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Buenos Aires, Argentina! (3/22-3/24) We had a very

Buenos Aires, Argentina! (3/22-3/24) We had a very late flight here, so combined with a little bit of jet lag still from New Zealand, we slept in until 11 during two of our three days. However, we managed to visit 4 of the wonderful parks they have across the city. We were a little disappointed, though, because the ferry to Uruguay was more expensive than planned, so we passed on our plan to make a day trip out of Colonia. Also, we were surprised to learn that there were two exchange rates! We'd buy something with our credit card, see the cost in our banking app, and then see it get retroactively changed to a 40% lower price a couple of days later when the transaction cleared! So...maybe the trip to Colonia was cheaper than we thought. The inflation here has been awful and a real hardship to the people of Argentina, so in retrospect, it's not really a surprise that the banking system is a little strange. We've got five more days in the country before heading on to Bolivia, so excited to keep stretching our dollars further!

Santiago, Chile! (3/15-3/21) We planned for a long

Santiago, Chile! (3/15-3/21) We planned for a long stay here to recover from New Zealand jet lag and to catch-up a little bit on school work, but we also had some great experiences! Lollapalooza for me and Karen (although the sound was unfortunately distorted), several fun mountain runs for me, great street art, yummy (mostly Peruvian) food, an empanada cooking class, a crazy playground with 8 consecutive slides down a mountain, and pigeons who fly to your hands for food. We're heading on to Buenos Aires tonight, but had a great time in Chile!

Hobbiton, New Zealand! (3/14) We did it backwards,

Hobbiton, New Zealand! (3/14) We did it backwards, going to Mount Doom first, but James and I were excited to visit the movie set for the Hobbit village in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies (which we're reading now that we're done with Harry Potter.) It's kind of expensive, and everyone else stayed home because they didn't think it was worth the expense or the one hour drive from our rental, but highly recommended for Tolkien fans!

South Island, New Zealand! (3/4-3/8) After Dunedin

South Island, New Zealand! (3/4-3/8) After Dunedin, we drove around the island, staying overnight in Haast, Hokitika, Nelson, Kaikoura, and Christchurch. Tons of beautiful views during the drive (not depicted because I was driving), but highlights include a beach walk near Haast, the suspension bridge path around the Hokitika Gorge, a winery lunch in Blenheim, the seal beach in Kaikoura (no seals when we went, but pretty!), the Antarctic Center in Christchurch (where Henry, Charlie, and I did a speedy ride in the Hagglunds used for tracked transportation and Karen and James withstood 5 minutes of Antarctic weather with nothing but borrowed coats and determination), and of course a playground in Christchurch, the best we've seen in the southern hemisphere.

We're heading back to the Western Hemisphere after

We're heading back to the Western Hemisphere after 279 days away! Here's an update on our trip https://kidsoncamels.com/blog/2023/03/15/making-like-phileas-fogg/

Tussock Traverse 21K (half marathon) at Tongariro

Tussock Traverse 21K (half marathon) at Tongariro National Park, New Zealand! (3/11) My first trail race and it was really hard! Beautiful views throughout, though, as we climbed up a pass between two mountains, including the real life Mt. Doom from Lord of the Rings. The trail we followed is often called the most beautiful one in all of New Zealand and I can't disagree. After training throughout Asia for the last few months, it was fun to finally complete the race!

Dunedin, New Zealand! (3/2-3/3) Our first stop as

Dunedin, New Zealand! (3/2-3/3) Our first stop as we drove around the south island of this gorgeous country. We saw the Moeraki Boulders Beach en route from Christchurch, then had a relaxed couple of days taking in the scenery via a morning run and peninsular beach drive. The kids' favorite was the duck park at the botanical garden, which came with free food for feeding ducks. You'll note that the pigeons have pretty aggressively scoped out the location.

Bonus Australia post! This time featuring people t

Bonus Australia post! This time featuring people that have been to more countries than James. (Also a koala and a few birds and wallabies.)

50 COUNTRIES FOR JAMES! Melbourne and Cairns, Aust

50 COUNTRIES FOR JAMES! Melbourne and Cairns, Australia (2/23-3/1) We got him his (now traditional) 50 country cake our final day in Melbourne, but started in Cairns where we saw the oldest rain forest in the world and then visited the beach and "Birdland" which featured a couple hundred friendly birds in a smaller space, many of whom wanted to perch on us. In Melbourne, James and I culminated our trip-long Harry Potter reading (books 5-7, plus this play) by seeing The Cursed Child. (Thanks Grandma for the Christmas present!) We also visited Moonlit Sanctuary and got a private tour from the owner because he's a friends of a friend. (Thanks, Mike! Highlight for the kids was feeding wallaby.) Finally, Karen and I visited (and I dragged James to in the SPQR picture) our old apartment from when we lived in Melbourne in 2006. Also, we enjoyed one of our most relaxing and laid back Airbnbs of the trip: Henry didn't leave for our first 72 hours there!

Kyoto, Japan! (2/20-2/22) Our final stop in Japan

Kyoto, Japan! (2/20-2/22) Our final stop in Japan (and our final cold spot for a bit!) We visited the bamboo forest, made a pilgrimage to Kobe for the best steak in the world, captured a brief snowfall on the Philosophers Path, and hiked to the famous Fushi-inari shrine. I also planned a lovely run over the local mountain without realizing it required paying a fee as part of a tourist site (and I didn't bring any money!) Still a nice snowy run. Also, more Japanese barbecue and sushi! We had a great couple of weeks in Japan!

Hiroshima and Himeji Castle, Japan! (2/17-2/19) We

Hiroshima and Himeji Castle, Japan! (2/17-2/19) We visited the very well done museum in Hiroshima that commemorated America's use of the atom bomb at the end of World War II. Sobering and definitely worth a visit. On the way from there to Kyoto, we went to the largest castle in Japan, Himeji. Also worth a visit!

Takayama, Japan! (2/15-2/16) We spent a couple of

Takayama, Japan! (2/15-2/16) We spent a couple of days visiting this festival town in the Northern Japanese Alps, experiencing our final big dose of snow for Japan (and probably the trip!) Our primary experience was being cold, as our hotel was only heated in the sleeping rooms and the bathroom hallway was frigid. We did, though, visit a great historic home along with a "demonstration village" of regionally typical buildings that had been moved to a hillside near town. Also, we had some great grilled meat and I popped out to sample the beer at a little bar that was literally next door to our hotel. Glad we went, but two days was enough!

Tokyo! Part 2 (2/13-2/14) On our one rainy day, we

Tokyo! Part 2 (2/13-2/14) On our one rainy day, we visited both the TRICK ART museum for some cool illusion-assisted pictures, and also experienced Team Lab Planet, an incredible art and sensory experience. (Thanks to my cousin Jen for the recommendation!) Karen and I also went to a very nice classic Japanese house, and I got in 3 runs in preparation for my half marathon planned for the middle of March. Also, more sushi! And some great discounts at I think the biggest used electronics market in the world.

Tokyo! Part 1 (2/11-2/12) We dragged the boys all

Tokyo! Part 1 (2/11-2/12) We dragged the boys all over on our first day, hitting Shinjuku, the National Garden, and a couple of big shrines before Charlie and I went out for conveyor belt sushi. (The rest of the family joined us two other times in Japan.) For the second day, we let them stay home and rest while Karen and I visited one temple and also got a lot of shopping done. Also we grilled some meat, which we did twice more with the boys later. Not depicted, but I found this awesome little craft beer store where the owner is obsessed with Star Wars on the shopping day.

FYI, in case anyone missed that day of school.

FYI, in case anyone missed that day of school.

Sapporo, Japan! (2/8-2/10) The Snow Festival in Sa

Sapporo, Japan! (2/8-2/10) The Snow Festival in Sapporo, on the far northern island of Hokkaido, is one of the biggest events in Japan, so we were happy to take seven hours of trains each way from Tokyo in order to see it, even if we had to buy a few (cheap) winter-ish coats and gloves in Taiwan to make sure we didn't freeze to death. First and foremost, the boys were delighted by the snow: the first we'd touched since last Winter in Chicago, although Henry's threat to put snow down his brothers' backs was thankfully empty. Back to the festival: wow! As you can see, there were a number of building sized intricate snow sculptures and dozens of smaller snow and ice sculptures. We very much enjoyed being outside to see them for a few dozen minutes in our inadequate coats and gloves (we accidentally left the hand warmers at the hotel) before hiding in the enormous underground tunnel system the people of Sapporo use to survive their long cold winters. Although the snow was great (and there's so much of it, they don't even bother to fully plow or shovel the roads and sidewalks) a couple of days was plenty for us and we escaped back to Tokyo with only four total slip-and-falls on the sidewalks in our (inadequate) shoes.

Taipei, Taiwan! (2/3-2/6) More rain, but we enjoye

Taipei, Taiwan! (2/3-2/6) More rain, but we enjoyed seeing a bunch of light displays for the Lantern Festival (including a cool robot bunny). It stopped raining on our last day, so we were able to hike up Elephant Mountain for a great view of the city, including the Taipei 101 tower, which James and I visited later that day. It was kind of cloudy, so the outside views were limited, but we loved seeing the 660 metric ton steel mass dampener suspended at the top, which acts as a counterweight to reduce swaying. Also, Karen and I visited the National Palace Museum and saw many treasures of Chinese civilization, and I was able to squeeze in 3 good runs as I ramp up for another half marathon in New Zealand next month.

50 Countries for Charlie! Manilla, Philippines (Fe

50 Countries for Charlie! Manilla, Philippines (Feb 2) We only had a 24-hr layover here between Borneo and Taiwan, but it was Charlie's FIFTIETH country and we made the most of it. (Country 41 for our trip as a whole.) He mostly celebrated by eating: first at the famous Filipino chain Jollibee (not really a fan), then at a Mall of Asia food court Japanese restaurant (yummy Bento), then a "50 country" cake at the same mall (delicious but the buttercream was a little weird), then a baguette (excellent and eaten beside a stray cat, bonus), and finally snacks at the airport lounge. We also visited the historic quarter of Manilla and went to an excellent natural history museum, which happens to be his favorite kind of museum! Next time in the Philippines, we'll go to more places!

Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, Borneo! (1/30-2/1) It rai

Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, Borneo! (1/30-2/1) It rained a lot here, but luckily held off the day we did a river cruise to spot Proboscis Monkeys (who have a very funny looking nose). We also walked through a mangrove forest looking for crabs and birds (and unfortunately mosquitoes) and went to the really cool Mari Mari demonstration village that illustrated how the traditional (head hunting) tribes used to live. Also the very best hostel we've ever stayed at ended up being here...which we did not see coming.

Brunei! (1/27-1/28) I'm not going to lie, we mostl

Brunei! (1/27-1/28) I'm not going to lie, we mostly came to this tiny nation that shares the island of Borneo with Malaysia and Indonesia because we wanted to notch another country on our list. Mission accomplished! Also, we enjoyed eating dinner at the smoky (from all the barbeque stalls) night market and walking around the sleepy capitol city, briefly, in between monsoon rains and hot hot sunshine. Our biggest tourist attraction was the floating village which houses 40,000 people, used to be the main city of this Muslim (and completely alcohol free) sultanate, and is the reason it was once known as "The Venice of the East." In order to continue on to eastern Malaysia, we had to make a couple spontaneous ferry and bus purchases, which was markedly less planned than the rest of our trip, but everything went off without a hitch!

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