Totally Unrelated to Travel - It's Christmas!

Mostly because I have time for this, but also because I have a new camera, and I feel like there should be a greater purpose for taking all of these pictures, I will share about our Christmas.  Briefly.

Mostly these are of our dogs.

Tanya worked in the morning (she is saving comp days for our long, long trip and working a second job for extra money - the cutie pie).  I got up early to make her breakfast - a family tradition from my mom for years, her special mini cinnamon rolls.

I will not share the secret for all to see.  They are delicious, though better when my mom makes them.

Then I cleaned out the fridge COMPLETELY.  Who knew cleaning could be SO refreshing and satisfying?

(Do not judge the incredible amount of butter we have.  It's mostly because I keep forgetting we have butter and keep buying more.  This has happened before.  With the mustard.)

After I cleaned the rest of the kitchen, I called my family back in Indiana.  It seems as though everyone on my Dad's side of the family made it back except for me.  But they passed around the phone, so that was nice to at least hear everyone's voice.  My mom had loads of leftover roast and potatoes - her other specialty - and although I make that, too, like the cinnamon rolls, it just isn't the same.

Most of the rest of the morning and early afternoon I was cooking.  I did not take pictures of the food.  Sorry.  But the boneless beef rib recipe I used was super successful, as well as our new Christmas tradition, the wreath.

This was one great Pinterest project.

Okay, the dogs.  They ripped open their first presents and immediately started playing.  It was the cutest thing ever!!

Kenai, though, soon became more interested in watching Tanya make her perfect mashed potatoes.

Sadie continued to act like she didn't need anything else ever again ever.

Then they got their bones and we didn't see or hear from them for a couple hours.

And then we opened presents.  Her and my parents mostly got us money.  But they also got us...

The Oster Electric Wine Bottle Opener HD 3000!!!!  Okay, it's not an HD 3000 (that doesn't exist), but it is pretty cool.

I got books (my brother and us exchanged books - reading is a thing him and I do) and stuff for my bike - new paniers and bag for the front so I don't have to carry my stuff on my back while I ride to work.  Save the back!  Thank you, my love. :)

 

Tanya got her new headphones.

(This is code for, "Stop taking my picture.")

And she got us this really cool world map.

It's a scratch off!  You scratch off places you've been.  We're only scratching off places we go together. :)

Our first Christmas being married was wonderful, indeed.

 

I hope everyone had an equally beautiful day!

Back to trip planning now. :)

The Real Beginning

In May 2014, my lovely wife and I will be getting on a plane down to Santiago, Chile.  From there, we will travel to Easter Island, the Galapagos Islands, Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca, and many other beautiful places in Ecuador, Peru, and Chile.  The journey, however, as all avid travelers know, begins far earlier than our leave date.  And so, for those who want to live vicariously through our adventure or for those fellow travelers looking for insights, we offer you this blog.

The happy couple

A bit of history, Tanya and I were married on May 16 of 2013 in a courthouse in Seattle.  We later had a reception in Anchorage with close family and friends.

Photo by Laura Shaw

And since that time, we have been planning our ultimate honeymoon to South America.  Originally we had planned to backpack through Greece and Bulgaria, but with the riots in Greece and the insecurity of the economy and general goings on, we decided to pursue another path.  It started with Chile.  And then it grew and grew and grew.  And then suddenly, we had airplane tickets to Easter Island!  The serious planning had begun.

The planning begins...

Let me introduce you to my wife.  She is at the center of everything I love most.

My beautiful wife Tanya

Now, first of all, I made the calendar and the map because I am a visual learner.  But the books and pre-packing and the pre-booking of flights and hostels and camp sites and everything… that was all Tanya.

We each have a single backpack, each about 42L.

We’ll do another post with more details about our packing strategy.  Basically, these two backpacks are it.  We’re going as light and minimal as possible.  Since we’ll be doing a lot of moving around, we want to limit our carry weight and minimize the risk of getting our stuff stolen.  The less stuff we have, the easier it is to keep track of.  We’ve taken other precautions, as well, but all that will be in the packing blog.

In the meantime, stay tuned for updates about our sweet vacation and all the preparations we’re making.  And happy holidays out there to all who are celebrating!

Happy holidays from our family to yours!

Small money saving tip

It can be hard to save money during the holiday season, but it's easy to never have to buy wrapping paper. Just wrap your gifts for any occasion in newspaper! We prefer the Sunday comics. :)