Scary travel stories

We were just on the Yangtze River cruise a week and a half ago. I got word this morning that a similar cruise boat sank in the river and hundreds are feared dead. 

Years ago, I was in Wisconsin doing bungy jumps at Extreme World... A week later a girl almost died doing the same jump I did. (Last I heard she was paralyzed) 

I can go on about places I've been and accidents that have happened shortly after I left, but that's not what this post is about. 

I am as scared as they come. I was freaking out pre-Asia ...worrying about earthquakes and getting sick and almost anything else you could think of, but I wouldn't let that stop me. 

After the news today, I went through and found the note I had written after the bungy jump incident. The last bit says it all:

Big dreams becoming real tonight

I'm not going to lie... the title of this post was a line in a song from the 2014 movie, Annie.  I only watched it 10 times flying back and forth during my Asian journey.  :p  (What can I say? I didn't like my other movie choices!)

I've been back in the states for about a week so I decided to write my summary/recap post about my journeys. 

JAPAN:

I used Viator and found a couple of guides to show us around Tokyo and Kyoto. I used Viator once before (my quick day trip to Paris) and it proved itself so I decided to use it for private guides. While I can't say it was the greatest option out there, it  DID serve its purpose and proved itself yet again. 

I was nervous about Asia from the get-go since mostly everything is written in characters and there is no way I was going to learn or try to translate all those 你好 characters! We had limited time in Japan and, sure, we could have probably struggled along and stopped every 5 minutes to ask for someone who could speak english to get us to our destinations, but going with the guide was so much easier. They knew the city, they could give us background, and they could translate for us. It was worth it-especially since the rates were good.

Japan was decent, but I would probably not go back. I'm glad I got to see everything that I did, but there wasn't anything that I was truly over the moon for. 

CHINA: 

I booked through China Highlights and I HIGHLY recommend them!! I was in contact with my representative, Delia, and she gave me a sample itinerary based on what I had expressed interest in. We then tweaked it and customized and that was it! (Aside from getting the visa which Travisa helped tremendously!) 

We had our own private tour throughout China and a guide met us every step of the way and took us everywhere we wanted to go. I'm even still in touch with a few of the guides! They were great! (Shout out to Louise in Beijing, Cody in Chengdu, and Leo in Shanghai!)

I think I mentioned this earlier, but I was SUPER nervous about China - from eating over there, to the language barrier, to being so crowded, to everything I know being blocked over there, etc. BUT IT WAS SO MUCH BETTER THAN I THOUGHT!!! I was extremely impressed with China and my dad was too! 

Funny thing about China is how many people wanted to take a picture with me because of my blonde hair. Definitely felt like a celebrity! 

AFRICA:

Yes, AFRICA. I did not go to Africa, but that's my plan for next year. I am currently working on an itinerary and will be going sometime between May and September of next year. I would LOVE for some company! If you (or anyone you know) would like to come, please message me!!  While I would love to go to Egypt and Morocco, I kind of doubt I'll be going since it's probably not safe-especially for me solo.  I will probably go to South Africa - maybe Botswana and Zimbabwe.  Any advice from fellow travelers would be greatly appreciated!! 

My dream is to travel the world. One of the greatest things about traveling (aside from seeing all these AMAZING places) is meeting so many AMAZING people. My heart is happy. I am happy to have explored a new continent, experienced a new culture, learned more than sitting in a classroom could ever teach me, and become friends with some of the sweetest people. Thank you for following me, reading my blog, liking and commenting on my photos. I hope that one day my travels can help someone else plan their perfect trip. <3 

River Cruise Recap and Shanghai!

Recap: The river cruise was alright. It was not a highlight, but it was okay. It was a Yangtze River cruise and we saw the three gorges, the dam, and boat locks.

We are currently in Shanghai. The city is beautiful at night :) 

Today we explored the city and also went to the Venice of China, zhujiajiao:

The city of Shanghai is so lovely:

We went to the Shanghai museum and went to the top of this bad boy:

(Shanghai world financial center)

The only thing that would have made it more perfect is if they would have a bungy jump off this thing!! 

Heading home tomorrow!! We have a few hours in the morning to see some more sites and then we'll be off on our 19 hour journey home! Yuck! 

I'll write more once I get home...It has been hard to blog this all from my phone!! 

River Cruise update

Not a bad view, eh?

But it's so windy !

Tomorrow we will end our cruise and head to Shanghai (our final city!)

Another note: overall, China has been crowded/not crowded. It has never been overwhelmingly crowded as I originally thought, but every now and then there are spurts of crowds. And in those particular crowds it's always push push and shove shove...which I abhor and yet secretly love. 

I'm good at darting and getting through crowds. If someone cuts me off over here I jump right back in front of them. It's an extreme annoyance towards people who do it and yet fun at the same time because I can get away with it over here. You just gotta fight for yourself sometimes. #dontmess

Yangtze River Cruise: pagoda excursion

Today was a lazy, but good day. We're on the Yangtze River cruise right now and did a shore excursion to a pagoda. 

This was a fun bouncy bridge we crossed:

Then we climbed the pagoda! 

A view from higher up:

(You can see our boat on the left hand side)

That one update..

This trip has been fine/good up until yesterday. I think every trip, at some point, has a breaking point. Yesterday was it for me. 

A bunch of things went wrong.... None of which were a huge deal, but everything added up quickly and I'm over it. I'm really missing me some blue skies, Panera, toilets to sit on, and English. (Not in that order)

Last night I had a really good grilled cheese sandwich which made my day a little better... And we got to sit with some Aussies at breakfast today which made me happy. It's the little things I miss most! (Not to mention I'm getting tired of being stared at all the time!)

In other news... 

This is one of my favorite guides ever:

I wish we could have had him for our whole time in China! 

We're currently on a "river cruise" on the Yangtze River ...  Before we boarded, we went to the 
Three Gorges Museum.  It's built to protect, research, and exhibit he history and culture in Chongqing and Three Gorges area. This wasn't interesting to me, but I'm not familiar with the area so that is probably a big factor. 

Chengdu Panda Stop!

First of all... I can't handle so much cuteness!  I must have a couple hundred pictures of these guys! 

The Panda Research base in Chengdu is fantastic. For over 30 years the base has been a non-profitt breeding and research institute for giant pandas, red pandas, and other rare animals. I believe there are about 120 giant pandas and 76 red pandas here.  They also work to educate about conservation!