Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year!!! We have had an awesome week in Koh Tao. Lots of beach time, snorkeling, sea cliff jumping, excellent restaurants, and great company with the Butzer-Pelsters. Tim and I had a great couple of scuba dives this morning. Our second dive was a “wreck dive”. We had the opportunity to enter two different rooms/corridors on the HTMS Sattakut, which is a former USA WWII battle ship sunk intentionally off of the coast of Koh Tao for the purpose of being a scuba training location. What an awesome experience to go into the ship! Thank you New Way Diving , Koh Tao!

Koh Nang Yuan

Thai Boat Taxi...kidding

Sunset at Sairee beach

Sairee Beach

Tanote Bay...our FAVORITE!

Acceptable levels of risk

How does the saying go? “ When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” Scooter transportation is the primary means of conveyance on Koh Tao. You see scooters attached to food carts, delivering ice as a modified pickup truck of sorts, carrying dogs, livestock, and my personal favorite is three adult passengers with the rear person being a woman riding side-saddle in a dress holding a newborn baby. Awesome. The cool thing is that scooter travel is ubiquitous in Third World countries and the risk tolerances appear to be more liberal than in the USA. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I prefer to view it simply as THE thing and try to avoid being a First World risk assessor/judge while traveling abroad. It is one example of something that they do on a daily basis to simply make it all work. Life. Even the use of the horn is different than at home. At home, the horn means , “screw you dude!” Here it is a tool to say, “Hello there. I am on your right side. Thank you. Have a nice day.” Amazing you can say all that in a couple of beeps of the scooter horn. So we ride scooters to the beach. And we triple up. And it is all OK. Don’t limit yourself by doing what someone tells you is OK or not OK. Make your own decisions. Follow your gut. On many occasions, I feel that we have sanitized so much out of our daily lives in the USA, we have forgotten what it is like to live. We get tweaked about people’s choices – their choices! “Oooh look at that person jogging at dawn/dusk without reflective neon green clothing. That is so unsafe!” Seriously?!? Get over it.

Koh Tao update from Audrey

Hello!!! I am here to update you on our tiny island adventure!!! Of course we had to first get here. It was horrendous!! There is no airport in Koh Tao so we had to take a boat! The waves were HUGE and everyone got seasick. At first it was really fun, but then all the fun disappeared. Finally we got there. When we were in the bay you could see the island and it looked like a picture from a magazine!! That first day we took a taxi to our apartments. All of us were EXTREMELY tired. We met the owner of the apartments and she gave us these really delicious cookies that had like this filling and it was heaven!!! I don’t know if I have told you this, but there are a lot of 7- Eleven’s here. My Dad found an ice cream bar that is called the Magnum bar. Everyone is addicted to it, especially me!!!!! On one of the days in Koh Tao we went to the only fish spa on the island. What you do is stick your feet in a fish tank and they nibble all of the gunk off your feet! Is that amazing or what?! Also, we go to a lot of beaches! They are all pretty warm. There is one thing that is kind of bad about Koh Tao, there are more than enough biting bugs!!!I have like ten mosquito bites just on one leg! One more thing is that there is lots of fruit. We tried this one thing called Mango Teen. It is the best. Well that is all for this blog post.

SS Barf-O-Rama

A rough ferry crossing from Chumphon to Koh Tao. This video was taken shortly after we left port before it got too rough...it was a harbinger of things to come...it later got spicy...and then it got quiet...real quiet...save for sounds of stomachs wretching from the seasickness. Many poor souls going to their respective My Private Idaho's counting the minutes.

I wanted to capture the scene as it ramped up, but my kinder, gentler side (that I did not know I even had in me) got the best of me and I kept the camera stowed.  Fairly epic for a lot of folks.

Koh Tao is fantastic.  More posts coming in the near future.

Merry Christmas from Thailand!

Our final 24 hours in Bangkok evaporated in a blur.  On the morning of Day 3, Joanie and I completed another Crossfit style workout in the rooftop gym.  Pretty cool to be on the roof of a skyscraper getting in your daily burn. Check out the photo below of the rooftop pool.  Amazing views in 360 degrees of the seemingly endless urbanization that is Bangkok proper.

Our next activity was a boat ride in a river taxi up the Chao Phraya river that cuts through the heart of Bangkok.  The river was obviously once the life blood of Bangkok and it still plays an important role in today's world.  The boat took us past fancy hotels, shanty towns, temples, and industrial sites - all within a couple of km of travel. We exited at the pier near the Royal Palace. It was a hot morning. Already passing 90 degrees at 10:00. The palace grounds were choked with tourists!  Careful visiting  the Wats and Palaces of Thailand on Christmas week. Tons of visitors.

The Palace tour was excellent.  We next walked to Wat Po to see the Reclining Buddha.  A very impressive gold Buddha laying down on his side. The kids and adults were now lagging from the heat and crowds.  A snack back in the AC controlled hotel room complete with some ice cold Singhas, had us back on our A Game.

Our next objective was to shuttle ourselves and our backpacks through downtown Bangkok mass transit to the train station.  We had an overnight train booked for Chumphon, where we would then catch our ferry ride to Koh Tao for 9 nights over Xmas and New Years.  The kids did great cruising through the Sky Train and then transitioning to the subway.  We stowed our bags and then set out to explore the neighboring Chinatown.

Chinatown has a couple of exceptional Wats. One was particularly notable because we watched an old monk in orange robes blessing a local family's new car. He was chanting, dousing water, and blessing as monks do, this Toyota Yaris.  Very cool. We dined in Chinatown, bought some snacks for the overnight train, and then ambled back to the station in time for out 19:30 departure.

The lap of luxury

Train Station at night

Reclining Buddha

Chinatown Bangkok

Grand Palace

Angor Wat replica at Grand Palace

Chatuchak Market - Bangkok's Saturday Market

The Butzer-Pelster's joined us in Bangkok for a couple of weeks of our trip.  Tim is Joanie's older brother and his wife Martha is Joanie's longtime childhood pal. Their daughters Sally and Mary are a couple of our kids' favorite first cousins, who they get to see usually only once or twice a year. Typically at the Butzer Family beach week on the Oregon Coast.


Today we took the exceptionally efficient Bangkok Sky Train out to the Saturday Market.  An amazing  amalgamation of colors, aromas, wares, foods, and of course, humanity. We shopped, ate, shopped some more -much to Rock's chagrin- and then wrapped it up with a 30 minute Thai foot massage. Perfect.

Final images from Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai ended up being a superlative initial international stop for our round the world journey.  Tons of activities, great people watching, excellent restaurants, and a manageable scale.  Here are a final few pics from our week in Chiang Mai.

Elephant Riding

Thai Village

Crossbow Shooting

I finally get another chance to write the blog.... The kids have been very keen to help out in this regard. But the other night we did something that I have wanted to do for years - ever since I heard about it. We took a Thai Cooking class! I know, it may not sound exciting to everyone, but I love to cook and I love Thai food, so for me it was nirvana, tee hee.
Before we started chopping and cooking, we took a little walking tour of the outdoor market to look at the spices and Thai ingredients. I wish we had these markets at home.  They are lively and full of wonderful things to eat - raw and cooked.
We each got to chop and cook 4 dishes that we chose from three options (putting us in three different rooms for the preparation depending on which dish you chose to prepare). After the food was prepared then we would all sit together and devour our own handiwork. We were a little unsure how it was going to work out with the kids on their own, but they did splendidly. The knives were big and the burners were hot!  And the experience.......really affordable!  We were all stuffed at the end of the evening. I can't wait to go again!

A mother's eyes watching the knife

Rock getting his wok on

Spring rolls!!

Chiang Mai Zoo

We had an awesome visit to the zoo in Chiang Mai. We all consider ourselves zoo aficionados and would rank this zoo among the best we have visited. Great exhibits, a fantastic property, and some opportunities to participate in some activities not normally found in other zoo experiences - including feeding a jaguar!!

Tiger Kingdom...seriously?!?...yessir

There are certain activities that we have insulated ourselves out of in the good 'ol US of A.  This is one of them.  Get some.

Chiang Mai

Enjoyed a great first day in Chiang Mai, Thailand touring the ancient temples (Wats).  

Bangkok by Audrey

So we took a plane from Taipei to Bangkok and basically slept the whole time! We had to wait in a line to go through immigration. The line took 20 to 30 minutes to get through. After immigration we had to go receive our bags. My dad had reserved a place in a hotel. A shuttle from the hotel came to pick us up. At the time it was 2:30 in the morning! I enjoyed being able to know I was in a foreign country!!! We slept till 7:00 and then went down to the breakfast buffet. It was incredibly good. Mackenzie and I had fried rice that had like carrots, eggs, and a bunch of other yummy stuff. This is a Thai breakfast buffet and they had cookies out, so I got several. I told my dad that obviously Thai's had cookies for breakfast cause they were out. Now I am totally full of delicious food! When we got upstairs the kids turned on the TV. It was the weirdest button to turn it on. You had to take your finger and turn it in circles. Well.... we could not watch it because we did not understand the language. Then I started to write this! Uh Oh! We have to take pills for Malaria. It was pretty small and I swallowed it fine.

Sacked out in Taipei airport en route to Bangkok

Rock pondering Japanese in Tokyo Narita

Life's a Beach at 12:12:12 on 12/12/12

We wrapped up our 10 day Hawai'i visit with another trip to our favorite beach in the world - Mauna Kea. There may be a better one out there somewhere, but we have yet to discover it. A great finish to a great start of our round the world adventure. Tomorrow begins a 25 hour in-transit leg to Bangkok. Ugh.

Heading to Bangkok tomorrow!!

Pu'ukohola Heiau Educational Report By Kenzi and Audrey

Audrey: Hi! I am here to tell you about Hawaii National Historic Area. First off, Kamehameha the future king, was born on the northwestern tip of Hawaii. He was the son of a high chief and princess. Kamehameha trained in his childhood to join the ranks of the warriors. In young adulthood, he was VERY tall and muscular!! To become King he flipped the original stone over. Now here's how it goes:             

If you flipped this stone over you had the chance to rule the Hawaiian Islands. Guess What? Kamehameha did it!! He became the King of the Hawaiian Islands!!  

Next, THE WEAPONS!!! The Pahoa is a dagger made of hardwood and almost 17 in. long. Shark teeth are bound to this weapon's edges. At the National Historic Area, we saw a spear 16 ft. tall!!! That's all folks!!

Kenzi: In 1758, many Hawaiian seers predicted that Keku'ia'poiwa, the daughter of a mighty chief, would give birth to a great Hawaiian  ruler. It was also predicted that he would be a rebel against many other chiefs. When Alapainui, the mighty king of the island of Hawaii, heard this news, he was very upset and planned to have the infant killed at birth. Alas, the princes would not have this. When the baby was born, she snuck him through a hole in her thatched cabin to a chief known as Nae'ole. He took the baby to a nearby forest where the child would stay safe and unknown for several years.

When Alapanui found the baby to be missing, he was outraged!!! He sent many warriors on a frantic search through many nearby villages to find the child. Many innocent people were whipped and burned because they did not know any information about the missing child. Meanwhile, Kamehameha (then known as Pai'ea meaning hard-shelled crab) was being raised in the forest by Nae'ole and chieftess Kaha'opulani. He was said to be the most cared for child in all of Hawaii.

Five years after the child had been born, Alapainui decided he would let the child come back to live with his true family. Kamehameha learned about the sea creatures, plants, and customs of Hawaii. In his later years, he was said to be very strong and about 7 feet tall. No wonder he could lift the Naha rock no prob. Well that's it for me. Hopefully you had enough patience to read it all and didn't fall asleep while doing it. And oh by the way: my dad made me do a report on this. If it was my decision in what it should be about, it would have been a lot more exciting!

Mike and Joanie in a rousing game of Hawai'ian Checkers!

Rock's report of his snorkeling trip

This morning I  went on a big snorkel. I got super cold. I don't think I'm doing that again. Brrrr. My dad and I saw a Flying Gurnard. It was awesome. We also saw an Eagle Ray. It was about 6-8 feet long including the tail!

Snorkeling report from Audrey

The snorkeling in Hawaii is GREAT!!! You have the chance to see lots of exotic fish. I am going to tell you about our last couple of snorkels and what we saw.

On our snorkel today we saw a Spotted Eagle Ray, Eels, and my brother saw a Flying Gurnard. The Spotted Eagle Ray has spots and is way smaller than a Manta Ray. Flying Gurnards are fish that are flat and have wings! I am pretty sure you all know what an eel is, but for those who do not know they are long, snake-like fish.

Would you like it if I told you about some fish? Well, here goes...... Yellow Tangs are yellow fish. They are very common in Hawaii. Moorish Idols are black, white, and yellow. These fish have a dorsal fin that has a long tail. My favorite fish is the Hawaiian State Fish. The name is really complicated to pronounce. Humuhumu-nukunuka-a-pua'a!!!!! I told you it was hard!

Here is a joke: What do you call a woman who is laying on the beach? Sandy. Ha! Ha! I made that one up.

Surf's up!

News from Rock

I'm in Hawai'i right now. The weather is great. And the paddle boarding is awesome. Guess what? I remembered the password to our hide-a-key from a year ago. 3-6-0. The degrees in a circle. I went snorkeling today. I saw a trumpeter fish and a sea cucumber. My dad saw a sea turtle.

Easing into it...

The trials and tribulations of SE Asia are awaiting us in about 10 days time. In the mean time, we are taking it easy with snorkeling and paddle boarding in Hawai'i.

24 hour countdown

Well, here we are less than 24 hours from our first flight. Hard to believe we are on the cusp of it. Ready to be Stepping out of the Groove for 9 months on the road!

So what does the blog title mean to us?  The Groove represents daily life and routine that we all operate in for 95+% of our existence. Going to work, attending school functions, paying bills, etc. We generally are afforded only small snippets of time to step out of that groove, whether it is a weekend away or even a longer vacation.

Our experience from previous international travel is that when you extend that time period for several months you "go to a different place" in your thoughts, attitudes, and reflections.  It is enough time away to separate yourself from that normal daily routine completely, such that you gain insights into your own pathway in this world. It is a cool place to get to and very much worthwhile to pursue.

Our first-world existence can get too comfortable. It is important to intentionally disrupt things from time to time in order to remind yourself that you are still alive.  Take risks, embrace some discomfort, loathe mediocrity, and learn to suffer well. Third world travel will definitely test your coping skills.

And remember, living well is the best revenge.