2018-2019 Holiday Letter
For the first time in years, I missed writing my holiday letter in 2018. The holiday season was NUTS with lots of moving, trip planning, errand running, and family time, so here we are…New Year's Day 2020. So guess what? This year, you get two years' worth of holiday letters in one!
Let's back up to the end of 2017. Keith was working on a solar job near Mankato, Minnesota, which was supposed to last 5 weeks. We had just moved into an RV park, gotten our internet connected, and settled into a routine. We planned to make a quick trip to Kansas for Christmas and return for a few more weeks when Keith's superiors informed him that when we returned they would want him to move to another job site, a couple of hours away.
"Forget it," Keith said. "We'll be back in April."
So on Christmas Eve we packed everything, disconnected our internet, and drove the Old Slothmobile back to Kansas, just ahead of a winter storm and crazy cold temperatures. Good timing!
I jumped online and made our flight reservations for the winter. Here's the itinerary, and what we might have paid per person:
Fortunately, I know how to play the frequent flyer mile game, so here is what we actually paid per person:
We celebrated Christmas with Keith's family, and in January 2018, we hit the road. First to Colorado to visit my parents. Then to Arizona to see my grandparents. California to catch up with friends. From San Francisco, we flew to Asia: our 7th continent! Bucket list item complete!
Our first stop in Asia was a day-long layover in Hong Kong. We left the airport and explored!
Hong Kong surprised me with how clean and orderly it was, and how much green space and nature it actually has. It's a fascinating city and I would definitely enjoy spending more time exploring it someday, though with the recent conflict it seems there are certain areas we'd want to avoid right now.
In the evening we landed in Singapore. What a fascinating little country! Definitely the most modern city I've ever been to. So clean, orderly, well-run, and multi-cultural! English is one of the official languages, so it was super easy, too. A "soft landing" in Asia, as our South Pole friend Chin Lin put it. She came down from Kuala Lumpur to visit us while we were there. We also visited with Mike, Keith's college roommate!
Mike introduced us to fresh durian fruit for the first time. We've heard so many stories, and now we got to taste (and smell) it for ourselves!
I like to describe the smell as a mixture of raw onion, garlic, gasoline and turpentine whirled up in the Vitamix. However, the texture is very creamy and the flavor actually reminded me of chocolate pudding, if I could get it into my mouth without smelling it! We liked it enough that we bought durian several more times while we were in Asia.
After our week in Singapore, we boarded a plane for our home for the next month: Chiang Mai, Thailand.
We started out in a guest house for a few days while we went apartment hunting and eventually found a very conveniently located 1-bedroom furnished apartment in a building with a pool and a gym for a bit over $400/month, plus utilities. We even had a washing machine in our apartment!
Within a few blocks of our apartment, we had access to one of the big malls in town and tons of great restaurants and coffee shops. A swing dance group, a board game café, and a great little co-working space nearby gave us the opportunity to both work and socialize. There's a lot to love about Chiang Mai!
I also began to learn Thai. Before we arrived I had been listening to NHK World Japan news in Thai, Thai Survival Phrases (from survivalphrases.com), and the ThaiPod101 podcast to accustom my ears to this strange language. It was my first (and only, so far) foray into the world of tonal languages and a completely new writing system (at least it's phonetic, but very complex with 44 consonants, 15 vowels, and additional symbols for the tones). In Thailand, I discovered the site learnthaifromawhiteguy.com, with five helpful free lessons that taught me how to begin to decipher the written language, which in turn helped me learn new Thai words and begin to read (somewhat) the signs around the city. If we ever go back to Thailand for another extended trip, I'll invest in his course. Keith also learned some phrases (Hi, Thank you, Nice to meet you, etc.). Our attempts to learn and use Thai seemed to impress (and amuse, such as when I said "I'm sorry" when I meant to say "Thank you") a lot of the locals. Apparently most people don't even try.
As usual, one of our favorite activities in Chiang Mai was hiking, and we found some neat trails via the AllTrails app (if you are a hiker and don't have this app, we definitely recommend checking it out). Our favorite was the Wan Bua Ban – Ban Chang Kian Loop hike, with a hill tribe village at the top!
Keith also began experimenting with eating insects while we were in Thailand. Not just the cricket flour that he'd been making muffins with back in the States, but whole bugs: grubs, crickets, scorpions. Much better for the environment than beef, he argues, and he's right. But I'll just stick to being a vegetarian, thanks!
After a month in Chiang Mai, we said goodbye to Thailand for a week and hopped over to Cambodia to check off another one of my bucket list items: Angkor Wat.
The Angkor Wat complex contains hundreds of temples across many square kilometers, and it is so fascinating! We hired a man named Bunthy to drive us around the ruins. He was absolutely wonderful. Although he humbly said he was "just" a driver, not a guide, we learned so much from him about not only the temples we visited and their history, but also about Cambodia in general, his family, and so much more. By the end of our trip, he had become a friend, and we are still in touch.
If you ever make it to Angkor Wat (and you should!), call Bunthy or WhatsApp at +855-12-972-469 or email at bunthyme.bm@gmail.com to make direct arrangements for Bunthy to show you around. You'll love it. Tell him we sent you.
It would seem 2018 was becoming the year of 'bucket list check-offs' because after Cambodia, we flew back to Thailand, and this time our destination was Koh Lanta: an island where I would learn to scuba dive and earn my open water diving certificate!
We stayed down in Kantiang Bay in a simple but very comfortable bungalow in a place a few blocks from the ocean called "Sammy Resort & Spa." I wouldn't exactly call it a resort, but for our 2.5-week stay, it was perfect! The lady who runs the place was friendly and accommodating, and I enjoyed our interactions. Sammy's was in a quiet area, except for the roosters and the 5-times-per-day call to prayer from the nearby mosque, which we got used to within a day or two. (The locals in the area are predominantly Muslim. For some reason, I found it slightly amusing to see women in hijabs selling skimpy swimsuits in the tourist shops, but so it is.)
I earned my open water scuba certification at ScubaFish. They were both safety- and eco-conscious, both of which were important to us and why we chose them over some of the cheaper diving companies on the island. After witnessing some other companies out at the dive sites, I was glad we had made that choice.
Our final destination in Asia was one more Thai island: Koh Phi Phi (pronounced co-pee-pee, LOL). We have an IHG credit card which gives us an annual free night, and at the time, there were no limits. So Keith found the most luxurious IHG property in Thailand and off we went. A few photos:
Back in the U.S. we traveled back to KS in reverse order: California, Arizona, Colorado, and then Kansas to pick up the motorhome and head for Keith's next job, which took us to Monticello, Minnesota. We arrived at our place in Minnesota just as the last big blizzard of the year was beginning, slipping and sliding around on the road in our big old Slothmobile. We were grateful to reach our destination before any more ice had accumulated on the roads.
Once the snow cleared, the weather quickly warmed up and we settled into our RV park on the west bank of the Mississippi River. We loved the location, which was outdoorsy and bike-friendly, close to a library, coffee shop, grocery store, and a State Park where we could bike, hike, and paddle. Luckily for me, we had pretty good wifi in the park which allowed me to get my work done.
Keith usually works 60-80 hours per week during his working season, but work was slow in Minnesota at the beginning of this season. For the first time, Keith frequently had entire weekends off, which gave us time to fully enjoy the area. For Memorial Day weekend, we drove up to Canada and went backpacking in Sleeping Giant Provincial Park.
We got involved with the Minnesota Orienteering Club and did some adventure races in Minnesota and Wisconsin. We also drove out to Michigan to run an adventure race there with my friend, Karen.
If you're not familiar with adventure racing, you are missing out, my friend. It is SO much fun! Unlike normal bike or running races where you go from Point A to Point B as fast as possible, adventure racing includes several different sports that challenge not only the body but also the brain. Typically you'll run or fast-hike, bike, and paddle (kayak or canoe, usually), all while trying to find certain checkpoints with a map and compass (no GPS allowed). There is a time limit for the race, and those who find the most checkpoints within that limit win the race. At the beginning of the race, everyone is given the map with the checkpoints and everyone has a little time to strategize and plot their course. Adventure races are often run in teams, but usually, you can opt to run them solo as well.
In August I flew out to Washington for a week and was able to catch up with some friends and family.
In early September we went to the Minnesota State Fair, which they say is the largest State Fair in the country and I think they are right. I think there were about 200,000 people there the day we went.
At the end of September, I flew to Denver to attend the Location Indie gathering I'd helped organize and promote as part of my work. (It's a great community for location independent people, and those striving to become location independent. Check it out if you feel those yearnings!)
After the LI Denver Experience, I flew directly to Philadelphia for another conference (Heroic Public Speaking Live). One of my goals for 2018 had been to visit a new state, so not only did I have an excellent experience at the conference, but I was also able to tag Pennsylvania!
While I was away at the two conferences, Keith moved our motorhome down to the Albert Lea area where his next work project was beginning. We were in a small town, ten miles from any store, gym, library or coffee shop or even any decent trails on which to hike or cross-country ski, so as the weather turned wintery I was going stir crazy.
I was glad for a break around Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead), when we had a trip to Mexico City planned with my mastermind group. I had hoped Keith's project would end by then so we could simply stay in Mexico, but that was not to be, alas.
Our week in Mexico included hikes to the mountaintop pyramids of Tepoztlán…
…a hot air balloon flight over the pyramids of Teotihuacán…
…exploring Teotihuacán itself on foot…
…celebrating Day of the Dead…
…eating lots of phenomenal food, and scootering through the enormous Chapultepec Park, among many other things.
Going back to Minnesota was rough. In order to be able to join a gym, get some physical activity, and stay sane, we decided I would rent a car for a month so I could get myself around (Keith and I shared a car and it was his place to stay warm during his work breaks). Every year, when the snow begins to fall, I vow I will never do another winter and threaten to head south early.
Keith's job came to a conclusion right before Christmas again. Once again we celebrated the holiday with Keith's family, then spent some time with my parents, and early on New Year's Day 2019 we flew to Morelia and made our way to Pátzcuaro, Mexico.
Of all the places I have been in the world, Pátzcuaro feels most like home to me. Loja, Ecuador is lovely and definitely close to the top of my list of alternate home choices, but Pátzcuaro is the clear winner for me. My happiest childhood memories are there (we lived there between 1989 and 1992), I have good friends there to this day, the weather is nice, the food is delicious, the town is charming and historic, and the countryside is beautiful. I have ached to live there again since the day we left in October of 1992. Literally ached in my heart, some days.
The last time we went to Pátzcuaro was for a few days in 2010; just long enough to track down and reconnect with 9 of my friends whom I hadn't seen since '92. This time we rented a house for 6 weeks and had a marvelous time catching up with friends on a much deeper level, and just enjoying the town. I'm so happy that Keith loves it, too, and that all my friends there welcomed him with open arms. We enjoyed it so much that Keith and I have decided to get a more permanent home (long term rental to start with, and possibly a purchase in a few years) and make it our main base for several months every year when we are not working around the U.S.
We said goodbye to Pátzcuaro in mid-February and took a bus to Querétaro for another Location Indie gathering which I had helped organize and promote. Querétaro is another gorgeous colonial city and we had a fantastic time there with a few dozen like-minded free spirits like us.
From Querétaro, we flew to Belize on American Airlines points. We spent a few days up in San Ignacio exploring some ruins and going into an amazing cave with some actual crystalized human skeletons inside (the remains of ancient human sacrifices).
We had this crazy idea to travel through Belize, Guatemala, and down to Roatan Honduras over land and water, but we had a deadline to be in Costa Rica for a class Keith would be taking there and decided after looking at the calendar that it was just too much to cram in. So we dropped Guatemala from the itinerary and flew straight to Roatan on a little island hopper plane.
In Roatan, scuba diving is cheap and absolutely beautiful. We rented a very basic (no A/C, no hot water, shared bathroom) beachfront room for a week and went diving almost every day. I earned my advanced open water diving certificate. The most memorable dive was a night dive in which we saw the bioluminescent "string of pearls" phenomenon: one of the most magical things I've seen in nature! It's like swimming through constellations. Here is someone else's description of the night dive which is pretty true to what we experienced. We also did a wreck dive and some other really unique dives that took us through underwater canyons and into little underwater cave-like areas where we saw enormous crabs (probably 3-5 feet across from the tip one leg to the tip of the opposite leg!). I'm pretty sure we'll be going back to Roatan for more diving in the future.
From Honduras, we flew to Costa Rica, again on American Airlines miles (layover in Dallas). Keith took a solar installation course in Ujarrás from Solar Energy International (SEI), the same institution from which he has taken several other solar courses. While he was in class, I worked like crazy to make up for the time I hadn't worked while we were in Belize and Honduras. At the end of the week, our Airbnb host generously lent us her car and we set out to explore a couple of the parks in the region. We found this 6.5-inch-long snail in one of the parks:
After Costa Rica, we returned to Mexico. This time we went to Oaxaca to house- and cat-sit for a month. I'd heard a lot of great things about Oaxaca, and Keith had studied Spanish there for a month between high school and college, so we were both really looking forward to the next 4 weeks.
We had a quirky, artsy apartment just blocks from the center of town, and took care of a sweet old kitty named N'jara.
Two other location-independent couples we know came to Oaxaca at the same time, plus one of my mastermind members lives there, so we had a lot of fun gatherings and game nights throughout the month!
Keith took advanced Spanish classes for 4 hours per day while I worked. During our afternoons/evenings and weekends, we explored the area, including a bike ride out to the tree with the widest trunk in the world…
…lots of walks around the city…
…an excursion out to Hierve el Agua…
…an excursion to Monte Albán (ruins)…
…and an excursion to San Martín Tilcajete, where they paint the alebrijes. (Unique wood sculptures of various creatures, painted very elaborately.)
Have you seen the movie, "Coco"? We met the real-life inspirations for Dante the dog and the "Mamá Elena" character in San Martín. And by the way, Pátzcuaro is the real-life inspiration for the town in the movie. The two places in Mexico most famous for Day of the Dead are Pátzcuaro and Oaxaca! Here are some pictures from San Martín:
In mid-April, it was time to say goodbye to Mexico and fly back to the States. We first went to Arizona to see my grandparents and hike the Grand Canyon.
While in Arizona, we decided to go ahead and buy a second car. We've been sharing a car for years because it saves us a lot of money and I don't have to commute for work (unless I can't get internet in the motorhome), but the inconvenience was starting to get to us, especially when the weather doesn't permit me to get out on my bike. We bought a used Subaru Outback in Phoenix which allowed Keith to drive on back to Kansas to work on the property a little, while I went to Colorado and spent some time with my family.
In mid-May, I returned to Colorado to attend a public speaking conference, then made my way to Northeast Iowa where Keith was beginning his next work project as the site superintendent on a 2-megawatt solar field. I dreaded going to Iowa, but found myself pleasantly surprised at how beautiful the northeast corner of the state is. The Nordic culture is strong there, and in fact, it reminded me of Scandinavia in many ways.
The most amazing thing, though, was the beautiful lakes, rivers, hills, and bluffs that make up the "Driftless" region (so named because the glaciers did not drift through that area, and so there's a lot more variety in the topography). Now that we had a Subaru, we decided to get kayaks and take full advantage of the paddling opportunities before us.
Most Sundays and even on some evenings, we could be found out on one of the rivers or lakes in the area, enjoying the natural beauty and the wildlife, especially many nesting pairs of bald eagles.
There are also plentiful bike trails in the area and events throughout the summer. We enjoyed several cultural events including "lawn chair nights" with free open-air concerts and NordicFest in Decorah.
Several friends visited us while we were in the area, which was wonderful! I also made a couple new friends in the mobile home park where we stayed in West Union.
While we were in Iowa, I also had an opportunity to take a road trip to tag a new state: Ohio. I took my 11-year-old "nephew" (best friend's son) along with me and we had a marvelous time.
Keith's work in Iowa ended, and his next project took us to Grand Lake, Colorado. We arrived just before the fall colors came on, and managed to get out for a few hikes to watch the spectacular change of seasons. What a great feeling to be back in the Colorado Rockies!
Keith took one week off from the project to attend Solar Power International, the world's largest solar conference with over 19,000 attendees, in Salt Lake City, Utah. I stayed behind to work and watch over our kitty.
As fall turned to winter, I felt the old itch to go south, and the timing could not have been more perfect. Keith's project ended on November 8, and on November 9 we flew to Mexico to attend his sister Andrea's wedding near Cancún.
After a week on the beach, we returned to Colorado and drove the motorhome to Kansas to store it and do a little work on the property there. We drove back to Colorado to spend Thanksgiving with my family, and then the winter travels began.
Keith earned the Southwest Companion Pass this year, so whenever we fly Southwest, I fly with him for free. We had already used it for our trip to Cancún, and now, to get the full benefit, we booked a series of Caribbean island trips.
We started with a flight to Arizona to see my grandparents. Keith's uncle also happened to be in the area, so we spent a day with him and another friend visiting Biosphere 2 near Tucson.
Next stop: Cuba. Our purpose for this trip was support for the Cuban people, part of which included staying with a local host family and supporting privately-owned businesses. What a mind-blowing experience Cuba was! In many ways, it's like stepping back in time. Because of the US embargo, most of the cars are antiques. The infrastructure in some ways feels like Mexico 30+ years ago. Although there are people everywhere, many things are in a state of disrepair or are simply not maintained, which gives most areas (except for the more touristy zones) an "abandoned" feel. Buildings haven't been painted in years, fountains are dry, grass in the parks is growing out of control. And yet it is a beautiful country with friendly people. I'd love to see more someday. I'll be writing more in-depth about Cuba later on, but meanwhile, here are some photos:
And a few more…
I feel like I could have used a lot more time in Cuba just to digest everything I was learning there, but after 5 nights we jumped back on a Southwest plane, spent less than 24 hours in Fort Lauderdale, then took off to the Dominican Republic.
Here's a little bit of travel advice about the Dominican Republic: if you like to avoid touristy, "resorty" places, don't hang out in Punta Cana. We didn't do much research before going and booked a place in Punta Cana for a week. The beach was lovely and we had a nice apartment in a building with a rooftop pool, and it seemed like a great deal until the booming music from the bar right below us kept us awake all night. Then Keith scraped up his foot pretty badly on a rock and developed some respiratory issues, and I broke out with a bad rash, so we were out of commission for any diving or much walking. It was a lame week, but here are some pretty photos:
On the bright side, on the flight to the Dominican Republic, we had sat next to a local guy, Ariel, who shared all kinds of wonderful tips about his country with us and told us he'd love to show us around Santo Domingo. So at the end of our week in Punta Cana, we eagerly boarded the bus and went to Santo Domingo.
Ariel had to work the day we were there, but he put his brother Lorenzo in touch with us and we had a fantastic time with him while he showed us all over the historic district and also shared helpful information for how to get to our next destination: the highlands of the Dominican Republic.
We arrived in Jarabacoa on Christmas Eve and spent three nights there in a wonderful little Airbnb in the country, complete with a dog, friendly kitty, and chickens. The fresh mountain air and verdant landscapes were a welcome relief from the previous weeks we had spent mostly in cities. The cherry on top was that our host was also a professional paraglider pilot, so he gave us a great deal and we got to go flying!
What these Instagram photos do NOT show you is my horribly swollen and deformed face from the worst allergic reaction I've had in my life (it started before coming up to the mountains, and we think it was a chemical in some shampoo I used). I ended up going to the emergency room twice on Christmas Day for anti-allergy shots, but it all worked out in the end. And medical care is mercifully inexpensive there.
We decided to use this year's annual IHG free night at the Intercontinental Hotel on our last night in the DR, back in Santo Domingo. After indulging in our night of luxury, we returned to the Punta Cana airport and back to Fort Lauderdale to spend the remaining nights of 2019 in a tent in South Florida.
Seeing we would be in Florida, my friend and former co-worker, Lupe, and her son Manuel, who was my second-grade student back in '02-'03, cleared their day to come to see us. They are living in Florida now and I hadn't seen them in 16 years! What a treat to catch up with them.
The following day, Keith and I went out to the Everglades and I experienced my first airboat ride, and also saw alligators in the wild for the first time!
New Year's Eve saw us driving back to the Fort Lauderdale airport for our next Southwest flight. At 9:40 p.m. we landed in San Juan, Puerto Rico and took an Uber to our Airbnb. At midnight I stood out on our deck to watch the fireworks explode all around the city, and hear joyful celebrations all around. We've closed out another year and another decade.
The last two years have been incredibly good to Keith and me. We have had the great fortune to work in interesting places, enjoy wonderful activities, spend time with family, see many new countries and meet many new friends, plus catch up with some good old friends. We are grateful to everyone–family, new friends, old friends, and people we have met in passing–who has shown us kindness and helped make these years as awesome as they have been. We hope that in some way, we have helped brighten the lives we have touched as well.
We wish you all the best in this new year and DECADE! Happy 2020!
Love,
Lily, Keith, & our kitty Sprite
Enter your name and email to receive my newsletter and stay up to date!
We hate spam as much as you. Your email is safe with us.