- Am officially sick and tired of hot climates. Maxed out on it during our 3rd annual end of summer return to Thailand. Missing the cold right now. Next year, sticking with locales with temps of 25 C and less.
- The food was superb as expected. Even did some climbing on Railay. Plenty of scrapes and bruises to show for it too. And oh so sore for days afterwards. I don't deal with physical pain with a lot of grace, so it has felt torturous. It was D's first time and he did awesome. The lines we did were definitely not beginner level (was supposed to be). I can tell you for sure that I did not make it look easy!
- Next year's travel schedule has shaped up nicely. Much easier. Taking a year off from the heavy stuff. Not committing to any ventures in the developing world. Shouldn't require any form of specialty meds as a result. My kidneys and liver will be happy for the break.
- Am still feeling the necessity for more recovery time. There's a lot of stuff swimming around inside that needs to be arranged, made sense of, and ordered. It is both surprising and annoying that it is now Sept and I am feeling this way but it isn't something I can will away. I'm looking forward to eventually moving past this.
- We've been out west for 6 days as well. Courtesy of a ridiculous flight deal. First time seeing what our ski area looks like in the summer. Neat to be able to hike up to the top. I really struggled with the uphills but found the downhill running to be super fun. D was the reverse.
- Didn't particular love our time spent down in the city there. Found the people to be generally stressed and downright angry. Why we never noticed the near rage during the winter, could be because the many visiting skiers out number the locals? This experience has definitely impacted our ideas of living out there full time. Very glad we went out.
- We knew that there has been an increasing spread between the numbers of lifestyle retirees who have migrated into the interior and the numbers of long time residents who are being squeezed out of the city due to escalating real estate prices and cost of living.
- Historically, this area was not a wealthy one. Nowadays, it is known for its vineyards, orchards, golf courses and retirement communities, drawing many from across Canada as well as the pacific north west of the US with its year round attractions.
- We are planning to return again next summer. I want to see what it's like at the beginning of July and have another opportunity to do some more hiking and organizing at the condo.
