Two weeks! Our trip is now officially two weeks away and as far as I'm concerned, it's crunch time. Our bags are awaiting their filling fate, my mind is pretty permanently on a Thai beach somewhere and my Google Doc is looking rather official (if I do say so myself). Since I shared our plans for a two week stint in Japan (here), I thought I'd also let you know what we're hoping to see in Thailand. Where the Japan leg of our vacation is fast-paced and packed with a ton of sites, Thailand should be a little more relaxed with a few more adventures. Here's what's on my must-do list:

spend eight nights in bangkok
rent scooters and explore the city
float along and shop the floating market
get up close and personal with a tiger (cruelty free)
see as many buddhist temples as possible
get a sacred tattoo done by a monk
spend christmas and new years in paradise
venture to phuket
visit monkey (phi phi) island and the 007 island
spend two days and a full night with elephants
walk through the rice paddies
shop the night bazaar in chiang mai
massages every day
meet the long-neck karen tribe
relax on the beach

What does our trip mean for the blog? I'll be putting out my holiday content over the next couple of weeks and taking our vacation time off from content creation. It'll be such a welcomed break but I promise to come back with a ton to share. If you're interested in keeping up with me in real time, you can always follow along on Instagram for more frequent posts. Until then, stay tuned for a lot more gift guides, a few more personal posts and my December mood board + soundtrack. There's plenty left to come in 2017!

With our big trip less than a month away (get ready for a ton of travel posts!) I've been pretty busy squirreling away inspiring images and dream destinations for both Japan and Thailand. Since you guys are a well of knowledge, I thought it might be fun to share what I've figured out so far in the hopes that you have some even cooler recommendations or maybe you'll take a similar trip in the future and can use my notes.

We're splitting five weeks evenly between Japan and Thailand and I'm equally excited for both! Although I've been to Tokyo once before, we're doing a ton of things for the first time and there are a few things I'd love to see again. So far I'm mostly excited for a change of weather (and hopefully even some snow), a lot of walking and a lot of tasty treats. Here's what our must-do list looks like so far:

spend seven nights in tokyo
explore harajuku (for some great people watching), shinjuku & shibuya
wander along piss alley (despite the sketchy name) and stop into a few dive bars
wake up early and take in the tsukiji fish market
indulge in some delicious ramen and possibly brave the world of sushi
find a vintage film camera and a beautiful kimono to take home
treat lorelai to an all-you-can-snap photobooth day
take the scenic train to kyoto and stay for three nights
search the streets for a geisha
walk through the fushini inari temple (famous red gates)
go to monkey park
try as many cute coffee shops as I can find
watch my husband light up in his hometown
take a ton of video footage and photos to share

I think it goes without saying that I can hardly contain myself. I've already started making a packing list and am finding it super challenging to remember what cold-weather dressing is like since I've only work flip flops for the past six months. I'm excited to do a little shopping and ultimately just experience something new. Ainsworth and I were joking yesterday that it feels like we haven't left our neighborhood in months... that's what tiny island living will do to you.

So... have any great recommendations? I would LOVE to hear them! A lovely instagram / real-life friend already filled me in on the most amazing sounding bar where the owner DJs from his extensive record collection... that's also on the list.

While we were in Hawaii I managed to capture a ton of iPhone clips during different outings and adventures. Last month I made it one of my June goals to become our family's record keeper and collecting videos seemed like the best way to encapsulate our vacation so that we could look back on it for years to come. I've been really enjoying creating these little 8mm vlogs (video blogs) lately and I hope you like seeing things in a different format. Let me know if this is something you'd be interested in seeing moving forward... we recently invested in a new GoPro to shoot all of our underwater hangs and I'd love to share more!

During our stay in Honolulu we managed to check out Waikiki Beach, hang around The Laylow, visit the Polynesian Cultural Center for a luau and do a ton of exploring. I also included our travels to a new island home and a few clips of the scenery around here. I can't wait to show you a bit more of our new space and the island we've been hiding out on!