MANALI + TERRY | Newlyweds Backpack Round The World » Life

Holiday Letter 2010

Manali — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 15:18:47 +0000

‘Tis the season, and from our family to yours we write to send our love, good tidings and news from the year that will soon leave us. Our hope is that this letter reaches you in good health and spirits. Trust that in receiving this letter you are in our hearts and never far from our thoughts.

Our last year was one that we will fondly re-live in our minds throughout the remainder of our lives. As you may know, we just recently completed our year long around the world adventure and are now back stateside getting back into our routines and the prized American way of life. We have been thoroughly enjoying relaxing this cherished holiday season with beloved family and friends that we haven’t seen in almost two years!

Of the 27 countries we visited, we were fascinated by each and every unique stop; the first being an amazing culture of respect, decorum and delicious food in Tokyo, Japan . The cheapest ticket out of Japan, a two day ferry ride, brought us to Shanghai, a mega metropolis that shattered any generalizations we held regarding Asian culture. A month later we had visited Beijing, Xi’An, Guilin and Hong Kong. Highlights included a 10k hike along The Great Wall, Victoria Peak and a cacophony of culinary craziness that still makes our heads spin.

Thailand ended up hosting us for a fantastic six long weeks, some of the most memorable of our trip involving many white sand beaches and sun-filled lazy days. From Bangkok to Chiang Mai, Krabi to Phuket and all the Koh’s in between, the beauty of Thailand and the smiling locals are impossible to compare. Scuba diving, amazing food, swimming with elephants, cooking classes, serene beaches and cheap beer all lended a helping hand.

Singapore came next, and although a neat place, will always be remembered for nights spent in their unbeatably cool airport, Changi. From Singapore, it was a short flight to Yogyakarta, Indonesia. A surprisingly hip and artsy city guarding the gate to Borobudur, the largest and probably most beautiful Buddhist temple in the world.

We rode many surfs and tides in Bali, Indonesia and recall writing last year’s holiday letter to you “by the pool, sipping pina coladas and eating our Christmas dinner of Stuffed Crust Pizza™”. Fireworks dazzled us in Sydney harbor as we rang in the new year and spent the next five adventurous weeks exploring all the outback had to offer. After feeding kangaroos, koalas, tasmanian devils, wallabies and interacting with numerous other weird and wonderful creatures including Aussies themselves, we headed even further down under to the land of Kiwis, incredible New Zealand. Some of our most venturesome and unforgettable moments came from our five weeks spent in our small campervan gasping at the gorgeous awe inspiring scenery while we explored the south island of this tiny country. In between learning how to shear rabbits and sheep, rafting among glowworms, hiking on glaciers, dining with the Maori and kayaking with seals in the middle of a tsunami, we managed to bungee jump and skydive out of a perfectly good plane!

Phew, after all that excitement, we needed a breather! We diverted back through Cambodia to marvel at Angkor Wat and caught a few great dives in Malaysia before we landed in Bahrain to visit with Manali’s parents and catch some rest and relaxation before we continued the second half of our travels in Europe. As soon as we caught our breath, we jetted off to Germany to see Terry’s parents off before they moved back to the States and enjoyed some authentic German food and beer.

At this point, we had our Eurail train passes in hand and we were ready to explore once again with our travel planners ready, routing out the most effective and efficient journeys! In a short span of 4 months, we co-ordinated plenty of visits with cherished friends around Europe and were lucky to catch plenty of World Cup soccer fever throughout; including watching Spain clinch the title while in Barcelona! We rode donkeys up a volcano to watch the sunset in stunning Santorini, waited in line in the cloudy weather at Wimbledon, ran with the insanely huge bulls in Pamplona, sailed the calm Nordic seas near Copenhagen, caught some sun in the south of France, drank delicious Belgian brews in Brussels, rented bicycles in psychedelic Amsterdam, feasted on tapas in Spain, and ate our weight in gelato in Italy! Best of all, we were able to catch up with many of our wonderful old and new friends from our childhood, college and travels!

We dipped into Africa through a few weeks in mystic Morocco, explored the medieval medinas and maniacal markets before we landed in fascinating historical Istanbul. Our tattered backpacks finally came to rest for a few weeks back in Bahrain before we landed back home! Our journey was over in the blink of an eye, but we will cherish the memories and adventures forever. We are forever thankful to friends and family that came to visit us all over the world, new friends and travel companions (backpackers unite!) , graciousness of our hosts and their couches, the many beers and dinners bought by friends and mostly your continued support of our blog.

We come to you next year with more tales from boisterous Boston and our new lives as we settle back into reality. Again, our warmest wishes go out to you and your family for this holiday season. May your forthcoming 2011 be filled with joy, love and laughs!

Happy Holidays,
Manali & Terry

Annual Holiday Letter Archive | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 |

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY MANALI!

Terry — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 07:01:25 +0000

Some number of years ago, my beautiful wife found her way into this world, making it a better place and unknowingly would bring me unbridled happiness in my future. Her patience and generosity continue to stand strong, as on her birthday, she has allowed me to book a tramp on the Routeburn Track, in southern New Zealand. 32KM in 3 days, sleeping in cold, and according to the forecast, hiking through strong and cold gales, accompanied by all day rain. Oh what joy nature doth giveth!

Here is a little preview of what Manali looks like on a nice sunny day, recently at Mt Cook, here in New Zealand. For her Birthday, send her wishes of warmth and strength. And if you never see me again, you’ll know why.

Happy Birthday Babe!

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Our Second Wedding Anniversary!

Terry — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 03:54:03 +0000

Today, Manali and I are celebrating our two year wedding anniversary in Christchurch, New Zealand. We drove back to the city this morning, after spending the evening on the beach in Banks Peninsula, and are planning to dine at the fanciest establishment possible allowing cargo pants and hiking shoes.

It shocks me to think it has been two years, particularly when you get to spend it with someone as special as Manali. At a minimum, her agreement, cooperation and enthusiasm to undertake this journey alone speaks volumes about her as a person.

Is it always easy? No. Probably harder for her, than I, knowing myself. But I wouldn’t do it any other way, and that goes for this trip as well as my amazing wife. Manali hasn’t inflicted on me any recent flesh wounds, and I have so far never driven off without her…without coming back. So as long as that glorious record of cohabitation continues, so will our journey and our wonderful life together.

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Manali — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 06:23:48 +0000

We just heard that there have been MAJOR floods back home All water levels are at the highest in history and there have been a few casualties. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers! We don’t want to have to come back to mop up the mess! We are praying that the worst part has past, the National Weather Service forecasters have reported a 24-hour precipitation count measuring near 12 inches! So unpredictable considering that we’ve had a drought for 3 years!
Here are some pics from near our condo (Thanks Dwayne for taking this!)

Tennis courts and playground 8ft under water!

I75 completely flooded and under water...

Atlanta friends – Please keep us updated with the news!

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A European Holiday

Terry — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 23:18:00 +0000

Manali and I dashed over to Europe for our Christmas Vacation, and to spend time with my parents, who currently are living in Amberg, Germany.

Amberg is located very close to Prague, which we visited for a day trip. Prague is an amazing town, with incredible architecture in particular.

We also went up to Amsterdam for New Year’s. We had a great time, and could have spent days walking around the canals and exploring a really unique diversity of attractions and distractions.

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Christmas Letter 2008

Manali — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 00:04:02 +0000

Beloved Family and Friends! The time is upon us yet again! A point in the year to look back and give thanks to that which we value most…our health, our family and our friends. We hope this letter reaches you and your family in good health and high spirits!

What a busy year for us! Our year started off with two weddings swiftly approaching. The first, held in February, was a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony performed in Baroda, India and the second in March, a traditional Christian wedding ceremony held in Atlanta, GA. We had an absolutely amazing time and can’t believe it is all behind us now. We often reminisce while watching videos or looking through pictures and enjoy the memories of our ceremonies and our family and friends that could share in our joy with us.

In between the weddings, we managed to squeeze in the “Golden Triangle” tour of India – Delhi, Jaipur and Agra – with a few of our family and friends that had made the long trip. We saw the spectacular Taj Mahal, Red Fort, numerous jewel laden palaces, ate delicious food, shopped and feed a few stray monkeys!

We kicked off the wonderful seasonal weather by heading to our annual camping trip to St. Augustine, Florida. We camped with friends along the beach, where the sands were white, clean and stretched beyond the horizon. Our stay was filled with relaxation, lots of beer and gorgeous views. Bailey, however, won the award for best oceanic swimmer and made the most new friends!

Throughout the year, we managed to keep in touch with our artistic sides by attending various plays and concerts. We managed to see the jaw dropping Cirque du Soleil show, spectacular Lion King, comical and satiric Wicked, talented Coldplay and various other local acts. We also frequent the neighborhood library and joined in on the “Twilight” craze this year.

For the first time since we’ve lived in Atlanta, we heard of some family owned farms and enjoyed blueberry picking throughout the month of July. After an abundance of blueberry streusel muffins, pumpkin-blueberry bread, blueberry pancakes and blueberry everything – we look forward to strawberry season next May!

Fall took to us to the ever victorious Florida Gator football season. We managed to make it to the infamous Florida v. Georgia game and cheered the Gators on to a well deserved victory! We are proud of our ‘boys in blue’ and are awaiting another National Championship title to add to the glory!

Terry started his new job at General Electric (GE) selling Adhesive Materials in July and has added Home Depot to his list of clients. Although sales is a new arena for Terry, he’s doing extremely well, enjoying the flexible schedules and will be able to round out his resume with an additional skill-set. Manali was promoted this summer to Assistant Controller of the Home Services division of Home Depot and is enjoying managing her growing team of associates and won second place at their annual company bake off!

As many of you are aware, we are planning to begin our “Around the World Travels/Honeymoon” in June 2009. The timing works out perfectly since we’ll both have great work experience and tenure to our resumes, Terry will graduate with his MBA in the Spring and we will be able to enjoy each other before we plan to expand our family. We plan to start our journey by visiting many of you during our summer “North American Road Trip” and will buy a one-way ticket to Singapore late August 2009!

We’ve set up a website for all of you to follow our planning, adventures and pictures so please follow along, plan to meet up or make comments or suggestions! http://manaliandterry.blogspot.com

Again, warmest wishes to you and your family this holiday season. Although we may not be together to enjoy friendly company, you are always in our thoughts. May your holiday and upcoming year be filled with joy and happiness!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Manali & Terry Bettendorf

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We had such an amazing experience, and it will never be forgotten. I always miss India after watching videos or looking at pictures from our wedding and trip and can’t wait for our next visit.

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