If there was one animal in the world that Derik would like to see the most, it’s a whale shark (in the wild, not in captivity). But merely seeing it isn't enough, he wants to swim with one. While we were traveling through the Philippines, we had to stop by Donsol to give snorkeling with these enormous sharks a try. Donsol is home to one of the largest schools of whale sharks in the world, and I knew if we were going to see them in their natural habitat, Donsol was the place to do it. Sure you can go to other areas in the Philippines where people lure the sharks in with bait (essentially turning them into pets), but we were in it for the adventure. We spent a relaxing three days in Donsol, enjoying the best sunsets I’ve ever seen ... Read More
Archives for June 2014
Final Words on Korea
Truth is, I was a mess our last few days in Korea. Between the stress of moving and final farewells to people I hold close to my heart, I was pretty much a sentimental sap that would cry at the smallest thing. Korea was good for us. It taught us how to live on our own, in an unfamiliar land, full of complete strangers who spoke a foreign language. It taught us to be flexible and when to roll with the punches as well as when to stand up for ourselves. It taught us to appreciate western civilizations that literally have the world at their fingertips. It taught us that traveling is a lot less scary than it needs to be, and I guess that’s why we are continuing on in our adventure across the world. I’ve learned people that live in ... Read More
Moving Overseas? How to Get You and Your Belongings to Your Destination Country
The following post is contributed (written by) by site supporters of Living Another Language, not me. :) Moving house can be pretty stressful, but it is significantly more so when relocating to a new place overseas! Moving to a different country can be very exciting due to being presented with a range of new experiences and opportunities, but it does take a fair bit of planning. This often means dealing with a few headaches, but it can be so worth it when you arrive at your new home with most things under control. In order to achieve this sense of relief, you will probably want to focus on the key points of getting both yourself and your belongings to the destination country. Here are a few handy tips that will help you to accomplish ... Read More
Boracay, Philippines
Boracay, Philippines has to be one of the most gorgeous vacation spots in SE Asia. During high season (exactly the time we went) there will be people crawling around all over the place, but you'll still find time to enjoy the romantic, breathtaking beauty Boracay has to offer, and participate in the fun activities at night. Although our time on this luxurious island didn't start off well, we made the most of it and ended having a great time. I'll be writing a post on things to do in Boracay down the road, so stay tuned for that! In the meantime, enjoy the pictures. :) ... Read More
Steel Wool Photography Tutorial
We all know I'm a pyro at heart. I also have a huge love for night photography. When the two combine, it's like magic! I've had my eye on steel wool photography for a while, and of course I procrastinated participating in the art until last minute. Thankfully I had a wonderful friend to spend 4 hours on the beach with me around midnight on Friday the 13th, and we had an absolute blast! I'm here to share my fun pictures (some are kind of flops, but I still like them), as well as teach you how to do it too! WHAT YOU NEED: -Camera with a manual mode setting -Tripod -Remote timer -Kitchen whisk -Shoestring -Steel Wool (grade 0 to 0000) -Clothes that cover your body (aka no shorts, tanks, t-shirts) CAMERA SETTINGS: In most ... Read More
The Florida Keys – A Photo Journey
We have officially made it to New Zealand. People weren't joking when they said the internet is slow, and I'm a little behind on my blogging work and design projects, due to lack of finding internet at the airports yesterday. I'll be speaking of NZ soon, but right now I'm using whatever shreds of internet I can pull off my phone to get you this post today! I plan on committing a bit more tomorrow when it comes to blogging and designing (if I can find a good internet cafe), but right now it's time to rest. We spent 31 hours+ traveling today and yesterday-Derik and I are completely exhausted. Thankfully V from Life+1 is here to rescue me from being the worst blogger in the world. If you haven't met V yet, or visited her blog, you should ... Read More
10 Things to Do in Phuket
We traveled around Thailand for about 21 days, and in that time we spent two weeks in Phuket. We arrived not knowing what to go see, where to stay, and how to get around. Sometimes it's fun to figure it all out once you get there; after traveling for 1 1/2 months already, we were tired of planning. Doing things spur of the moment was the break we needed. Phuket is a ridiculously busy tourist destination. We arrived during some European holiday, and it was extra crowded. I wasn't a big fan of how 'touristy' it was, bumping into people as we were walking on the sidewalk, and vendors constantly chasing after us to buy something from them. However, it's an easy island to navigate, and after renting a scooter, we enjoyed the freedom we had ... Read More
Why We’re Leaving Korea
As you may have read earlier this week, we're leaving Korea. This may come as somewhat of a shock for some of you- I don't blame you, it was rather sudden. Honestly the whole 'New Zealand' thing was planned out entirely within the space of 35 days, and we're still in shock that it's actually happening as well. I thought I'd take a little time to explain why we're leaving Korea. In January and February Derik and I took a two month trip back to the US and around Asia. After returning to Korea, things just weren't the same as what they had been the previous two years we'd lived there. Things seemed stale, tired, and altogether too normal than what they should be, especially since we were residing in a country completely different than our ... Read More
We’re Officially Announcing…
We've kept it in for weeks now. Some of you probably have known something was up, and maybe you've noticed we've been deleting certain messages on our Facebook walls. Well, there's a reason for that; we wanted to wait until the timing was right to tell everyone (aka make it 'public') It's harder to keep things quiet nowadays because of the whole social networking business, but I feel like we've actually done a pretty good job keeping this one to ourselves. You can only wait so long before the news starts getting leaked out of nowhere. That's why today we decided to let you in on our little secret. Living in Asia has been wonderful. We've met amazing people, seen spectacular things, and grown closer together as a married couple in ... Read More