Hey folks!  Thanks for getting the ball rolling.  What a challenge.

1. Are you ever coming home?

 Yes, eventually.  Sachi's brother is probably getting a little tired of being our home caretaker.  We plan to be home around the beginning of the year.

2. At what point in the trip so far have you really just wanted to come home?

Speaking for both of us, I would say when we were both very ill in India.  Nothing sounded better than the clean and offensive smell-free comfort of home. 

3. At what point in the trip so far have you really just wanted to never come home?

When we arrived in Koh Lanta, Thailand the first thing I said was that a week would not be enough.  You could spend months there - and we met a number of folks doing just that.  The world just moves at a slower and easier pace than anywhere else we've been.  

4.  If you were going to move/live anywhere you've been so far, where would it be?

For me, it would be a city like Tokyo or Hong Kong. 

Sachi: Tokyo or Wellington, New Zealand. Hong Kong would be up there too, but it doesn't have enough cold weather. 

5. Would you recommend this kind of trip (ie. long-term with many locations) to everyone / certain types / etc?

We talked about this often.  It's hard not to recommend it, as it is an experience that cannot be had any other way.  It provides an education in a lot of ways that we didn't expect. We've both become very aware of our individual travel styles and what sort of travelers we are - but it took months to really see it.  I would have to say that seeing so much does take away from some of the experiences.  We wonder sometimes how we would have experienced Hanoi if we had flown there directly from Seattle.  My guess is that we would have been blown away and much more amazed than having experienced it after months in Asia. So, I think you get a little bit used to the environment and things don't seem as strange or interesting as they might otherwise. 

I think we both see a year of travel as a challenge.  It may not provide the richest experience for every location, but it does offer the satisfaction of getting past all the barriers and making the best of every situation.

Lastly, I would say that couples who generally get along and are able to make decisions quickly and without argument would fare better than others. Everyday we have to make choices about where to eat, walk and sleep and it could eventually grate on some, as you are spending every hour of every day together. We have gotten along very well.

Sachi: I would recommend this kind of trip especially to those who believe they can't leave their home or careers or anything else that might seem to be in the way. I would encourage people who have always wanted to travel to find a way to take a long break to do this kind of trip. No one we've met has ever regretted saving the money, planning for a specific day, and taking the leap.

6. What's the most incredible thing you've tasted so far?

The freshest of the fresh Toro sushi at the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo.  It was like butter from the sea. 

7. What do you miss the most of home?

That's easy. Our dog Amos.  Oh, and cool weather.

Sachi: Highs of 70 and lows of 50 degrees sound just perfect...and so unattainable here.

8. What do you miss the least of home? 

The daily grind.  Work, traffic, etc. 

Sachi: I am loving that I don't have to pick out work clothes to wear every day.  If a shirt I like is hanging in the closet, then the only skirt that matches is surely in the wash. Since I was a kid, I would sit on my bed and stare at my closet each morning seeing no good options. With  only 3 hot weather shirts here, the decision is simple. In the movie The Fly, Jeff Goldblum - the crazy scientist - had a closet full of the same outfit for every day and I have always envied him a little.

9. What are you looking forward to upcoming?

The Trans-Siberian railway trip and Shanghai.    

Sachi: Siberia's Lake Baikal and my first steps ever into Europe! 

10. Were you surprised by how long you ended up staying in Asia?

Not really.  We went into it knowing that we may extend Asia, so it was no big surprise.  However, I think we really thought we would make it to Africa, but it's looking doubtful now.  We're cool with it though, the advice that people gave us was to take our time and I feel like we've stayed flexible and it has paid off many times. You simply can't do everything. 

Sachi: After hearing stories about how hot the Trans-Siberian train carriages can be in July and early August, I really glad it's worked out this way. Early on, other travellers told us about Sri Lanka, which wasn't on our radar, and it became one of the highlights of the trip. 

11. Are you sad you missed Seafair and the Blue Angels buzzing your house?

No. 

Sachi: But I am sad to miss laughing at Amos run into the bathroom for safety after a flyby. 

12.  What's your favorite mode of transportation you've experienced?

Easy one - the Shinkansen Bullet Train in Japan. So efficient, so clean, so comfortable, so fast, so freaking cool looking.  The world would work better if everyone had the Shinkansen. 

13. What customs or technology have you seen that is not in the U.S. but you wish were part of your everyday life here?

Wow - great question.  Top of mind is the Octopus card in Hong Kong.  GPS enabled mobile phones would be nice.  I like the idea of taking off one's shoes before entering a home.  I would love it if every restaurant in the US provided a hot towel at the beginning of every meal, Japanese style. The world outside the US seems much less concerned with litigation and I think it would make life more fun in the US.  Oh, and I like crosswalks and stoplights with timers so you know how long you're waiting.  

14.  Are you listening to your MP3s / are you watching movies?

Yes, but not a lot.  The Treo usually has about 25 albums on it and we usually have a few DVDs ready to be watched, but it's not an everyday event.  The mp3s get played most in transit, which happens every few days. 

Sachi: All I need is the Treo with Barry White's "My First, My Last, My Everything" on repeat and I'm set for a good 4 hours.

15. When you stay someplace how much do you get in tune with local news vs. world news?

We try to keep an eye out for local as much as we can, but it depends highly on English language newspapers, which most places have.   Whenever we talk to locals, we try to ask about local politics and issues.  The press in places like Vietnam (for instance) tell a different story than the people sometimes.  Most of the hotels have TVs and we have been keeping up with world news via BBC World.

Sachi: What a different perspective BBC World gives versus American news... 

16. What language would you most like to learn?

I'm interested in Japanese, but it's likely because I have a live-in teacher.  I think Mandarin would be a great thing to know in the future, but seems very hard. 

Sachi: Easy - French. I have 30 new and short mp3's with French dialogue.  

17. What language seems the hardest to understand not knowing it?

The Asian languages seem equally hard for me with the exception of the tonal languages (Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai) where a word can have many meanings based on how it is pronounced.  

Sachi: I can usually repeat some words spoken by native speakers of most European and Asian languages, but Sri Lanka's Sinhalese is mind boggling. It's so fast, the words have many syllables and everyone seems to mumble it through their smiles. Just trying to say the city names they way they do was difficult. 

18. What place(s) were you most surprised by the number of / lack of English speakers?

In terms of the high number of English speakers, we were surprised by Thailand, as it was not a colonized by the English.  Sri Lanka and India both had a high number, but were both colonies too.

The Chinese speak the least English of any country so far, with Japan coming in second. 

19. Next time you take a boat, will you be thinking of Seafair?

Sea-what? 

20. We want to see more century eggs being eaten. Will you please eat some more and capture it on video? (Sachi, you too!)

Hmm. That is not a question, but a request. We didn't ask for requests. I'm sure I will be consuming more strange foods in the coming weeks.

Sachi: I'm the cameraman! I'll eat the gooey if he'll eat the crunchy.