Waaaaaah!

After a nearly two week vacation in Hong Kong and Chiang Mai we left for the looonng flight back home.  Chiang Mai to Bangkok to Hong Kong to LA.  Overnight in LA and then finally...home!  I made sure to get my very last Thai tea in the Chiang Mai airport before we left.  I also tried another chip flavor, hot and spicy crab.

Here I am being sad while Ryan is being unhappy about flash in his face.

The nice thing about flying home from Asia is that the flight time was much shorter than on the way there.  We spent around 16 hours on the plane on the way to Hong Kong but on the way back we only spent about 12.  It's still a long time to be on a flight but the 4 less hours really was noticeable.  I watched movies most of the way back:  21 Jump Street, Four Christmases, and Sherlock Holmes.  Once we got to LA we were so tired and had just a few hours to sleep in the hotel before we had to get back up to fly home that Saturday morning.  And because my planning was impeccable, on Sunday we drove to Hays to meet Linda and Vearl to pick up the fur babies.  We ate at the yummy Gella's Diner and got to visit for awhile.  I think China had a grand old time getting to run and root around on land at Grammies and Grampies.  Dirtball.  Seriously what is going on with that face?

Then, the very next day we went back to work.  I think for the next trip I plan I will make sure there is an extra day between work and leaving home and also between coming home and going back to work.  It was very tiring to travel for two straight weeks with no break.  I'm not complaining about the awesome trip because I'm so happy we went, but I learned from it and think I could plan the logistics better next time.  I think it took me a week and a half to readjust back to the time zone and the daily grind.  It was helpful that we had traveled to warm weather destinations and returned home to cold weather because I didn't have to immediately do laundry in order to have clothes to wear everyday.

I am so thankful that we were able to take this trip.  It was such an eye opening, exciting, unique experience and I loved learning about different cultures and immersing ourselves into local activities and foods.  What are some of your favorite trips/vacations?