Koh Samui & Bali: "Live Aways"

We ending up spending an extra half hour on the tarmac after we landed, but ... we experienced another 'first' while we wearily waited for our bags to arrive at 11:00pm last night. We bought a few things so we expanded our carry-on bags and checked them on the way home.

My suitcase was the very FIRST bag that tumbled down onto the baggage carousel when the turnstile started buzzing last night. And, now we know why!

It was the first one off the plane because it was likely the last one loaded! It turns out it had been searched at YVR for security violations! I can't be sure, but I'm thinking it might nave been the black sand we brought back from Bali that stirred up their suspicion! They let me keep the sand though! 🤔

I caught a wee bit of the sunrise as we opened our peepers after our short, fast but amazingly sound sleep last night. The bright, sunny blue sky welcomed us back to Alberta today! ☀️☀️☀️

As we driove home on the Red Arrow, I found myself feeling extra gratitude for the gift of being born in Canada. Travel always stretches perspectives in the most meaningful ways, but this trip reaffirmed how privileged we have been to be born here.

There are many wonderful things about Koh Samui, Thailand and Bali, Indonesia that I am going to miss ... but .... I would never want to live there!! I am ever grateful I have a home and life that I am eager to return to. It does not escape me that not everyone can say that!

There are, however, so many things we will definitely miss about how our days were shaped while we 'lived away' with Wheel & Anchor! The live away concept is something we truly enjoyed!

First and foremost, we will miss the Thai food. We've actually been missing it for two weeks already ... even while we were in Bali. Indonesian food, for us, was just not quite as satisfying. It was good, but Thai food remains our all time favorite! I only wish there was somewhere in Lethbridge where you could get authentic Thai!

I will miss having my bed and breakfast made for me. Tomorrow I'll be slugging it out in the kitchen ... trying to figure out what to make myself for lunch?? Sigh.

I spoke about this before, but I barely ate bread while we were gone. And, I didn't miss it ... at all! I'd like to figure a way to eat less of it from now on. I mean ... just look at the picture of our first Canadian breakfast! My plate is filled with starch.

After living primarily on fruits, spicy rices and delicious proteins for the last month ... I noticed less inflammation in my joints. I'd like to keep it that way.

I'm really going to miss my morning capuccino though! Maybe we'll have to get a machine?? Although, I have to concede that my 18% cream tasted great in my Canadian coffee this morning.

I won't miss the traffic or the billions of motor bikes weaving precariously through three lanes of traffic on a two lane road. 😬

My hair won't miss the humidity but my skin certainly will! We won't miss all the head scratching and misunderstandings while trying to understand the way English is spoken with strong Asian accents and emphasis on the wring syllables. That said ... I humbly commend them all for speaking English as well as they do. I barely mustered a few key phrases in Thai and Balinese. 🥴

I will definitely miss the kind smiles and energy of warmth and joy that permeates the ethers in that part of the world. Even though we are such polite Canadians, we could learn a lot from Thai and Indonesian culture about grace and compassion.

I won't miss the heat! No. Nope. Nada. I have been in that hot sunny climates for a month and you'd never know it by the pale color of my skin. The old boy is tanned but I was committed to avoiding the sun and staying in the shade. Yikes. It was scorchingly, stiflingly and oppressively hot and humid. 😰

I'm going to miss $10CAD foot massages! It was such an affordable indulgence. A couple in our group had a foot massage every night before bed! I thought that was a great idea. I bet they slept better!

I won't miss having to be vigilant about bottled water! I'm going to savor drinking straight out of the tap! Well, maybe Ill use a cup! 🤣We are so incredibly fortunate to have clean drinking water piped right into our homes. And, we just take it for granted.

We are both going to miss the bidets. We have become very attached to them. We might need to get one installed! 🤔

We are going to miss our new friends ... but ... we are so delighted to reconnect with our friends and family at home here. Connection is such a treasure in our lives. Thank you to all of you who have joined us here. It was so nourishing to 'see' you while we were so far away!

We're really looking forward to resuming our regular lives again. I am exceptionally eager to enjoy my solitude tomorrow morning! We are eager to get back to our Bridge Lessons. I am excited to get back to pickleball. I think a new season of 'The Voice' has also started! We haven't turned a TV on for over a month.

So ... it will be great to be home! And, we haven't booked any other travels except a trip out to Kelowna in May. We are both quite content to stay home for a while now. ✨️

Thank you again for joining us here ... we appreciate you so much!
❤️ k&j ❤️Lue lisää