here we go: destination TBD: all dressed up with... about a million places to go (er, write about)

This is basically a Cliff's Notes of what I've been doing (travel-wise) for the last year. I've got posts in the works for most of these trips, but it's been so long since some of them, I figure it's best to get something up before I forget some of the specifics and am just left smiling at the overall memory. First things first though, FYI, in case you didn't know or hadn't figured out from my other recent posts, I'm no longer living in Tokyo. In fact, since leaving the concrete jungle, I've bounced around SE Asia, the US, back and forth across the Pond, and I've stopped again for the time being the 'burbs of NYC, but plan to move into The City ASAP (Long-term? Short-term? We shall see, that will depend on a lot of things...).

So, since last July, I've had a pretty amazing time of it, travel-wise. Waaaaay back in July 2010, I sparked what I'm sure will be a lifelong love for Thailand with a too-short visit to Phuket. On the flight back to Tokyo, I read an article in the in-flight magazine about an unbelievably beautiful island in southern Thailand called Koh Lipe and I vowed I would visit there before I left Asia.

That article and a discovery that one of my colleagues would be in SE Asia in September/October prompted my 4-week backpacking jaunt across Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos last fall. Needless to say, I spent as much time as possible on the beach in Thailand, but it still wasn't enough and, luckily, I never made it to Koh Lipe, which just gives me an excuse to visit Thailand again soon. Cambodia and Laos were pure adventure... you'll have to check out that post (coming soon!) for more details.

i climbed temples in the jungle in cambodia

After a quick return, pack up, and sayonara to Tokyo in mid-November, I spent two and a half gorgeous weeks on Oahu, both in Waikiki and North Shore. On North Shore, I walked straight out of the condo and into beautiful, calm (sorry, surfers), clear blue water and swam with wild giant sea turtles who liked to swim and sunbathe on the quiet little beach. Back in Waikiki and Lani Kai (so pretty!), open water swimming with more sea turtles, but these were more modestly sized.

sun-bathing beauties near haleiwa

I got back to SoCal in the beginning of December... and I left again in the middle of January for a month-long trip, working my way up from Florida to DC to NYC. This began what has come to be The Reunion Tour 2011. This year, I've seen so many old friends that I hadn't seen in forever (and met some new ones as well... this is also the Year of the Baby... lots and lots of babies, hahaha!).

sammy, the chunkiest super baby around--his shirt says "100% awesome" and it's totally true

Soon after I got back, I left again for Arizona where I began the Year of the Vision Quest with my college friend, Sofia. I literally drove into the desert and drove back along the California coast. It was pretty cool. And the reunions continued in Phoenix and Tuscon, where I got to have dinner with my uncle and aunt and brunch with my cousin and his wife, respectively. On the road with Sof, we went from the southern border of the state (Tuscon) to the northern (the Grand Canyon). It was a beautiful drive that took us through Sedona and across some stretch of high desert I don't know where that had the clearest night sky I have ever seen... there were so many stars and it was so black and empty, I felt invisible and awestruck. We had so much to catch up on, we didn't turn on music the entire daylong drive... we just talked. And decided that it was basically imperative for me to join Sofia in Greece this summer.

ok, it's not the grand canyon, but they are sunday morning brunchers in tuscon

After AZ, I was lucky enough to do some more road trips to Palm Desert (Katy!), San Francisco (Norma and Shiraz!), and Las Vegas (Mom! Party time!!), before finally hitting the road for real with my bags packed for my move to NY.

This was it, the big move to the biggest, brightest City-with-a-capital-C in the world!!

I left 5 days later.

But not for good! By coincidence, one of my friends from Tokyo happened to be visiting NY too and happened to be booked on the exact same flight as me (connecting in Dusseldorf) for my trip to Europe, which just goes to show you, this world sure is small. So, NYC to Dusseldorf to Athens airport to Athens bus terminal to Tripoli bus terminal to taxi to village to donkey... Okay, just kidding about the donkey, sort of. Twenty-four-plus hours later and I was drinking wine and dancing in a circle with the best of them until 3 in the morning.

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

I got to attend Sofia's brother's village wedding (unforgettable!); started training as a good Greek wife by washing 100+ dishes and ironing on multiple occasions (first time in years); posed for pictures in an ancient amphitheater; had a Richie Sambora sighting at the Acropolis (sorry, but he's no Zeus); stayed in a 100+ year old beach shack that I'm inclined to believe had walls made of asbestos, but the location was so amazing, what's a little lung disease?; partied it up in Skiathos, the trying to become the new Mykonos (but still a little shy of the mark) island with some of the most beautiful beaches and water I've seen and where I got my best souvenir of the trip--the most amazing tan of my adult life (I, me, Miki, she of the dark hair, have BLOND arm hairs now!) and not one sunburn (thank you, SPF 50); took a chance and arrived in three different cities in three different countries in a row without a place to stay and ended up in 1) a very nice water front hotel with a Greek celebrity sighting (no clue who he was but Sofia assures me that this is cool) in Thessaloniki; 2) a slightly run-down, but satisfactory place in Genoa, which turns out is actually an architecturally beautiful city with a very well-maintained medieval section of town where the alleyways aren't even wide enough to ride a horse down (but still plenty wide enough for a lady of the night to sell her wares in the middle of the day); and 3) a totally serviceable and relatively affordable little hotel near the train station in Antibes, the super-yacht docking hub of the Mediterranean, where lots of non-American Anglophones like to go to find work cleaning toilets and swabbing the decks of boats that are BYOH (Bring Your Own Helicopter) and drink A LOT at night. (Wow, I think that's a record run-on sentence, even for me.)

people like to dance in circles in greece, especially at big parties that take over the whole road and where two lambs and a pig are served... but beware the clarinet music, it could be fatal

every trip needs a random celeb sighting... sadly, i only recognized him because he used to be mr. heather locklear

greeks like to dance in circles at clubs too (sofia is an amazing and FAST greek dancer!)

a beautiful beach in skiathos

After one night in each of the three cities and a never-ending train ride (5 hours turned into 9), we spent five blissful days in Toulouse and its sunflowered surrounds. It was bucolic. No, seriously, I'm sure that if you look that word up in the OED you'll see pictures of rolling French countryside hills covered in seas of sunflowers and two-lane roads lined with tall trees and the odd old Citroën chugging along every now and then, and that's pretty much what we saw for five gorgeous days. Sofia totally called it when she said, "It's very Charlie Brown." We toured medieval walled cities, walked along hidden riverside paths, played in fresh water fountains, ate fruit straight off trees, and lazed lake-side while listening to Edith Piaf and Billie Holliday and eating cheese and baguette and drinking cider and wine, and tasted the best (yes, really) macarons that I have ever had. Ever.

lively nightlife in a genoese piazza

only the best for miss sof in antibes

medieval city steps... check out that beautiful paysage

Then, I went on my own to Paris for just long enough to have a falafel and crepe from my favorite places and share a few bottles with a some great friends, and a brisk walk through the 5th and across les iles. My train to London town got me to Wimbledon, safe and sound in "my London flat" (aka Samantha's place) just in time to watch the riots live on the telly. A final flight to NY (via Reykavik... no volcanoes this time, phew), and I'm back, safely ensconced in the 'burbs of New York City (it's so close, yet so far!) where I'm less at risk of getting caught up in a riot, but I do have to watch out for the suburban gun-toters.