Because families are the most important...

I just want to give you all an update on Ross and me. We will be suspending the blog for awhile. I just recently received news about a lil' member of my family who has become suddenly ill and we took the first flight to be back home with my family.

Since leaving on our travels in January, we have seen incredible sights, met unbelievable people and become closer through memories that no words can describe. We've put up 1/50 of the posts possible, but we hope that our blog has inspired you all to do what you love...because you can.

Above all, we've realized how important family and friends are to us. We didn't think it was possible, but the love for our families and friends back home has grown significantly. So, when we got the news from my family, we knew without a moments hesitation that we needed to be home. Nothing in the world and no destination around the globe compares to our families.

Keep in touch and stay tuned for the continuing adventure...

The Hospital Experience

In search of relatively urgent medical care we were taxied to the local hospital. Hobbling through the doors of what seemed to be an abandoned mental institution, we hollered out for some assistance. Eventually we came across six men huddled around a small T.V. watching the 2 o’clock soap. The men sprung into action with an eerie glee that seemed to say “we’ve got a live one!”

After a painfully efficient examination the Doc decided it best I get an X-ray. Sharief, the medical assistant, wheeled me down a long corridor to the X-ray room. A recently renovated torture chamber, the X-ray room housed a massive machine built from spare microwave parts fashioned with railroad spikes. As the self-proclaimed technician flipped the switched I could feel the radiation in my teeth.

I was then briskly wheeled back to the examination room, picking up hospital staff along the way like an episode of the Benny Hill Show. Before I knew it my ankle was being fitted with Plaster of Paris. An arts and crafts project that involved three physicians, one ‘technician’, one stray cat, six inquisitive onlookers and one very concerned girlfriend. Two weeks was my sentence as the doctor lovingly signed my still wet cast; “Welcome to Egypt! Your friend, Doctor So-and-so.” A questionable insurance report later and I was on the back of Sharief’s Motorcycle heading for camp, my fresh cast drying in the hot Egyptian sun.

Devonitely NOT Rossome

Tragedy has befallen our once blissful travels. Without going into too many embarrassing details I will say that, despite Devon’s adamant better judgment, I injured my right ankle while frolicking on some large boulders.

Diagnosis; bone Fissure, two weeks laid up in a cast. With no available crutches my range of mobility allows just enough distance to hop to the rest room and back. This is particularly tragic considering Saint Catharine’s notoriously good treks, including one of Moses’ personal favorite hikes, Mt. Sinai.

A prisoner of my own doing, I will be held up for two weeks at our camp ground while Devon searches for the 11^th commandment. Maybe it will read, “thou shalt listen to your girlfriends warnings when playing on large boulders.”

The Manventure

Red and I in hot pursuit of the Viet-Cong

I met up with a childhood friend of mine and did a ten day tour of Vietnam. Here are some highlights and low lights:

Highlights:
- Meeting up with my man Steve
- Patroning local beer gardens
- Crawling through narrow Viet-cong tunnels
- White sand beaches

The chaos that is Saigon traffic.

Low lights:
- White knuckle motorbike taxi rides through Saigon
- Precarious massage parlors
- Stomach turning minibus rides through the hills
- 8 year old pick pockets

All and all the trip was nothing short of a "manventure."

Walk like an Egyptian

Just askin' for directions

Note his companion.

News from Cairo

We're off to the desert today! So far, we've fallen in love with this city and culture. We've truly been on the go since we arrived. And don't worry, Ross is working on his post about his manventure. Should be good! We'll be back with goods soon. In the meantime...wish us luck in the desert. I'm pretty sure a snake is going to try to climb in my sleeping bag. Fun.

Here we go!

Holy balls people! Ross and I are leaving the world of Asia today! I'm meeting up with Ross at the airport and then we're jet setting. Quite honestly, I'm amazed at how fast this time here has gone by. What do you mean it's August tomorrow?! So, that's the update. There will be more posts coming up once I get to hear about the "manventure" Ross was on (the term "manventure" was termed by our long time friend Bob...kudos to him).

Peace out cub scouts.

If it wasn't already known...

I'm a cat lady. No lies, these cats came up to me at a picnic table on the beach and made themselves comfy. They could smell from miles away...or could smell that I miss Philipe the cat.

What a Wat!

Just to let you all know...Ross is currently in Vietnam traveling with a buddy from high school and I hit the road solo to Cambodia! Now, I'm on an island in Thailand...Koh Chang, but I want to share some pictures of my favorite day trip so far...Angkor Wat. Holy balls it was incredible! I started at 4 AM to be there at 5 to see the sunset that never really happened, it just got light out. It was a hot and sweaty day, but the place was truly a wonder. Enjoy!

Angkor Wat, after "sunrise."

Hallway in Angkor Wat

The Awesome Bayon Temple. Can you see all the faces?!

Faces at Bayon

Terrace with carvings

If only you could've seen the amount of sweat pouring off me.

Jungle taking over at Ta Prohm. Site where scenes of Tomb Raider and Indiana Jones were filmed.

Needless to say, it was an awesome day. I have loads of pictures and some that won't upload. Treats for later, I guess. The size and incredible intricacies of this place was beyond words. Hope you all have a good day!

New sights

I just wanted to share with you all what I saw riding on the back of motorbikes on my way to Siem Reap...

1. A wooden crate full of piglets...alive.
2. Massive pigs upside down...not so alive.
3. Local blacksmith carrying every knife imaginable.
4. A crate full of mice.

I love it here.

"Home"

People might ask me, "Where's home?" Now I respond...wherever my man is. This song says it perfectly! (Just listen...don't watch).

The Flyer Team

Once we arrived in Luang Prabang, we knew we wanted to stay for a while. So, through HelpExchange we found a restaurant that could use us as flyer people in exchange for a meal a day and accommodation. Sweet deal.

The restaurant

Our last night at the 'rant. Laos BBQ!

Nightly, we would stand on our corners asking if anyone was looking for a restaurant for the evening or perhaps even a bookmark! Along the way we made friends with the local Laos who passed out flyers. Most seemed to be on break from university and this was their summer job. We’d meet them every night and they’d practice English with us and we’d learn some Laos lines (no, nothing slang yet) or Ross learned origami from Yong who worked at the same restaurant as us.

Our nights on the corners really did make our time in Luang Prabang special. We made that human connection. Daily we are shown how wonderful the people are here. By the time we left, the smoothie lady smiled whenever she saw us coming and would say, “Mango-banana?” Yes, same-same. Or the pineapple women would laugh when we’d stroll up for the 3^rd time of the day for the glorious fruit. Everyone is quick to smile and it makes us feel right at home.

They say that Thailand is the “Land of Smiles,” but I think the title should go to Laos.

A Favorite of Mine

Rain won't keep us from eating pineapples!

Pineapple errand from Ross Ballinger on Vimeo.

Lazy Days

So, my upkeep of Devonitely Rossome hasn't been in it's prime, but to be honest...we've been doing a whole lot of nothing. Relaxation. I'm an expert in it now. If you'd like to be too, I'd suggest Luang Prabang here in Laos. Heavenly here. So, since I don't have much to report, I'd like to give you some visuals so you can share in our love of this place.

Ross riding in the rain to get us fresh pineapple

Beautiful wats fill this city

Fishing

Backpacker's buffet! About $1.50 for a plate with as much food as you like...aka Ross' homeland

Typical view down the small streets

Question: What would you all like to hear about?
Have a great day!!!

And the winner is...

A Treehouse!!! Whoop whoop! I think it was a total of 3 votes for treehouse that won. However, all of the suggestions of places to stay are enticing and if we happen upon any...obviously we will stay in them! We have no idea when or where this will happen...but we're on the search.

As for now, we're in Luang Prabang and don't plan on leaving any time soon. We're doing some help exchange work for a restaurant. We're very excited! This town is magical and we're falling in love with it more and more everyday. Umm, who wouldn't want freshly chopped pineapple everyday for less than a dollar?!

By the by, there should be some new Tokyo pictures up. Hopefully, you can see them, otherwise I'll have to putz a little more. I just selected a few and don't know if they are good ones or not by the thumbnails I get to choose from. One of these days we'll be caught up (I hear you all laughing).

Don't even think about seatbelts.

View of Laos from bus

Let me tell you a little story that happened to us recently. It’s about our bus ride from China to Laos. We were so eager to get to Laos that we should have figured that it wouldn’t be easy…not in the least.

Before he knew about the bugs

The bus ride was scheduled to be about 25 hours. We knew this would be epic, but it was taking us directly to the town we wanted to be in, so we went for it. The bus was a sleeper bus, which essentially is just a bunch of bunk beds crowded together in place of seats. We bought tickets for a lower bunk and were really excited for this ride…different, fun, an experience, right? Indeed it was. As we were waiting for the bus to leave, Ross spotted a bug run across one of the bars. Thinking nothing of it, we just kept on talking. However, when another ran by and went towards the mattress, we looked at each other with dread. Ross lifted up the mattress we were to be sleeping on and found way, way too many cockroach looking bugs. As soon as he shed light on them, they fled.

Now, I think this is the point at which some of our “freak out” sensories just closed their eyes. We knew we had to take this bus, we were desperate to get to Laos. Ross did further investigation and found that the bugs were plentiful on the lower bunks…as in dozens upon dozens of them. However, the upper bunks contained no bugs. So, we switched to the upper bunks.

Now this was only the beginning…by far. And because this is a mildly long story and I don’t actually want to recall it anymore because it was that bad, I’m going to skim through sections.

Next, the upper bunks were positioned directly beneath the speakers which to our luck were blasting (truly) poppy Chinese music. Not even poppy. Sentimental songs by a male singer who changed 4 notes in each song and made an album. One cd…the whole trip. I'm still annoyed by it. We inserted our ear plugs and attempted a night sleep, which didn’t really happen.

After learning of bugs and listening to sentimental music all day...you can see the speaker above

The following day consisted of numerous stops being made within minutes of each other, the same cd, pay to pee bathrooms, a dead dog and then we had to enter Laos. When we walked up to “immigration,” we began to laugh. One window for dozens of people entering the country and their form of a line? Push your way to the front. Who cares if there’s an elderly woman who has been waiting longest, shove your way to the front. Better yet, throw your passport at the guy stamping it and instead of him yelling at you and telling you to get to the back…he ACCEPTS it!!!

So, Ross has made it to the front when we discover there’s a separate line to get upon entry visas. So we fill those out and pay our dues. He gets to the front again and the man at the window hands him another set of forms to fill out. Okay, loosing my cool a bit, but we’re okay…no big deal. Third time to the window, the bus driver comes up to us and motions that we need to pay some unknown reason of a fee to enter the country. This is when I start to break down. And this is when the best part of the story happens…

Ross looks at me as my eyes are filling up with tears and says, “Give me your passport Dev, I’m going into football mode.” Absolute music to my ears. Ross has never said that before and has since said that "football mode is the last option and times must have been getting desperate." Gosh I love him. So, we give $2 to enter the country, the bus man throws our passports through the window to the immigration man and he stamps them. Back on the bus and we stop five minutes later.

The rest of the story consists of the same, but you must remember throughout this whole bus ride, we’re more or less on gravel type road. The paved roads seem rougher than the gravel. So we’re bumping up and down the entire way and at some points, have to hold onto something or we will fall into the world of cockroaches. We become motion sick the last leg and constantly felt like we were being smuggled into the country.

But we made it! I sat up and read some signs and realized that we were indeed driving into Luang Prabang. We survived! However, we did get some insight into what sensory overload may do to someone. Blast that horrible sentimental music again and I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.

The Great Wall Has Been Action Shot

We're still here!

First, our apologies for being completely absent. We hailed a train from Hong Kong to Beijing early in June and didn’t realize that Devonitely Rossome was censored in China! Rebels we are.

So, this whole time we’ve been in China. As most of you know, we’re doing a bit of freelance work for our alma mater and it’s taken us to some cool places…like Tokyo, Hong Kong, Beijing and the Great Wall of China. But now we’re at the end of our work and will be hitting the road Devon & Ross style. Going when we want, staying if we love a place and we’re excited. We’ve gotten a bit “city-ed” out and we’re ready to hit this second half of our big adventure with full steam. Wander more, follow clues and fall into a rhythm with locals.

Can you believe it’s the end of June?! Neither can we. When we first told our families of our year long trip, my mother said, “I thought you’d go for six months, but a year?!” Yes, a year. However, if we had gone for six months, we’d be going home right now and to be honest, I can’t even imagine that. Obviously there’d be a different approach and feel to the trip, but I have this feeling right now of wanting more…needing more. So, we’re off! As I write this, we’re about to get on a bus this afternoon for 25 hours taking us to Laos. We’re ready to be back in S.E. Asia.

So, here we go…the second half of our adventure! Stay tuned.

P.S. We'll let you know about the poll results. Also, forgive the lack of pictures, the internet doesn't seem to want to show us on the Great Wall.

Balloon Ninja

Don't blink or you might miss this stealth Balloon Ninja!

Balloon Ninja from Ross Ballinger on Vimeo.

One seriously busy crosswalk

This intersection in Tokyo is said to be one of the busiest in the world... and I believe it.

Shiabuya from Ross Ballinger on Vimeo.

Voting is still open... and I vote for a Chinese Junk

The Pods

As most of you know, Ross and I are doing a little freelance work for our Alma Mater. And with that work we are getting to go to some cool places that we never imagined. For instance, we just came back from Tokyo, Japan! What a treat, right? We had an awesome week and a half where we did a lot of work, saw some awesome places, and got to pretend we were in college again by sitting in class. And just like college, we didn't take notes.

When the time came to leave we thought, "Let's do something that one can only do in Japan." Wanna know what that was?

On our last night...we slept in a capsule hotel. You've heard of them. Basically they're bunk beds with walls.


Ross and I were kept separate, so we had our own private experiences with the pods. I felt they were like a grown ups fort. Ross was a little disappointed they weren't more Jetson-like. But, in the end, they were a fun experience.

Creepy pod man.

Me standing up.

We will post some more pictures soon of Tokyo and other shananigans we've gotten into soon. Until then, we have a question for you! This gives us a chance to see who really is out there. Therefore, please do answer...this is a poll/survey of sorts:

What kind of accomodation would you like to see Ross and Devon stay in next?

Highest number of votes wins!

Yikes!

Holy balls we haven't written in a week! Who knew work took up so much time?! Bear with us...we have a few posts up our sleeves, so hang tight.

Mistakes with the timer

The Joys of Turbulence

You'd think after all this flying I wouldn't mind a little turbulence here and there...but you're wrong. I find it terrifying and this last flight was no exception. It's not that I have to pop pills to calm myself down, but the feeling of the airplane dropping 10 feet is just not okay with me. Thanks, but I'd like to have my heart in my chest, not my throat.

The flight started out bumpy, but it wasn't until that 10 foot drop where the more vocal passengers gasped simultaneously that I got nervous. However, someone was smiling upon us when the flight attendant came over the intercom announcing, "Please fasten your seat belts...we'll be coming through the cabin...free wine and beer." What?! No joke, Ross and I instantly looked at each other.

Dev: "Did he just say free wine and beer?"
Ross: "Yes, yes he did."
Dev: "No way."
Ross: "Yes way."

And so it began. We became close with our flight attendant seeing that he brought us numerous bottles of the sweet white stuff. Ross and I were having a hay day. Yes, hay day. Both were plugged into our free movies, eating breakfast and sipping our wine.

Turbulence? What turbulence? I was as cool as a cucumber. Ross and I would look at each other and laugh then dive back into our free entertainment. Want to know the best part of this story? Our flight flew out at 8 AM. Enough said.

So, we may never get enough mileage to gain ourselves free tickets, but we will always take up an airline on free drinks.

WA TAAAAA!

While in Hong Kong, I(Ross) finally had the distinguished privilege of meeting one of my idols; the legend himself, Bruce Lee!


Things were really going great. Bruce and I were really hitting it off. That is, until I got a little too cocky...


and Bruce had to put me in my place.