Almost Home!

Tomorrow morning, I will be back in California. At moments it seems like forever since I've been home but at other times it seems as though I just left yesterday!

I have had "The time of my life" and couldn't be more excited to be living my life than the way that I am! I left home in January to explore and am returning home an explorer!

11 Days

For the next 11 days I will be at sea.
In 11 days I will be able to speak English and be understood.
In 11 days I will be able to read street signs.
In 11 days I will have cell service.
In 11 days I will call everyone that I can.
In 11 days I will be in Hawaii.

For the next 11 days I will enjoy time at sea. I will relax on the pool deck. I will watch a sunset with no interruptions. I will take a mental photo of where I am at, at that moment!

In 11 days...I will be back in America!

So long Taiwan, America here I come!

...to...

Hong Kong and China!

I spent 2 days in Hong Kong. I wandered the city, went shopping, ate a ton of really good food (and some that was not so good), stumbled upon the longest escalator in the world, the botanical gardens and the zoo. Here are some pictures from my adventures!

Shopping on sneaker street in Hong Kong!

This, my friends, is a double decker bus!

Edwin, my cabin steward went home...and it was a sad day, let me tell you. The new guy (Rey) doesn't make my bed half as good as Edwin did!

The MV Explorer lookin' classy in Hong Kong


My friends and I signed up for a full tour of Beijing and Xian. We stayed up late, woke up early, and never stopped during the day! We flew from Hong Kong to Beijing, slept in a hotel, went to the Forbidden City, drove to the Great Wall, slept on the Great Wall, hiked the Great Wall, visited Olympic Square, saw an acrobat show, slept in a hotel, rode on rickshaws, watched a drum show, visited the bell tower, participated in a tea ceremony, went to Summer Palace, took a train overnight to Xian where we saw the Terra Cotta warriors, rode bikes on the City Wall, and finally took another overnight train to Shanghai.

In between all of that we went shopping at markets, ate tons of food and had a blast!

Hanging out in the Forbidden City

Bundled up, trying to stay warm on the Great Wall!!

Mid hike and lookin' a mess after sleeping on the Great Wall

Using the photo op as a break from the hike haha

Practicing holding my tea cup the correct way at our tea ceremony

And this was the "tea lady"...she taught us all about the tea and how to drink it
Notice the hair cut...I saw a lot of people with this exact same hair cut everywhere

Jen, Kelly, Me, and Katie...taking a break from a long walk in Summer Palace

Getting ready to board the sleeper train (*We are happy now, but just 30 minutes later realized what we were in for...a long night)

And this is what I look like when I wake up after sleeping for 14 hours on the train...a hotttt mess

Kelly and I riding our tandem bike on the City Wall in Xian

Terra Cotta Warriors

TV Tower in Shanghai, 3rd tallest building in the world

Current Location Check-In

Hey all,
I am in Taiwan at some mall and loving the free internet at the Mac Shack. It's raining outside but that's not stopping me and my friend from seeing the city. I'm looking forward to the night market and Mongolian BBQ later today!!!

The countdown to my return in CA has begun...3 weeks left!

That's it for now...Peace Peeps!