Our Southeast Asia trip, and Upcoming Plans

Our trip through Southeast Asia was incredible! We started in Singapore, and worked our way up through Malaysia and Thailand. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to get to Cambodia or Vietnam :( But we didn't want to rush through each place and not really get to SEE anything. So, maybe another time!

Before we went on our trip, we had to get immunizations...mmmmm....fun. We both had a tetanus booster, Typhoid shot, and a Hep C shot. I think that's all. It was unpleasant. My neck/shoulder/arm hurt from the tetanus booster for a WEEK! I don't remember it ever taking that long to heal. We thought we could get immunized for malaria, but there is no shot for that. If you go to areas with a high risk of malaria, you can get prescription medication, but from what we hear it's VERY unpleasant. We slathered on the Bushman's (it's kind of like Ben's at home) that had 80% deet in it, and we were a-okay. It was mostly Chiang Mai that we had to worry about. I hate putting that stuff on my skin. If cancer is caused by anything we do to ourselves, I SWEAR something like deet has a hand in it. Yikes. Must research natural bug repellent...

Here is a link to the photos of our trip:
Photos from Southeast Asia trip

And a link of our videos from the trip:
Videos from Southeast Asia trip

Time is flying. I think I say that every blog. I think I say THAT every blog. But it is..it seems to go faster and faster the closer we get to going home.

Our next trip is only a few days long, in October. I have an arts conference in South Australia, and then Ben is meeting me out there and we are flying to Melbourne together. This will be right around our anniversary (6 years together, 3 years married!) so that will be nice. Melbourne is known for it's artsy scene and great shopping!

Then...my mom and her friend come to visit!! That's not until the end of November/early-mid December. I'm so excited and can't wait to show people from home what our lives are like here in Australia!

The next trip is to Sydney for New Years! We are still trying to decide if we want to do Christmas day out there, too. There are so many public holidays around that time that we wouldn't need to take very much extra time off. There's also the possibility of doing Great Barrier Reef/Cairns in that same trip. So many things to see and do, so little time left...

Here's a map that shows where we are in relation to the places we have left to visit. My conference in South Australia is near Adelaide, which you can see on the map. (We are in Bunbury, which is just a little south of Perth on the west coast on the map). You'll see Hobart (we visited Tasmania last October, remember?), Sydney (New Years!), Melbourne (this coming October), and Cairns (maybe December/January this year). The only state we won't have visited will be Northern Territory.

This is the hostel we're staying in for New Years in Sydney this year! We are going to this rooftop party, too:
(See the Opera House in the background?)

This is a photo of the fireworks from that same rooftop party! Can't wait for this! I'll take a beautiful Sydney New Years climate over a freezing cold New York climate ANY day!

Anyway...lots coming up in the next few months!

Work is going really well for both of us. Ben is such an amazing engineer. He sends me his reports and his emails sometimes, and I am always so impressed with his technical writing. He is so concise and sounds so professional! I can't wait for him to settle into a position that he really loves and is passionate about.

That's all for now. Enjoy the pictures, videos, and ramblings :)