both active temples and those ruins of past temples.  We were given the opportunity to make an offering to the monks as well.  For that we went to the temple, removed our shoes and our host called out to let them know we were there.  A single monk arrived carrying a basket over his shoulder and we each took our turns offering him a small amount of food.  The appropriate steps for the offering was to take the food to him without looking him directly in the eye, bowing before him doing a wai (putting the palms of your hands together in front of you like you would do in  the form of praying), put the food in his basket and then another wai.  After we all took our turn the monk gave us a blessing of peace, health, and happiness.   The tour provided lots of opportunities for us..  I had a 2 hour massage for $6.  They worked my body into positions I had no idea it could go, but it was ultimately the most relaxing massage I have ever had and all for so little money.  We went to an elephant rescue center called Friends of the Asian Elephant (http://animal.discovery.com/convergence/safari/elephant/expert/expert.html )and saw the effects of old land mines that innocent elephants stumbled across near the Thailand/Burma borders.  There were two elephants in particular who had gone through quite a bit of recovery.  We even saw an 18 month old elephant Mosha who received a prosthetic leg from the knee down.  An amazing doctor donated his time and money and created the leg for this young elephant.  It was sad to see such beautiful animals that had been hurt needlessly, but was nice to see some people caring so much to give of their own talents to help them lead a somewhat normal life.  While they will never be in the wild again, they are well cared for here.   One of the most amazing nights was one we spent in a home stay near Lampang.  We stayed at the home of a wonderful woman named Aoi where in the evening we were entertained by children playing music as we sat on the floor eating our meals.  After we finished the children gave us lessons on how to play their instruments.  We then saw a wonderful presentation by some young girls doing a traditional dance and some young boys doing a martial arts presentation.  We all got to participate there which was interesting to say the least! The evening ended with us all participating in a candle light ceremony where we each held two candles in our hands and did a slow kind of dance in a circle waving the candles around trying to follow the patterns that the young girls were doing without dripping hot wax onto our fingers!  It was really neat!  We then sent a paper balloon lantern into the air, powered like a hot air balloon with a small fire beneath it to give it rise.  A few fireworks were attached to the end and as it made it way into the night sky the fireworks all started to burst with loud sounds.  This was one of my most memorable and amazing nights traveling!  The next day we spent a portion of the morning teaching English in the local elementary school.  One of my favorite things to do and one that will lead me to get my TEFL certification so I might do it again someday.  The kids are always so much fun and love to learn from us and then of course the obligatory after learning play time!  Lots of running around and playing games. We ended our tour in Bangkok where we spent lots of time walking around taking in all the sights and sounds the area has to offer.  From street markets to floating markets it was a surreal experience of the senses. The last week in Thailand we spent in Phuket, again in the South of Thailand.  Beaches and diving were the specialties there.  Not much in the way of culture, but still a very nice time.  Onward to Indonesia! 
]]> Chiang Mai — Chiang Mai, Thailand http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/whatboundaries/5/1221733560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/whatboundaries/5/1221733560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/whatboundaries/5/1221733560/tpod.html Sat, 18 Oct 2008 07:25:32 -0400 Egypt, Beijing, and Diving Southeast Asia!

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Chiang Mai, Thailand

Chiang MaiHomestay and Night Markets
]]> Asian Elephants — Lampang, Thailand http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/whatboundaries/5/1221647040/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/whatboundaries/5/1221647040/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/whatboundaries/5/1221647040/tpod.html Sat, 18 Oct 2008 07:23:19 -0400 Egypt, Beijing, and Diving Southeast Asia!

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Lampang, Thailand

Lampang and the Elephants
]]> Treasures of the North — Sukhothai, Thailand http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/whatboundaries/5/1221560520/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/whatboundaries/5/1221560520/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/whatboundaries/5/1221560520/tpod.html Sat, 18 Oct 2008 07:22:48 -0400 Egypt, Beijing, and Diving Southeast Asia!

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Sukhothai, Thailand

Treasures of the North Intrepid Tour
]]> Bangkok! — Bangkok, Thailand http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/whatboundaries/5/1221196800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/whatboundaries/5/1221196800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/whatboundaries/5/1221196800/tpod.html Mon, 22 Sep 2008 01:32:28 -0400 Egypt, Beijing, and Diving Southeast Asia!

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Bangkok, Thailand

Bangkok!
]]> Perhentian Islands! — Pulau Perhentian Kecil, Terengganu, Malaysia http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/whatboundaries/5/1220936760/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/whatboundaries/5/1220936760/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/whatboundaries/5/1220936760/tpod.html Sun, 21 Sep 2008 06:27:11 -0400 Egypt, Beijing, and Diving Southeast Asia!

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Pulau Perhentian Kecil, Terengganu, Malaysia

Perhentian Island Paradise!From Cheryl:These islands truly were a bit of paradise!  I have to admit, if it was not for Jamie, Kate, Amy, and Kimberley, I am not sure we would have ever even FOUND these islands!  Located off the coast of Malaysia are two small islands that you can only get to after a visit to a small fishing village where you can secure passage to them.  After they load you up with a life vest and your luggage off you go for about a 45 minute boat ride to the remote location.We landed on the shore - literally - and they passed us our bags while we were still in knee deep water!  Because many of the chalets have no internet presence making reservations was all but impossible.  So, with bags on our backs and wet shoes we start to roam up and down the beach trying to find a place that is inexpensive and has vacancy!  No problem really - there were about 6 of us on our boat and none of us had reservations.  Within an hour we were all booked up.  We had intended to stay here for about a week, but as that time moved on we decided to hang a bit longer.  For about $30 a night we were staying at Senja Bay ( www.senjaybay.com ) in a beach front room with air con!  With such a great view and a great deal, it was a no-brainer to stay a few more days - 12 in all!  The diving here is out of this world!  Most dives cost about $20-$25 and that includes rental gear.  Needless to say, my dive log has several entries from Turtle Bay Divers ( www.turtlebaydivers.com ).  They are a great group of people and I highly recommend them.  They are a PADI organization with a high level of safety standards not often found in these areas.  It was tough to leave this little treasure of an island, but next stop is Bangkok, Thailand!From Lisa:Where else could you see seahorses, sunken wrecks, gorgeous sunsets, turtles, sharks, and incredible corals in all the colors of the rainbow every single day?? These islands are amazing and the laid-back lifestyle is going to be hard to beat anywhere else - though we're still looking, there is Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Hawaii yet to go on this trip. Discovering the joys of eating spicy Malaysian curries and yummy Roti Canai was especially fun. It felt like only a short visit (even after 12 days) and this is one place I'd definitely like to see again! Meeting up with Jamie and Kate who we spent time with in Mexico was a treat - thanks guys for letting us join your last leg of the trip and for showing us a real paradise! 
]]> Malaysia — Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/whatboundaries/5/1219741200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/whatboundaries/5/1219741200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/whatboundaries/5/1219741200/tpod.html Fri, 12 Sep 2008 00:23:28 -0400 Egypt, Beijing, and Diving Southeast Asia!

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Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia

Malay!!
]]> Beijing Olympics! — Beijing, China http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/whatboundaries/5/1219282440/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/whatboundaries/5/1219282440/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/whatboundaries/5/1219282440/tpod.html Tue, 02 Sep 2008 22:42:30 -0400 Egypt, Beijing, and Diving Southeast Asia!

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Beijing, China

During our trip through Egypt and Jordan, our good friend Julie Wong joined us.  She recently sent me the following as her "Travel Blog" and we wanted to be sure to include it.  She provides some wonderful insight into her experience.  We were happy to have her along and to share with her the amazing things we have been seeing and doing for well over a year now.  At the end of her entry, we start the Beijing entry!  Julie, thanks for sharing the FUN!  You are welcome to join us again anytime - just be sure to pack a little lighter!!!!"If anyone is thinking how crazy Cheryl and Lisa are for selling it all and traveling for more than a year and a half, you couldn't be more right but only because it just seems unreachable by most.  Having only been with them on a trip for 3 weeks in Egypt / Jordan, it really helps re-prioritize your life.  Suddenly, houses, cars, and stuff, fall off the list or really far down.  I find myself thinking, mmh, wonder if they have camels in USA to get to work, or can I walk, or can I bike ride to work, or just what alternatives do I have instead of feeding into this fuel crisis.  Thinking about all the places to see in the USA actually fall way down the list.  You can see the USA anytime.  Going to places where the world began, where people live to be excited about 4 walls to live in and no roof really puts life into perspective. Could I live without a roof, mmmh, no but I could live in a 2 bedroom condo and forgo so much of the baggage to allow for more experiences that are infinite out there!  The way you think about routine annual vacations change.  Yes, going to all inclusive resorts in Mexico is relaxing but that shouldn't define "where you have been" when talking about trips.  Places you have been should be really emerging yourself into a culture and taking away "a way of life" for where you visited.   With this said, I am going to Fiji in a week for "vacation" at an all inclusive resort, however, I will go off the beaten path for sure and check out the locals and learn the daily lives on these islands.  I actually met a couple climbing Mt Sinai from Fiji while in Egypt.  The husband had climbed the mountain 25 yrs ago and brought his wife.  They were older and somewhat over weight but boy did they pursue.....5 hrs to the top! Good for them!   Going to Las Vegas, Luxor, or Epcot around the world imitations is so out of touch from actually being there. The money you actually spend on some of these trips, can be the same amount to see the real thing if you do it the "Cheryl and Lisa" way!  To stand on the mountain that Moses received the 10 commandments and climb that same mountain was intense! Later, I climbed another 3 hr hike straight up to his brother's shrine, Arron, on top of the highest point in Jordan was another once in a lifetime event.  To see 100,000's tons of one piece granite rock standing 50 ft tall moved from one point to another by humans with incredible carvings was very impressive and unbelievably real.  The Red Sea, the Dead Sea, and the Nile River, all of which you have heard of in your lifetime was another awesome experience as we slept on the beach, slept on a sail boat, diving, running, and swimming is yet another experience I will not forget.  I did morning runs along the Red Sea at 5::30am, wow, just running and thinking about where I was was really peaceful and exciting.  Running on the Sahara desert, ouch very hot, and incredible to think people traveled across this and just recently there was an UltraRunning Race across this desert.  Hot is not the word for this surface.  I don't think it would take more than an hour to see your shoes start to melt underneath if crossing.  Muslim definition and perception for me has changed significantly.  No different than in our everyday lives we don't really judge people we don't know at work, neighbors, friends, etc. and always try to give the benefit of the doubt.  With Muslims, what the media has done to portray the Osama as the label of Muslims etc., it so wrong.  I often wondered why the media never did more to educate USA on that culture so it is kept in perspective.  I won't go into the learnings here but just encourage others to take the time to learn or visit as much as possible about Christianity, Muslims, and all the similarities - they are so close, it's unbelievable.  It's actually very disappointing to me for republican and democratic administrations not to take a high road of education to the nation and create an awareness that is appropriate. Finally, as with most vacations or experiences, you do meet great people.  Difference here was to spend 3 weeks with the same 10 girls the entire time to exhaustion with some of the hikes was really cool.  Learning just from them the English ways, Australian ways, the New Zealand ways, and the "two sister" L.A. girls way was really enjoyable.   I would encourage everyone to at least make a plan now to try something similar and see how it re-prioritizes the way you live in America as I haven't talked to one person that I met on this trip who has traveled before that didn't change their way of thinking about "stuff".   Thanks Cheryl and Lisa for inviting me to share this experience with you all!  I look forward to Peru and others next year! Julie Wong~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Beijing, ChinaFrom Lisa:China! What a thrill! The Olympics were amazing - from the moment we arrived in the airport and were met by the Fuwas (the cute Olympic mascots) giving hugs to everyone!So many incredibly nice people, very proud of their city and of the fact that they were hosting the games. One World - One Dream was this year's slogan and it was everywhere, but after a few hours, you really began to buy into it! :-)Getting tickets to the Gold Medal Game of softball with the USA vs. Japan was so much fun! Seeing the flag raised high gave me goosebumps...you really feel a camaraderie with other countries and other people very different from what we're used to back home. The culture and beauty of Beijing is something to appreciate and I'm really glad we made the detour to see the city and the Olympic Games!From Cheryl:I have to say, coming to Beijing was planned, but being here during the Olympics certainly was not!  What a great experience though!  The splendor of Beijing along with the festive feeling of the Olympics make this a great visit.  I have been VERY impressed with how the people in Beijing, both the Olympic volunteers and the general public, have responded to us as visitors.  I can't tell you the number of times we were offered assistance when we looked apparently lost, which we usually were..  Finding your way around the bus and subway system is not that easy the first time around but after some friendly advice and a few attempts at getting lost we perfected it!We were able to get some tickets to the gold medal softball game between USA and Japan!!  They were of course sold out, but you can get tickets to almost any event on the street.  It was a thrilling night full of goosebumps as many of the fans from China were cheering on the United States shouting "U * S * A"!  Tian ' Anmen square and the Forbidden City were very impressive areas in Beijing.  Overall the city is in Olympic mode, but on our way to the next leg we will be spending more time in this city and will be able to see the sites in their more "normal" setting!FOOD - well..  I thought of my friend Barney G as I paged through the menus here in China.  I am not sure if it was a good thing or not, but many menus provided pictures of the food as well as the English translation..  Some highlights - that I am SURE Barney would have loved, yet I could not - include:  Chicken Feet - orange colored feet served cold.  I actually looked them up on the internet to see how to eat them because I wanted to try.  Well, after reading more about the dish I decided to stick with other options!  Sauteed duck tongue - about 30 to a serving that looked like a small bowl of shell-less muscles..  Sea cucumber - looks like a very large slug.  AND Lisa's favorite - Colo-rectal dish..  Need I go into a detailed description here??  I ended up with veggie noodles and Kung Pao Chicken..  Sorry Barney!  Next stop - Perhentian Islands in Malaysia...a remote set of islands so small you can walk them completely in half a day!Miss you all!  Keeping taking care and be good! 
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