New Year Trip part 2

We’re trying to figure out where to go on our big trip. We don’t have a lot of money. We’ve been saving like crazy, but I don’t want to spend too much because then what’s the point of working so hard to save? The whole reason Ryan is living in Fuzhou is to save as much money as possible. If we’re just going to spend it all on vacation then I’d rather he stay here with me.

We both want to go to Europe, but that’s about as expensive as you can get from here and most of it gets reasonably cold in February. We’re from Minnesota, so we would easily survive, but why not be as comfortable as possible on vacation. We’ve talked about other parts of Asia, but we can’t really decide on a place we both want to go. We’ve been living in Asia for over two years and we haven’t seen most of it. I want to go to the most exotic places, but Ryan is a bit burned out on Asia. He’s not at all impressed anymore. I can understand that. He’s living in Mainland China, which is more like real Asia than Hong Kong. Hong Kong is in Asia, obviously, but it’s more international and a lot easier to adapt to culturally than where Ryan lives.

We talked about digging into China. I still want to see the Great Wall and I haven’t been anywhere north of Fuzhou, but Ryan lives in China, so it’s only natural that he wants to get away on his big vacation. It’s kind of funny that I’m so close to the Great Wall of China, relatively, but haven’t seen it yet. I could go there over a long weekend and not really spend that much money. If I went from the United States, it would have to be a big trip and cost a fortune.

We’ve ruled out going back to the United States. We were just in Minnesota last summer and anywhere else, like New York or Los Angeles, is an expensive trip from here.

We’re thinking about Australia. It’s almost like our culture and we can speak the language. That’s important when you live someplace where you can’t speak the language. I work with a few Australians and they’ve been giving me helpful suggestions. Best of all, flights from Hong Kong to Sydney only take about eight hours. Most Australians tell me to avoid Sydney. They say Melbourne, Brisbane and even Perth are better, but most of the flights go to Sydney. I’m sure getting from Sydney to Melbourne can’t be too difficult.