ขอบคุณเอเชีย (or "Thanks, Asia")

As we prepare for the flight home, we find ourselves in disbelief that our trip is almost over. Travel has been our entire lives for the past nine months, and this final stage of the journey has been no less incredible than the first two. As always, we feel we owe a huge debt of gratitude to all of the people we've met along the way, and who have made our time in Asia so wonderful. One final list of “Thank You's” goes out to:

-Arthur at Cocoa Mews in Penang, for storing our stuff for us and keeping it safe

-The First Aid Team at the beach on Langkawi for tending to my injured foot

-Heppy (a.k.a Happy-Happy) for renting us our first motor bike

-The girl at The Nutmeg Factory for the awesome tour

-Sam and his wonderful staff at Sam's Bungalow in Bukit Lawang

-Our jungle guide in Sumatra—who's name we never could pronounce—for having such a knack for spotting those primates!

-The Batak band on Samosir Island for the fantastic show

-Michael, from Switzerland, for his great company at Sky Bar in Bangkok

-Beth, for being such a wonderful host and friend to us in Pai

-Julie, from Beligium, for keeping us company and sharing her smiles

-Alicia and Sam, for reminding us what it's like to have a “double date”

-Haley and Dave, for reminding us of our mutual hometown

-Noy, Nui, Dustin, Su, Mahelio, Portia, Sandy, Otto, Cindy, Sara, Chenua, Jauquin, Agata, Christin, Lauren and the rest of the gang in Pai for all the great times!

-Mr. T. for hosting us during Song Kran and for some of the best Karaoke this side of the Pacific

-Lek, for teaching us how to cook like real Thais

-Muay, for being our tour guide and our friend in Chiang Rai

-Damaris, Oou, Quan, and the rest of the staff at Khom Loy for all of their help and support

-Paul and Patricia, for their gracious hospitality and for all the fun times (especially at Cat Bar!)

-Lynn and Jane, from Australia, for the laughs and the inspiration to keep traveling

-Mandy, for her warmness and for the thoughtful birthday gift

-Gioia and Amber for their lovely company and good conversation

We are in constant awe of the amazing people we've met throughout our journey. Each of you helped to make our time on this beautiful continent meaningful, memorable and fun. For that, we will forever be grateful. Though the places we've visited this past year have been among the most beautiful we've seen, and each experience unique, it's the human connections that make traveling the incredible experience it is. As we leave the trip behind, we look forward to maintaining many of the new connections that we've made abroad and to nurturing those that we treasure at home. As always, we want to thank our friends and family for their continued love and support throughout the trip, and beyond...

We're coming HOME!