Thank you Celesta!

Momma,

Words can not express our gratitude for the generosity you showed our family during our Europe tour! What an amazing and memorable experience for all of us. We learned so much, we indulged like crazy, we became even closer, and laughed more than ever. It truly has been one of the highlights of our trip and was such a great adventure. We are so thankful for the memories and we can’t wait for our next trip! You mean the world to us and we love you so much! Thank you for always valuing our family and always making everyday worthy of a celebration. You are loved more than you know and we are so thankful for you EVERY SINGLE MINUTE!

Thank you from the bottom of our heart….muchos besos!

Courtney & Miguel

It's been too long....

Hi All,

As some of you know we have been unable to post any new blogs in the last few weeks. While in China, we discovered many websites that we frequent are restricted/prohibited.....including our blog. We will have posts to share soon. Stay with us die hards. We appreciate your concern and will have lots of newness soon!

Love,

Court and Miguel

Itinerary Change!

The devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan five days ago have forced us to change our plans. We were originally scheduled to land in Tokyo on March 20th and then spend eleven days touring the country before heading to China.  We had almost everything booked for Japan for the exception of the railway tickets, which I was planning on buying sometime this week. We first heard about the earthquake when we landed in Nha Trang.  Initially, I was very optimistic as I never thought we would have to eliminate Japan from the itinerary.  The initial reports from Tokyo indicated there was minimal damage and few casualties.  For the next two days we were glued to the TV and internet as we learned more and more about the horrific damage the tsunami actually caused.   I am still in shock by the video footage and images from Japan.  I can't imagine what that could have felt like and the pain and suffering people are going through right now.  There is just no way we could visit Japan at a moment like this.

We have had to work quick the past couple of days and come up with a back up plan for the 11 days that were scheduled to be spent in Japan.  After hours on the phone talking to American Airlines, Air Asia, Sheraton, and Hyatt we have come up with a new set of places to visit from March 20th to March 31st.  Here is where we are going:

March 20th - March 25th: Kota Kinabalu, Borneo (Malaysia)
March 25th - March 28th: Siem Reap, Cambodia
March 28th - March 31st: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

We will update the blog shortly with our visits to Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.  Tomorrow we head to Ho Chi Minh city before flying to Hong Kong on Thursday.  Hope you are all doing well! Thanks for reading!

Packing 101

As many of you have already asked me "What in the hell are you packing? What in the hell are you packing in and you're sure as hell bringing a pair a of heels, right?" I answered these questions by saying, "I'm taking tons of lululemon, a 22 inch suitcase, and one pair of heels." Or so I thought.

As I began packing I felt good, no, I felt great! I learned a trick from my mother years ago on how to roll every piece of clothing to maximize all space in the bag. My articles of clothing lay on the floor and I was very confident I would have room to spare in my "nice size" suitcase.  As I start to fill the suitcase I immediately begin to sweat. Oh shoot! I forgot my beach cover up, that perfect JCrew tee, my cashmere wrap, maybe now I need my puffy vest, and what about my tall flat boots, I think I have to have those.  I stare at my suitcase with total disgust as I realize what everyone realized from the beginning.....how is Courtney Tobon going to pack in a 22 inch suitcase for a year? for some reason it never dawned on me that packing would be one of my biggest problems.  After meeting my husband I had to change my excessive packing ways.  I could no longer take a second suitcase for just my shoes!  Traveling with Miguel I had to have a carry-on and full size hair products were out of the question, however I conquered these feats.  I thought I had become an efficient packer, even a light packer. Really, how was I having this problem?!?!?

As I added my forgotten pieces and continued to pack, to my surprise, I didn't have to give up many items, but I did have to sit on my bag to close it.  At this moment I have 7 t-shirts, 6 pairs of pants, 5 tank tops, 4 jackets/sweaters, 3 dresses, 3 pairs of of shoes, 2 swimsuits, 1 pair of jeggins and a partridge in a pair tree :).  To me this does not sound like much, but unfortunately it is.  We would like to have some wiggle room in the suitcase just in case we want to buy a souvenir. The question is what do I give up? Help!

Welcome, Bienvenidos, Welkom, Bienvenue

Welcome to the Tobons Around the World Blog! Over the next twelve months we will be traveling around the world, visiting over 100 cities in over 30 countries and we wanted to give you all some insight as to why we are doing this.  To be honest, this trip has been a pipe dream for both us and we thought that it would never materialize.  Let’s face it, we aren’t trust fund babies and we aren’t getting any younger.  However, our love for travel, our parents’ inspiration, and our desire for adventure has helped us overcome any obstacles.

We are super excited to embark on this adventure before life gets too serious with kids, a house, PTA meetings, minivans, dinner parties, or even more importantly deciding if we go with a beige or crème ottoman for the living room (this already happened!).  We have been saving for this trip for four years.  Some sacrifices have been made, such as Courtney going from buying Manolos to not buying Manolos anymore.  In all seriousness we have had to make life adjustments, but they have all been worthwhile. From learning how to cook at home to wearing extra layers during the winter months, every penny, hotel point, airline mile has helped towards making our dream come true.

 We want to thank our amazing friends and family who have supported us during the planning process of this trip and who have encouraged our every whim. We welcome you to follow us on our adventure and we look forward to hearing from you all or seeing you somewhere in the world!

Five days until our freedom date…….Woo Hoo!!!!

D-Day - 41

This is our first post ever on a blog! It is getting closer and closer to our freedom date (December 28th). Court and I have been working hard on getting everything ready before our year long trip around the world begins in San Francisco, California.   It is pretty unbelievable to think that we are so close to embarking on this adventure.  Since we got married in the summer, we have been working nights and weekends planning this trip.  So far, we got our apartment rented, car and bikes sold, we have applied for multiple visas, bought suitcases, Courtney quit her job, we have booked 67 hotel nights, purchased 42 plane tickets, and the list goes on and on.  It has been quite a ride already, but we can feel the adrenaline rushing through our bodies every time we think of this trip.  Please keep us in your thoughts and follow us when you get a chance!