It Begins Again

I received an email prompt for a steeply discounted flight booking.  Usually my husband & I travel together every February.  It's our promise to one another-- barring illness, lost job, or other unforeseen occurrence we will prioritize a trip together every year.  Generally, I book flights for February when prices drop after Thanksgiving.  However, last year, had I booked in the summer I would have saved money.  So I looked.

The prices were really reasonable.

I'm jittery.  I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve.  I booked a round trip flight for Kevin & I for three weeks in Ecuador & the Galapagos Islands in February.  I'll start the next step soon-- hunting around for a great spot to stay our first & last night.  Apart from that I have a general idea of places I don't want to miss visiting-- the market in Otavalo, the Galapagos Islands, los Banos... otherwise we'll see where the winds blow us.

That's how we're arriving in Ecuador.  I can't think of anywhere in the world I'm uninterested in visiting.  My travels have taught me that there are dynamic people, landscapes, & surprises lurking just about anywhere.  Ecuador has always been appealing.  The reason we're landing there next year is thanks to a fortuitous dinner in a Vietnam port-town last year.  Kevin & I had spent two days biking through the Mekong Delta.  We had a night to kill in Rach Gia before catching the morning ferry to Phu Quoc island.  An evening walk through town showed us that Rach Gia is a lovely town where folks live & work.  Not a lot past that.  We kept circling another couple, also referencing a map.  It became obvious we were all looking for a good dinner.  We wound up sharing a table at a family restaurant in the center of town.

The owner's little daughter played cards & charades with us while we waited for steaming bowls of Pho.  Our dinner companions were a couple who had been maintaining a long-distance relationship (Houston to London).  They quit their jobs & had been travelling the globe for over a year.  They'd been on the Trans-Siberian railroad, taken safaris in Namibia, spent time with family in Bombay, weeks in Madagascar, & now Vietnam.  I asked them their favorite places on earth.  Top three?  Galapagos Islands, New Zealand, & Namibia.

Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam
Our destination following a fortuitous conversation

Next stop Galapagos.