Route (Subject to Change)

Welcome to our first post! First of all, we want everyone’s expectations to be taken down a notch. We are not professional writers and this blog will most likely reflect that. But... we are excited to give it a try :)

While living in Boise and working as a nurse and brewery rep we realized that our dreams for travel were possible and that there was no better time than now. For the past year we have been researching, saving, and planning an epic adventure. What’s in store? A 3 month backpacking trip through Southeast Asia followed by teaching English abroad. 

Here is a brief itinerary/route of our backpacking trip...

First stop... the Philippines. While researching Southeast Asia, the beautiful islands of the Philippines kept catching our eye so we decided to make it our first destination. We will leave the states on January 15th and spend 4 weeks traveling between the 3 locations we have narrowed it down to; Coron, Banaue, and Dumaguete. If all goes as planned highlights should include blue lagoons, rice terraces, scuba diving, beaches, and singing karaoke (apparently its very popular among the Filipinos). 

Second stop... Thailand. From the Philippines we will hop on a flight to Bangkok, Thailand. From Bangkok we will simply head north via train, bus, tuk tuk, etc. Destinations within Thailand will include Chang Mai, Chang Rai, and Pai. We plan to enjoy the mountains, tour temples, and eat deliscious Thai food for about 3 weeks. 

Third stop... Laos. From northern Thailand we will head East into the less touristy country of Laos. We are excited to get off the beaten path for 2-3 weeks and explore cities such as Luang Prabang and enjoy the Mekong River. We will travel through the country from west to east towards Vietnam. 

Fourth stop... Vietnam. From Laos we plan to travel into northern Vietnam. After enjoying the mountains in the north and the historic city of Hanoi we will head south towards the capital of Ho Chi Min. We plan to spend 3 weeks enjoying the Vietnam coast as our epic ‘road trip’ comes to an end. But wait...

BONUS Fifth stop... in mid April we are lucky enough to be able to cross the pacific again with our destination being Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. What’s the occasion? Corbin’s brother Nick is getting married to his beautiful fiancé Brianna. We couldn’t be more excited to reconnect with family and celebrate with a margarita. 

Sixth stop... Hmmmm... we don’t know yet!! We will be teaching English but the destination is yet to be decided. Our goal is to have jobs lined up starting around May 1st or at least have decided on our ideal location. We decided to keep our options open in case we fall in love with a city during our travels. 

So... that was the quick and dirty version of our Jan-May backpacking itinerary.   

With Love,

   -Boots Abroad (aka Tatum and Corbin)