2009: Our Best Travel Year Ever?

This year has been so full of amazing travel experiences, we thought it deserved a retrospective of its own.

We kicked off the New Year with a trip to Phnom Penh, Cambodia to visit our friends Dan, Angela, Mary Lynn and Linda.




Amidst all the fun, we took time to visit the infamous Killing Fields and the site of Tuol Sleng Prison, whose former commandant has been on trial before a United Nations tribunal this year.




Later in January, Jennifer spent a week in Singapore for work.


In February Jennifer's dad and stepmother came to visit. We showed them all around Bangkok and took them to the Six Senses Hideaway resort in Hua Hin.




Then we flew with them to Nepal. We toured Kathmandu, where we stayed at the Dwarika's Hotel and trekked through the foothills of the Himalayas in Pokhara with the good people of Tiger Mountain Lodge.





Patrick stayed behind in Nepal for another ten days of work, and Jennifer went on to Indonesia and Singapore before the month was out.


In March, we both travelled to Vietnam for work, where we stayed at the legendary Sofitel Metropole, and Patrick went to Nepal once again.


We spent the Thai New Year in April in Khao Yai, about two-and-a-half hours' drive north of Bangkok. By doing so, we avoided some very violent political protests here in town.


Jennifer went back to Vietnam at the end of April.

In May, Patrick flew to Nepal twice and Vietnam once, meaning he spent about eight days at home that month.

We also made time for a quick weekend trip to Krabi, one of Thailand's many tropical paradises.


In June Jennifer travelled to the Philippines for a week.

July saw us take an amazing journey to Mongolia, the Land of Blue Sky. You've read about most of that trip here already, and the rest of the journey will be posted here soon (we promise!). When we returned, Jennifer went back to Indonesia for a few days.

August was the only month during which we did not travel!

At the beginning of September we took advantage of an amazing deal and spent a long weekend at the Four Seasons Resort in Chiang Mai, Thailand. We've stayed in some nice places, but this was truly one of the most spectacular. How many resorts have their own albino water buffalo?



In October Patrick took a trip to Danang, Vietnam to visit the site where the U.S. military stored dioxin -- Agent Orange -- during the war. The U.S. Congress has charged USAID with developing a strategy to clean up this site as part of our continued efforts to improve relations.


Jennifer travelled back to Indonesia for a week at the end of October.

In November Patrick went back to Nepal after a six-month pause. It was nice to have the break and see this incredible country with fresh eyes again.



Jennifer went back to Singapore and Indonesia in November, once again for work. There she had the opportunity to meet the 44th President of the United States of America, Barack Obama.



In December we spent a week in Phuket, Thailand after competing in the team relay of the Laguna Phuket Triathlon.


Patrick squeezed in one final trip to Vietnam for the year, and Jennifer managed to get back to the Philippines.

So, looking back, we count at least three Vacations of a Lifetime, four Weekends of a Lifetime, and a whole passel of Experiences of a Lifetime. It's hard to see how 2010 could top this year ... but that's not to say that we won't try!

Happy New Year!