After the extra time in Maine, as much as I hated to leave, I felt myself getting antsy to get back to our normal routine and at the end of August I headed back to Istanbul for our second year in this big, beautiful city. The first task at hand was unpacking our new apartment. We were happy to move into a different school-provided apartment still directly next to the school. We were looking forward to more light, a small balcony, and (mainly) a much bigger kitchen. Kim arrived a few weeks behind me so I spent that time arranging and rearranging, unpacking, and organizing. I bought a stunning kitchen island, a water cooler, a bigger mattress, and even more plants. I feel really good with what I was able to arrange for the unique space we were given and both of us feel much happier than last year. Kim is able to satisfy all her kitchen needs while I have my own little art corner, these are both in the same open space so we can each do our own thing while still staying connected. 
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Andrea Simmons Photography

Next week my little sister leaves for her first time abroad. Amanda will be spending 10 weeks in the middle east studying and interning as a lawyer at a woman's rights organization. I could not be more proud of her or more excited for her! Accompanying her on this grand adventure will be her husband, Josh, who I hope will blossom just as much through this experience. Before they head off to ride camels through the dessert I wanted to share with her, and all of you, some travel hacks that Kim and I have learned since we began traveling abroad two years ago. I hope they help the next time you take off on a new adventure!

1. ​Triple check your flight times
If you ask any seasoned traveler I guarantee that every single person will have a story about missing or almost missing a flight due to reading the flight times wrong (I certainly have a few). If you fly often it is easy to get times mixed up, so do yourself a favor a triple check all of your flight times and dates (especially the am and pm times) as well as the airports (departing and arriving). Trust me, you will thank me one day. 

2. ​Double check your baggage
Baggage allowance varies a great deal from airline to airline. Be sure before you leave your house that you know precisely what you have available for baggage from ALL airlines you are flying. It is significantly cheaper to purchase your baggage online before your flight, a luggage weigher will help get the most out of your baggage allowance. Some booking websites book connecting flights separately and you will need to pick up your luggage between them. The last thing you want is to arrive to your destination without your belongings, so double and triple check. 

3. ​Pack an outfit in your carry-on
Just in case that dreadful event of losing your luggage does happen, make sure you have a change of clothes and anything that you need immediately (contact solution, medicine, etc) packed in your carry-on. Plus anything breakable – you don’t want to watch the airline workers pack or unpack the suitcases, it is terrifying. 

4. Don’t buy an adapter yet!
I got this advice from my big sister, Renee, who at the time was living in Tanzania and is now in Egypt. You can spend $50-$100 on an international plug adapter – but don’t! You don’t need one. Wait until you get in the country that you are going, visit the local convenience store and 95% of the time you can pick one up for less than a dollar. Save your money for more traveling!

5. ​Have the first hotel night and transportation there planned
Whether you are spending a couple nights or a couple months in your new city, there is one thing that is certain – after a long travel you will need a comfy bed and some shut eye. Be sure you know where you are going after you arrive and how to get there. Most hotels will be happy to tell you the easiest or the cheapest way to get there from the airport, feel free to shoot them an email. Don’t be afraid to ride the local transport either! It is usually fairly easy, cheap, and a fun way to see the city for the first time. 

6. ​Have small AND large bills for exchange
Generally large bills ($100s) get the best exchange rate, but it is also common for the currency exchangers at the airports to give very poor rates. So I compromise by bringing a small bill or two ($20) to exchange at the airport to have money for transportation and a bite to eat, then after I get settled in my hotel I bring my larger bills to the hotel recommended exchange for the very best rates. 

7. ​Keep emergency cash separate
One time I was in Bangkok and I got pick pocketed. Luckily I kept my money separate from my important documents (passport), so all that was gone was the cash. Unfortunately that was all the cash I had. I was in a state of frenzy until I remembered that I had tucked away $100 in one of my suitcases for an emergency just like this. It was enough money to get me to the airport and pay for my visa back into Myanmar. Lesson learned: always keep emergency cash and place it separate from your other important items. 

8. ​Inform your bank
Be sure to let your bank know that you are traveling if you plan on using your debit or credit cards out of the country. Check the amount of cash you are allowed to take out per day and ask for an increase in this limit if you think you will need it. Notify any other important  businesses/connections as well.

9. ​Download a currency converter app.
Converting currency is hard at times, especially when you are going to multiple different countries, or if you are bad at math. A currency converter app will save you the hassle from having to do the math yourself, but more importantly it will keep you informed on what the daily rate is. I bought a water on a flight once and when they handed me back the change in the foreign currency I checked the exchange to find out that it was the wrong amount, I was able to bring it to their attention and get my correct change back. 

10. Download offline maps
One of the best travel apps I have is called Maps.me, it allows you to download a map of the country you will be going to and then use it when you are off line. This is helpful before you have figured out how to get your device to work in your new country. Bonus suggestion: download a phrasebook or google translate before you leave as well. 

11. ​Bring Pens.
You will be filling out a lot of papers as you travel (like immigration forms). You will need pens. Bring them, many of them. 

12. ​Stand in the Right line at immigration
One of our best tricks! Immigration lines are notoriously long and such a pain to wait in after a long flight when you are just itching to get outside (or just before a long flight). So choose the right line carefully. Look for the diplomats’ line – but don’t go to that one – go to the one next to it. Often the diplomats' line has no one in it and it will invite people from the next line over to come through. You will pass through twice as fast. Try it, works like a charm!

13. ​Tell them where to stamp
I have had my current passport for a year and a half and it is more than half way full. I am very grateful for this of course, but what I am not grateful for are the stamps that are placed in the middle of a page! I have taken a new habit of finding a free space for a stamp and asking the immigration official if they could PLEASE stamp it in that spot. I find that they are about 75% receptive to this and it has allowed me to condense some space. You may not need to do this yet, but it is good to know that it is an option. 

14. ​Don’t use a passport cover
Every time you have to hand over your passport (which is multiple times at the airport) they have to remove you passport cover to scan the barcode. Just don’t use one. Instead I keep a small zippered pouch where I can safely store it along with my other travel documents (and my pens!). 

15. ​Prep for security
Use the time you are waiting in line at security to empty your pockets into your purse, backpack, or other carry-on. This will get you in and out of the craziness faster. If possible, wear bottoms that do not require a belt and shoes that are easy to slip on and off. Have your devices easily accessible as well, you will most likely have to remove them from your bag. 

16. ​Bring an empty water bottle
Everyone knows that you can no longer take liquids through security, but few people plan in advance enough to take advantage of the bottle refilling stations found at many airports. Beat the extraordinary airport prices by bringing an empty water bottle and refilling it yourself once you are past security. But be sure to put it in your carry on or there is a chance they may take it (happened to us once). 

17. ​Have your passport and boarding pass open
When you are in line to board the plane, take a moment to set up your documents. Open your passport to the page with your photo on it and place your boarding pass above it. Keep your thumb in this page so when it is your turn you can easily hand off to the flight attendant and whisk through the check. 

18. Pack your charger in your carry-on (or buy a power bank)
After the seatbelt sign is switched off you reach for your phone and your device is dead. Defiantly not what you want to happen, luckily on most long flights nowadays they have installed USB chargers at every seat. So make sure you have your charger handy. If you want to be sure though, it is better to just invest in a power bank that will allow you to charge your phone multiple times after just one charge-up.

19. ​Prepare a Plane Kit
There are a few things that I NEVER fly without: Headphones, eye cover, pillow, pashmina, snacks, ibprophen, eye drops, sleep aids. The headphones are a necessity to entertain yourself through your own device or the in-flight entertainment. An eye cover and a pillow (probably a neck travel pillow) will help you get comfy on a long flight. A pashmina is a necessity for me, airplanes are almost always cold, bring something to throw over your shoulders. Eye drops help with dry eyes after sleeping, especially for those who wear contacts like me. Bringing a few medicines are allowed as long as they are clearly labeled, we always have ibprophen for aches or such and sleep aids just in case. 

December in Yangon is just like December back home, minus the snow, and the cold, and the stores mobbed by Christmas shoppers, and the . . . Okay, maybe it is not just like December back home, but I did try to make the month as festive as I could starting with our Christmas Tree and our Christmas Party. December is an important month not only because it is Christmas, but because it is also my birthday month! Have a read about all of that and more below.

My second favorite day of the year (after my birthday of course) is getting-a-Christmas-tree-day. Always an important tradition in my family, getting a Christmas tree was a huge event that involved coordinating the schedules of everyone in the family, spending hours hiking through the snow, and many eruptions of “this is the one!” There were arguments over the fullness of branches, the softness of needles, and the necessary height of the tree. Snowball fights broke out and fingers/toes/noses got numb.  One time my mother declared that we would not settle for any ol’ tree, that we would have to wait for a sign that it was the right one. After an hour of searching we actually found a tree that had an old birds nest in it! It was lumpy and scrawny but we all insisted on getting it because it was “the sign.” That was defiantly the ugliest Christmas tree we ever had! Eventually the majority of us would agree on one and dad would shimmy under the branches to saw it down. Each year, after we found “the one,” we returned home to blast the Christmas music and trim the tree. It was always fun to rediscover the ornaments that we had made and find a way to fit all of the stockings on the chimney. Yes. Getting-a-Christmas-tree-day is certainly the best.
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With these roots it should not surprise you to know that I am adamantly against fake Christmas trees. Last year was my first Christmas away from my family so I improvised by buying a large potted house tree to use as my Christmas tree. Unfortunately I am not very good at keeping plants alive and that tree is barely hanging on. Riding in a taxi downtown I saw the most cheerful sight. Right in the middle of the fruit stalls and beatlenut stands was a CHRISTMAS TREE store!!! Although they were all fake trees of course, they were so festive that I couldn’t resist. Hence my first every fake Christmas tree. While we were missing the pine smell and the grandness of a real tree, this little plastic one brought a lot of Christmas spirit into the apartment. Here is the final result. 

​Kim has developed another mysterious illness, this time it is in the form of pink spots. No, it’s not chicken pox (although we considered that) we think it is some version of heat rash. These little spots appear in different areas all over her body after she is in a hot environment (hello? Any place in Yangon!) They are extremely itchy and are painful at times. AND she has had this for almost two months now! Yes, she has gone to the doctor and they gave her a bunch of different medicine to try, but the thing about heat rash is the only thing that can really make it go away is being cold for long enough which is simply not possible here. Poor Kim, hopefully these spots will disappear soon!

​On the 9th I turned 27 years old! I love my birthday and was so glad to be able to share it with some awesome people! On Sunday we had a small ladies brunch at a fancy hotel called Inya Lake. It was a luxurious event that involved course after course of delicious food and endless Champaign. The afternoon turned into hours of munching, sipping, and chatting with some great ladies.
As is tradition, I took a personal day for my birthday giving me and Kim the day to celebrate together. The morning started off with the best macaroons in all of Myanmar. Our first stop of the day was to the nail salon where I have been trying to make time to go for weeks to get my nails painted and designed then we headed over for a massage at my favorite day spa. We enjoyed lunch at Sprouts, a local salad shop, before starting our search for a piece of artwork. Last year, I bought myself a painting on my birthday and I absolutely love it so I thought this year I would do the same. Buying artwork can be difficult, we wandered for a few hours to a couple different galleries before I finally decided on a beautiful abstract canvas painting by a local artist. With that in hand we headed off to Shwe Sa Bwe for dinner. This fine dining restaurant is a social enterprise, meaning that it helps the community buy training and employing local underprivileged people in the fine dining field (so they can get hired long term in a good establishment). Not only that but it was simply spectacular! Defiantly one of the best meals we have had in Yangon. After our lavish 4 course dinner we drifted home to the most decadent and delectable chocolate torte that I have ever tasted (have I mentioned how phenomenal my wife is?). What an amazing birthday! Here is to an equally as incredible 27th year!

​The art scene in Yangon is lacking for a city of this size, but luckily we have a lot of great people working on improving that. One place is the Deitta Gallery in downtown Yangon which is specific to photography. I took my Advanced class on a field trip here to see their UnEarthed exhibit. Not only were the photographs absolutely spectacular, but the content was informing and revealing. With each photograph was a typed story all about the hazards of working in Myanmar in the extractive industries sector (think mining for gems and the like). 

​It is not a secret that I adore Christmas. I love the whole spirit of the season! This year in Yangon Christmas was slightly more apparent than last year. A few times I heard Christmas Carols playing in English while riding in a cab or shopping at a store, there were more Christmas decorations on display all around the city, and I even saw some Christmas carolers on our street once! I was also lucky this year to have a roommate that also adores the Christmas season. So we banded together to throw a Christmas Party! Since almost all of our friends leave for the winter break we picked a Saturday early in December and hosted a huge shindig. We played a silent Christmas movie, blasted Christmas music, had festive Christmas themed food and drinks, and organized a Chinese Auction/ White Elephant. If you are not familiar with the game it goes like this; everyone brings a gift – for our party we asked people to bring the funniest gift that they could find for under $5 – and then based on a number drawn out of a (santa) hat, the gifts are open one by one. The opener gets the choice to keep the gift they selected or trade with someone else. There was SO much laughing and fooling during the game from all of the silly gifts (giant pictures of naked babies, used shoes, a slingshot and tattoo gloves) it most certainly was the highlight of the evening. Even though it is 80* and sunny every day and our families are all so far away, it was amazing to have an evening of Christmas fill our home. 

​The day before winter break I received my very first care package! My awesome sister Andrea put together an assortment of goodies and fun things and mailed them all the way over here to Yangon. Some of the special food items included honey nut cheerios (my absolute favorite!!!), Oreos, Resses Christmas Trees, Jif peanut butter (our #1 favorite brand), Marshmallow Fluff (Kim was ecstatic about this one), Goldfish, granola bars, Cheez-Its, Fruit Roll-Ups, Hot Chocolate, special chocolates, and some of Maine’s own whoopee pies! Special little items were also tucked inside like a drawing from my nephew, Zane, some family photos, a make-your-own snow kit, a scrapbook, and a small canvas. How lucky am I?!?! I can’t tell you how amazing it is to get so many goodies from home. We have learned to live without many things we are used to here so it is such a special treat to receive all of this! Andrea is defiantly the best!
I have to tell you the story about receiving the package. I was at school when my secretary brought up a slip for me from customs saying that the package was here. My school offered to go retrieve it for me but I wouldn’t receive it until after break (this was the Friday afternoon before our three week winter holiday). Luckily, Kim was headed downtown so I told them that I would pick it up myself and I ran the slip over to Kim. When she arrived at customs there was some problem with getting the package so Kim had to give them the equivalent of $5 (plus the fee for getting it out of customs which was about $3) to get them to give her the package. As soon as that was slipped into the man’s hand all was well and Kim walked out with the package. What a crazy place we live in. 

​​Much of my free time in December was filled up with trip planning. Kim and I had our first three week long break starting in December and we were not going to waste a minute of it. We decided to spend most of the time in Vietnam; I’m not sure where the idea came from originally but once we set on it we knew it was the right choice.

We also decided to visit Siem Ream in Cambodia on the way over. From booking 7 different flights and 8 different hotels, plus all of the organization in between, it was quite the challenge but one that I was certainly grateful to have. The massive trip needs a couple blog posts to share it in it’s full amazement but I’ll leave you with these few photos before I go. 

This is the wreath and mistletoe that I made from some fake garland I found at the Christmas tree store and some other Christmas shots for you. 

I hope everyone had an amazing holiday season! Stay tuned for posts about our trip to Vietnam and Cambodia!

Our summer was overflowing with Maine goodness as we visited, relaxed, and enjoyed June and July with our family and friends. The air was still cold when we arrived and I spent the first few weeks in jeans, a sweatshirt, and socks. Coming from the Myanmar hot season, Kim was loving the cool temps and continued to wear her shorts and flip flops everyday. We lived as nomads, moving from place to place spending time with all of our favorite people. 

Starting off right away we celebrated Drew’s 16th birthday by camping in true Maine style – cooking lobster over the fire. It wasn’t long before it was Amanda’s 21st as we took her out for her first legal drink continuing with a trip to a casino, margaritas, tacos, and beer pong. The days quickly got filled with lunch dates with awesome people, excursions to the local swimming holes, and frosty deliciousness at our favorite ice cream stands. There were late night bonfires, family BBQs, road trips across states, hikes on the best of forest trails, catching up with friends, and quality time with family.

Our yearly trip up to Lubec (the most eastern point in the US) had a rocky start when the truck broke down on the way up. But we continued on and had a few days of bliss with ocean breezes, starry night skies, not a person in sight for miles, and lobster. There is always lobster on an Ellicott vacation to Lubec. Shortly after we said goodbye to our dearest Ellie May. Words cannot express the loss we feel at the emptiness in our lives left by the happiest creature imaginable. Ellie got along with every person and animal (besides skunks and squirrels). We were constantly complemented on her happy personality and calm demeanor. She was so much more than our puppy dog, she was the third member of our small family.

As we worked through our emotions, we continued to stuff ourselves with our favorite (and much missed) American food. Milk, steak, honey nut cheerios, swis rolls, bread that is not sweet, breakfast sandwiches, waffles, orange juice, chocolate, granola bars, fruit roll ups, meatballs, steak and cheese grinders, and so SO much more. I’m seriously going to have to work off all the extra weight when I get back. 

I photographed a wedding with Andrea and some super sweet couples sessions. Kim went fishing with Josh and sunk the paddleboat. We got our one year anniversary photos taken by Aime from Aime E Photography. There was so much amazingness in these few weeks! To wrap it up we spent an unforgettable week with most of my family in a cabin in northern Maine where we explored waterfalls, went white water rafting, cruised the lake at sunset via pontoon, had never ending card games, and laughed more often than not.

The seven weeks we were back seemed more like seven days. I knew it would go by quickly, I was prepared for it to go by quickly. What I wasn’t expecting was the lack of anticipation on returning. I figured it would feel like any other vacation where towards the end of it you get the itchy desire to be back where you came from. Instead I felt very comfortable, very settled surrounded by all of my favorite people and familiar environments. It was easy and not complicated. I guess that is what it feels like to come home.
 

Yet, in no way am I hesitant to continue our adventures abroad. As I see fewer signs in English and more noodle dishes around me, I feel myself pulling back on my armor. Not in an aggressive way, but the necessary readiness needed for navigating a foreign country. The oh-so-familiar complications of language barriers, unknown customs, foreign cities, unrecognizable food, and general confusion that accompanies traveling is flooding back. With it though, comes endless potential for more life-changing experiences, meeting more awesome people, continuing to broaden our mindsets, and learning more about ourselves and this amazing planet everyday. 

So THANK YOU Maine and everyone for the conversations and catching up, for the couches to sleep on and the overly delicious food, for the time spent with us and the un-wavering open arms that welcomed us back. But mostly thank you for all the love that filled our hearts enough to last us (what is sure to be) another remarkable year away from home.