<Cathy>  There is so much thought that you put into packing for a trip like this, but its hard to know if we've under or overdone it along the way.  We did manage to put everything we needed for two months into two rolling duffels (and under the weight limit...by a smidge), but there are a few things that have been really invaluable to have.  Move over Oprah, here's MY list of favorite things...

1.  Packing cubes.  Thanks to a collection I took up from my mom, sister, and sister-in-law, we each have our own packing cubes for all our stuff.  I never used them before this trip (which looking back seems insane) but they have literally saved hours in the unpacking/repacking category.  No more rummaging through a big bag to dig out one pair of shorts and leave everything else in a complete ball.

2.  Uber cars.  Way better than taxis to get to and from locations in every country we've visited so far.  No wonder the French taxi drivers are protesting - Uber is a winner in my book.  Clean, fairly priced (even inexpensive), convenient.  Here's how it works.  You open the Uber app, share your destination, and you can see how close a driver is to you plus the estimated cost.  Click book and you receive a confirm of exactly who is coming to get you (license plate/picture).  When they pull up, they already know where you're going - no language barrier issue.  When it comes time for payment, just hop out and go!  Uber has your credit card on file so no need to pull out any cash upon arrival.

3.  Carabiners.  These simple marvels have been terrific when you need to hang a hat/umbrella, bag from your purse, dangle a water bottle from your airplane seat, hook bags together, hang something up in a bathroom, etc.

4. Small reusable bags that fold up into the palm of your hand.  Great way to haul the goggles and sunscreen to the pool, carry groceries back to your place, you name it!

5. e-books.  Beats the heck out of lugging paperbacks around.  Plus the local Hennepin library system works pretty slick and you can check out books even when overseas.

6.  Pashmina.  Small item that doubles as an airplane blanket, sweatshirt, pillow, plus fashion accessory.

7.  Small headlamp.  Strange right?  But the power has gone out at each place we've stayed and it made navigating in the dark a bit easier.  Probably don't need it in Europe, but in Asia its kept the boogey man away many times over (and fewer bruises and stubbed toes too).

8. Rome to Rio app.  Tells you how to get from one place to the next - on foot,  car, metro - with costs for each transport mode.  Works in all cities.

9.  Travel pillow.  We have these great pillows (ThermaRest) that compact into little cylinders, but when unrolled, have been great when an extra bed pillow or a little more comfort on a long plane ride was needed.

10.  Good company and a sense of humor.  Don't leave home without it!

<Derik> (all apps are Ios)

11. The App Tripit - extremely valuable for importing and maintaining track of flights, accommodations etc - incredibly helpful to upgrade to the pro version for a big trip as it tracks flights, connections times and gates etc.

12.  Here - the app - really nice for offline maps and navigation if your iphone isn't connected to a local network

13.  xe currency converter app - very helpful when you have 10 different currencies to play with.

14. AirBnb - We used 7 different airbnb apartments/homes and had a positive to amazing experience with all. From an amazing house on the Ocean in Bali to a great apartment in the center of Rome within walking distance to all.  Highly recommend for not only cost savings but a more authentic experience.

15. Bring a headlamp/good flashlight - You never know when the power will cut off (cambodia/bali etc..) or you will have to look for something dropped on the floor of a dark plane cabin and need light.

16.  Luggage locks - simple and easy but adds a level of security to your personal items while checked in on an airplane or in your apartment.

17.  Register your trip with the US State Department to receive updates from the locals you are going.  We were fortunate enough to miss the volcano eruption in Indonesia by a few days that ended up shutting down the Bali airport for 72 hours.

18.  Tripadvisor app and website  - while not completely comprehensive and  reliable, it does offer a nice overview of a location with regards to things to see, places to stay, and restaurants.  The ios app also offers an offline mode when connectivity gets tough.

19.  I recommend getting a local sim for your unlocked iphone/phone when you get to location and need any kind of connection.  While counting on wifi is usually ok, there are times when you just need to make a call, get a map, or need directions and there isn't an unlocked wifi point anywhere.  Prices ranged from $4 in Cambodia to about $40 in Switzerland.  I read Tmobile has a free roaming deal in over 100+countries but at 2g speeds - worth looking at.

20.  Keep track of and verify upcoming flights.  A month before our London to Amsterdam flight I found out that the airline changed the time.  It wasn't by a few hours but by 24 hours.  Not great.  Check those flights.

21. Google photos Ios app - Cathy and I both use our iphones as our cameras so we installed the Google photos app.  It is new and really slick.  Open the app and your photos upload - easy and brainless.  Google makes it very easy to search for a given picture by any number of ways.  It also added a peace of mind knowing that if we lost our phones our pictures were already backed up.

Clarke Quay at Night

<Cathy>  Singapore has been such a fascinating city - we've really enjoyed exploring all its offerings.   One of the coolest areas to explore was Clarke Quay.  Its an area with some fun restaurants and bars plus awesome people watching :-)  You can tell by the different languages you hear along the way that its a hub for expats and visitors alike.  It becomes busier in the evenings with the water tour boats buzzing up and down the quay that's lit up with colorful lights on the bridges, pedestrian areas, and outdoor cafes.  We stopped to enjoy a late dinner of chili crab, a Singapore speciality!  Its incredibly messy to eat (I still am baffled at how the tables around us managed to get the crab out of its shell with chopsticks) but so flavorful - hot,  sweet, spicy, tangy.

Chili Crab in the making

Clarke Quay during the Day

On another night, we headed to the Singapore Night Zoo to enjoy a safari with nocturnal animals.  It was one of the best zoos I've ever visited.  It's open from 7:30 pm - midnight.  The animals are in large, unfenced but defined habitats and you take a tram or foot trail around the park to explore the animals that are quite active at that time.  I loved walking into an area that had wallabys that just hopped around us doing their own thing. We also went into a bird/bat area and saw (quite by surprise) an ENORMOUS bat hanging from a tree bordering the walkway.  Its wingspan was equal to my armspan.  Needless to say, we didn't stop to take a picture - time to keep moving kids!  The park had plenty to explore -  elephants, tigers, giraffes, hyenas, water buffalo, hippos, rhinos, you name it.  What a cool night.

Wallabys on the loose!

Our Duck Hawker Stall/Resto

Duck anyone?

We stayed at an Airbnb apartment in a central location with great markets and within walking distance to most key areas in the city.  There was a Muslim mosque nearby so we would wake at dawn to the call to worship - the musical chant filling the neighborhood.  One afternoon, Callie and I did a little exploring nearby and sat down to enjoy some duck for lunch at a nearby hawker stall/restaurant.  She really enjoyed it!  I love how adventurous she can be in trying new things - she makes me a proud mama.

It is incredibly hot and muggy in the afternoon in Singapore so we did what any Minnesota family would do in that situation - headed for air conditioning!  We ended up taking in the latest Jurassic Park flick at a theatre in town.  We are realizing that with our adventure, its just not feasible to be in travel/tourist mode all the time.  Sometimes a little downtime is good for the soul (and keeping peace too).  Actually, the girls are doing very well together.  Most of the time, they really have fostered a great sister bond and take care of one another.  Its been something to watch how we've really settled into life of being together 24/7.  I find us getting closer as a family.  When someone is off, we all seem to rally to give them what they need - sometimes support, sometimes space.

Cambodia will be our next stop on this adventure - stay tuned!  Peace and love...

Just when you thought you've seen it all.

Singapore

<Camryn>

On June 23 (our first full day in Singapore.) We went to the "gardens by the bay."  We were going to go to the flower garden dome but when we arrived it was closed for the day to clean it up:(
but luckily that was not all they had at the garden! They also had a Cloud Forest! 

It's a man made mini mountain with a good hand full of beautiful flowers and lots of tropical plants. In that dome they also had a cloud walk which is a medal platform much like a sidewalk but floating...well sort of!

After that that we went up to the 57th floor, the top level of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel

where we had a heavy snack/late lunch then enjoyed the views of Singapore and the cool infinity pool.  From the view, we saw  a cool floating soccer field.  We also saw a lot of cranes that were used to pick stuff off of the cargo ships.  My dad said that we could see most of the country from where we had our snack!

57th floor / poolside

One of the most surprising things in Singapore was all the very strict rules they have.  If you spit out gum on the streets you'll get arrested!  Another thing is that it feels like people are always watching you because there are a lot of cameras everywhere.  A funny side story is we got home late from the Night Safari (which you can read about in our next post) and when we walked back into the apartment building the security officer was sleeping on the job... just like in the movies!

One thing that I like about Singapore is all of the buildings and architecture is very close to America but in some places like the markets and the ways they sell things it's very different from America.

I can definitely tell I've been traveling for awhile because I'm starting to forget what country I'm in!

<Derik> Only fitting that I chime in with a post on Fathers Day!

In total we've been on the island of Bali for 6 nights.  The first 3 in Amed which is about 3 hours by car to the northeast of Denpensar, and the last 3 in Kuta which is a pretty crazy place in comparison, filled with people on vacation/holiday primarily from other parts of Asia along with Australia/New Zealand.

Callie jumping waves at sunset

Our time here has been spent poolside at the hotel we're staying at our at the beach watching some amazing sunsets every evening.  The weather has been amazing at all our stops since we left MSP and Cath and I were just talking about how we haven't used a long sleeve anything yet.  We had fun tonight watching the sunset tonight during the summer solstice.

Bali has been a dream and both girls cannot wait to return.  The big challenge is the flight time and time change from the States to here as we are currently over 9,400 miles from home and 13 hours ahead. A tough one to do for a short trip.

Tomorrow we are heading to Singapore for a few days and we're really looking forward to the food and fun places to checkout from all of the good info we've received from friends and family alike.

<knock on wood>  Travel plans have gone off well to date.  The only snag so far is a our flight from London to Amsterdam got changed.  Usually not a big deal, however it was pushed back a full 24hours so I had to do some damage control there.

Camryn and her Brazilian friend Anna Clara

It is a ton of fun to watch the girls begin to earn their traveler stripes.  Callie is trying every food on the planet from crazy Japanese foods to Balinese style fish.  Camryn learned to count to 100 in Japanese, is making friends all over and even spent yesterday evening in Indonesia, with a girl from Brazil, speaking English and learning some Portuguese while having a blast dancing, watching a movie and playing games. Both are not afraid to try new things and are becoming pros at the ins and outs of traveling.  Our flight from Tokyo to Bali was 6 1/2 hours and they both said it felt a lot shorter than that.  I guess they are getting used to life on the road.  Next lesson to learn: the fine art of negotiation.

I may be the only guy on this journey, but God has blessed me with an amazing wife and 2 daughters that make me so proud to be their father.  I continue to be thankful and cannot believe how lucky we are to have the gift of time to get away from the daily grind and focusing on two girls who still love playing in the pool with me, telling jokes, and sharing places both new and old to me.  I am also overjoyed to be able to (re)connect with the love of my life. It is the first time in a long time where there hasn't been a constant need to check emails, respond to texts and voicemails etc.  These days will be cherished for many years to come.

Callie was kind enough to snap this shot while not be grossed out too much

Just a truckload of coconuts cruising down the road

                                                     Bali, Indonesia June 16-22
         <Callie> After we got to the airport in Tokyo we got on a 6 1/2 Hour flight (got hot chocolate on the plane!) and when we got to the airport in Bali (and the southern Hemisphere)we got picked up by someone named Katut and he was very nice. He brought us on a 3 hour very bumpy car ride to our Villa Batu Tangga. Camryn and I had no idea we were staying at such a nice place! It has 3 bedrooms, a pool and hot tub, a hammock, a cook, and a wonderful view of the ocean! We got there at night so you couldn't see the ocean but you could see the stars so well! It was the most stars I've ever seen!

 
     When we woke up the sunrise and ocean amazed us! That day we didn't do anything, we hung out near the pool, took a little walk, and had a great fresh fish dinner! Also Camryn and I had sunscreen on us and it was night so we decided to take a shower and our shower didn't work very well so we had to shower in another one. In the middle of it the power went out and Camryn screamed because she was scared then she got mad at me because she thought I did it but I told her the power went out the we just stayed there for about 20 more seconds then it went back on. We were scared!

     The next day, we woke up and I was going upstairs for some breakfast and on the stairs I almost stepped on a grass hopper about as big as a dollar bill. I've never seen a bug that big! There's also little lizards that crawl around on the wall an ceiling!  
      After breakfast we got picked up and went to a beach to go snorkeling. When we got in the ocean, Camryn and I were a little scared but  when we went farther we got used to it and enjoyed it a lot! The fish were so cool and different. Some had some really bright colors and designs! They were all in different sizes and shapes. We also saw some in schools. It reminded me of my 3rd grade teacher that likes to scuba dive. I had a waterproof camera and took a bunch of pictures but it was a camera where you have to go to a special place to see the pictures so I don't have them now. 

     Then, we went back to our Villa  and swam a little bit, and that leads up to where I am now, I can see the ocean, our pool, and our Villa from where I am now!  Check back soon!                                                   

Konichiwa from  Japan! (Cathy)

We had some amazing adventures in Japan and want to give a shout out to Aaron M and Bela for their recommendations - they were spot on!  Given how many people live there, it is by far the cleanest (yet no public trash cans!!), most polite and respectful city I've ever experienced.  We stayed in a great apartment we found on Airbnb - centrally located, quiet, and all around adorable!  Our first full day started at the Tsukiji Fish market about 10 min down the road.  Its a buzzing hub for seafood vendors, fresh veg and fruits, plus things I couldn't put a name to if I tried.  Camryn led the charge in trying sushi that day - raw nigiri tuna! I also bought some edamame (sold with roots and leaves still attached) that we cooked up later that day.  Next we walked to the Hama-rikyu Gardens where we stopped at a tea house for a traditional green tea and cake (bean cake - a tough one to swallow).
Before wrapping up for the day, we took the metro to Asakusa and visited the Sensoji Temple.   Its Tokyo's oldest temple surrounded by some fun little shops (and great for people watching too!)

Sensoji Temple Entrance

Tea House stop

Tsukiji Fish Market

Ramen dinner!!

On Sunday, we took a day trip to visit Mt. Fuji via coach bus and bullet train.  It was a perfect way to share Derik's passion for the mountains in a way we could all enjoy.  Outside of Tokyo, Japan is amazingly lush and tropical with steep and rugged terrain.  Hard to believe you're only an hour or two away from Tokyo.  We stopped at a lake in Hakone with great views of Mt Fuji where we enjoyed the view (albeit a bit cloudy) from both a boat and cable car observation tower.  We went to station 5 on Mt. Fuji - the highest point a car can go - and took in the sights before heading back into town via a crazy fast ride on the bullet train.  Walking back from Tokyo station, we stopped at a Ramen restaurant and had the best bowl of noodles I have ever tasted.

Mt. Fuji from the boat

Mt Fuji

Monday was probably the highlight day in Tokyo for me.  We all woke up at 3:30 AM and headed back to the fish market in hopes of securing one of the 120 places available daily to watch the morning tuna auction which is otherwise closed to the public.  Tuna are flown to this market from around the world for auction.  Apparently, arriving at 4:10 AM for a 5:40 tour was too late as there were no spots left.  Boohoo!  But as luck may have it, there were some Germans being kicked out at the same time we arrived (rumored to be intoxicated) so they handed us their tickets.  I felt bad momentarily, but then was elated as I had really wanted to experience the auction which did not disappoint!  Once backstage, the buzzing of forklifts with workers shuffling fish at lightening speed was truly orchestrated chaos!  The auction begins with the sounding of the bell and the bidding begins -  a cross between Wall Street hand signals and a cattle auctioneer calling out the bids.  Highest bid sets the price for the day and the massive numbers of tuna on the auction block are quickly wisked out of the market and off to the consumer before you can blink an eye!  Its just exhilarating to watch.  Once we exited the auction and were back in the market, we all stopped for some amazingly fresh sushi which tasted great - even at 6:30 AM :-)

Getting ready for auction

Sushi breakfast after the Auction

We hit a few more highlights the remainder of the day: Hachiko Crossing - better known as the scramble crossing - where hundreds of people cross the street simultaneously, somehow safely.  There was a beautiful Shinto shrine (Meiji shrine) that was well worth the stop.
Our departure from Tokyo the next morning was early to catch our flight to the next stop on tour - BALI...See you there!

Sayonara Meg and Tokyo!

<Callie> Today we woke up in Hawaii and rented a stand up paddle board in the lagoon at the hotel. It was really fun! After that, we went up to our room and packed up and headed to the airport. We got to the airport and  got on our plane, it was VERY big! There were two isles. It was one of the biggest planes I have ever been on! There were TV's in the seats again. When we landed in Tokyo, we had to go get our bags then get on a train.

Mom had us stop to go to the bathroom.  When it was my turn, I went to the stall and I looked down and there was just a hole in the ground for
a bathroom.  I had no idea what to do!  I went out of the stall and said to mom  "I'm thirsty" and mom looked at me like...what are you doing?  I

thought to myself that was a very bad excuse so I said " I don't know where to put my backpack."  The people in line started looking at me funny then mom walks with me to the stall that was just a hole because I was holding up the line then she looked in and said  " Oh, go in the next one."  The next stall was normal and mom went in the hole in the ground one. It was funny and crazy!

Later, we got our bags and went down an escalator, we were in a hurry because we had to catch a train. When I looked back, Camryn was stopped and the bottom of the escalator looking very frantic and mom was tugging on her shoe.  I realized Camryn's shoelace had gotten stuck in the escalator and lots of people started getting backed up behind her!  Camryn and mom had to pull  hard but finally got her unstuck. So let's just say the first 5 minutes in Tokyo were full of surprises!

We got on the train then at Tokyo Station we were picked up by someone named Meg and she brought us to her apartment where we are staying. The train station was really crazy with so many people moving in so many different directions!  Meg is really nice and told us lot of things about Tokyo and the apartment.  After Meg left, we saw some buttons on the toilet so I pressed one and the toilet it started spraying water everywhere!  Camryn and I jumped out of the way and it sprayed on the wall and floor, it was crazy.  There are some very interesting
toilets in Japan.  After that, we went to bed after a long day of traveling.   We are ready to do some exploring now so Sayonara! (goodbye in Japanese.)

<Camryn>

 Over the last few days we've had some great adventures! On Wednesday we woke up fairly early then called a cab to take us to the pearl harbor visitor center to get on a tour bus to take us to the USS (United.States.Ship) Missouri all so known as the Mighty Mo.


As we arrived we were a little bit late but made it just in time! our friendly tour guide named Ford seemed to know every single bit all the way down to even what kind of light bulbs were used in certain rooms!

It was very cool to see what life was like on the ship during world war II. So after the very fact filled tour of the USS Missouri we headed back to the hotel cleaned up then headed down the hotel restaurant for dinner. After we ate some very scrumptious food, we headed back to the room and slept like a log all night long! :-)

WWII Surrender Declaration