8 August 2016

Summer in Review

This morning I intended to wake up and take a nice long walk around the Tay Ho environs of Hanoi, my current locale and penultimate stop on my summer 2016 Great Asian Adventure. These plans were abruptly thwarted when I stepped outside: my phone read 33c, feels like 41. It makes more of an impact in Fahrenheit: 91, feels like 106.  

I lasted seven minutes before ducking into a coffee shop and in all honesty, I'm surprised I even made it that long. I am a hot mess in quite a literal way and have taken to carrying around a little hedgehog hankie to manage. It's as glamourous as sweating will ever be. 

Fortunately, the heat is good for banishing me to the indoors otherwise I might never get around to sitting down and blogging the summer escapades. Considering I've yet to finish blogging last summer's adventures or the end of China, it's a small consolation.

Seven weeks later, the end of the 2015-16 school year feels a far and distant past. I'm holding onto hope that the trains, planes and automobiles of this adventure do something to diminish the reverse culture shock I am anticipating upon London return. By the end of this summer, I will have taken 21 flights (sorry carbon footprint), traversed seven countries and linked up with travel buddies of the American, British and Kiwi persuasions. 

The brief breakdown:
Week 1: Hawaii 
Week 2-3: Japan
Week 4: Singapore and Malaysia
Week 5: Malaysia (peninsular)
Week 6: Borneo (still part of Malaysia)
Week 7: Bali 
Week 8: Hanoi and Shanghai
Week 9-10: Michigan 
Week 11: Home (London)

It would be an understatement to say it's been epic. I may never finish blogging it. 

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