Moving on

In the span of 8 hours half of our crew will board a plane for manilla Philippines. The other three will board a plane five hours later to all join up in manilla. From there we fly together to Bangkok and then on to Chiang Mai Thailand.

We're leaving because our visas are up tomorrow and home for the Kortmans will not be found in the Philippines, or anywhere in the tropics. We've found that for us the tropics are great if you're on the beach or in the water but just living (the non resort, non vacation lifestyle) removes us from being in the pool 8 hours a day.

We've got a few stops to make before we leave Southeast Asia, the first is Chiang Mai. We've been told it feels better there because we're in the mountains.

Some things we have to experience to find out if they're true or not.

There are a bunch of emotions around this leg of the trip.

I (Paul) have anxiety about internet connections and life in general. The Philippines has been really easy because 99% of people speak English.

And the other emotions are had to explain without a story. Ten years ago in 2004 Becky and I traveled another international trip. We called it The Learning Journey. We were in South Africa for 6 months and then in Kazakhstan for another 6 months. We were scheduled to be in Thailand after that but God closed the door and we went home to the states. We were planning on being in the south near Phuket to celebrate Christmas. If you remember Dec 18, a tsunami hit Sumatra and southern Thailand.

So this time the doors have remained open. But the memories and emotions are there.

We have a deep desire to visit southern Thailand and see the area we intended to visit.

What about you? Have you ever been to Thailand or traveled somewhere that you weren't able to go before. Tell us your stories about travel and closure. We love to hear from you.

Read other posts about: 2014-trip, Flights, Philippines, Quick Update, Thailand, The Learning Journey