Mixed emotions don’t even begin to describe nearing the end of our travels. Part of me is excited to surprise my family and get into a bit of a routine and I’m all like this…
But then I start to think. Fuck. I’m going to miss this whole free-as-a-damn-bird lifestyle. The world is like the coolest chick in the class and I’ve been lucky to be her bestie this past year. But now she’s totally moving away and so that leaves me all like this…
I’ll get over it. I’m sure. Spoiler alert: I’m back and still have mixed emotions. Especially since I’ve already started working and as great as it is to make money and flex those creative muscles again, I have a nervous tummy. I feel a slight lump in my throat. Oh dear god, please don’t throw up.
Three gifs for the win. Back to the beginning of the end.
We were on a high from our time with the elephants. But were also craving a little luxe in our life. A place with AC, semi-warm shower water, and sealed doors/windows/ceilings. So from ENP, we went to Art Mai Gallery Hotel for two nights of absolute nothingness. And it was absolute amazingness. We had a proper bed (sans mosquito net).
We got to do laundry. Thank god. Begone elephant poo.
Then it was time to leave Thailand. One month of temples, beaches and elephants. Not to mention dirt-cheap food and accommodation. I will miss you, Thailand. But ding dong, time to say hello to Hong Kong.
We had a fast and furious trip to Hong Kong. Just enough time to see Craig’s old friend and not see any tourist stuff because the weather got all rainy and shit. Good thing Hong Kong has bars to seek shelter in. Phew.
For our three-night visit, we opted to stay on the island and use nature’s Stairmaster to navigate…we cheated by taking the Central-Mid-Level Escalators a lot of the time. But shh, don’t tell anyone.
We met up with Craig’s old friend Silas and his lovely wife JJ.
We took a few token pictures when it wasn’t raining.
Hong Kong does have some amazing street art.
It also had a bit of a sticker shock for us since we were used to spending a couple bucks on meals, not $30 for us to have avocado toast with a poached egg (while sitting next to two loud millennials literally saying ‘literally’ every 5 seconds).
I would’ve loved to explore Hong Kong more and do all the things we originally planned to do. It’s San Francisco on steroids. It’s high-rise heaven. So maybe we’ll be back and stay a bit longer.
From Hong Kong, we had a 12-hour flight to Seattle. Our feet touched American soil for the first time since August 2016. We had an epic surprise in the works, thanks to my sister, Hil. She loves surprises. So it was no surprise when she suggested that we surprise my family by arriving two weeks early.
From Seattle, we had a 4-hour layover and then flew our last flight of our journey, to Minneapolis.
And you know what? Every flight was on time. There were no screaming children on our planes. In fact, the seat next to me was empty during our long 12-hour flight. That’s travel gold right there. Heck, we didn’t even have any turbulence. Really. I took a Valium though. So maybe we did.
Hil picked us up from the airport. And surprised Craig with his favorite beer which he hadn’t consumed in one whole year. Gasp.
Then we had to surprise my sister, Linds, and her family. I knew she’d be loud. That’s just in her nature. She’s a Feder. We don’t do inside voices. But her reaction was better than I expected. Stalk my FB page to watch a video of her dropping F-bombs like there’s no tomorrow.
The rest of the night, we did as Feders do. We drank.
And sat outside by the fire. We also managed to fight off jet lag until 11pm. Win-win. What time is it?!
You may be wondering, where on earth were my parents? Well, they were out of town. Hil sneakily tried to convince them to stay, but it didn’t work. They returned two days after we arrived and Hil lied to them, like any good daughter would, and said that all the grandkids had a play for them. So they came to the Pooley house, sat on the couch and watched some lame-ass excuse at a play. The whole time thinking ‘WTF’, until we walked out. The final act. Sadly, there were no f-bombs.
A few days later, we visited the bumpin’ metropolis of Madelia, Minnesota. And got to see my adorable grandparents. Aren’t Arlo and Mary Ann the cutest?
Our time in Minnesota was spent doing a lot of drinking and a lot of catching up. It was great. But my liver is pissed. The things we do for those we love.
We also got to catch up with our other family…our friends.
We went up to Minneapolis to bond with my life partner and her life partner…and we met their offspring, Juna. We had a pajama party. Obvi.
And Juna tried to steal my man.
I got to be with my mother for Mother’s Day, which hasn’t happened in years.
And got to cuddle my grandmother in a quilt she made and gifted me in college. I may have sold all my stuff, but this baby is sticking with me. For life.
As cool as Southern Minnesota is, I have been wanting to take Craig up to the beautiful North Shore for quite some time. So Judy let us take her car for two nights up north. My driving skills definitely needed some practice as I hadn’t been behind the wheel since July of last year. But I think I mastered the 4.5-hour drive without having any road rage. Right, Craig?
Before we got to our accommodation we stopped in at Gooseberry Falls. If there’s one thing Craig loves more than me (or Racer 5 IPA) it could very well be waterfalls. That man will spend 30 minutes just taking pictures of one spot.
And boy did he ever.
After falling in love with the falls, we headed to our accommodation. My sister and her husband recommended Cove Point Lodge, and I’m glad they did. Right on the shores of Lake Superior and located in a town with a population of 100 people. We decided to upgrade our room after our first night. When in roam…
Our one full day of exploring we did all the things. In the morning, we drove five minutes to Split Rock Lighthouse. And like badasses, we got there before they start charging admission. But that also meant running into a bunch of kids on a field trip.
So we went down (and then back up) a different path to avoid the noise.
From lighting up the house, we became cliffhangers at Palisade Head. This is one of my favorite spots on the North Shore, but if you blink, you’ll miss the turn. Tons of rock climbers come to this point. We don’t rock that way. We watch. [Insert creepy laugh here.]
So peaceful up here.
Next up on our North Shore tour, hiking Oberg Mountain. Don’t get too excited. It’s no Kilimanjaro. But it sure is pretty. And we didn’t get any altitude sickness.
Our time back home was coming to an end. God, so many endings, so little time. What else did we do in Mankato? Craig watched a storm even though the weatherman said to get into the basement.
My other sister and her family drove a million hours to see us. It was the first time the entire family has been together in 1.5 years. So naturally, we took a bunch of photos.
I let my goddaughter, Lauren, do a ‘Brittany Bun’ on me and it was…something.
But probably the biggest thing to happen during our time in Minnesota, Craig became Craig again. He went from this…
To this…
Bye bye, yeard. It was nice knowing you. I honestly just stared at him for 20 minutes. I can see his chin! I did dig the beard, but it’s nice to see my husband’s face again.
We had a blast in Minnesota. Catching up with my family. Seeing my besties. It will probably be the last time we are back in quite some time. ‘Tis a long flight from New Zealand, after all. I’m thankful for my wonderfully weird (and loud) family. And I can’t wait for them to come visit us in New Zealand. Hint, hint.
But we are off to San Francisco (again).
Fuck, I’ve missed the Bay. I never thought we’d be coming back though. Until we realized it made the most sense. We have so many connections in the Bay and getting contracts was a breeze. I’ll be doing my copy thing for Morphe. Yes, I’m back in beauty. I can’t escape it. Craig will be working with his old boss on a few projects. And we found an adorable sublet in Rockridge that is truly hippie heaven.
So farewell, Minnesota. I love to love you. And this isn’t the end of Roam Mode. We will never stop roaming. And I will never stop writing posts full of curse words and puns. Up next? The good, the bad and ugly of around-the-world travel. Stay tuned.
Roam Mode 