Jen and Ted in the SEA

Last time we wrote, we were enjoying the lazy, hot, beaches of Koh Phangan. As Jen previously described so accurately, with every passing day, there were less and less people at the beach. Dogs were ruling the roost.

We spent the last few days enjoying the sun and warm weather and peaceful sounds of the surf. Very relaxing and we started getting our heads around heading home. It was difiicult to prepare ourselves to get used to the feeling of not having sunscreen splashed on your person all day long.

Unfortunately, we did overdo the sun on the second last day so our tans look great but the last day needed to be spent indoors or in the shade most of the day. I also was a few days into an ear infection that was tolerable by day but painful by the evening. I perservered nonetheless, and checked out of our hotel on May 26.

Our trip to Koh Samui and Bangkok remained uneventful - a few more boats, taxis and airplanes but not much more of note . The last day in Bangkok was quite enjoyable as we spent the day, getting packed, doing some last minute shopping and going to see the newly released "Indiana Jones" movie. It was our best Bangkok experience to date!

We arrived home with no issue at Customs but Air Canada made us miss our connection to Calgary so we ended up getting a flight direct to Saskatoon from Vancouver. We moved into our new Guest House, my mother-in-law's! It is by far the best bed so far! We stayed up for several hours having homemade sandwiches and started regaling our stories. She has been the best landlady of our trip. We will definitely stay for a few days!

Since our return late the night of May 28, we have been reflecting on our enjoyable journey and taking in the sights (of Saskatoon) to see, in what sometimes feels like a "new country". We have been able to get used to small habits, noises and customs from SE Asia that we now have come to expect them as normal. The quiet line-ups at stores, lack of bartering for goods, no honking, and crossing the crosswalks are only some of the "foreign" behaviors we are struggling to get used to.

It does feel weird to be back at home and not have a place to live and change routines, to include looking after your own vehicle, bicycle, etc. without having to worry about "renting, hiring or arranging public transport". Also, the lack of store fronts advertising, money exchange, tours and not having to try ordering food in a foreign language. This western landscape seems a bit unfamiliar, yet deep down we know...it's where we are from.

We are happy to be home and recognize how lucky we have been to have had such a wonderful honeymoon and life changing experience. We are eager to meet up with all our friends and family but are also realizing that reality and getting back to a "new" normal life are all part of the next exciting installment of our journey.

We have thoroughly enjoyed writing these blogs and hope that you have enjoyed reading them as well. It was quite a delight to us while away from home to check our blog and emails to hear that people at home were living thier lives with lots of other exciting developments of their own. This helped us to realize how important others are to us. Thanks to everyone who read our entries and we look forward to visiting in person soon.

Hello all, this is Ted speaking for the first time on this blog. As Jen mentioned earlier, my pack is smaller than hers so I cannot carry all the heavy items I planned on buying. Who's smarter now???

We managed to catch a direct flight to Vancouver this am so we are killing time at the airport. It has been a good afternoon of not discussing spreadsheets of things we have to do before the trip. Instead, we are desperately seeking mosquito repellent and surprisingly enough, Vancouver aiport has none. No wonder they don't think of themselves as part of Canada. Next stop, ASIA!!

The bags are packed and ready to go! (well almost) we need to repack the bags because we have overpacked and are bursting at the seams. I have a bigger pack than Ted and so i can pack more in but his ego is a bit hurt by the fact that he isn't carrying the heavy load! We spent last night planning a wedding party (it really only takes an hour). We are getting excited, although i do need to admit that i shed a few tears about giving away Hobbes (our dearly beloved furball). My mom is taking us to the airport tomorrow. Our flight schedule is: Calgary-Vancouver-Hong Kong- Bangkok. We have our first night of accomodation booked and then we'll head to the beaches. We don't have many plans for the first week so that will be nice (it will give us time to learn a new language and figure out what we want to do). So hopefully we can find an internet cafe in the next few days in between eating pad thai, drinking thai beer and laying on thai beaches! All the best and we'll post more soon! caio!

Christmas is done, the wedding is done and so is New Years! The holidays were wonderful, especially the wedding. We had beautiful weather (hoar frost on the trees in the sunshine), great times, wonderful pictures and the wild life was everywhere (not just Ted! - we also saw elk, skunks and even an american!). One of the highilights was taking pictures outside (in our snowshows). The next day we celebrated New Years hanging out in the hot tub, drinking champagne (we barely made it to midnight though). We thought we'd try and attach a few pictures of the nups!! Can't wait for the big camping celebration party in the summer! Only 6 sleeps to go!

Well, the time is flowing and we are checking more things off our list. It is a busy time but all we have left is....Christmas, Wedding, packing up our house and finally flying off! The countdown has begun, it is only 20 days to go! We are excited to start blogging and share our great Honeymoon with all of our friends.