The end of one adventure, the beginning of another

Spoiler alert—Korey and Ines are back in the Unites States of America!  Well, with how late this post is, we were supposed to be back now anyway, but this is to let you know that we had to cut the trip short, which explains the absence of posts the past month!

As we planned out our adventure in South America, we realized just how much hiking and physical adventure we were planning to embark upon in the near future.  Given Ines’ lasting knee woes and after checking out all options, we decided to skip South America and make our way home to Michigan earlier than planned (Korey would like to point out that he fully disclosed to Ines that she would be traveling from the bright sunny 80 degree Australian weather to a late Michigan winter filled with snow, however the doctor’s opinion we have been traveling with—Dr. Vigil’s— prevailed).  Korey worked his travel booking magic and within 72 hours of making our decision, we arrived in Grand Rapids, Michigan (our new home!).  

After a series of medical appointments and some imaging, our traveling doctor’s opinion was confirmed and Ines was scheduled to have knee surgery within the week.  We are now three weeks out and she is doing great, hobbling around like a true champ!  It looks as if the combination of a previous knee surgery, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, and golfing Asia was too much for Ines’ knee to sustain (Ines would like to state that Korey’s GO-GO-GO personality also may have contributed- Korey of course disagrees).  So, we find ourselves at the end of this truly amazing adventure!  

We both feel lucky to have met one another and privileged that our lives opened up in a way to be able to travel around the world together.  What an adventure!  We are also both so very thankful to all of our family and friends who followed our travel escapades and supported us in our travels and continue to do so in our lives.  We hope you have enjoyed reading our blog as much as we enjoyed writing it, and we leave you and our future selves with another set of trip bloopers!  We are sure to look back on this time in our lives with great joy and lots of laughs and we are looking forward to what the future will bring!  Thanks for sharing your love and friendship with us and for sharing in our around the world adventure!

Love,  Ines and Korey

Thing we missed the most while traveling the world:  

Ines- 1) my friends and family, 2) my Sonicare toothbrush! (never leaving that behind again), and 3) my wardrobe (including my shoes)!

Korey- 1) my friends and family, 2) Detroit and MSU sports (yes, second to family and friends!), and 3) the every day conveniences we take for granted in the US.

Things we loved the most while traveling the world:

Ines- 1) the number of people from the US living out their lives abroad, 2) the languages, the cultures, and the people of the world, 3) the food!

Korey- 1) learning about and being a part of so many different cultures, 2) the adventure!  Waking up in a different country, trying to figure out what city to sleep in on a given night, and figuring out how to get to and from all the places we went.  Wasn't easy, but it was a blast!, and 3) have to also go with the food!


The place we loved the most while traveling the world:

Korey and Ines (this is the place we agree on!) - Iceland!  Our experience was truly other-worldly.  Iceland was a great departure from anything either one of us had ever experienced, as we loved learning that Vikings are alive and well and living in Reykjavik, Iceland!
Ines:  The Maldives!  The pure blue-green water, the silky white sand, and the privacy we had on an island the size of a Target was unparalleled.  It also was the best way to recover from climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Korey:  Sweden!  The city of Stockholm was almost perfect.  From efficient public transportation, to great food, and most of all just happy people living there, it was easily a place that Korey felt we could live in and love.  The history and friendliness of everyone we met didn't hurt either!

Quirks and Bloopers - Part 2

Back by popular demand, it’s quirks and bloopers part 2!  We received so many responses from friends and family letting us know how much they enjoyed hearing about Korey’s bad picture taking and Ines’ ability to turn simple shopping trips into disasters.  Of course we had plenty more reasons to laugh at ourselves during the second half of the trip and we are happy to share.  In no particular order here are our funniest moments from the second half of our trip!

Who turned out the lights?

It’s no secret that Africa - while amazingly beautiful - does not yet offer the things we take for granted when it comes to energy and infrastructure.  We learned this in many different ways throughout our stay, but no moment was more memorable than during our stay at the Mt. Meru Game Lodge the night before we started our climb up Mt. Kilimanjaro.  We had just checked in to the Lodge and made our way to our room to frantically re-pack for our Kilimanjaro adventure and charge our electronics when we realized that none of the outlets were working.  Was it our chargers or the outlets?  We made our way over to the front desk to notify them of our power outage and ask if maybe a fuse had blown (total naiveté on our part).  Upon reaching the front desk, Korey casually stated to the woman behind the check-in desk, “Our outlets don’t seem to be working, and the power seems to be out in our room, could we get someone to come take a look?”  Very slowly and with what seemed like the most dramatic body movements, the woman behind the check-in counter leaned in towards Korey and declared in a voice so distinctive of the african-english accent, “This is not only a problem for you!  This is a problem for alllllll of Africa!”  She then proceeded to stare directly into Korey’s eyes, providing no further clarification.  Korey then slowly backed away from the counter as he replied to her with a sheepish “Okay.”  We made our way back to the room, lied down under the mosquito netted bed and apologized to each other and to the world for being the biggest American jerks in the world.  We didn’t come out of the room until dinner (candlelit-of course) and afterward we retreated back to our dark room resolved to pack our bags by the light of our headlamp flashlights.  Having accomplished this feat, we went to sleep only to be awakened halfway through the night by all of the lights turning on and our electronics buzzing to let us know they were connected and charging.  Yeah, we probably deserved that.  

Our lodge room.  Pretty dark without any power!

Matching outfits

Imagine Korey wearing one of Ines’ shirts or even a pair of her boots.  Or, imagine Ines wearing one of Korey’s really cool (Ines disagrees with the word “cool” and would like to replace it with the word “old”) t-shirts that says Subway or a shirt with an emblem from one of his favorite baseball teams.  Sounds terrible, right?  We observed this phenomenon throughout Asia, couples wearing matching outfits is simply the thing to do.  We also saw it advertised at clothing stores and we observed people in matching outfits everywhere we went.  What we thought was an anomaly the first time, quickly became commonplace amongst the happy couples we watched around us.  Guys in skinny jeans and polo shirts to match their girls, girls in loose fitting Levi’s and sweatshirts to match their guys.  Then it went completely insane for us with the partner matching when we began witnessing couples in matching Disney clothing!  Nothing says I’m with this person like wearing matching Mickey Mouse shirts and jeans and shoes and, well, you get the point.  Needless to say this provided hours of people watching entertainment for the two of us and would make a great drinking game for future travels.

It was a thing for couples...

and dude friends...

But what can you expect when it's advertised everywhere?

We even fell victim...  Ines needed a cool hat though!

Can Korey take a good picture?

You’d think after months on the road constantly using a camera to capture once in a lifetime moments, Korey would get better at this picture taking thing.  Unfortunately he did not get the “picture” gene from his mother (who, according to Korey has captured his entire childhood and teen years in film and digital), and continued to take some of the worst photos.  What makes it even worse is that he deleted the ones that he thought were really bad, leaving for you to enjoy only the the ones he didn’t notice were awful.  The beauties below somehow made it past Korey’s cut.  Yikes.  He won’t be offering to take anybody's pictures anytime soon and for those of you that spend time with him, for the sake of your captured memories, don’t ask him to take the picture.  Ines’ pictures were all fine.

Trying to get a picture of the Kuala Lumpur skyline.  Instead Korey captured a random dude on a bike, a pole, and a cool highway divider.  Yikes

Korey thought this was an awesome shot on the train in Switzerland....until you notice the bottles in the reflection. Considering it was a moving train, there were no second chances...

Korey didn't take this picture, but he did leave the camera on panorama mode thoroughly confusing our tour guide trying to take the picture (and distorting our shapes).  So we blame Korey again

That’s not a weave you’re looking at

Frequently commented upon on our blog by friends of Korey’s (eager to mock him), we felt it only appropriate to include Korey’s newly long locks in the bloopers.  Brought on by laziness and Ines’ curiosity to see what it looked like, the hair grew long and fast.  And who knew it would be curly?  Ines states that the mocking Korey endured was worth it, and any man in his 30s that can run his hand through a full head of curly locks should think himself lucky indeed.  Although Korey’s original goal was laziness, Ines’ goal was for Korey to achieve a world traveler Man-Bun.  We were almost there when it got too big for him to keep his ball cap on straight.  And nothing gets in the way of the beloved Tigers ball cap.  So, we said goodby to his curly locks (Ines cried).  Here are some of the behind the scenes looks you didn’t see.  

Absolutely out of control.  Korey says he looks like a girl.

This is Korey's apré scuba look

Ignore this!  Ignore this!

While we are hesitantly starting to accept that the selfie stick is actually a real thing, boy oh boy the rest of the world has taken it to a whole new level.  We witnessed it all.  From people spending hours trying to get the perfect selfie, to oblivious people holding up the crowded streets to get the right angle for their very important selfie.  It was beyond anything we’d ever seen.  Neither one of us are very good picture people, opting to enjoy the moment as it happens and never really thinking to capture it in a photo (never mind the perfectly crafted photo requiring multiple shots, the perfect angle, perfect lighting, and distance from the face).  We did, however, get asked to move aside many times as the true picture takers (always with a very elaborate selfie stick) took it to a whole new level.  Our favorites were the parents that had their kids take dozens of pictures of them doing sexy poses.  Sexy poses on the beach were our favorite parent-child quality time watching.  You read that right, and we witnessed this more than once in more than one place.  Nothing says good parenting like a hot mom yelling at her eight year old son to get the perfect photo of waves crashing over her bikini clad body.  See for yourself, and don’t forget to pack your selfie stick the next time you travel!

We were able to capture this moment that went on for at least an hour....picture by the tree...picture by the water...etc.,

More selfie fun!  These girls posed with the hats, then without the hats, then with the selfie stick...and you will notice they have matching outfits!!!

Go Tigers!

So everyone knows the last time the Detroit Tigers won the World Series, right?  Well, Korey thinks it’s probably on the top of everyone’s mind every day of the week like it is for him.  Imagine Korey’s surprise when while walking the streets of Chaing Mai, he spotted a 2006 Detroit Tigers World Champions hat.  Obviously the Tigers did not win that year, but they did make the World Series which means that World Champion hats were made just in case they did end up winning.  Typically the products from the losing teams get shipped to areas of need overseas.  Sadly, Korey was not quick enough on his feet to capture a picture or even talk to the woman wearing the hat.  He will forever be tormented that he didn't offer to buy the precious token hat from the Thai woman.  It'll just have to haunt his memories the way the Tigers continue to haunt fans year in and year out...

No picture available.  But we all know with Korey taking it, it probably wouldn't have turned out anyway

Check the Air Pressure

Every culture has its "phrases" that are common to them, and unless you are "in the know",  you are clueless.   Our favorite example of this is when our African Safari driver, Emanuel, repeatedly mentioned his need to check the tire pressure.  After a few more interesting safari sights, he stopped the safari caravan, got out, and promptly relieved himself behind the vehicle.  It then occurred to Korey what he meant by needing to "check the tire pressure" and moved to relieve himself as well.  Sadly, there were no bushes nearby for Ines, so she had to wait.

Emanuel, after "checking the tire pressure"

Machete to Ines' Knee Route

We’ve touched on this before, but it’s worth bringing up again because it likely was the blooper of all bloopers on this trip.  Everyone now knows about the seriousness of Ines’ knee injury (she’s doing great by the way!).  Well, the blame can't all go to Ines' bum knee,  there was some additional culpability on Korey's part too.  Why Korey?  There are seven routes any person can take to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, and Korey selected the Machame Route based on the timing of our trip and based upon the routes offered by the booking and guide agency Korey selected to take us up and down the mountain.  Korey would like to state that, of the two routes offered, the Machame route was the least difficult.  However, once on the mountain, we learned that of all the routes available to climb, the Machame route was the second hardest of seven routes to be taken.  As such, Ines has placed some responsibility on Korey's choice of route, that we will now and into the future, fondly recall as the "Machete to Ines' knee route".

Ines immediately post surgery.  The happy drugs were still in effect!