Year in Review (and what a year!)

Back in Bangkok for my first flight of 2009 and I thought I'd write a little summary of 2008 in recognition of what was one of the best years of my life!

2008 started off in the company of my dear Kodak Kids in Sunny California during the Rose Parade. We rang in the new year properly with champagne, good food and dancing and then all got up early for a long days work. Little did we know, that our upcoming 'month off' would actually set us free of Kodak Inspiration and on a hunt for the next. I spent half of January with my wonderful friends Kev, Keith, Crafton, Rhi, and new friends Sarah, Pat and Lu on the snowy slopes of Eagle and Vale, Colorado facing below freezing temperatures, snowboarding crystal powders and tromping up to lakes of ice on snowshoes. The hottub and spiked hot chocolate are also not to be forgotten!

The second half of the month and into February, I had the luxury of adding 3 new countries to my list and reuniting with more wonderful people. First, I met me Mom in Ireland (said with an Irish accent ;) and we toured around the cold, grey, but still bonnie green countryside. We also did a wee bit of site-seeing in England including stonehenge and London and munching on our first authentic 'fish-n-chips'. Next stop was the Netherlands, picked up by my dear friend Sebastiaan who took his job of official Dutch tour guide seriously. One week was hardly enough, but I saw more than I could have expected, including the famed windmills, Gouda, Amsterdam and his lovely parents (who make the best pancakes in Holland). I even got in some club dancing with his friends and a night of salsa as well! Finally, I flew back to the UK for a crazy mixed-up pick-up by my buddies Fergus and Kev. I spent one splendid week in their company, bowling, museuming, running, dancing, eating, staying up past midnight to watch THE game (the SuperBowl for my non-American readers ;) and learning more than necessary about Rugby. A truly disheartening farewell with wishes given in pence and revolving door goodbyes sent me on my return to the states to figure out what next.

One insane string of flights (London-Frankfurt-Atlanta-Daytona-Atlanta-LA-Seattle) brought me safely back into WA to see my parents and I even had time for a Tuesday Pot-Luck Dinner with some of my favorite people in Seattle (shout out to Craig, Neils and Brandon!) before my luck held true and a friend of mine hired me for a job beginning the following week. I barely had time to repack my bags before I was on my way to the Big Easy, New Orleans, Louisiana! I worked as a guide for Rustic Pathways assisting HS Students in their quest to volunteer their spring break helping residents and victims of Hurricane Katrina. We built houses, restored wetlands, cleaned neighborhoods and gave our time to the foodbank. It was a fantastic experience and the absolutely incredible music scene of NOLA was the icing on the cake! A HUGE Thank you is owed to my friend Mike and my sbrpnola08 girls, Lauren and Deanna! The three of us had a brilliant time once the work was over road-tripping parts of LA, AL, MS and FL!

During the 6 weeks in N'awlins, I applied and got a position with Rustic in India, which I had wanted to see for years. The month of May was a month of reunions seeing long lost friends in Seattle, Arlington, Portland, Hillsboro and good ol' Salt Lake city. The best part was seeing 3 new arrivals (I think I had about 6 or 7 births announced this year!), the little ones of my friends are just the cutest babies in the whole world!! :)

Half way through the year on June 1st, I landed half way around the world in New Delhi, India. Met by two of my newest friends and co-workers, Scott and Shira, I ventured into the country I would spend most of the next 10 months of my life. The rest of the Rustic Staff, Kalsang, Eric, Tina, Braden and Dalas trained hard in Mcleod Ganj (home of the Dalai lama) before being joined by our darling students for weeks of volunteer work with Tibetan refugees (building a basketball court, english conversation, road repair, tree planting and cultural experiences). It was wonderful working with these kids and learning alongside them. Dealing with sickness abroad is not easy when it comes to yourself, but looking after 18 ducklings is much more difficult! Time flew and before I knew it, the yoga and mud-digging and meditaion and momo making and Tibetan dance parties were over and I was off on my backpacking India adventure!

Tina joined me on an epic trip to Amritsar and the Pakistan border before we parted ways and I journeyed up north. In summary, Manali was a calm little mountain town but ladakh/kashmir (not to mention the 20-24 hour bus trip there and back) was strikingly beautiful! I have never been someplace where the sky is so blue and the people so warm. My birthday adventure of bike riding down from the worlds highest motorable pass was brilliant with two new travel-buddies Emma and Ange and the monasteries and stupas some of the most impressive buildings I have ever seen!

Emma and I returned to a normal elevation for a true backpacking schedule of Manali-Shimla-Chandigar-Haridwar-Rishikesh where she stopped off for some yoga and beetles nostalgia whereas I met up with Austrian friends of mine that I had known in Athens, but now live in Delhi. I cleaned up, relaxed and hit the road again with Tina and Shira to Jaipur, one last fling before we parted ways (yet another sad farewell) and I continued on a tour of Rajasthan, one of Indias most colorful states.

Its hard to summarize Rajasthan, but Jaipur (beautiful fort and palaces), Jodhpur (another impressive fort and my first Indian wedding), Jaisalmer (camel jockeying and desert fireworks), Mt. Abu (cool lake and ice cream), Chittorgarh (Asias largest fort at 700 acres and royal hospitality), Pushkar (2 weeks of swimming, learning Hindi, hiking to temples and good friends) and finally Bundi (perhaps my favorite place in India, spending 3 weeks with my adoptive Indian family, dressing up in a sari and even being on the 9pm news!).

A second reunion with my dear friend Sebastiaan, followed by a month through Agra (the majestic Taj Mahal), Orchha (a secret Indian garden), Kajuraho (Kama Sutra Temples), Varanassi (Indias most sacred city for Diwali, Indias most popular festival) and into Nepal for Himalayan trekking and site-seeing! Sebas and I left eachothers side from Darjeeling and I had just over a week to spend in Calcutta before I flew to Thailand (with an eventful 25hour layover in Dhaka).

Next up was a family reunion with my parents, a little island hopping in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, a reunion with Ange and meeting some of her great friends in Bangkok. Finally, I spontaneously flew up to Chiang Mai and happened to meet a couple fantastic Indian/Nepalis that I spent my Christmas and New Years with... Without saying too much, there is possible romance ahead in 2009 - yes, this coming from the perpetually single and on-the-move-Jessie. Only time can tell!

2008 saw me in 9 new countries (31 total now with Bangladesh to be 32), 10 states, 31 flights, 4 road-trips, reuniting with a couple dozen of the most fantastic friends a girl could have and more memories than I could possibly keep straight if it wasnt for my camera, journal, blog and facebook ;). My love goes out to all those that read this (and onto those who dont as well :) and my only wish is that 2009 is even better for us all (which will be quite the feat)!!!