Ryan’s Santorini

Santorini was just about as beautiful as beautiful can get. It is an island off the coast of Greece, and all of the building are white, with domes on top that are blue in color. The blue ocean can be viewed from every side, and you can even see other islands in the distance if the fog is not too heavy. We stayed in a condo with a gorgeous view of the sunset and of the ocean as well. There was a jacuzzi, a pool, and table and chairs outside on the porch…. Read More
Athens by Ryan

We flew from Israel to Athens on the ninth of April. Athens, like Rome, is another place steeped in history, that goes even farther back in time than Rome. To take advantage of all the history, we bought tickets for a bus that you have probably heard of – the Hop On Hop Off. Hop on, Hop Off is pretty self explanatory. You can hop on whenever you want that day, and hop off whenever you want. They have commentary throughout, in eleven different languages, and stop at all of the main… Read More
Turkey and Kebab Delight ~ by Ryan

Istanbul was one of my favorite places to visit. Why? Because there were an endless amount of shops selling Turkish Delight, Baklava, and Doner Meat Kebabs. Istanbul is another place that is filled with history, like Rome, or Greece. It was not always called Istanbul. Before the Turks conquered it, it was called Constantinople. Named after the first Christian Roman Emperor, it was the capital city of Rome. Then, the Ottoman Turks conquered it, and it became Istanbul, a place of delicious dessert and very nice meat kebabs. But the Hagia Sophia, one… Read More
Ryan on Safari

Our first safari was in South Africa, at a place called Bush Lodge. We arrived at night, so we didn’t see as much, but our spotter/tracker Dollen spotted a GREEN chameleon in a bunch of GREEN leaves with a flashlight in the dark. (He had a good eye). Our second safari, which required us to get up at 5:30 AM so we could leave at 6 AM, (after coffee, of course) was pretty awesome. We even spotted a leopard, which is pretty rare to see, because they are so good at camouflage. We… Read More
Riding Elephants with Ryan

Riding, cleaning and feeding the elephants in Thailand was an experience I’ll never forget. We started by listening to one of the workers there give us a quick (10 minute) talk about safety, like not standing behind an elephant when it is unaware of your presence. We also talked about facts, and how the number of elephants in Thailand is skyrocketing (or should I say ground rocketing) downwards. There were over 100,000 elephants in Thailand a couple of years ago, but now there are only 3000 left! After the quick talk we had about the elephants,… Read More
Bangkok by Ryan

Bangkok, which was originally called Bang Makok, means “City of the Wild Plum”. Why is it called that? I don’t know, but if by “plum” they mean traffic, than the name would make a lot of sense, because Bangkok is a city of wild traffic. Just like in Indonesia, scooters weave in and out of the smallest gaps in cars, and they’re either really lucky or really good at driving the scooters, because I haven’t seen any crashes so far. Maybe it’s a bit of both. Trying to cross the street? You… Read More
Halo from Indonesia
Halo, the Bahasa word for “Hello.” We stayed in Bali for six days and Jakarta for three. Indonesia’s culture is probably the most different from America’s that we’ve experienced so far, Mexico being the second. In Bali/Jakarta, you can eat very cheaply, and still be getting great quality food. For just $2.00 USD, you can get a bowl of soup, a large plate of meat (duck, pork, chicken), AND a large plate of rice. Go ahead and grab a big glass of orange juice as well for just fifty cents. You can get… Read More
G’day Mate by Ryan Thomas on Australia

Australia, the place where everyone’s your mate, and you are everyone’s mate. And everybody says g’day, mate. At least, that’s what I heard. Does everyone really say G’day mate in Australia? No. Does everyone really call you mate in Australia? Pretty much. When I think Australia, I think Kangaroos, and if you go to FeatherdaleWildlife Park and the last thing you do in Australia is feed super cute kangaroos and wallabies, I think you would too. But I also think of spiders, because we saw more than a couple life-threatening spiders in the houses that we stayed… Read More
Ryan Thomas on New Zealand

New Zealand, the place where hobbits, orcs and elves dwell. At least in the movies. In real life, well, at least you can still go on the middle earth tour (minus the elves, dwarves, and hobbits). We figured the best way to get around New Zealand was a camper van, so that’s exactly what we did. Minus the nausea , the ride was great! Sleep whenever you want, wake up, look out your window, and enjoy the gorgeous scenery that is right in front of your face. Snowy mountains, rows upon rows… Read More
Moorea, Sharks, and BACON

How do you leave paradise? Answer: you don’t. Sadly, we had to. But for the week that we were there, we saw sharks, sting rays, and beautiful scenery. Oh, we also saw fish. The four kids (that includes me) stayed in a bungalow right by the water, while the parents stayed in one directly above the water. They had a little window on their floor, allowing us to see all the colorful (and not so colorful ) fish floating under it. They had a balcony, which was connected to a ladder, which led down into the… Read More
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