meeeelllllllbbbeeeeeen

After staying in Adelaide for an extra week, I was finally set to fly out to Melbourne last night, but after a couple stupid moves on my part I broke my mean travel champion streak and missed my flight. 

I was noticing the other day that I haven't been irritated at all for the last 2 months of travel. I think when you're traveling you get in a certain mindset where you can't allow trivial things to bother you anymore because it's all a part of the adventure. 

I went out the other night with Michael and his roommate Paul and I met a bunch of his girlfriends who were so lovely and nice. Their friend Nat took me thrift shopping the next morning..or what they call "op shopping". I bought a couple things that I didn't need, but who really NEEDS things anyways? We sat in an adorable vintage kitchen shop at a communal dining room table and chatted with strangers over coffee. I loved this concept and the wheels are spinning in my head with similar ideas.

We went to the cricket match, which was basically just a "who's who" event where everyone comes and drinks outside the stadium and watches the game that's being played 100 yards away on the tv screen. I really don't understand cricket, but it was fun to be there anyways. Turns out the one game that lasted 5 days ended in a wash. That's a lot of work for no outcome!

I had Michael and Paul over for dinner the other night as a thank you for entertaining me for the last week. I made pizza with caramelized onions, basil, goat cheese, and roasted tomatoes with a balsamic reduction sauce. An orzo salad, and sweet potatoes that I accidentally doused in truffle oil and made it taste like trash.  

The downtown area of Adelaide is adorable and I didn't discover it until the last couple days of my stay. It was very quaint and posh but had elements that reminded me of an old western film, or maybe similar to New Orleans although I've never been there. I couldn't afford to buy anything, but still tried out outfits and dreamt of the day I would be able to.

It's so strange to be surrounded by holiday cheer in 95 degree heat when I never had a halloween or thanksgiving to help get my bearings straight. Trying on tank tops and cute dresses while listening to Jingle Bells was different than anything I've been accustomed to around this time of year.

I am now in Melbourne staying with another friend of a friend who knows Angie and Michael from a trip to Portugal a few years back. Andrea stayed with us in SF a few months ago when she was visiting. She lives in a really cute part of town next to really good restaurants and retro shops. It will be really fun to explore the area. We just walked around and got the best Gelato I've ever had. As of two weeks ago I had dropped 10 pounds since I left on my trip and in two weeks I've already added it back plus some. Woof! 

Tomorrow I'm meeting up with another guy I met last year in SF who lives here as well. This past year was definitely the year of the Aussie. I think all signs are pointing for me to move here. Life is too easy...minimum wage is about $25...rent is cheap, people are the nicest people in the world.  I love it.  I love all the connections, and decided to re-instate my facebook page to be able to keep in contact with the people I have met along the way. 

See you in a couple days!

Sydney, Adelaide, Australia

Photos- www.instagram.com/alliseb

Gday mate! Sydney was gorgeous. Very quaint and cute mixed with big cityness. A friend from college let me stay with her in her adorable new apartment in rosebay. Rosebay is in Sydney near the opera house and is like the Montecito of the area. We hit up target and Kmart and it has been so nice to feel like I'm back in civilization after a month of sweaty trekking. I am in shock with the prices here. Granted, Aussies make much more than Americans so the cost of living is higher as well. For someone who isn't currently making any money, I find it extremely challenging to spend $20+ on a drink. I can always gauge inflation based on gas, obviously, but also on the price of avocados. At a whopping $4-5 dollars per avo, my pockets are nearly penniless already. Luckily Meghan was so gracious to let me stay at her house, and I even had my own room! 

I helped her babysit the spawn from hell for an afternoon and it was like one of those really bad nightmares that you can't wake up out of. After babysitting two year old Alfie the whole day we had to go and pick up the other boys at school. We show up and there are just a few parents lingering around outside waiting for the bell to ring. Everyone is calm and collected until "ding ding ding" and there's a mad dash of hundreds of kids who are all wearing the exact same thing plus a large brimmed hat to block out the scorching Aussie sun. I'm immediately panicked because the two year old has run off and I I have not a clue what the other boys look like. Meghan quickly introduces me to them and runs off to look for Alfie. I'm in a full sweat trying to keep tabs on the two other boys who had run outside, but to me they may have well been ants in a sea of spilt sugar. As I'm running around trying to find them I'm sifting through a kid who has completely dropped trou to sit in a fresh puddle, an abundance of booger picking, and frantic hand throwing screaming fits. I have a completely frazzled look on my face and am trying to scold these children who I haven't even been introduced to. in the meantime, Meghan comes back with a non Chalant look on her face with Alfies body perpendicular to hers as she has one arm wrapped around his mid section and his feet flailing in the air. Instant birth control right there!

Meghan had to leave for the week so I hung out at her apartment with her lovely boyfriend who was so gracious to allow me to stay there. I did a lot of exploring and figured out the bus and ferry systems in the city. Sydney reminded me of a more condensed version of San Francisco with its scenic views and ferry system. I explored the opera house, the botanic gardens, awesome shopping areas, art museums, the "ghetto" which was not really ghetto in the least considering I'm used to crack junkies breathing down my neck in San Francisco. I did a lot of cooking, running, and hiking along the beautiful bluffs. I took a bus out one day to the blue mountains, which is reminiscent to the Grand Canyon plus some incredible waterfalls. I hiked down into the canyon and back up while passing through old coal mines and the steepest railroad in the world!

My bus driver was obsessed with his microphone. He had a handheld mic, as well as a headset and I'm pretty sure he loved the sound of his own voice. I was drifting off to sleep and he turned on his mic saying "wakey wakey!!" To point out in detail the flowers that were in the surrounding area. His name was "jc" and he wore suspenders and kept making Jesus jokes that were weird and uncomfortable. Needless to say, it made the trip that much more enjoyable being able to laugh not with but at someone for an entire day. 

I got to Adelaide last friday and am staying with my roommate/friend from sf's family. I've met her mom before and they are both so so lovely. It's really comforting to be around parental figures at this point in my trip. I'm going through a really tough time right now and feel immensely better being around familiar faces. Clara's mom is a printmaker and art teacher and has an epic studio in her house dedicated to her work. Their house is adorable and reminds me of a diner from the 50's. part of their house used to be a deli back in the day...really cute and funky!

Clara's best friend Michael (who met angie in portugal a few years ago, then introduced us to clara who was only meant to stay at our house for a couple days...but we haven't let her leave and it's almost been 10 months!) has been showing me around and took me out the othernight for a night on the town. We stayed out until 5 am dancing and had so much fun. He is actually hilarious.  He has already planned my entire week for me and I really appreciate planners because I am not one whatsoever! 

Monday night I went to his family's Italian dinner, and they were all so nice and the lasagna was off the chain.  Monday we wet to wullunga beach which was picturesque, Tuesday we went to the pool and then out for Mexican food which was delicious, wednesday was quiz night with his radio station, and yesterday he took me to a cricket match.

Michael  has traveled for a year alone, and we've discussed the awkwardness of meeting or even just interacting with anyone in general and how your voice changes a few octaves and gets really awkward. We have a lot of things in common and have similar personalities-we both sniff Everything, hate when people talk about their dreams, and other pet peeves of the sort. He and Clara met in junior high and used to spend every night on the phone together while they watched the Simpsons. So cute! 

Clara's dad Tom took me to the local central market that immediately reminded me of mercado centrale in Florence Italy. Tons of different vendors selling all sorts of produce, cheese, and meats. I bought a bunch of stuff and made a thanksgiving meal for Tom and Olga last night. I didnt make anything super thanksgivingy because I could never do it well and it would probably just make me homesick in my ugly attempt. Tom bought kangaroo meat and I am anxious to give it a try. he's has been super nice in driving me around everywhere and I'm thinking its time for me to invest in a pair of rollerblades or a bike because I've decided to stay here for another week. 

I am "earning my keep" by putting together ikea furniture and making dinner for Olga and Tom. I am hoping they are not too upset with the fact that I'm staying longer then planned but I feel so at home here and am enjoying laughing and doing non touristy things. 

I went through a few days in sydey where I almost felt I was becoming invisible. The good thing about traveling alone is that you can kind of do whatever you'd like whenever you'd like. However, you have to be pretty intentional about reaching out to strangers if you desire any company. I'm pretty shy when I am meeting people so this is not easy for me at all, but its good for me to be forced out of my comfort zone. Luckily here in Adelaide I've been surrounded by gracious and hilarious people and barely a second goes by where I'm not communicating with someone. 

I'm happy, healthy, and well. Just trying to figure out how on earth I'm going to afford the rest of this trip. Hopefully I can find some light work I can do in New Zealand to help me out with some chump change. 

I've had requests to write more frequently which I will try to do! I really really appreciate all the emails, texts, and FaceTime from family and friends. Your smiling faces have been a Godsend. Please keep in touch!! See you all in exactly one month! 

Bali, Indonesia

Friday we left Thailand and moved on to Indonesia. We had a 6 hr layover in Singapore and decided since the visa was free to hop out of the airport for a nanosecond to see what all the hype was about.

I have to say, Singapore was just a big huge tray of assorted caviar in comparison  to the cluster of crap that had been flung at us in the days before. We all patched up our bruised and beaten scars, lathered our bodies in after sun burn spray and calamine lotion, got our rabies shots out of the way and reveled in exuberance for a half a day. Singapore was by far the most beautiful, well planned (you heard me irvine), most architecturally sound city I've ever seen. Every building was oddly shaped and decorated in an abundance of metal art installations and up-kept flowers and plants. I kept looking for one piece of trash and one little flurry of tackiness but I was at a loss. We asked our taxi driver for his advice on where to go and he said the Marina Bay Sands resort. I had not a clue where we were headed, and if you can believe it, when we approached I actually recognized the hotel from an email with photos my grandpa had sent me years ago. The email was a forward that highlighted the extremities of this hotel. 

It looked as though a arched cruise ship was plastered atop three buildings. I still can't figure out of the thing doesn't topple over. We were too frugal to invest in the $20 hike to the top because you could only walk around in a very small area. However, if you google it you'll see theres actually an infinity pool that trickles off the side of the high-rise. We walked around in the shops and checked out the casino (which was $100 to get into!) and I have to say, everything was rodeo drive X 5000. The mall had an indoor mini venice that ran through the interior, and there was an ice skating rink with faux ice (I don't even understand how it worked). We've been used to our $5/meal luxury, so a $19 veggie burger and fries was a bit of a shock. Nonetheless, I am so glad we decided to venture out and wander around the elegant city. My sister and brother used to think that I enjoyed checking out restrooms on road trips as a child when in actuality I just really had a small bladder. Maybe they were right about my fascination because I tend to find myself referencing restrooms quite a bit here. Compared to the bathrooms here that charge you according to whether you "urine", "motion", or "bathe" in a fly infested dung hole, the free and very swanky restrooms in Singapore were very impressive with their touch screen survey at the end asking to rate my experience (which was always of the highest caliber).

We finally got to Bali and were welcomed at our incredible hostel, the Island Hotel. It's adorably decorated and very welcoming. I'm currently on the top bunk of a 12 person unisex dorm room. I've never shared a hostel room with guys before and I have to say, waking up to intense eye contact coming from the bloke across my bunk space was weird and uncomfortable. I have to sleep in my chones because it's 100 degrees out and our A/C broke, so hopefully I'm not awkwarding anyone out. Sharing a bathroom with boys is also sort of weird, and I have become quite the germaphobe. I'm glad I didn't pack my blacklight.

Yesterday we hit up the local beach in Kuta where we're staying. Someone we met at our hostel overheard us talking about wanting to rent surfboards and told us he's been here a million times and has a friend who would lend us some. We followed his directions (left, right, left, straight) which were typical for Thailand, Lao, Cambodia, and Bali now as no street is really properly labeled. Miraculously we finally found Sam, a tan curly haired toehead indonesian who probably sleeps in kelp at night, that's how much he lives for surf. I immediately fell in love with the beach because it reminded me of the beach I grew up on every weekend in Newport. The water temp was perfect, the swell was beautiful, and the beaches were plentiful. We barely got out of the water the entire day.

I was sitting in the water where the waves were breaking, drinking a beer and zoning out when all of a sudden I looked down the way and saw a huge group of 12 year old kids on a field trip. I thought I was imagining things when I saw a few boys posing for photos behind me, until their teacher approached me and asked if it would be okay if I posed for a photo with the little boys. Immediately I felt like a slut and felt pretty weird about it. Drinking is not really kosher here due to the strict Hindu religion, nor is immodesty. Since we were on a surfer beach I didn't feel weird about being in my bathing suit. I knew they were wanting to take photos with me because I looked like the the big western ho they had seen in the movies, but that didn't stop me from throwing out my peace signs and pretending I was a celebrity for 5 minutes. Before I knew it I was posing with the entire middle school, plus all the teachers asked me if they could get one with me as well. Awkward while standing next to the lady in the burka! :)

At the end of the day when our skin was crispy and the sky was purple, we said our goodbyes to Sam, who asked us what we were up to the next day. We told him we wanted to go to Ubud, the countryside, for the day. "Perfect, I know just the person who can take you", he said in broken up english, and introduced us to "Bang Bang", the custom sunglass seller we had been trying to avoid on the beach all day. Bang Bang handed us his business card (which really did say "Bang Bang" on it) and told us he would be at our hostel at 930 am. They're very punctual on this side of the world and were here on the dot to pick us up. Our late night dancing and sweaty lack of sleep made it a difficult task to arise in the morning, but alas we were off to (do I dare say it again?) one of the top 5 most beautiful places I've ever been.

We stopped at an oasis of colorful terraced rice patties with surrounding palm trees, and then moved on to taste luwak coffee. On my flight over to Thailand I was watching a special on Indonesia and Luwak Coffee was highlighted so I already knew all about it. Luwaks are like a opossum mixed with a mongoose and they eat only the good coffee beans as well as other fruits in the area. They then rid themselves of the coffee that is collected by workers in the area. They look like little nutrageous bars and the coffee beans are not digested. They are peeled, cleaned, and roasted, then finely chopped by a stone and mortar. The amount of work that goes into the process was impressive. We taste tested the coffee and it was really good. I feel weird about calling poo coffee robust but it was very robust.

Sam and Bang Bang took us then to the mountains to a restaurant that overlooked a panoramic view of a volcano and more rice terraces on the horizon. We ate an all you can eat buffet of greasy delicious food and then headed to Tanah Lot which is a Hindu temple carved out of rock right on the beach. It was very therapeutic and relaxing to be there, and we drank and splashed holy water on our faces while the monk's blessed us by adorning our temple with pieces of rice and a plumeria bud behind our ear. 

Today we will try to find some good snorkeling and shop one last time before Lauren heads home tonight. She's bringing some of my stuff home so I'll have a lighter load on this trip. I'm really sad to see her go. Everyone questioned our ability to get along well for a month, and I think she and I chose eachother as friends back in junior high because we both were so drama free and couldn't handle the catty pre-pubescent teens that surrounded us. We have really worked really well together and my idea that I can't spend every waking breath with someone for more than a week has been shot. It's been over 730 hours where she has been in my vicinity and to be honest I love her more than ever! She has really put things in perspective for me and has helped me sift out my negative thoughts about myself and my future.  I'm learning that friendships and relationships are what you put into it...and having the faith that I have had to not just make this trip work, but to keep her as my best friend forever has made me forgive the stupid small stuff that isn't worth arguing over. 

In a couple days I'm moving on to Sydney and I'm excited to be able to see this awesome country but also I'm really excited to cook. I've eaten every meal out for over a month and I just want a home cooked meal! I'm staying with a friend from college, Meghan Long, who moved there after school. She was so gracious to let me stay there and I can't wait to see her. 

Koh tao, koh samui, koh Phagnan

Holy cow,  its been awhile. I can't believe we've already been here for a month. Time flies! We tallied up that we have spent about 100 hours or more thus far just traveling. Most of our bus trips have been tolerable and nothing to write home about but after days of a million bus transfers and bumpy commutes I just would love to be home for a second and be cold and sit by a fire eating squash soup. 

Last week we were awoken on our sleeper train by someone at 4 am saying "get off right now...you have 3 minutes!" We grabbed our bags and got off the bus 24 hours after straight travel. We were in a daze and it was pouring rain and pitch black and we were outside with our huge backpacks and skimpy pjs. We waited for another couple hours to catch the ferry and then hopped on board. When we stepped on board, we were directed to go into this room upstairs. I told the worker that I wanted to go downstairs and he said "no! you go upstairs!" As we were sitting there for awhile and the ferry starts moving, the employee comes up with a sign saying that we had to pay extra for the room we were sitting in. Being the cheap skate that I am, I said no way and pretended not to understand. When we worked it out it was $1, but it was the fact of the matter--and i wasn't feeding into any shady business schemes! What I didn't know is that my stupid idea would lead to the most miserable traveling experience I have ever been dealt.... Or maybe it was tied with our 8 hr windy bus ride where someone put their "cripple sticks" as Lauren called them in in carsick misery, (aka crutches) in our foot space. 

We got kicked out to the upper deck and at first it was very refreshing and nice. Within minutes the sky opened up and there was a torrential downpour. We had nowhere to go and sat out in the rain for 3 hours while the bullet water pelted our skin to death. The storm was like something you would expect in the Bermuda Triangle, and immediately my face was green and blue as the ocean. The weather reminded me a lot of the intro to gilligans island. Pure chaos. I was so worried that my spew wouldn't quite make it from my stomach into the ocean because the ferry was so rocky that we were gripping the guard rail for our lives and at times could practically hang from it. The boat that was once full of excited travelers turned almost instantly to barf fest 2012. 

I turned around, and my eyes were so heavily blurred from the rain that I could only make out shapes and outlines of things. I saw a figure coming toward me with sea leg syndrome and full squirrel cheeks. I grew up with a brother who got motion sickness driving down the street to the market, so I knew what those full cheeks indicated instantly and as my mom would say "i got the hell outta dodge". i slid risky business style quickly enough to escape most of the debris that was blown by the heavy winds back into the boat. 

After several  hours the boat was silent, travelers were no longer happy, and the majority of people looked like they had legitimately been beaten with a crowbar. our clothes were so wet that we may as well have entered a wet t shirt contest. We both chose white tanks that day and nothing was left to anyone's imagination. We couldn't go back into the air conditioned room because our jaws were already chattering like we were in the arctic sea, so we sat in a ball and clung tight to the rail until we reached land. 

We finally made it to koh Tao which was our favorite of the Thai islands we've visited so far. It reminded me a lot of Kauai, Hawaii...super lush and filled with small villages and bamboo huts. Our hotel was right on the crystal clear calm beach that was lined with restaurants and bars that we walked barefoot to at night. 

We moved over to koh samui, which was much more touristy, commercial, and heavily westernized. We took a cooking class and made soup, our own curry, and lemongrass chicken nuggets. Every dish was very elaborate with its ingredients, and I could honestly probably never recreate the meals, but they were delicious and very authentic anyway.

At night time we had planned to go to a Muay Thai boxing match, which is really popular over here. We walked to the stadium but when we got there we decided it was too expensive and walked back. On our stroll home we passed a bunch of beautiful showgirls and were flabbergasted when one of the fully busty women opened her mouth and spoke in a deep raspy man voice. The group of lady boys beckoned us to come to their show, which was free minus the fact that they forced $12 beers down our throats. I would say it was pretty well worth the money. We saw a Whitney Houston show, the dream girls, Madonna, Christina aguilara..and the list continues. Pure hilarity.

The next day we hit up the beach. Lauren sipped on a couple mojitos while I took a long 2 hr walk. When I got back she convinced me that we needed to get henna tattoos. As if henna wasn't already pretty lame, I talked her into getting Popeye the sailor man on her arm. It was the easiest I've ever had to work to convince someone todo anything. I laughed hysterically while I watched her struggle uncomfortably in regretting her Popeye decision. The henna will not come off for 2 weeks, so it's been a very interesting conversation starter. 

I was really excited to get over to koh phagnan for the full moon party. Another one of my  best friends, Angie, met us here and I was so so so excited to see her. I screamed like a cheerleader and jumped up ans down like i had just won the lottery when she walked in the door. She's so great and positive and just very easy going and fun to be around. Unfortunately we all got rocked on koh phagnan, and I felt so bad for Angie for having to start her vacation with so many little hiccups. 

The morning of my birthday we rented motor bikes and had an amazing day. We happened across a safari place with elephants and we decided to stop and feed them some bananas. The girls had gone over to the elephants and something caught my eye in my periphery. I thought it was a cat tied on a leash because it made really weird meowy noises. I went over to investigate and saw that it was a baby monkey. No. Freaking. Way. Lauren was starting to get overwhelmed by the amount of time I spent dedicated to trying to find a monkey to hold. I went through a phase in my life where I asked for an orangutan every consecutive year for about 5 years from Santa. its been a lifetime dream of mine to hold one. The monkey climbed up  on my shoulder and tried taking my sunglasses and then I grabbed a newborn puppy that was wandering around and presented it to the monkey who gently pet the puppy and picked at his ears. Cuteness overload!

The monkey was cute but very erratic. He was so calm and falling asleep while we cuddled him, and then all of a sudden would get this disturbed, possessed look in his eye and would purse his lips uncontrollably. His eye contact was humanely frightening and it gave me no choice but to throw the monkey out of attack distance. It took us awhile to recognize that his crazy eyes meant he was about to leap on your head and bite your hand off. He liked crawling inside angies purse and playing with our cell phones, and if you ever took something away from him he would freak out. He bit all of us but really liked nibbling on Lauren's skin. I looked over and he had his teeth sunken into her skin and was spasming his head back and forth from side to side like how a lion would rip apart its prey. Lauren's reaction was shockingly non existent, but the blood was enough to let us know that it was probably time to move away from the monkey. I have never giggled so consistently for the amount of time that we did. It was just so enjoyable and we laughed at its every move until he turned into a little satan gremlin furby.

The owner loved us and gave us a tour of the facilities. He was the craziest guy I've ever met. He brought out a few cobras and kissed a king cobra on the head. He swallowed two scorpions and coughed them up, had a centipede bite his arm (which he said he's done every day for 10 years or something crazy). His arm was filled with scars from all the animals that had bitten him. The king cobra attacked him one time and he told us he had 20 minutes to get to a hospital before he would die. It was crazy to be feet from this angry hissing snake that could attack at any time. I asked why the cobra hasn't attacked him again and he said its because he and the cobra are friends now. He took us into the crocodile cage where we watched him feed chicken to. Those things sound like engines when they're mad!!

We continued on and ate lunch at a restaurant on the ocean and threw off our clothes to take a dip. We took Lauren to the hospital on our way back to get a rabies shot and when we walked in the doctor asked what was wrong and she goes, "yea um, I was bitten by a monkey?" We all just burst out into laughter and couldn't ever imagine saying this ever again in our lives. Lauren was intent on getting a rabies shot, partly because she read a bunch of articles that said you can catch gonorreah and other stds from monkeys and that sounded pretty unappetizing to her, which I thought was completely plausible. 

We had an excellent day and the workers at the restaurant went out and bought me a cake when they found out it was my bday. I was handed some pretty heavy news that night that i am trying to not allow ruin my trip but I am physically and mentally exhausted and pretty homesick. Luckily I have the best friends I could ever ask for and I was so lucky that they were here for me because I really don't know what I would have done without them. We went to this full moon party that we had planned our trip around and I had a breakdown as soon as we got there and  Had to leave. The girls were so great and were happy to be there for me to talk me through my troubles. When we got home we were locked out and the concierge was no longer awake. We all thought the other person had the key because we had a major misunderstanding. Therefore we had to sleep outside. I couldn't sleep so I walked down the beach and watched the stagnant ocean water the entire night until the sun rose.

Angie noticed her credit card was missing and so we took our motorbikes out again and went looking for it. She crashed her motorbike and her $6/24 hr retail turned into quite a hefty fine for all the damage. Luckily she came out with just a few scratches on her body so it could have been much worse. What I love about Angie is that no matter what crap is handed to her, she always creates something positive out of the situation. She has been such an amazing travel companion and I really strive to be like her and think more positively and look for the good in every situation. When the company told her what the damage would cost she said enthusiastically, "it's actually perfect because I have that exact amount of money in my savings account. I'll just use that!!" Gosh what a trooper. 

We were all just so emotionally and physically beaten to the ground that we decided a box of franzia and some French bread and Brie would be the only things that would brighten our day. We sat out by the pool with our two piece plastic wine glasses with detachable stems, and didn't give a care about anything around us. We cannonballed, raced each other down the length of the pool, and thn would run into the ocean that was the same temp I would take a bath in. We swam out to a shanty fishing boat and laid out on it until the sun set. 

Given the circumstances of the day, we turned a pretty horrible day for everyone into one of the best I've had since I've been here. I love that I can be myself around these girls and say whatever I want without judgement or weirdness. 

We ran into our New Zealand friends today in Thailand  who we met in Lao. The girls were so nice and I was glad we got to see them again! This has happened several times now where we will run into the same people over and over again in different countries. Our favorite was this Australian guy who stubbed his toe and said a very explicit but strange series of words while he hopped on one foot in agony. We quote him all the time, although we don't know his name. We randomly ran into him on the streets in Bangkok after weeks of traveling.

I am really concerned about what I'm doing when I get back. I had a pretty clear idea of my plan and that plan is no longer an option, so now I am very concerned about which city I will move back to and what I will do for a living. I can't help but worry incessantly all day about my life back home and I went from feeling very content to deathly afraid of the future that lies ahead of me. I am trying to stick out the rest of my trip and I'm hoping I can get past this speed bump.  

Angie brought me a new iPhone so if you want to iMessage you can text me without fees. I lost all my contacts ive had for 10 years so if you could please email me or text me your number it would be greatly appreciated. Email is allison.sebek@gmail.com. Can you believe that for how spacey i am ive never lost my phone in 10 years? Also, we are all posting photos on Instagram so if you want to check out what we are doing you can follow us at @alliseb @laurenkaci @angie_oh

Tomorrow morning we are flying to Indonesia. I'll try to update this more frequently but we have just been on the go like nobody's business. Indo will be more relaxing and I'm pretty excited to move on!

Sent from my iPhone