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¡Hola! 👋 We’re visiting Costa Rica and Nicaragua right now, so scroll down to see the latest posts. You can also follow via rss, the fediverse, or get a weekly email digest. If you’re already following along via the micro.blog timeline, you may see duplicative posts from both Scott and Jen.

Impressive vistas at Paos Volcano National Park: Back in 2016, I took Jen to Shenandoah National Park for her birthday. We stopped at all 70+ viewpoints on Skyline Drive, each of which was completely obscured by low clouds. Today felt a bit like that. Our volcano crater view was, well…less than desirable. Yep, fully socked in, zero view to be had. …

Yesterday we ended up at the craft brewpub we had originally identified when we first arrived in town. We stopped in sometime in the afternoon but ended up staying pretty late (🥱) after befriending an American couple and watching the college football National Championship game with them. The guy was …

After our wet Arenal Volcano visit, we happened across a touristy bar & grill with street side seating—perfect for some people watching while grabbing a quick bite. We also sipped some local craft beer, which is apparently brewed using wood-fired stoves to brew its beer. Huh. -S🇨🇷

Our visit to Arenal Volcano National Park: Our main target here in the La Fortuna area was visiting Arenal Volcano National Park. We made an early start to get there, we hoped, before the clouds obscured views of the mountain and while more wildlife was out. The walk was generally enjoyable, even in the constant rain. But the trail itself …

There’s a resident sloth in the parking lot of our cheap hotel here in La Fortuna—pretty cool! But after several attempts, I’ve yet to get a quality shot. Either she’s in shade and silhouetted against a bright cloudy sky, or I pull out my good camera and the lens immediately fogs over. Gah! -S🇨🇷

We had dinner at the local brewpub here in La Fortuna last night. Beer was ok, food was pretty good. Spent much of our time chatting with a British couple seated next to us. They’re on their third month on this trip, having just finished a few weeks of volunteering at a sea turtle sanctuary. -S🇨🇷

Some shots (and gifs) from La Paz Waterfall. -S🇨🇷

The views along the drive in central Costa Rica were great! -J 🇨🇷

Let’s play Find the Sloth 🦥 -S🇨🇷

These ants built a highway. -S 🇨🇷

We try to avoid scheduling anything important on our arrival day to accommodate flight and immigration delays (and time zone changes). So an evening at the local brewery watching the NFL playoffs was a perfect way to ease into the trip after an otherwise grueling week. -S 🇨🇷

¡Hola! 👋 We’re visiting Costa Rica and Nicaragua right now, so scroll down to see the latest posts. You can also follow via rss, the fediverse, or get a weekly email digest. If you’re already following along via the micro.blog timeline, you may see duplicative posts from both Scott and Jen.

And we’re off to Costa Rica! It’s our first international trip since our epic 100-day adventure. Here are a few shots from the flight over Belize and Guatemala. -S 🇨🇷

Our favorites from the trip: To put the final bow on our 100 Day Adventure, we thought it’d be fun to reflect on our trip “favorites.” Destination It’s probably not surprising that our favorite destination on this trip was safari-related, as that was the part of the trip we were most excited for. This particular destination …

We spent 95 days traveling around the world and returned with one single souvenir—a wooden carving depicting the “Big Five,” acquired along the beach in Malawi, Africa. We’re not big souvenir people, usually opting for a single fridge magnet for each “big” trip (a tradition we only …

Some final photos from Australia: It was right back into the fire as soon as we returned to the US, so wrapping up the trip posts has taken a back seat. Sorry! Well, here are a few final posts from our last several days exploring the country. -S 🇦🇺 Wilson’s Promontory National Park Along the way Grampians National Park A wall in …

Enchida browsing on Raymond Island: One of the highlights of our time on Raymond Island in Australia was enjoying an enchida browsing around for a late lunch (enchidas and platypuses are the only living mammals that lay eggs). We must have spent 30 minutes just watching this guy waddle around and sniff around in the dirt. -S 🇦🇺 Here’s …

Kampsite Kangaroo 🇦🇺

Dusk in Australia

The Sea Stacks of Australia’s Great Ocean Road: It’s been a bit since we posted the first part of our drive on the Great Ocean Road, but here’s the second half—the portion that includes the famed Twelve Apostles and other sea stacks. While we enjoyed the stops we made along this stretch—though unfortunately, some of the spots we were most excited …

Our campervan in Australia: We rented a Euro Mini campervan from Apollo, picking up in Sydney and dropping off in Melbourne. We wanted something small and generally parkable, but also fully self-contained, a requirement to boondock in Australia. Overall, the vehicle worked fine for us. After two months of hot weather, we loved …

Welp, due to “recent events,” we had to abruptly and prematurely end our trip, and frantically race ourselves back to the US. The sun has set on our adventure, but we’ll get caught up with more photos and posts this week.

Our last night in the campervan: It’s our last night in the campervan, and it sorta feels like the last night of the trip, too. But we still have two nights in Melbourne, followed by a full week in French Polynesia. We spent an hour or two sitting outside, gazing up at the incredible starscape late last night in Grampians National …

Although we are currently sitting on the beach waiting for the Australian Blue Penguins to come ashore, I found this guy hiding under the boardwalk! -J 🇦🇺

Because it wouldn’t be a Scott roadtrip without a stop at some sort of roadside oddity or “World’s Largest” thing… -S 🇦🇺

Given our experience roadtripping around Australia, I can only assume that the word “kangaroo” is an ancient aboriginal term for roadkill. -S 🇦🇺

How do you deal with a sinkhole (or two) in the middle of your town? Well, you make them into garden parks! -S 🇦🇺

The Great Ocean Road: We started our first of two days driving the scenic Great Ocean Road, often regarded as one of the world’s best coastal highways, and one of the most remarkable war memorials, too. A largely community-driven project, it served numerous purposes: a memorial to the fallen (Australia experienced the …

The branches/needles on this tree appear to grow….upward?! -J 🇦🇺

Parliament House, Canberra: Australia’s Parliament House is located in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The unique building, opened in 1988, has two large curved walls, separating the building into four quadrants with grass covering parts of the roof. Interestingly, instead of towering above the ground like most capital …

Love this sundial mural in the tiny town of Foster -S 🇦🇺

We had an excellent afternoon of wildlife viewing along the Koala Trail yesterday. More photos and video to come! -S 🇦🇺

Street art in Canberra -S 🇦🇺

Tonight’s campsite views. -S 🇦🇺

We stopped to stretch our legs on the East Gippsland Rail Trail and to check out O’Grady’s Bridge, one of the old wooden rail trellises. This one dates to 1916, and the line was closed in 1987. -S 🇦🇺

Three snapshots from Genoa Creek Falls, Croajingalong National Park

Carrington and Fitzroy Falls: Making our way inland towards Canberra, we stopped at two sets of short walks to magnificent falls. -S 🇦🇺 Carrington Falls, Budderoo National Park Fitzroy Falls, Morton National Park

Royal National Park and Grand Pacific Drive: After returning to the Blue Mountains for the morning, we finally made our way back towards Sydney for the “start” of our drive towards Melbourne, where we’re returning the campervan in a little over a week. Royal National Park Our first stop was Royal National Park, just south of Sydney. There …

Rock pools: In places where swimming might be a bit dangerous, many communities in Australia have built rock pools. These are public swimming pools built into shoreline rock adjacent to the ocean (and often naturally refilled with seawater during high tide) that offer residents a safer—and quite scenic—swimming …

Blue Mountains National Park: The Blue Mountains west of Sydney are renowned, and they didn’t disappoint! Here are some shots from our time there. -S 🇦🇺 A quintessential view of the Blues—a waterfall cascades off a rocky escapement towards the thick forest below, punctuating what is an expansive vista. A rare selfie Scroll down …

Other Sydney Sites: Here are some other sites around Sydney we happened upon while we wandered. -J 🇦🇺 First and foremost, the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. (Don’t worry, there are more photos of the Opera House below!) We ran across this ornate iron canopy that only said “Keep The Pavement Dry.” …

Hyde Park Barracks in Sydney: The full day we had in Sydney was rainy, so we visited a few museums. One was the Hyde Park Barracks (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), which was an interesting overview on Australia as a convict colony. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Britain transported many of its convicts to Australia and they …

Look at the size of those feet! An Australian Purple Swamphen. -J 🇦🇺

We finally found a great brewery! We had already enjoyed a pour of Mountain Culture Brewing in Sydney, later grabbing some cans from the liquor store for our campervan. But yesterday we found the actual source! The sign does not lie. We may have even snagged a few additional cans as well. -S 🇦🇺

Wollumai Lookout, Blue Mountains National Park

We’ve secured our campervan, grabbed some supplies, and made it to our first campsite in Blue Mountains National Park near Sydney. It’s best to grab a site with power the first night to fully charge up the house battery, and we opted for one with a private bathroom/shower. We’re here for 2 nights.

We explored Sydney today—day 80 of our trip. These last 3 weeks seem like its own little vacation. Tomorrow we pick up our campervan to explore a bit more of the country, heading towards Melbourne for 11 days. And then it’s on to French Polynesia for a week. Somehow, we still have 7 flights left!

Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef: Despite the terrible weather we had the entire time we were in Airlie Beach and the Whitsunday Islands, we did make it out to the Great Barrier Reef for a snorkel. (So yes, Scott finally used his snorkeling mask he has hauled all over the world!) Although the weather made for cloudy and dark water, …

Visiting the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary near Brisbane: We had a long layover in Brisbane, so we booked a tour that included a river cruise from the central city to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary—apparently, the first (since 1927!) and still leading sanctuary for these endangered animals. The cruise featured prerecorded interpretative commentary, which …

Ancient City of Polonnaruwa - UNESCO World Heritage Site #3 on our Day Tour of North-Central Sri Lanka: The third and final UNESCO Heritage site we visited on our day trip to North-Central Sri Lanka was to the ancient city of Polonnaruwa, the second kingdom in, and capital of, Sri Lanka after the destruction of Anuradhapura in 993. Trade and agriculture were key here, leading to the building of an …

A few shots from Gardens by the Bay in Singapore -S🇸🇬

Night scenes from Singapore -S🇸🇬

“This is my last day for these clothes.” what you say when you’re on a very long trip. -S🇸🇬

Sigiriya Ancient Rock Fortress - UNESCO World Heritage Site #2: The second UNESCO World Heritage Site we saw during our day trip from Colombo was the Sigiriya ancient rock fortress, dominated by the massive column of granite. In the 5th Century, King Kashyapa selected the rock and surrounding area for his new capital. On the top of the rock are archeological …

Dambulla Cave Temple - Sri Lanka UNESCO World Heritage Site #1: While in Sri Lanka, we did a day tour from Colombo to three UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the first of which was Dambulla Cave Temple - the largest and best-preserved cave temple complex in Sri Lanka. The complex dates from the second and third centuries BC. The main site is spread over 5 caves and …

When your beer comes with…ice and a straw?? 🧐🤨 (it is an excellent cherry/raspberry/apricot smoothie sour from a Latvian brewery) -S🇸🇬

A random Singaporean street scene -S 🇸🇬

Sunset over Singapore, from our hotel’s rooftop pool. -S 🇸🇬

Other random shots from Singapore’s Chinatown. -J 🇸🇬

Street art scenes in Singapore’s Chinatown -S 🇸🇬

Random shots from our walk around Singapore. We specifically visited Merlion Park, home of Singapore’s iconic half-lion, half-fish statue/fountain. -J 🇸🇬

Reminder - Final Zoom Call of Our Adventure: Hey all - in case you missed the post here, we’re having our final Zoom call of our adventure on Friday night! Friday, Jan. 31, 2025 at 6:00 pm Phoenix time (8:00 pm EST) (it will be 9 am on 2/1 for us!) Bring your favorite weekend happy hour-ish beverages and jump on and say hi. We are missing …

Hit an Irish Pub in our 19th country today -Singapore! (19/32) -J 🇸🇬 A bit more history on this place, the first Irish pub to open in Singapore (back in 1995): A quintessential Irish pub Molly Malone’s was the first Irish pub to open in Singapore, way back in 1995. More than a quarter-century …

Colombo National Museum and Independence Square: Sri Lanka has a National Museum that was built and opened in 1877. It focuses on the various Sri Lankan Kingdoms that existed before the Dutch took over in 1658, and the subsequent British rule (1796-1948). Interestingly, the museum now holds 6 artifacts that the Dutch took in approximately 1765, …

More highlights from Yala National Park: If you haven’t seen our first post about our leopard sighting already, go check it out. A langur monkey with baby An Asian green bee-eater out for a stroll These painted storks give off some flamingo vibes “Which way did he go George, which way did he go?” I could have posted an …

We haven’t seen much of Singapore yet, but I can confirm that the airport kicks ass. You see that instantly upon arriving at immigration, which took 20 whole seconds. Baggage claim ain’t too shabby either. And of course, the Jewel waterfall is pretty damn cool. There’s so much more …

We’ve been hunkered down in Singapore since Monday, after we both started to feel sick the night before our flight to the Maldives. We pulled an audible, deciding that it was better to skip our Maldives visit entirely and head directly to Singapore, where we’d have an entire week to get …

Cheers to 100!!: Cheers to country number 100 for Jen!!!! Sri Lanka was the lucky country and we ended up having the best leopard experience there. It has definitely been a journey to get here, and it hasn’t always been the easiest ride. But that is what travel is all about and I’m lucky enough to have a husband who …

It’s always interesting seeing what American fast food companies sell overseas. -S 🇱🇰

The highlight of Yala Natl Park—perhaps the top wildlife experience of our whole trip—was seeing a Sri Lankan leopard! We followed it for a long time, tracking it thru four areas of dense vegetation. But this last portion was the best: we watched it (unsuccessfully) go after a spotted deer! -S🇱🇰

The Gangaramaya Temple in Colombo: One of the first places we saw in Colombo, Sri Lanka, was the Gangaramaya Temple, one of the most important Buddhist temples in Colombo (completed in the late 19th Century). It had some interesting “guards” out front. It had many Buddhist figures and other interesting artifacts displayed through out …

Monkeys just never follow the rules. -S 🇱🇰

Today was all about Sri Lankan history and culture. Over the course of a 16-hour private day tour, we visited 3 UNESCO World Heritage sites: the ruins of the ancient city of Polonnaruwa, the Dambulla Cave Temple, and Sigiriya (the Lion Rock Fortress). More photos of each coming this weekend -S 🇱🇰

Speaking of elephants, we saw several along the road as we drove thru Minneriya National Park—our first in Asia. -S 🇱🇰

Don’t be a douchenozzle and pay to ride an elephant. Just don’t. -S 🇱🇰

I’ve noticed some of these “foreigners only” toilet facilities here in Sri Lanka. They seem to be around touristy areas, where foreigners pay a higher fee. The (controversial) idea is that Western visitors might have higher expectations of hygiene than what is often found in public toilets. -S 🇱🇰

There was a live band at our hotel bar last night, which is always fun to enjoy while overseas. There are usually plenty of American songs being played, but the lyrics sometimes come out as sounds rather than actual words. I find it so endearing. This group did much better than most. -S 🇱🇰

Final Zoom Call of Our Adventure: Singapore will mark the end of our Indian Ocean part of this 100-day Adventure, so we have decided to host the last Zoom call of our adventure there on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025 at 6:00 pm Phoenix time (8:00 pm EST) (it will be 9 am on 2/1 for us!). So bring your favorite weekend happy hour-ish …

Sri Lankan art? 🤷‍♀️ -J 🇱🇰

The view from our hotel window in Colombo, Sri Lanka, is of the Lotus Tower—South Asia’s tallest self-supported structure (1,168 feet). During the day the Lotus flower is purple. But at night, it changes color! -J 🇱🇰

We arrived in Sri Lanka today in the early morning hours following an overnight flight. After a refreshing nap, we headed to an Irish Pub (per our quest to visit one in 32 different countries) for our requisite Guinness and also to grab lunch. This is an Irish Pub in our 18th country! -J 🇱🇰

The rest of our time in the Seychelles: After a day of lounging at the (nice) hotel, we were ready to explore Mahe island. We booked a private day tour, which brought us around to a number of island attractions. Because we had recently visited tea plantations, spice farms, rum distilleries, and local craft & food markets, we cut out a …

X marks the spot. We spent much of yesterday relaxing in the pool, and despite several sunscreen applications throughout the day, we still managed to get burned. It’s been an especially rough day for Jen. -S 🇸🇨

We spent yesterday enjoying the pool and view from our hotel in the Seychelles. -J 🇸🇨

The apparent centerpiece of our room here in the Seychelles is the shower. As in, it’s literally in the middle of the room. 🤷‍♂️ (don’t ask about the weird window installed in the toilet room so you can make immediate direct eye contact with anyone who hears a plop). -S 🇸🇨

Whew boy! That’s the third increasingly worrisome flight in a row. This time we had to abort our landing less than 1000ft from touch down.

Adventure in the southern part of Mauritius: Our second day in Mauritius found us exploring the southern part of the island. -J 🇲🇺 First stop was the Black Gorges National Park and Biosphere Reserve. Next, a Hindu temple with two prominent statues. Then our favorite part, La Vallee Des Couleurs (23 Colored Earth) Nature Park. We also visited a …

At the end of our first day tour in Mauritius, we walked around and enjoyed a Botanical Garden that also served as a refuge for giant tortoises . ~J 🇲🇺

I found another fun Umbrella Street in Port Louis, Mauritius. -J 🇲🇺

Slavery and Indentured Servitude in Mauritius: When the Dutch colonized Mauritius in 1638, they began a long history of slavery and slavery-related practices on the island; kidnapping people from East Africa and bringing them to the island against their will. The French continued the practices when they took possession of the island in 1715. …

📷 I think this trip has really inspired Jen to get into photography a bit more seriously. She’s been really loving her new camera and clearly enjoys taking photos with it. -S 🇲🇺

This bird has some pretty great eyelashes.

After a month of mass produced African lagers, we finally had a chance to visit a local craft brewery. Crafty Dee’s, here in Dar es Salaam, is Tanzania’s first craft brewery, and one of Africa’s most awarded too. The beer was a welcomed improvement, and the food was delicious. 🍻 -S🇹🇿

Short stops to break up the long days on the road: To break up the long days on the road, we had several short stops for tours: a rubber farm in Malawi; a coffee plantation in Tanzania; and in Zanzibar, a tour of Stone Town (the capital) and a spice farm. -J 🇲🇼🇹🇿 The Malawi rubber farm The Tanzania coffee plantation Tour of Stone Town, Zanzibar, and …

Put a bird on it. 😉

Roadkill fines in Mikumi National Park—listed in USD, not local currency. -S 🇹🇿

🎥 Recapping our 24-day overlanding safari of Africa: Here’s a video recap of what we thought about our 24-day overlanding safari tour of Africa. What did we like? Dislike? Would we do it again? Find out below. And here’s a short montage video someone on our tour made for his students—focusing on the first few days of the East Africa …

🎥 Recapping our wildlife experiences in Africa: A video discussion of our wildlife experiences in Africa. Did we see everything we wanted to? What were the game drives like? Find out in the video below. -S 🇿🇦🇧🇼🇿🇼🇿🇲🇲🇼🇹🇿

A story in three photos… 😂 -S 🇿🇲

🎶 …Everybody was kung fu fighting… 🎶 Some vervet monkeys playing around our campsite at Lake Malawi on New Years Day. It was fun to watch these two chase and wrestle around; should have stayed longer to get more shots!

The monkeys of Jozani Forest: On our full day in Zanzibar, we visited the Jozani-Chwaka Bay National Park and Biosphere Reserve. The park is famous for its monkeys, specifically the endangered and endemic Zanzibar Red Colombus Monkey, but also the Blue Monkey. It was an up close and intimate encounter…minus all the …

Elephants peacefully snacking on some grass in Mikumi National Park in Tanzania. -S 🇹🇿

A little bit about the overlanding vehicle we’ve been traveling in the last three weeks through Africa. -S

Next Zoom Call - Sun, Jan 12, 2025: Join us for our next Zoom call! We will have finally finished our 24-day African Tour and we’d love to share our updates and impressions, tell some stories, and see all of you. Scheduled for 10:00 am Arizona Time (12:00 pm EST) on Sunday January 12, 2025 (it will be 8 pm our time). Here is the link: …

It wasn’t on the itinerary per se, but I managed to do both Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti on this trip! 🍻😉 -S 🇹🇿

Uncomfortable in Africa: The primary constant during our time in Africa has been the feeling of being uncomfortable. I’m referring to physical discomfort, not the discomfort that comes from traveling as a privileged person in a land that lacks it (we’ll write about that another time). Humid beyond belief. Hot, …

We did a sunset game drive a few days ago, but a rainy night made for a less than stellar experience. But the two highlights were a (rather vicious) zebra fight and elephants playing the mud. The sunset was pretty nice too! -S 🇿🇲

Many of our meals on this African tour are made by our guide/chef from the side of the Nomad truck. We have been pleasantly surprised by how tasty they have been. Last night in Malawi, some locals joined us and cooked us some of their local dishes, which were delightful. -J 🇲🇼

When we renewed our ASU football season tickets in early 2024, it was beyond our wildest dreams that we’d be listening to a radio broadcast of ASU going into a second overtime of a playoff game while we laid in our bed, in the dark, under a mosquito net in Malawi, fighting off swarms of bugs. 🇲🇼

Rainstorms have been a constant thing here in Africa. Here is yet another storm approaching—this one brewing over Lake Malawi earlier this morning. We managed to get the Nomad truck up the hill and out of the campground before it hit. -S 🇲🇼

Happy New Year from Malawi! -J 🇲🇼

We’ve made it to Malawi, which involved a two hour delay at the border crossing. Today is a long transport day—which apparently includes a pretty sketchy road (or off-road route, as we understand it) that we need to complete before dark. With luck, we’ll celebrate New Years near Malawi Lake.

A few photos from our morning safari in South Luangwa National Park, Zambia. -S 🇿🇲

We’re at a tented camp at Luangwa National Park, but wifi only works for two hours a day, and only if the electricity is on (it’s quite unreliable here in Zambia). So it’ll likely be another day or two for some photos. But we’ve been enjoying our wildlife experiences here, with more to come tonight.

I’m not sure you can travel thru rural Africa and not return home a changed person. -S 🇿🇲

Our African adventure continued this morning when our truck attempted to drive out of the campsite. We drove about 30 feet and promptly got stuck in the mud. Had to spend time helping get it out so we could be on our way. -J 🇿🇲

A few favorite shots from the last few days. -S 🇧🇼🇿🇼

We knew East Africa would be more challenging, and it quickly lived up to its billing. Just 90 mins into our journey, the brakes on the truck failed, stranding us on the side of the highway for 7 hours, huddling under trees for shade. Luckily, we could continue in a replacement vehicle. -S 🇿🇲

Entering East Africa: Victoria Falls serves as a turning point for our tour. We exit Southern Africa and cross into East Africa, which we expect to be the most challenging portion of our 100-day adventure. We said goodbye to some members of our tour yesterday at Vic Falls, who had signed up for only the eight day Jo-burg …

I bought an MGD—my dad’s old favorite—on the first day of our safari, with the intention of paying homage to him on Christmas here at Victoria Falls. So after carting this can around the African bush for a week, Jen & I found an appropriate spot to enjoy it, and pour some out. 🍻 To Norm! 🍻🇿🇼

Merry Christmas from Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe! We enjoyed an afternoon looking at the falls (despite a quick afternoon downpour). -J 🇿🇼

When your hotel room comes with nightly in-room mosquito spraying and mosquito net turndown service, as well as an airhorn to scare off any unwanted wildlife…you know you’re in Africa! -S 🇿🇼

A few shots from tonight‘s river cruise on the Chobe River along the Botswana/Namibia border. -S 🇧🇼

Christmas Eve dinner, cooked out of the truck. -S 🇧🇼

🎥 Updates from our tented camp: We spent two nights in a tented camp in Khwai Conservation Area, with our first “full day” of safari game drives—one in the early morning and another in the late afternoon and past sunset. Here’s an update on our first morning game safari, which was very fun. And another update after our sunset …

🎥 Roadside elephants in Botswana

Our accommodation tonight… -S 🇧🇼

Just a quick taste of our leopard sighting today. -S 🇧🇼

Some lion photos from this morning’s safari. -S 🇧🇼

We have a bit of unexpected wifi, so here are some hippo pics from the day. -S 🇧🇼

We did a Mokoro canoe today in the Okavango Delta. During the canoe, we came across a bloat of hippos and I was able to capture them making noise. -J 🇧🇼 And some more photos from the Mokoro canoe:

Rainstorm in the Kalahari Desert: We’re off grid the next three nights, staying in a bush camp without electricity, near the Okavango Delta in Botswana. It might be awhile until the next update. Here are some photos from yesterday, which was mostly a long drive thru the Kalahari Desert during a series of big rainstorms. During a …

And we’re off on our 24-day safari thru South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, and Tanzania! Here’s our vehicle for the journey! -S 🇿🇦🇧🇼🇿🇼🇿🇲🇲🇼🇹🇿

A Day Tour of Johannesburg: For our last full day in Johannesburg, we opted to do a day tour of some of the main historical parts of the city. The first stop was at Constitution Hill, which is at a former prison complex/military fort built by Paul Kruger in 1898 to protect against British Invasion and then to house Boer …

Visiting Lesotho via the Sani Pass: We spent a few days in Durban primarily so we could do a daytrip over to Lesotho (pronounced “Luh-soo-too”). The tour is highlighted by driving the infamous Sani Pass 4WD route through the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park UNESCO World Heritage Site, culminating in a visit to the Highest Pub …

We decided to spend more to have the hotel do our laundry for us today, so that opened up some extra time that we spent—magnificently, I’ll say—getting (quite excellent, yet cheap) 90-minute in-room massages. A rare treat, for sure, but also a great move after weeks of flights + long drives! -S 🇿🇦

Amarula is a great South African liqueur that my friend, Theresa, introduced me to when I visited her in Cameroon. So naturally I wanted some when we got to South Africa, but haven’t been able to find until tonight. Cheers, Theresa! -J 🇿🇦

Marking off South Africa on our quest to drink a Guinness in an Irish Pub in 32 countries. This makes 17/32 -S 🇿🇦 🍀🍻 Edit: So…this Guinness is terrible. We weren’t sure if it was just a keg gone bad, icky lines, or just how it tastes down here. The answer: “Instead of barley, it’s typically …

Hluhluwe-iMfolozi National Park, South Africa: Photos from our visit on Friday to the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi National Park, a 230,000-acre preserve about 3 hours north of Durban, South Africa. Established in 1895(!), it’s the oldest nature reserve in the country, the only state-run park in KwaZulu-Natal where each of the big five game animals can be …

Enjoying a local Lesotho beer from the Highest Pub in Africa - 9439 feet above sea level🍻 Not a bad view, eh? -S 🇱🇸

Tala Game Reserve, South Africa: Our first tour out of Durban was three-pronged. The first stop—and the reason we booked the tour—was a game drive in the Tala Preserve. Up close with a journey of giraffe! This was our favorite moment of the day. Because we had a private tour, we were able to slowly exit the vehicle and walk a few …

One of the first experiences we had in Pilanesberg National Park was these two subadult rhinos fighting one another. -J 🇿🇦

Pilanesberg National Park, South Africa: Our first safari game drive in Africa was in Pilanesberg National Park, 2.5 hours outside of Johannesburg. The park was formerly farmland located inside a large volcanic crater, but was rewilded as (mostly) natural habitat. -S 🇿🇦 An elephant drinking water, which is dripping off its trunk. Our …

Prayer time in the UAE -S 🇦🇪

🎥 Recapping United Arab Emirates: A short video recapping our time in the UAE. Some other observations: English was the primary language on most of the signs we saw in Dubai; Arabic was also included, but in smaller font below the English version. That’s probably not too surprising—nearly 90% of Dubai is foreigners. Each …

🎥 Recapping Hong Kong & Macau: Here’s a video recap of our time in Hong Kong and Macau. It was a short visit, especially after having to trim several days from our original itinerary, but we felt like we saw enough to call it done. One of my favorite parts of our time in Hong Kong was simply sitting at the edge of two tap houses …

Exploring around the UAE: We only had a short time in the UAE, so we found a way to get the most bang for our buck—a day tour to 5 of the 7 Emerites. On December 2, 1971, the Sheiks of what are now 6 of the 7 Emerites (the 7th joined a year later) decided to unify and form one country—the United Arab Emerites. (However, each …

During our day tour around 5 of the 7 Emirates of the UAE, saw some camels on the side of the road in the Ras Al Khaimah Emirate. Then stopped at a place where they were penned-up in the Fujairah Emirate. -J 🇦🇪

ZOOM CALL - Coffee and Mimosas with Jen and Scott in Durban, South Africa on Sat. 12/14: Wanting to find out the scoop from our trip so far? Come join us on our first group Zoom call with coffee, mimosas, or your favorite morning drink (and maybe a cinnamon roll or something else fun) on Saturday, December 14, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. (Arizona Time). We’ll do a recap of the places …

Our first day in Dubai was a scheduled zero day (nothing planned; time for rest/“chores”). But we did check out the Burj Khalifa—the world’s tallest structure since 2009. It’s 2,722 feet surpasses the 2nd tallest building (Taipei 101, which we also saw earlier this week in Taipei). -J 🇦🇪

Spent our night watching ASU clobber ISU to win the B12 Championship and a spot in the playoffs in our Dubai hotel room. What an incredible season! Go Devils! -S 🇦🇪

HALFWAY DONE! ✅ Country 16/32 in our quest to drink a Guinness at an Irish Pub in 32 Countries. -S 🇦🇪

More street scenes from Macau: -S 🇲🇴

It’s haircut day—one of those things you rarely need a strategy for while traveling. Instead of my normal one, we had to buy a cheap AA-battery trimmer that we could keep in our checked luggage, as our carry-on backpacks are already far too heavy with our bevy of lithium batteries + devices. -S 🇦🇪

The Ruins of St Paul's in Macau: While most tourists go to Macau for the casino scene, our top destination there was the Ruins of St Paul’s, a Catholic Church built in the 1600s that’s now an iconic landmark and a part of the Historic Centre of Macao UNESCO World Heritage Site. -S 🇲🇴 The general scene A story in two panels Old …

We’re heading to Dubai, United Arab Emirates today. Don’t expect as many posts the next few days, as the UAE has some prohibitions that will cramp our normal style. Tomorrow we’ll explore on our own a bit during our “rest & laundry” day, then do a day tour of five of the Emirates on Sun. -S 🇦🇪

Senado Square in Macau is the main town square. The buildings that surround it and the design of the pavement are definitely Portuguese-influenced. It’s part of the UNESCO Historic Center of Macau World Heritage Site and the old pedestrian zones were pack with people. -J 🇲🇴

Took the turbojet over to Macau today, another SAR of China and our fourth TCC Country. Definitely the Vegas of China and there are Portuguese influences all over. Here are a few street scenes. -J 🇲🇴

Back in Hong Kong after spending the day in Macau. Marking off our requisite brewery here in HK while reviewing today’s photos. No Irish pub here, sadly. We’ll get dinner at Brewdog down the street, as we have a mini quest to visit in each country in which this Scottish brewery has a location -S 🇭🇰

We also did a water tour around Victoria Harbor to get a better view of the high rise buildings that line the Harbor. It was hard to capture on camera how many building there really are. Although in some respects, the feel/vibe is that of New York Harbor looking at Manhattan. -J 🇭🇰

A tale of three boats… -S 🇭🇰

More city scenes from Hong Kong -S 🇭🇰

We got #LostNeededDirections 😉 and stopped into a local taproom to plot out the rest of our night. We sat at the bar at the edge of the sidewalk for some people-watching—improbably next to a fellow Phoenician, a pilot who is constantly bouncing around the globe. We swapped stories for hours. -S 🇭🇰

😶‍🌫️ No wonder I’ve been coughing all day 😶‍🌫️ -S 🇭🇰

A few night shots of the Hong Kong skyline along Victoria Harbor. We also attended the evening’s “Symphony of Lights,” which is a synchronized light and laser show across 40 buildings on both sides of the harbor, but it was less spectacular than it sounds. -S 🇭🇰

From 1898 until the tunnel opened in 1972, the Star Ferry line was the only means of transport across Victoria Harbor between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. It’s still in operation today and provides a nice (and cheap) little ride across the Harbor. -J 🇭🇰

First up today was the Hong Kong Museum of History, outlining China/Hong Kong’s various different National Security components, as well as a historical and cultural overview of Hong Kong History. It also focused on the Portuguese influence, the British rule, and Chinese emigrants abroad. -J 🇭🇰

Did not expect this reaction to our leaving, but I guess it’s not too surprising… -S 🇰🇷

Got #LostNeededDirections at a local taproom—found some good beer, interesting people watching, and a chill evening. Just what we needed. -S 🇭🇰

We made it to Hong Kong! And was surprised to to see so many scaffoldings made from bamboo. -S 🇭🇰

Liberty Square Arch and Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall -S 🇹🇼

Recapping Taiwan: A video recap of our time in Teipai, Taiwan—including what went wrong. 🎥🇹🇼

Recapping Seoul: A short recap of our experience in Seoul. 🇰🇷🎥

The 228 Peace Park was a nice green space to enjoy. It is a Memorial Park to those that died during the February 28, 1947, massacre when the Chinese government cracked down on dissidents. -J 🇹🇼

After spending several days sick in a hotel bed, I decided to try some “alternative medicine.” 2/10, do not recommend. -S 🇹🇼

I saw this at the craft beer bar I went to yesterday in Taipei. I thought our bartender friends would appreciate it 🙂. -J 🇹🇼

I also ventured over to see the Taipei Confucius Temple. Built in the Qing era of the late 1800s, was demolished by the Japanese, but rebuilt in the 1930s. And I really liked the cute little Confucius they had outside. -J 🇹🇼

I present to you the Temple of Dalong Dong (better known as Dalongdong Baoan Temple and its gardens), which is located on Dalong Street. This is a Chinese folk religion temple built in the early 19th Century by Tong’an clan members who had immigrated to Taiwan from China. -J 🇹🇼

Got up at 4am to watch ASU take back the Territorial Cup in a 49-7 blowout win, which capped off a 10-2 regular season and a spot in the conference championship game, one win away from the playoffs. Not too shabby for a team picked to finish dead last. -S 🇹🇼

Taiwan is definitely a scooter-using place. They are everywhere. They have their own parking spots on the side of the road, and even have their own box painted on the road at intersections beyond the crosswalk where they can wait for the light to change. But unlike in some of the southeast Asian …

Prior to this trip, Jen had never used a bidet. Given her extensive overseas travel, that’s surprising. But it’s even more surprising because we have a bidet installed at home in Phoenix. Apparently, she’s never actually tried it. 🤷‍♂️🙈 -S

Not much to post today, but here’s a tile mosaic at an elementary school, flanked by a kickass bicycle and a scooter with far too many empty bottles in its basket (I imagine a teacher who needed a lot of caffeine today). The other photo is an inlaid relief of that same school—a nice touch. -S 🇹🇼

Scott has a pretty substantial upper respiratory infection, so he visited a local medical clinic. Walked in, third in line, took 9 mins to be seen, got 5 prescriptions (filled in-house), paid NT$805 (less than our $25 copay in US) which included a “public burden fee” and was gone in 25 mins. -S 🇹🇼

Old versus new. (I tried out one of these robots yesterday at the museum: youtu.be/Uz18snYjQ…) -S 🇰🇷

Yup, of COURSE this would be when we were visiting! -J🇰🇷

We had a lovely chat with our taxi driver on the way to the airport. He had Google translate running, so he would speak in Korean and it would translate to English for us. And Vice-versa for him. So much easier to communicate than when I first started traveling! -J 🇰🇷

National Museum of Korea: Went to the National Museum of Korea yesterday. Frankly, I learned more at the War Museum yesterday. But we did learn a few things and saw a bunch of artifacts. The green helmet was won at the 1936 Olympics by a Korean who was forced to run for Japan, since Japan was occupying Korea at the time. The …

We managed to be in Seoul during what may be the worst snow storm they have ever had in November. Without any winter clothes! We have been getting numerous safety alerts on our phone about the snow crisis. But it made for some pretty pictures when we went to the National Museum of Korea. -J 🇰🇷

We managed to find some good beer at Chillhops Brewing, a welcome respite from the cold. -S 🇰🇷

I kid you not, this is an actual logo for a brewery I visited here in Seoul. -S 🇰🇷

It’s a winter wonderland here in Seoul -S 🇰🇷

Who is the jerk who ordered all this snow?! We definitely didn’t bring enough clothes with us ❄️🌨️🥶 -J 🇰🇷

And then we woke up to snow… 🥶 -S 🇰🇷

A brewery taproom hidden behind a vending machine? Sounds fun! Unfortunately, the beer was awful. -S 🇰🇷

Looking forward to trying out “happy” tomorrow morning. I’ll probably pass on “cow” though… 😂 -S 🇰🇷

We made sure to stop at Craic House to mark off another country on our quest to drink a Guinness at an Irish Pub in 32 different countries (this makes 14/32). It’s also the first Irish pub I’ve visited since my dad passed away 🫤 -S 🇰🇷

Afternoon at South Korea’s War Memorial : We spent the afternoon at South Korea’s War Memorial museum. This was an interesting overview of South Korea’s military history from the wars leading to the Three Kingdoms (~244 to 927 AD), the wars of Goreyo to Japanese occupation (936 - 1920), the Liberation from Japan in 1945 through the …

Well played, Subway. -S 🇰🇷

This place is available for everyone. -S 🇰🇷

After the cathedral, we wandered some of the streets of Seoul, taking it all in. The pastries looked fabulous, but we were still full from breakfast. -J 🇰🇷

We also visited the historic Myeongdong Cathedral, just around the corner from our hotel. -S 🇰🇷

Sungnyemun Gate (aka Namdaemun/South Gate) was one of the main gates of the Seoul City Wall, the fortress that encircled Hanyang, the capital of the Joseon dynasty (1392-1910). Originally constructed in 1398(!), it’s been damaged and repaired many times since—but remains a national treasure -S 🇰🇷

Greetings from Seoul! We have two full days here, our first “stopover” of the trip. Given the cold weather and our expectation that we’ll be back again in the next few years, our plan is to ease into the trip with a relaxed visit and a slower pace than usual. -S 🇰🇷

🇰🇷 We had a 12-hour flight from Seattle to Seoul with Asiana Airlines. While it wasn’t a bad flight and I’d definitely fly Asiana again, it was so nice to see the map showing us preparing for landing in Seoul last night. Long flights are definitely the cost of fun adventuring. But—we’re here! -J

Our last American craft beer until March? Very likely. We’re just hoping it’s not the last good craft beer until March…

Although we’re missing an ASU home game, surprisingly, we can watch the game on our flight to Seattle! Go Devils!

And…..we’re off! Cheers to 100 days of adventure 🍻

Packed to the gills! Our bags weighed in just underweight 😲 You’d think we were leaving for awhile!

See ya in about 14 weeks, house. Officially en route to a grand adventure!

Jen here—After a week of long hours at work to get everything done before we left, and then packing/cleaning after that (Scott did most of the latter two for us), leaving work yesterday certainly felt like the start of a huge re-set for us. Just a few more things to do this morning. T minus 3 hours!

We’re not snowbirds (yet?), but it seems like there are countless things you need to plan for when you’ll be gone from home for an extended period—like changing the backup batteries in your smoke detectors.

One of the few people we told about our early idea for this trip was Scott’s dad, Norm. He was a huge proponent for the idea—even when it seemed far fetched, and even when his care prevented us from taking the time. So tonight Scott paid homage to him at our local bar with our respective “the usual”

We had a great time celebrating our upcoming adventure with friends at Wren Sudhalle yesterday (with both friends that came and our friends that work there) and tonight on Zoom! Definitely ready to quit the planning part of this trip and actually start it. 6 days!

Welp, Scott managed to pick up a case of shingles and a cold on Monday—which is terrible timing given the number of tasks that remain before we leave. The shingles is especially frustrating, as he twice asked to add it to our slew of travel vaccinations, but was told he didn’t qualify for it …

Wanna pop in and wish us luck on our upcoming AdventuresAroundThe.World? We’re doing an informal “Goodbye-Don’t Die” zoom party on Sun Nov 17 at 5p AZ (4PT/7ET). No agenda—we just wanna say hi to people before we take off on this crazy-ass adventure! Bring a beverage. …

Pulling audibles and changing your trip is not always easy. After several emails and a garbled call to South Africa, Jen figured out that South African Airways isn’t especially easy to work with when changing flights. So, Malaysia is out, more time (likely seeing wildlife) in South Africa is …

Mozambique out, perhaps Malaysia in? 🤔: Due to civil unrest, we’re pulling the plug on the Mozambique/Eswatini leg of the trip. Continuing protests of a shady election have closed the roads to the Maputo airport and the border crossing with South Africa. We quickly devised a substitute visit to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, but that plan is …

Our visit to Mozambique is shaping up to be…interesting.

Jen here. So, I was messing around tonight and decided to try ChatGPT. By the end, I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. What do YOU think is the over-under on this question? 🦒 👨

Tonight we finally completed our travel vaccinations for the trip. In addition to our final mpox shot, we also got a shot for cholera—as in, the beverage variety. The vaccine comes as a live-virus liquid you mix with water and quickly drink. Hence, the red solo cups… 😜😂

Ordered some basic business cards we can hand out to people who we meet or to anyone we want to direct to our website. Then they can contact us through the website. Much easier and safer than giving out our contact info to fun people we meet!

Registering with the US Dept. Of State - STEP : When we travel abroad, we always register our stays/travels with the US Department of State. So, just in case something happens while you’re in-country (conflict, weather disaster, etc.), the DOS knows where you might be and can get to you. It’s also a great way to get country information straight …

If things go as planned, we’ll spend time in 11 different time zones on this trip.

Africa definitely has a tipping culture. A recommendation from our Safari company was to start the safari with envelopes containing the tip for each guide to make it easier. You can add more or take away from that amount depending on the level of service. So I’ve created some of our tip envelopes.

One month from today we head out on this huge adventure! Still so much to do to get ready to go. And we both often vacillate between being excited and wondering WTH are we doing!

In Person: Sat Nov 16 Come say farewell to us at our informal “Going Away” party (aka, we want to see some friends before we’re gone for 3+ months) on Sat Nov 16. We’ve reserved the private room at Wren Südhalle in Ahwatukee from 5-8p. Show up anytime. Can’t make it? No worries, let’s find a time …

Choosing clothes for the trip is a bit tricky, given the varying places we’re heading to. Scott usually tends towards black & dark grays, but apparently those are colors to be avoided on safaris, along with white. While it’s not our style, wearing camouflage is prohibited in much of …

A 2-week trip rarely requires thought about completing work training deadlines. Jen has had to strategically figure out which online trainings she has to do between now and March to ensure she doesn’t fall out of compliance while we’re gone (since she won’t have access to her …

So, how’s the weather going to be on our trip? 🤔 Well, the beginning of the trip will be coldest; South Korea averages 39º as a high—brrr! But the vast majority of our trip will feature “feels like” highs between 80-90º, cooling off only 10º at night. So it’s going to be …

Want to hang out with us before we leave? We’re organizing an informal “going away party” on Sat 11/16. We’ll start at Wren Südhalle in Ahwatukee from 5-8p, then transition down the street to Tukee’s for karoake, which starts at 9p. We’re also hosting an “open house” …

Welp, it appears that we’ll need to bring five different electrical plug adaptors on our trip: types C, G, D, F, I, and M.

When researching places to go, it’s always interesting to see what is “important” information to provide for travelers. I was amused finding an entire page on Taipei’s metro system dedicated solely to “Metro Etiquette,” including many PDFs on the various …

We got our International Driving Permits today, which we’ll need for the latter portion of our trip. IDPs are primarily a form of identification that’s correlated to your existing driver’s license; you need to carry both when you drive in countries that accept them.

More work on our travel vaccinations this week. We just learned our local Walgreens pharmacy has dedicated a specific RX bin solely for Jen and I for our trip vaxxes (we get 5 more shots tomorrow, with 8 more in a month). We weren’t looking to become pharmacy-phamous, but uhhh here we …

We’ve finally decided on our trip’s camera setup. We paired Scott’s Nikon Z5 with a new 28-400mm lens, and bought Jen a used Nikon Z50, which she’ll pair with Scott’s 24-200mm lens—a simple yet adequate solution for our wildlife safaris. We’ll also bring our Olympus …

We set off on our 100-day adventure around the world exactly two months from today. 😳

Preparing for mosquitos: One of the big things we need to avoid on this trip is mosquitos, which carry a variety of nasty ailments. We’ve been working on our skeeter-related vaccinations, and will also be on anti-malaria meds for more than half the trip. And we’ll have bug nets covering our beds at night in the …

(From Jen) - I have spent a lot of time planning out this trip. The flights, the hotel, the visas, the stuff to see/do, etc. I KNOW I have screwed SOMETHING up—like REALLY screwed it up. But…I have NO idea what that might be. Oh the stress… But that’s what travel looks …

We’re trying to bring minimal things for this trip - 100 days (in multiple climates) of stuff has to fit in a rolling duffle bag and a backpack (each). Jen spent this week figuring out what clothes she has/needs to buy for the trip. Trying to find the 3-4 outfits you wear for 100 days …

We’re about halfway through our travel vaccinations for the trip. To figure out what we needed, we visited Passport Health, which gave us a loooong list of shots to get for the countries we’re visiting. We managed to get many of them filled at Walgreens, which saved us a TON of money.

We’re nearly done booking all of our flights, accommodations, and tours…and we’re still generally on track with our estimated budget! Not too shabby for estimating booking costs for a 100-day trip! 🙌

Exhausted with Trip Planning: One thing we’ve found about a 100-day trip is how daunting and exhausting it is planning and booking such a trip. When you plan for a 1-2 week trip, you might look up 1-2 countries for things like voltage; what type of plugs; what type of money; do they have Uber (or how to get around); what …

How we chose our itinerary: Once we decided that our primary goal with the trip was to see as much stuff as we could on the other side of the globe, we still had to narrow in where we’d target. Our main considerations: Nearly every place should be new to both of us. Again, the point is to see far-flung places that we couldn’t …

An unexpected concern: make sure any cash you’re bringing to Africa was printed after 2013, as bills printed before then were subject to widespread counterfeiting and often aren’t accepted as payment.

Choosing where to go when you can go anywhere: When we first started embarking on a plan for taking a mini-retirement, we naturally started considering where we might go. The first plan that emerged was a tour around South America. It’s a continent I’ve never been to, contained a number of “top tier” destinations we want to visit, and would pair …

Welcome to our Adventures!: Hi and welcome! We are Scott and Jen, a couple who loves to spend time traveling, well, everywhere! After having to accept that we are getting older (what are you talking about, we're both still 25), we have come to realize how precious memories are and how easily lost memories can be. So we decided …