Amber
I'm an ex-bartender turned librarian who adores travel and doesn't tend to stay in one place for very long. I've lived in 4 states and 2 countries and visited many more. A nifty little widget at...

Where it all began
Cincinnati, United States
Back when I really did my travelling I was living in the midwest and when I moved here from Hawaii I was promised that I would never spend winter here. He actually held true to that and every year we'd leave around December / January and return April/March.
Cincinnati is actually quite a fun city in the summer time with all its festivals, parties in the park, concerts on the river etc etc. At any rate I'm assuming that we probably partook in a few libations at the Village Tavern before venturing off to the airport the next day to begin this winter's adventure.
written by  Amber on January 9, 1999 from Cincinnati, United States
from the travel blog: The Day My Toothbrush Turned Blue and Other Tales from the South Pacific

The day I recieved the futon
Hilo, United States
The guy I was dating at the time was getting ready to leave the islands. As a result he gave me a futon as he no longer had any need for it and would be unable to transport it back to the states easily. Therefore I inherited it, more appropriately it is a yo, not a futon, but I like to call it the travelling futon. This is the tale of it's travels and experiences.
We squished it into the back of "Greybie" my little Toyota Tercel and off it went on it's first journey from his apartment near the bay to mine up near Rainbow Falls. I think I kept it propped up in a corner of my room and there it rested.
written by  Amber on May 1, 1993 from Hilo, United States
from the travel blog: The Travelling Futon

Airport Delays
Los Angeles, United States
Got stuck in the airport midway between flights from Cincinnati to LAX. I can't even remember what airport it was, I just remember sitting at the bar killing time and making friends with the bartender. Several of us were just sitting around and then we started making up drinks and such. The bartender would attempt to make a drink and then have me guess what was in it == 90% of the time I was correct, and he also created something called a Thunderf**k -- all I remember is that it was in the creamy family and had a base of couvoisier or something like that. Needless to say I had a rather good buzz by the time I made my plane. Arrived at the airport to be met by my little brother and mom who'd flown in from Hawaii, and my two aunties and my grandmother. All were starving so we ventured off to Denny's for the requisite 2 hour wait for food. After fueling up we headed onto I-5 for the drive back to McKittrick.
written by  Amber on June 1, 1999 from Los Angeles, United States
from the travel blog: Visiting the Family

How I spent my 4th of July
Rome, Italy
Left my house around quarter til 5am to make it to Sacile for the 5:22 train. Arrived in Mestre around 6ish with just enough time for a quick bathroom stop then it was off to board the Eurostar for Roma. A pretty uneventful train ride down -- just me and 5 Italians all reading our newspapers and playing Sudoku (or at least I was). Arrived shortly after 11am and then spent the next hour or so trying to locate the Post Office across from binario 24 so that I may purchase my Roma Pass -- offers unlimited transport, free access to the first 2 National Museums (including the Colloseum) and discounts thereafter. After waiting in line for what seemed to be forever, eventually secured the pass and then went to locate the Orange line Metro.
Initially went in the wrong direction, but that was easily fixed and then hopped the Metro in the other direction and arrived at the Repubblica stop. Left the station and figured out where my hotel was and was able to check in, despite the fact that it was only noonish. After divesting myself of the backpack, I went out in search of the Colloseum. Took the Orange line back to the Termini station and then hopped the Blue line down to the Colloseum. Played frogger with the traffic and eventually made my way to stand in line. Luckily once I cleared the security check point I was able to bypass the ticket line and just scoot on in with my Roma Pass. Walked all around the Colloseum, just didn't get a good vibe from it, although there were some interesting views towards the Forum. Still not sure what the big shiny silver piles of whatever were, but didn't feel like going exploring in that direction once I left the Colloseum. They also had an exhibit Eros, which had some nice statuary and frescos.
The ventured towards the Palladine and the Forum and wandered all over the gardens and grottos, overlooking the city and then climbed down into the Forum. Took tons of pictures as ever and then wandered up to Capitol Hill. Didn't go in any of the museums, but after I got back to the hotel and actually read what was inside, I wish I had. Wandered down and around the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and then back up towards the Colloseum. Made my way back to the hotel via the Metro, stopped off at McD's and then took a tepid shower and promptly collapsed on the bed. Woke up a bit later by very bad karaoke downstairs and read the guide book -- discovering exactly what it was that I had seen that day.
written by  Amber on July 4, 2007 from Rome, Italy
from the travel blog: Mad dash

School Sports
McKittrick, United States
After the long drive home, got settled in McKittrick, a tiny blink and u miss it town in the oilfields of Middle California. I think one of the signs on the highway says Welcome to McKittrick, population 2000 (if you count the jackrabbits).
Spent a couple days visiting with the aunties and cousins and watching the littlest cousins participate in sports day. I remember those days -- having to compete etc. It was fun watching the kids and their excitement for the swim races.
But oh my, you couldn't get me to move back there again. So dry and dusty -- you can feel the moisture just sucked out of your body.
written by  Amber on June 2, 1999 from McKittrick, United States
from the travel blog: Visiting the Family

Moving back home
Pahoa, United States
Well it was a short-lived stay in the house near Rainbow Falls. I soon moved back to the parent's house in Pahoa and thus the travelling futon got it's second journey in Greybie as it was moved with all the rest of my stuff back to Nanawale Estates and the downstairs apartment.
It had a bit of company there in my living room as it was one of many sleep options, including 2 twin beds, the couch, and the massage table. It spent many a time supporting drunken friends as they dozed in a stupor both in the apartment, and while out "camping" on my lot.
I then left Pahoa in August of 1994 and said good-bye to the futon as I flew off to college on Oahu.
written by  Amber on June 1, 1993 from Pahoa, United States
from the travel blog: The Travelling Futon

Back in the Islands
Pahoa, United States
Typically all of my winter trips would begin with roughly a month spent back in Hawaii visiting family and friends. A typical day would involve laying around doing nothing on the black sand beach. Or perhaps going to Luquin's for Mexican food. Or simply talking story and spending time with my family. Occasionally, if the lava was flowing near the surface we'd hike out to see it. It all depended on how much energy we had.
written by  Amber on January 9, 1999 from Pahoa, United States
from the travel blog: The Day My Toothbrush Turned Blue and Other Tales from the South Pacific

Party time
Honolulu, United States
Typically, I'd spend the last week in Hawaii on Oahu with friends and also celebrating our anniversary. Usually it would be Waikiki Beach by day and Moose McGillicuddy's by night. Moose's has by far the best happy hour in Waikiki and the spinach artichoke dip is quite yummy (provided of course they remember to put the artichokes in it.) If you ever stop in ask Sean to play your favorite song and tell Tats I said hi :p
written by  Amber on February 5, 1999 from Honolulu, United States
from the travel blog: The Day My Toothbrush Turned Blue and Other Tales from the South Pacific

Island Hopping
Honolulu, United States
After spending a semester at UH-Manoa in the dorms, I decided that dorm life was just not for me. So I located an apartment in the back of Palolo Valley. Since it wasn't furnished I needed to locate a bed, and a friend had one to give me but we just needed to arrange transportation. In the mean time I was home visiting my parents on the Big Island and decided to attempt to squish the futon into a tv box and take it back as one of my checked luggage pieces so that I could have something to sleep on other than the cold tile floor. I think it took 3 of us to get it to fit in the box, along with lots and lots of duct tape, but finally it was achieved and the futon came back with me on the flight to Honolulu and the house in Palolo Valley.
During this time I got fed up with school, became a beach bum, met a guy, and decided I was moving to Ohio. Thus, I now needed to find a place for all my stuff. I gave the futon to my best friend and thus it was transported in Greybie to her apartment in Kalihi. While it was in her care she moved to another apartment in Salt Lake where I would visit it when I came to stay at her place.
written by  Amber on January 4, 1995 from Honolulu, United States
from the travel blog: The Travelling Futon

It's off to grandmother's house we go
Santa Rosa, United States
Packed the car up and set off up 101 to Santa Rosa. Stopped in the Garlic capital of the world, sampling garlic chips among other things. Ended up in Santa Rosa to visit my grandmother on my Dad's side. A delightful tea and such was set up and we set off the next morning further up the California Coastline.
written by  Amber on June 7, 1999 from Santa Rosa, United States
from the travel blog: Visiting the Family

Crater Lake
Medford, United States
All I can say is this was a wild goose chase with my Auntie saying this was the most gorgeous lake she'd ever been to. So very warm and just lovely. We arrive and there's 4' of snow everywhere and all u can see is fog with a bare glimmer of the lake below. My little brother decides to strip down to his shorts and wife beater and run through the snow while demanding that we video tape it all. Oh well to be young :p
written by  Amber on June 10, 1999 from Medford, United States

Navy tour of duty
Flint, United States
My best friend was married to a guy in the Navy and when he seperated they moved from Honolulu to Flint, Michigan. The futon was packed up in their household goods and transported to Flint. I don't know a lot about it's time here, although I do know it lived in 2 different apartments.
written by  Amber on June 1, 1997 from Flint, United States

What happend to Rarotonga???
Papeete, French Polynesia
Well I'm a little bit upset because it wouldn't let me add Rarotonga, capital of the Cook Islands, as one of my travel locations. Hmmmph! So I'm going to devote the first bit of the Tahiti blog to the Cook Islands.
First of all the Cooks are absolutely gorgeous, very serene, quiet, friendly, and cheap (or at least it was almost 10 years ago). I had a blast staying at Vera's which was a hostel right on the lagoon. We made some friends with fellow travellers and all ventured out for our last night. Found the local hot spot and proceeded to imbibe, especially since Steinlager 40's were $2NZ, or roughly $1US, with shots running the same, and Jack was around $2US. The only problem we ran into was attempting to have a lime with our tequilla, but by that point we didn't really care. We all piled back into the cabs and ventured back to Vera's. Someone in the group decided it would be grand to go skinny dipping so off we went. As we frolicked in the lagoon, all of a sudden a huge wave (well for the lagoon it was huge, normally the maximum wave in the lagoon was an inch or two, this was a good 4-6 feet). One girl lost her bra, the other a shoe, but all in all no one was injured. The next morning we wake up and are attempting to get the bus back to the town. It's taking forever and when one finally shows up we learn that there had been a tsunami the night before and the north side of the island had to be evacuated. So now I can say that I have been in an earthquake, a tsunami, lava flow, forest fire, and I want to say there's been another one or two natural disasters. It will come to me later.
At any rate onward to Tahiti, we arrived at around 3 or 4 am -- at any rate the ungodly hour that international flights like to drop you off at. And rather than try to find a hotel at that hour we curled up on the airport seats and attempted to catch a few hours sleep. Then around 6am ventured off towards the port and caught the first boat over to Moorea. Found a place to stay and rented a "fun car" which I wish I had a picture of to post, but alas this was back in the day of print and 35mm cameras so it will have to wait until I can get one scanned. After zooming around in the car at the top speed of about 15 miles an hour with the sound of a small airplane, waving the baguette out the window as there was no room in the trunk after we stowed both camera bags there. After a few days of this, as well as swimming with the sharks, we ventured back to Papeete and flew to Bora Bora.
There I saw the most beautiful sunset of my life and narrowly avoided being arrested for attempted murder.... Just kidding, but there were defnitely homicidal thoughts running through my head as we were kayaking in the lagoon and couldn't manage to stay in a straight line to save our lives. The only thing that saved him was the fact that if I had bopped him over the head with the paddle and knocked him overboard I would of had to paddle all the way back by myself. The next day was spent biking around the island and visiting a few beaches.
We flew back to Papeete and spent 17 LOOOOOOONG hours at the airport... btw there is absolutely nothing open in Papeete on a Sunday -- just be advised. Almost got stuck there again, but managed to change flights and arrived in New Zealand almost on schedule
written by  Amber on February 9, 1999 from Papeete, French Polynesia

Second visit to Kiwi Land
Auckland, New Zealand
As we had just spent 3 weeks in New Zealand the winter before, this was just going to be a quick 3 day jaunt to hit a few spots that I didn't get to see on the first go around.
Ventured down to Rotarua to check out the thermal areas and wanted to see the likes and differences between the lava flows at Kilauea and those in New Zealand. You don't get to see the active flow like you can in Hawaii, instead it's much like the blurping mud pits in Yellowstone.
Also spent some time driving around the north east side of the island -- absolutely gorgeous. New Zealand is one of the prettiest countries I've ever visited and highly recommend it.
written by  Amber on February 17, 1999 from Auckland, New Zealand

Driving to the Dust Bowl
Stillwater, United States
After a year or two in Michigan my best friend and her husband decided to move to Stillwater, Oklahoma to be closer to her family. The futon was packed in the U-Haul with the rest of their stuff and driven down to Stillwater and moved into their first apartment.
I came out to visit in September 1998 and helped move it from one apartment to another across town, and low and behold it became my bed again -- or at least for the weekend that I was in town.
written by  Amber on August 1, 1997 from Stillwater, United States

Packing, re-packing, and packing again
Coeur d'Alene, United States
Hmmm... don't remember much about this leg of the trip, other than the fact that we drove through Coeur d'Alene. And by this point I have packed and repacked the trunk numerous times so that I can fit all of our luggage, as well as the knick knacks that we've all bought along the way. Not too mention we have to have room for Pat's skateboard, along with easy access to it so he can take advantage of the skatepark we located somewhere in Washington before heading through Coeur d'Alene on our way up to Canada.
written by  Amber on June 11, 1999 from Coeur d'Alene, United States

In search of the Hot Spring
Banff, Canada
We crossed through Idaho and up into Canada where Pat got in trouble filming the border crossing. We then cruised through Banff looking at the gorgeous scenery and then Mom got the grand idea that rather than go into one of the hotel hot springs we needed to find a natural one. Strangely enough she succeeded and we also located a cabin as well.
written by  Amber on June 12, 1999 from Banff, Canada

Rescued from the trailer
Oklahoma City, United States
At some point in Spring of 1999 my best friend, who was newly divorced, has met someone new. She moved to be with him in this teeny tiny town outside of Oklahoma City, whose name escapes me -- perhaps because I'm trying to block the memories of my time spent there one Summer weekend in 1999.
At any rate I flew out to visit and was reunited with the futon again. After seeing the amount of animals that were living in the trailer I decided that it was time to rescue the futon and bring it back with me to Ohio. Thus it was squeezed into another large box with lots of duct tape and transported back to the Oklahoma City airport for its next adventure.
written by  Amber on May 1, 1999 from Oklahoma City, United States

Visiting the Aussies
Brisbane, Australia
Well it's back in Australia again (spent 6 weeks the winter prior travelling all over the east coast). This time confined my visit to Brisbane. Friends took us to a rugby game -- no clue who was playing but drank lots of Bundy.... one has to love the Bundenberg. I also remember adoring the water taxis, as the friend we were staying with lived outside the city so it was a simple walk a few blocks down to the port and catch the water taxi down to the city.
Also as friends were busy with work for the week, scheduled a second visit to Napier and Frazier Island. This time our guide liked to play with poisonous sea snakes and we just missed being able to watch a feeding frenzy of tiger sharks due to a late start. Alas the rest of the week is a bit of a blur (time does that to you).
written by  Amber on February 20, 1999 from Brisbane, Australia

The Presidential suite and the Monkey Forest
Denpasar, Indonesia
After the brief stop over in Brisbane, we collected two of our Aussie friends and brought them with us to Bali. Checked into the hotel, and discovered the key difference between American hotel rooms and Indonesian hotel rooms. In America when you ask for two beds you will usually have 2 double or queen sized beds in the room. In Bali, it's two twins. So much for our idea of sharing a room with the boys. Also as my parents were arriving the next day, the 2 hotel rooms we had reserved just wouldn't cut it. Spent the day lounging by the pool and then ventured into the city for dinner.
The next morning, after talking with the front desk they managed to give us the Presidential Suite for the rest of our stay for the equivalent of about $50 each, think the total was $300 for the two nights, but typically rented for 500-1000 a night. Very good deal. So I ventured back to the airport to meet my parents' flight from Hawaii and brought them back to the suite. They had a blast exploring the suite -- we had two bedrooms, one for my parents, one for werner and I, and then Ian had a bed we rolled into the dressing room, and Doug either folded out the couch or we brought in another bed for him as well. There was a huge jacuzzi on the private upstairs deck that all 6 of us relaxed in, while gettting over the jet lag.
The next morning it was time to get ready to explore the wilds of Bali. So we got bus tickets up to a lil mountain village, home of the Monkey Forest. After getting off the bus, we were swarmed by people wanting to take us to their guesthouses. Dad did the evil glare trick and all backed off as we donned our backpacks and ventured down the road. Eventually we found a guesthouse that we liked and that had room for all 6. The boys and I went out to find the Monkey Forest and when we'd ask for directions were told oh it's 10 minutes from here. So we decided to walk... and walk and walk and walk. Everyone we asked would say oh it's just 10 more minutes. Personally I think that's the only english number they knew cause it sure was a lot longer than a 10 minute walk. About 30-45 minutes later we arrived at the Monkey Forest. Here you cna pay your fee and go wander in and get mugged by the monkeys. Well not really, but they do swarm looking for food. Got a few pics and then headed back to the guesthouse in order to collect the parents. Needless to say we took a taxi back. I had an excellent pineapple fried rice for dinner.
The next morning the boys and I wandered out to figure out what the next step was and we located a car rental company. Ended up choosing a land rover and all piled in (mind you there's pretty much room for 5 adults and luggage in a land rover, not 6 adults + luggage). So Dad alternated between sitting in the back with the luggage and having Mom on his lap. Let's just say getting out of town was interesting, complete with attempting to go down a one way street, not only the wrong way, but that was closed off for a festival. Just what we get for following a moped around. Attempted to find this guesthouse that had gotten rave reviews in Lonely Planet -- obviously things had changed a bit since publication, as Mom and I took one look at the bathroom and declared "We are not staying here," so we piled in again and off we went. Stopped at the temple where the boys all had to don sarongs, and we were forced to buy prayer sashes from the locals before we could enter. They wanted us to buy sarongs, but Mom and I rummaged around in our luggage and managed to come up with enough for everyone.
Eventually ended up in Lovenia, which apparently is the dolphin capital of Bali, and is located on the northern side of the island. We were all tired and extremely cranky and found this hotel on the beach. Checked in and all fell asleep almost immediately and woke up almost immediately thereafter. Unfortunately the mozzie nets did no good, it was sweltering and honestly I think there were bed bugs. Spent the entire night absolutely miserable and got in a huge fight with Werner. The good news is he hired a driver and went off by himself to do the photography thing, leaving the Rover for the rest of us to use. Ian and I ventured into town and did a bit of sightseeing and shopping, although things did get a bit hectic when we turned a corner and then all of a sudden were boxed in by 3 flatbed trucks, complete with soldiers toting M-16's. We'd accidentally gotten in the middle of a parade for the presidential elections. After travelling a block or two with the parade, we managed to exit stage right and continued on our merry way. Back at the hotel we managed to arrange for air conditioned rooms and the next night was much better. We all got sleep. Found some lovely hotsprings and eventually ventured back to Ubud and located another set of guesthouses. Unfortunately, while going to inspect one set of rooms I slipped and fell down several stairs, landing at the bottom with a jammed thumb and a VERY bruised derriere. As a result I got to choose the place for dinner and we ended up back at the pineapple fried rice restaurant. The next morning we took the bus back to Denpasar and then the rest of the group went to go see another temple and I stayed behind to have a massage. The next morning Werner and I flew to Thailand, Ian and Doug flew back to Brisbane, and my parents stayed for another two weeks running around Bali and the neighboring islands.
written by  Amber on February 27, 1999 from Denpasar, Indonesia

Airport Delays
Memphis, United States
On the way back to Cincinnati from Oklahoma City, I got delayed in Memphis long enough to have to stay overnight. Since I had checked both the futon AND my luggage, in order for me to have clean clothes for the next day I had to agree to take both my suitcase and the futon box. Thus, the futon was transported by shuttle bus to the Holiday Inn where the airline had put us up for the evening. In the morning, I returned to the airport, futon box in tow and continued on back to Cincinnati.
written by  Amber on August 1, 1999 from Memphis, United States

Visiting an Olympic site and finally getting to our desitination
Calgary, Canada
Drove through Calgary and made a slight detour to see the remnants of the Olympic village. Then eventually made our way further east to eventually get to Hughenden, Alberta. This is a teeeeeny tiny, blink and you miss it, town about an hour or two east of Calgary where my mom was born and lived until she was 5 or 6.
We visited with all the great-aunties, saw the house my grandmother lived in as a child, and the house my great-grandmother lived in as well -- course we did have to chase the cows out of the house before we could venture inside.
My little brother was so escatic that he could actually buy beer legally, so we visited the local liquor stores a few times and Mom went golfing with Auntie Irene.
written by  Amber on June 13, 1999 from Calgary, Canada

Where the deer and the buffalo roam
Gardiner, United States
Mom almost scalded herself trying to get away from the Buffalo. More details to follow
written by  Amber on July 4, 1999 from Gardiner, United States

Home again home again
Cincinnati, United States
My little brother picked me up at the airport and transported the futon in its box back to the car on his skateboard. Eventually we made it back to the house in Blue Ash and he carried the futon upstairs where he commandeered it for his own during the duration of his stay.
A month or two later we moved to another house in nearby Deer Park, another suburb of Cincinnati. The futon moved with us, this time residing in the spare bedroom across the hall from his room. Here it stayed for quite some time, allowing me to read on it in the early hours of the morning when I came home from work in the bar, before my boyfriend would wake up for the day.
written by  Amber on August 2, 1999 from Cincinnati, United States

No chewing gum allowed
Singapore, Singapore
A fast and furious visit to Singapore... They say it's clean, but you really can't imagine how so until you arrive. We flew over the ports and even they were clean. Arrived at the airport, got the shuttle to the hotel, ventured out for dinner, and then made it an early night. Spent a bit of the morning in search of shot glasses and then back to the airport for our flight to Phuket. On our way to the gate passed by a shop that sold MatsJonassen pieces. Werner bought one or two and I bought one, making arrangements to pick them up when we came through about 10 days later on our way back from Thailand, that way we wouldn't have to carry them.
written by  Amber on March 7, 1999 from Singapore, Singapore

Island hopping through Thailand
Phuket, Thailand
Arrived at some god awful time of the night -- I swear it's a conspiracy -- At any rate Werner made arrangements with some cab driver and off we went. Checked into the hotel absolutely exhausted and then he ventured out for food, I decided sleep was more important. Course I got abruptly woken up by someone crashing into our sliding glass door. Wasn't sure if they were trying to break in, got thrown there in the fight, or just fell cause they were too drunk. Needless to say the next morning we went looking for a new hotel. Found a nice travel agent who proceeded to book us into a new hotel, tickets on the boat and hotels to Ko Phi Phi and Railay Beach. Basically spent the week in Thailand ferrying out to other islands, spending 2 nights there, renting long boats and doing photography sessions around the islands, and eating Thai pancakes. Fairly relaxing. Also took a day trip out to James Bond Island and Koh Pannyi (the Sea Gypsy village) in the Phang Nga Bay.
written by  Amber on March 8, 1999 from Phuket, Thailand

Fireworks in the car, at the hotel, in the city
Reno, United States
After managing not to lose Mom in the boiling hot ponds of Yellowstone and not running over any tourists, we made our way to Reno and then had the joy of trying to locate a hotel room on the 4th of July. Tempers were flaring and we discovered that Mom just didn't like to drive in the city when we eventually back tracked out of Reno to a small lil town about a half hour or so away, whose name escapes me. Managed to finally secure a hotel room and all 4 of us promptly Split up -- Grandma down to the casino, Mom outside, Pat to the game room, and I relaxed in the hotel room watching the fireworks from the window. The next day we set off again, much calmer having had the time away from each other.
written by  Amber on July 4, 1999 from Reno, United States

Over the river and through the woods
Grass Valley, United States
To Auntie Shirley's we go.... Here a delightful reception of home made salsa and chocolate chip cookies awaited. Also a trip out to the lake on the boat made for a delightful day or two. Shirley is always one of the best hosteses and I always enjoy the time spent with her, as she is a wonderfully upbeat person.
written by  Amber on July 5, 1999 from Grass Valley, United States

Leaving on a jet plane
Honolulu, United States
Well things went sour in Ohio and I moved back to Hawaii in May of 2000. I left most of my stuff at the ex's house, including the futon. On one of my visits back to Ohio, I transported the futon back to Honolulu as part of my checked luggage (if only I could of gotten the frequent flyer miles for it as well).
It got lots of use at Trouble Townhouse as we often had visitors staying over, up to 27 in the first month alone. When I moved into the apartment in Kapahulu, the futon moved with me, this time being utilized as a couch for awhile.
I finally finished my MLIS in May of 2003 and moved most of my stuff into storage and moved back to the Big Island in interest of saving money. I gave the futon to a girl friend of mine who used it in her loft in Manoa Valley.
written by  Amber on June 30, 2001 from Honolulu, United States

Surpise!
Aviano, Italy
I since moved to Alabama and then accepted a position at Aviano, in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of Italy. I pick up a girl friend at the Venice airport and she's carrying a rather large box. We get back to my apartment about an hour and half north of Venice and open up a bottle of wine and begin reminiscing. At some point throughout the evening she tells me I need to open the box. Imagine my surprise when I open it and there's the futon, which has now travelled half way around the world to be reunited with me.
It's a good thing she did bring it, as it was promptly set into use a few days later when a friend of hers came to visit Italy as well and we needed the extra bed.
Since then I've loaned it to my upstairs neighbor while she was waiting for her bed to arrive, and it now resides in the shoe room.
Who knows where the futon will travel next?
written by  Amber on April 15, 2005 from Aviano, Italy

Home again home again -- almost
Los Angeles, United States
After a few relaxing days with Shirley, we drove back down I-5 to McKittrick to spend a few more days with Mom's sisters and kids before we Split up and I flew back to Cincinnati, and Mom and Pat went back to Hawaii. I vaguely remember being there for an early birthday celebration for Sever at Chucky Cheese -- but that could of been another trip.
written by  Amber on July 8, 1999 from Los Angeles, United States

The day my toothbrush turned blue
Pekanbaru, Indonesia
Will spend more time elaborating on the joys of public transportation on Sumatra
written by  Amber on March 16, 1999 from Pekanbaru, Indonesia

Lewis and Clark Caverns
Whitehall, United States
After leaving Hughenden we ventured south towards Yellowstone and saw that we were near the Lewis and Clark Caverns. Mom, Pat and I went exploring, while Grandma got her much needed nicotine fix.
For more information on the caverns visit http://fwp.mt.gov/lands/site_281895.aspx and that's also the site of where the picture came from c2004.
written by  Amber on July 3, 1999 from Whitehall, United States

It's travelling again
Aviano, Italy
Well it's that time again. The movers from hell came today and packed up the futon along with lots and lots and lots of other stuff -- of which hopefully all of it makes it in one piece. So into a big crate it went to be transported by truck to it's new destination -- Izmir, Turkey.
written by  Amber on August 8, 2007 from Aviano, Italy

Alsancak
Izmir, Turkey
Well it has finally arrived with all the rest of my stuff -- well the 4500 lbs of stuff that came with me as opposed to being put in storage in Maryland. The futon is ensconced yet again in the shoe room where it has a place of honor against the wall. And here it will stay unless I have lots of guests and it needs to come out and play.
written by  Amber on September 14, 2007 from Izmir, Turkey

More time spent in airports
Singapore, Singapore
Decided to cut the trip back a few days, as I was getting tired of living out of a backpack and Werner's precious Buckeyes were playing in the Final Four.
written by  Amber on March 20, 1999 from Singapore, Singapore

Full Circle - or almost
Panama City, United States
It, combined with a full-sized futon, became my new bed while waiting the 2+ months for my real bed to arrive. Surprisingly it has held up quite well throughout the years and is quite comfortable. When not pinch-hitting it resides behind the full futon, just waiting for the next set of guests to arrive. Either that or the next move.
written by  Amber on July 7, 2009 from Panama City, United States

And still more time
Taiwan, China
By all rights, Taiwan does not belong on my list of visited countries as I only spent time in the airport. However, I fig'd I'd add the stop as I was stuck there for 6 hours and this was shortly after the British had turned it back over to the Chinese.
written by  Amber on March 20, 1999 from Taiwan, China

Almost done
Los Angeles, United States
We landed and then were going through customs at the same time that the Ohio State Final Four basketball game was finishing. I just remember Werner frantically asking anybody/everybody how they did, including our passport control agent. Too funny, and they lost. Stayed with friends of Werner's and basically just relaxed and visited Santa Monica Beach where W picked up more dickey pants... I really should of burned those when I left. At least these didn't have huge holes in the crotch, which is why I think I allowed him to buy them.
written by  Amber on March 20, 1999 from Los Angeles, United States

Home sweet home -- almost
Pahoa, United States
I always love coming home. The ability to do nothing and have your parents cook for you is a wonderful time. As usual spent most of my days down at Kehena and just relaxing. The Big Island is so quiet and restful, it's great to take some downtime there and recouperate. Especially since this winter's trip was constantly on the go, a couple days here, a week there, 2 days here, 10 days there. I spent more time than I ever wanted to in various airports throughout the Pacific. Additionally, think we wore out two decks of cards and spent numerous hours either teaching or learning card games, or doing napkin folding classes.
written by  Amber on March 25, 1999 from Pahoa, United States

Hungover in Waikiki -- big surprise
Hmm think this was the trip where I drank lots of moose margaritas and crashed at the Banana Bungalow... of course the Oahu trips usually involve lots of alcohol and very little sleep, not too mention being put on a plane VERY hung over.
written by  Amber on April 25, 1999 from Honolulu, United States

The joys of airports - NOT
Cincinnati, United States
OMG I think this was the worst/longest trip EVER. The flights/layovers between Hawaii and Ohio tend to be around 13-15 hours -- this trip from hell turned into 27 excutiating hours.
First of all I show up at HNL absolutely hung over on about 2 hours of sleep. Turns out my flight was delayed 6 hours -- do u realize how much sleep I could of gotten in my nice comfy air conditioned hostel dorm room :p
Finally get into LAX which by the way is after everythign in the airport has closed down -- and am now on another 2-4 hour delay. And because I was flying ATA (which btw NEVER again, if I can feasibly avoid it) I couldn't even get shifted onto one of the other major airlines because they are a budget airline and don't have agreements with the majors. Finally get out of LAX and then after landing in Chicago -- which btw is not O'Hare but some other rinky dink airport where the food court consists of 3 choices -- get put on another 1 or 2 hour delay. Then it switches to indefinite, at this point I'm asking if the delay will be longer than 4 hours, because if it is, I'm just going to rent a car and drive home. Eventually leave Chicago and land in Dayton, OH. I have never been so glad to see Werner in my life -- a short car ride home and I finally get to take a shower. What should of been 14 hours turned into 27 hours of pure hell... course if I hadn't of had that many margaritas the night before, I wouldn't of been suffering as much as I had.
ARGH! -- Lesson Learned -- avoid budget airlines if making a connection, and especially if flying cross-country.
written by  Amber on April 30, 1999 from Cincinnati, United States