Hello All! We apologize to our frequent readers for leaving you hanging for so long. Many have wondered what happened once we crossed the border, how life is treating us having returned from our trip, and (the million dollar question) – how much longer will the blog go on? We will answer all these questions in the following blogs, and never fear, the blog will go on! (for a little longer)…

We are aiming to detail our travels through the US all the way from LA to South Carolina, up to Cape Cod in Massachusetts and back home to NYC. Blog worthy adventures did follow us, even once back in the good ol’ US of A. Beth and I are working on a master Top 5 list in all sorts of travel categories to tie up our adventures, including our top 5 best meals, top 5 worst bathroom experiences, top 5 cities, and top 5 bloggers for all you avid comment-leavers. We are trying to nail down the top 5 best quotes, but that has proven to be exceedingly difficult. Stay tuned…

And now for the LA adventure… (more…)

(Lauren: Finally! Someone to share in the blogging responsibilities… Take it, Beth!)

Christmas in Hawaii means perfect weather, beautiful beaches and learning that “Mele Kalikimaka is the t’ing to say!” 

Lauren met me at the airport and we took off for our extravagant expenditure: a four star hotel near Waikiki beach.  The first night, we were both so jetlagged that we ended up ordering in Hawaiian pizza — which Lauren thought was the most amazing food she had ever put in her mouth.  The next day, we hit the beach and I learned that Hawaiian-sized meals make American-sized meals look puny. (more…)

Soon after arriving in Hawai’i, I spotted my dream car, er, motorcycle — the shortest Harley Davidson I’d ever seen. So I promptly jumped on and took it out for a spin. (See above.)

Just kidding. (And luckily, the owner didn’t spot me.)

We’ll be putting up a full Hawai’i Christmas adventure blog very soon. But for now, we just wanted to wish everyone a Mele Kalikimaka!

Going Good

I didn’t know it going in, but November 29th was my last doctor’s appointment.  My orthopaedic surgeon suprised me by saying not only that my xrays were excellent but that he’d give his blessing for me to start walking and to take back off on the grand trip! 

It’s not going to be easy… The last ten days I’ve been learning how to walk again, and I’ve never been so sore in my life.  My achilles heel is unbelievable sore all the time, and I’ve never done more squats and lunges in my life. 

I’ll have to wear a knee brace for at least two more months, only wheel my bag around (not carry it) and do PT exercises on the road, but I’m definitely heading out to India in January. 

Maybe Going…

The second most awesome news: I got into NYU Law School!  (more…)

Thank you to everyone for your birthday wishes and emails!  I owe a lot of people emails back — and I really will get to it… I’ve actually had a busy week:  Bon flew down from NYC to spend my b-day week with me (hint to other New Yorkers: Planes fly south) and we’ve been… well, mostly sitting around drinking sweet tea.  But still, I’ve been busy.

A short list of presents highlights:

• T-shirts and a duvet from Laos
• Coffemaker
• A visit from Bon
• Confirmation from my Dr. that all bone healing is going very well and the go-ahead to bend my knee as far as and as much as I want (but not walk for another month)
• A blow up girlfriend from the Fentonistas (though its not quite as tall as the real one)
• 160GB External Harddrive for my MP3 collection
• Admission to Georgetown Law School (more…)

For those of you unfamiliar with my upbringing, I grew up in rural Upstate SC. So rural, in fact, that Google can’t find my house. Which is a source of great amusement to me. (For the absolutely curious you can see the farm here but ignore the address, it’s just how I found my bearings. My parents’ place is the big mass of trees in the middle with the light tan colored pasture out front.)

I have to admit, it could be a lot more rural. When I was growing up, the city nearby (30 minute drive) was 40,000 people. Now its 175,000 people. Big enough, apparently, to have gangs that shoot up Applebee’s. (The newspaper here is almost as fun as reading the NYDN… but without the great headlines.) (more…)

As it turned out, I had to get surgery after all. An MRI scan showed that a small piece of bone had chipped off my tibia in addition to the other break. My ACL was also “loose” and the surgeon believed that the bone chip was attached to the ACL. The ACL probably pulled it off during the break.

I had the surgery this past Tuesday, and it went very well. It was arthroscopic, so I only have a few small holes in my knee. The surgeon said it went as well as could possibly be expected. The bone was attached to the ACL, and when the bone went back into place, the ACL went back too. It doesn’t have significant damage, so all that’s left for me to do is stay off of the broken leg for another several weeks and to practice bending and straightening my leg — which is easier said than done.

Thanks for all your well wishes and thoughts! I’m definitely doing much better since the surgery. I’m also keeping my pain meds down by using an anti-motion sickness patch. Hopefully that will continue to work for the weeks to come.

Lauren’s off to the adventure again this weekend, but I’ll be sure to keep you all up to date on life in SC… and hey, if anyone’s up to a road trip to the South…

On September 27th, my grandmother passed away. Strangely, I was able to be here at the Cape with her because of the accident. I feel fortunate that I was able to see her one last time before she died, and was glad that I could be here with my family. I pasted a little something I wrote about her that I read at her funeral below.

I’m planning on returning to Thailand in a few days, but have not yet booked my flight. Our travel arrangements have changed slightly.

(more…)

First, we just want to say thank you to all for your notes and emails. We really appreciated them.

We finally made it home around 11:00am on Tuesday, not long after news broke out that the Royal Thai Army had staged a successful coup d’etat against the Prime Minister. Beth’s mom met us at Atlanta airport and whisked us off. She had set up a doctor appointment for Lauren at 2pm and one for Beth with an orthopedic surgeon for 3pm.

Lauren’s knee looks like ground up hamburger patty. But the doctor says the infection is minimal (it looks like it’s gone now) and we think she’s getting the stitches out on Tuesday. (more…)

Welcome to GirlsGoneWorldWide!  Lauren and I planned to have more up here by now, but we’re still making lists and buying stuff for the trip.  I haven’t sent any law school applications yet, and we’re leaving in 36 hours.

A taste of our last to do’s:

• LB: Get files off computer
• BG: Hem new pants
• LB+BG: Pick up more malaria drugs
• BG: FedEx laptop and bberry back to office
• LB: Get information to the lawyer for speeding ticket (that’s another story)
• LB+BG: Buy Pepto, Benedryl, toothbrush covers, sink stopper… and the list goes on

And, of course, get the website up.  We’ll try to write the rest of the pages on our 20+ hour flight to Thailand…  or we’ll finally get some sleep.  We’ll see.