Shockingly there were no direct flights from Chile to New Hampshire (my new “home” for the holiday since my parents moved a few months ago). There weren’t even any indirect flights, believe it or not, and I sent my mom a screenshot of Skyscanner’s “no flights found” search results as proof. Naturally, I then decided to go with the cheapest flight that would get me close (Boston), which included a 7 hour layover in Lima. The Lima airport was not my jam so I busted out to explore the city a bit. 
My few hours only made me want to go back for more- both to Lima and Peru as a whole. I’ve also heard lots of rave reviews about Argentina and am officially adding both countries to my “someday but hopefully soon” travel destination list.
My dad gamely picked me up at the airport and we spent the drive to NH catching up- so much to catch up on between their move and my travels! When I got “home” my mom was clearly in her glory, having all five grandchildren and three “children” under one roof, their new roof. [Sidenote: do I call my parent’s new house “home?” It is not my home and has never been my home, so I guess not?] Here are the wild n’ crazy kiddos: 
Yes, it was a smidge chaotic as well, with the little ones having just been reunited, so I was not super-sad to pilot Uber New Hampshire a few hours later to meet my besties (Maegan and Nichole) for a birthday celebration for Maegan. I’ve known Mae and Cole since I was 10 and 2 years old, respectfully. 
Those additional eight years I’ve know Cole have become pretty much insignificant over-time and the three of us are the closest that friends can be. (Minus Cole and I playing much tag and Red Rover in our bowl haircuts and Velcro sneakers- you really missed out Mae!). So, this was a big bday for Maegan, (sort of like her 30th) and her amazing hubby, Ken (aka Pic), planned an entire extravaganza that, conveniently for me, was taking place in New Hampshire- while I was in New Hampshire! 
We enjoyed drinks and an amazing dinner, that could not have been more perfect. They even cracked a yolk in the middle of my pasta and stirred it in when served…Yum! 
It was such a great night catching up and celebrating Maegan- one of nights where your heart sings with happiness (okay, that could really not be more cheesy but it’s kinda true). It reminded me that no matter where my travels take me or what people I meet along the way, nothing will ever be the same as time with my first and best friends. And, my parents moving out of my hometown doesn’t change that at all (huge phew!).
So, my bedroom at my parent’s place involved a super comfy Murphy Bed. And I loved it…until I woke up at 7am the next morning to my eight year-old nephew, Jack, trying to close the bed with me sleeping in it! He was not successful and it was actually very funny. I spent the next few days enjoying the beauty of New Hampshire and QT with the fam. This included many hikes, delicious meals (thanks, Mumsie!), games of Aggrevation (the trendy game for the 4-8 year old cohort apparently…and it’s truly aggravating!), and many, many laughs. 
There really is no place like home. [Sidenote: yes, I changed my mind while writing this…my parents’ new house is home after all. I realized it’s the family who make it so, not the brick and mortar or location].
On the Wednesday before turkey day my five year-old nephew, Felix, and I embarked on a short road trip to Beverly (my hometown) for an annual apple pie baking “contest” with Nichole and Maegan (more like we bake apple pies together and trash talk each other’s). While I clearly piloted the journey to Bev-town, Felix played a key role as navigator extraordinaire. I’ve honestly never seen anything like it. The little dude sat in his car seat directly behind the drivers seat, but leaned in towards the middle seat so his head was sideways and he had a clear view of the road. He then proceeded to direct me (I’m talking turn by turn directions) using only route numbers. Example: “Auntie Teha, we need to get on Route 101 to 95. It’s exit 6.” On the way back he did the same thing- in the dark! I questioned him once (the exit number didn’t seem right) and he just shook his head, knowingly. Sure enough, Felix was correct! It was uncanny. Google Maps, be gone with you!
So, back to apple pies…we’ve been doing this for about 20 years now, believe it or not (yes, of course this means we started at age 10). The baking has taken many forms, from during winter break when in college and catching up on our antics while cutting apples, to having little kiddos eager to help. Here’s Navigator Felix putting some finishing touches on the pie- he’s a man of many talents. 
This year I brought my A-game (not having a job increases time available to focus on apple pies), and according to our crowd-sourced Facebook voting process…I won! (BTW, voting included both our high school calculus teacher and field hockey coach- gotta love small town crowd-sourcing).
Fast-forward to the eating of the pie, which happened on Thanksgiving Day, following a delicious meal at my Aunt Lindi’s house (another New Hampshire transplant). Here’s Hugo, Nan and my Dad watching some pre-dinner football. Hugie was especially into it (for about five minutes). 
I was especially impressed that Auntie L kept her cool during a minor candied yam issue, and I think we were all laughing too hard to do anything about it! 
My 92 year-old Nan was also in attendance and I was happy she agreed to spend two nights at our “home” as she usually prefers her own. Here she is catching up on my blog. 
My sister and I took Nan to the spa for a massage on the day after Thanksgiving- her second massage ever. Her first was on her 92nd birthday and she loved it, so it was time to bring on number two! This one was equally well-received and the three of us were pampered with champagne and chocolate covered strawberries after the treatments (tea for Tobi since she’s preggers with number three- less than a month to go!)
Then, before I knew it I was scrambling to pack and headed off to the airport (two things I’ve done a LOT of lately). Goodbyes were bittersweet, as it had been a great week with the fam but I was excited for my next adventure to Vietnam and Cambodia. And the next time I see my sister she’ll have a new bambino in her tribe!
My journey started out with some “excitement” when I went to check in and the ticket agent asked for my visa. Um…visa? Did I need one of those? The answer was yes. Whoops. The ticket agent asked if I was just going to go home and I said I was going to try to figure it out. But before doing that I posted this to my Instagram story (priorities!) 
My “figuring it out” involved some quick googling, multiple calls to companies in Vietnam to who claimed to be able to procure visas in 15 minutes. I sent in one application, waited 15 minutes, and received nothing back. I finally stumbled across a company run by a gent named Tony who promised to hook it up for me. Tony was true to his word- phew! [note to self- in the future check if you need a visa before the day of your travel. Duh!]. I was so happy to get on the plane that I didn’t think about my 10 hour layover in Doha, Qatar until I landed. Then I thought about it…Ten hours is a long time! Again, I turned to Mr. Google who informed me that Qatar Airlines offers free three-hour city tours for passengers with long layovers! What a relief! They even provided a free 24-hour visa and an English speaking guide. It was fascinating to learn more about the country (only 2.6 million residents and 85% are ex-pats, mostly from Asian countries). Qatar has a lot of new fancy desert-style developments , with more underway (much of it in the form of 5-star hotels and luxury shopping) and we learned that it’s cheaper to buy a liter of gas than water! 
Our last stop was a local market where we had some time to explore and take in the sites and sounds.
I’m currently on my third flight of my 30+ hour journey to Vietnam, currently headed from Bangkok to Hanoi. There’s a 12-hour time difference from New Hampshire, so my body isn’t quite sure what is going on, but is definitely wanting more sleep. I think I’ll do that now. Can’t be tired starting a new adventure!
Whew! Yes, my time home may seem like a whirlwind. Yes, my time home was definitely a whirlwind. No, I am not complaining. I swear!!! (My friends have banned me from complaints of ANY sort while living my current Teha’s Travels lifestyle. I get it, I get it.)
Lucky for us Felipe is actually from Valpo and he deftly led us through the charming streets that include a variety of architectural styles within the French, German, and British influenced neighborhoods. Here’s Felipe in action! 
We enjoyed a lovely rooftop lunch before traveling on to the beautiful Bodega winery. (Btw, I’m slowly finding myself using more British words like “lovely” and “brilliant,” which I blame the influence of my travelmates from Mother England. If only the accent would rub off too!).
The rosè was especially delicious and was a blend called Pinotel that is a blend of Pinot Noir and something else I can’t remember. After the tasting we sat outside and enjoyed a final glass of wine before heading back to Santiago for dinner and pisco sours (Chile seems to be poaching Peru’s drink. No complaining here, though…not that I’m allowed to complain anyways).
The ride even had entertainment as my tour-mate, Dan, was behind me in the line of horses…waaay behind me. 
His horse had a bad-ass name (Conquistator or something like that) but didn’t seem to respond to any sort of kicking or cajoling by Dan to move along (or at least the way he was doing it). Dan was the “class clown” of the group as he was always laughing, often at his own jokes (even when nobody else was) and he took the horse situation in-stride, albeit with nonstop laughter. Even the guide seemed amused by the situation. Meanwhile my horse, named Wheat (because of it’s wheat color- so not creative or bad-ass) was totally on it, even trotting at times! Here’s the dynamic duo of Dan and Conquistador (aka the Caboose).
That afternoon was truly spectacular as we embarked on two hikes- one to Moon Valley (that really looked and felt like you were on the moon) and Death Valley (that was not as scary as it’s name but was stunning and we got to run down the way dunes into the valley!). 
The bright Chilean sun enhanced our adventures- it’s so blue and brilliant in it’s hue and so different from the sunlight I’ve seen anywhere else. Chile should really be an Instagram filter…you heard it here first. Perfect background for silly photos opps (our specialty!) 
Our senses were on overload when the day ended with a fantastic sunset viewing, completed with a vino toast (thanks to Filipe!). You don’t see sunsets like this everyday. Or, really, any day. 
And the day was not over yet! We grabbed street-stand empanadas for dinner and were jettied off to a “stargazing experience.” This was in the middle of nowhere, where you see more stars than you thought existed (for the record 2,000 are up there each night, we were told). We stood under the night sky in a circle as our guide (a real jokester) walked us through the various constellations we could see from the southern part of the Southern Hemisphere. Who knew there was so much fodder for comedy in the world of constellations?! Between him and Tina’s equally funny quips my stomach hurt from laughing the next day (it was already sore from horseback riding). Comedian stargazer also used a laser pointer to show us on the ground where the “missing” stars (such as the North Star) were located. I saw four shooting stars throughout the night and had to think fast to come up with wishes! At the end we got to look through six massive telescopes, each pointed to various stars/constellations we’d learned about. I took a picture of the beautiful star-filled sky but it didn’t quite do it justice. 
We continued on to some thermal baths (as one does) and took in the views while decompressing in the naturally warm water. The rest of the day consisted of the group engaging in a collective combination of sand boarding, relaxing at the pool, shopping in the town, dinner, drinks, karaoke, and Jenga. 
Really something for everyone and we enjoyed sharing our experiences (and photos and videos) with each other on the bus the next day, as we embarked on a travel day to the Lake District. We arrived early enough to take a boat ride across the spectacular lake directly in front of our hotel and walk back along the shoreline that consists of volcanic ash from an eruption in 2015. 
I’d never walked on volcanic ash before and became even more familiar with it on our stunning hike two days later (during which I realized I should have brought hiking boots as the packing list indicated- my sneakers/trainers were moon boots by the end- as I dumped out loads of what looked like moon dust).
The highlight (for me) was when I got to fork over my paddle and sit in the very front of the boat as we cruised through an intense set of rapids. It was like I was a hood ornament on the raft! 
At one point on the trip we (meaning the guides) pulled the boats over and led us to a cliff we could jump off of. This was not like regular cliff jumping, as you were landing in rapids. We were told to do a “pencil jump” directly in front of the cliff so you land in the slightly more calm water and can swim quickly to the shore. One of the guides stood on the cliff giving instructions and the other was on a rock in the water with a rope to throw if a rescue was needed. Which it was. For one person. One guess as to who? 
Okay, so in looking at the photographic evidence it’s clear that I was over-zealous in my jump and did pretty much the furthest thing from a pencil jump. As a result I landed pretty far out in the river and (according to the bystanders) directly in a fast-moving rapid. I sensed this when underwater as it took me longer than expected to rise to the surface. At that point I turned to swim to shore and realized it was quite far away and I was moving quickly away from it. Then there was some yelling and a rope being thrown towards me. Thankfully the rope was just long enough for me to grab it and be pulled to safety. 
Phew! Those rapids are not something I would have wanted to experience sans boat.
In addition to being environmentally friendly, it was also a fabulous hot tub experience- Goldilocks style. The water was not too hot, not too cold…but was juuust right! Love it when fairytales translate to adult hot tub experiences.
We boarded a boat the next morning that would kick-off a full-day “glacier hunting” expedition via various watercrafts and deposit us at our new accommodations (further south) at the end of the day. And then bar was raised YET AGAIN. I kid you not. 
We also got to see penguin-like birds up close in one area and a bunch of sea lions hanging out on a rock in another. Apparently the sea lions are only visible on that rock a few times a year, so we were lucky! 
Our group was actually told many times throughout the trip that we were lucky- our various hikes all seemed to happen on “the first nice day” in a while and had crystal clear views that we probably took for granted. In each place we stopped the local guides would thank us for bringing the good weather and beg us not to take it with us.
We had waaay too much fun in the orange outfits.
And the views…especially from the viewpoint peak where there’s a turquoise blue glacial lake surrounded by massive rock peaks and cliffs (this was a pleasant surprise for me, of course, but others seemed to know it would be there). This is Tina, Dan, me, and The Amazing Karen- for whom this hike was the 52nd in a 52 hike challenge she’d been doing!
We gave Flash Pack a lil shout-out from the summit. 
It’s fair to say we were all pretty beat after 10 hours of trekking but our high from the experience lasted for days. Here we are in the bus, post-hike. 
Good-byes were sad, as always, but easier this time as several of us were staying for another night (for me this was bc flights were cheaper if I waited a day). My Chilean partner in crime (Aussie Tina) was also staying, so we shared a room. Aussie Tina and I are very much alike (minus the fact she owns her own business and I don’t even have a job) and we always have a ton of fun together. Someone in the group said we should have our own YouTube channel as she thinks it would be a big hit. I think I’ll hold for now on the “Tina-Teha Show” pilot. The world isn’t ready yet. 
The nine of us remaining spent our post-tour day touring and eating our way through Santiago (I admit we were a bit lost at first without Filipe shepherding us around). We hit up the art museum and sculpture garden before enjoying lunch at Santiago’s only Vietnamese restaurant (thanks Tina!). 
Three more in our group then departed (boo!) and the “then there were six” crew enjoyed a last-last supper from a rooftop bar while taking in the sites and sounds of the city (including 80’s music). Note: Ever since Chile transitioned to a democracy in 1990 and people could freely listen to music again, the Chileans have been obsessed with making up for lost time and the music they missed in the 80’s. It’s pretty much all they play- no complaints here!
Anyways, back to India!!! My intro to the country was a 30 min drive from the airport to the hotel, during which I saw goats passing by on the highway, people hanging off trucks, loud consistent honking and no stoplights or street signs to guide anything. And at the time I didn’t realize the airport road is one of more kept up ones- it’s even paved!
We dove right in on our first full day with a walking tour of Old Delhi, which is the oldest part of the city, consisting of dusty dirt streets jammed with cars, motorbikes, rick shaws, regular bikes, people, cows, goats…pretty much anything you can imagine. There is also a LOT of honking in these narrow streets. It’s unclear to an interloper what the honking means exactly…as everyone is doing it all the time. This begs the Driver’s Ed question of how do you know which horn to listen to, and if you pick one to listen to, how do you know what it means? Go chew on that Mr. Carr (Mr. Carr was my Driver’s Ed instructor in high school- yes that really was his name). It’s amazing that the system seems to work and the roads are deftly navigated by cars and cows alike. 
After taking in something for all five senses (no shortage of material for the senses in the streets of Old Delhi) we had lunch at a private home that hosts small groups for a delicious home-cooked Indian meal in a gorgeous setting abundant with historical relics and the stories to accompany them. We all agreed it was one of the best meals of the trip (amongst many yummy meals). It was interesting, though, to only interact with the “man of the house” (who served as our host) while his wife (and the chef) was in the kitchen the entire time. Sadly (from a western perspective), the idea of men being even remotely involved in cooking or food prep is non-existent. The men provide the food and the women cook it. That’s just how it is- even among the seemingly more-progressive folks we met. 
While we learned that overall there have been slow improvements to females’ role and treatment in the Indian society, there is still a lot of room for improvement. For example, there were multiple times during the tour that only the men in the group were addressed and it was like the women weren’t even there. One of these times was during a jewelry shop tour where the owner explained the various Indian gemstones in detail but was only addressing one of the men in our group, who tried to seem interested while the women struggled to get questions answered. Of course culture takes a long time to change but the experience was really eye-opening, especially given the great strides that Nathan told us have taken place already.
Next, we hopped on the bus (for the first of several road trips) during which many of us were mesmerized looking out the window at sites and sounds so different from anything we’d seen before. We arrived in Jaipur that afternoon to our accommodations in a beautiful palace setting, where we would be spending the next two nights. It was an early bell the next morning as we cruised over to the Krishna temple and watched the majestic colors come to life with the rising sun, embellished by the sounds of prayer. 
That afternoon our minds (and cameras) continued to be blown with a trip to the Akbar fort, which is a glam super-old fort on a hill with stellar views. On the walk to the fort there were many individuals peddling their wares and our group couldn’t help but pick up a few essential accessories.
As we explored the fort we were also flattered to be asked to be photographed by Nepalese children (okay, so technically I was not specifically asked but others in the group were…multiple times. And even to join a class photo! I think I must have just seemed unapproachable with my parasol and all? My story = going with it). 
Next we ventured on to the city of Agra. (P.s. The three cities we visited, Delhi, Jaipur, and Agra, are known as the Golden Triangle of India- so a popular tourist route to check off the big-ticket items but, despite this, I never felt that anywhere we went was over-run with tourists. Maybe overrun with horns and people but that’s part of the India experience). On the way to Agra we stopped at a “Batman monument” that I had low expectations for, having never seen the movie (shhhh!). It was soooo cool, and was basically a huge, deep well with many steps, from which water was fetched back in the day to prevent the royalty from becoming parched. Not sure what the purpose was in the Batman movie but it’s a pretty cool background for anything in my opinion.
So, on to Agra! The objective of this city can be boiled down to it’s wonder of the world…the Taj Mahal. Of course I knew it was a wonder of the world before the trip? Nope. Nor did I know there are both natural and unnatural/man-made wonders of the world. This discovery and clarifying the various lists was fodder for bus ride conversation for a good hour. Despite not knowing the WOTW thing in advance, I completely agree with the person, people, or committee who deemed the Taj Mahal as one. Btw, I wonder who does decide the wonders? I might need to look into that.
Anyways, the Taj Mahal completely blew me away. Especially during the early morning hours as we were one of the first in when they opened at sunrise. Pictures are better descriptors than words.
We jumped right into a rickshaw street food tour of our favorite hood…Old Delhi!
After a long day of travel we were happy to settle into our accommodations at a beautiful waterfront hotel with postcard-like views. The next day we were treated with even better views (didn’t think it possible) as we embarked on two days of trekking in the mountains. 
We even had sherpas carrying our supplies for us, like we were hiking Everest! I don’t think being a sherpa is in the cards for my next career, though.
We followed our mountain guide up many steps and inclines to the mountain town of Dhampus where we stayed at the family-run Basanta lodge, with phenomenal views (noticing a theme with the views on this trip??)
During the trek the sites and sounds of Dwali were prominent, as in multiple locations on the trail children blocked our path by holding hands and singing the songs of Dwali, hopeful for rupia in exchange for letting us pass.
We also passed many villagers, who were all extremely friendly with the traditional “Namaste” greeting as we passed. This was a theme throughout my time in Nepal- the people are SO nice and really make an effort to talk to you and share their culture.
We were told that the theme of the Dwali festival during our night in the mountain village meant that families would show up outside neighbor’s homes (complete with a portable sound system) and dance for them- kind of like Christmas caroling except afterwards the owner of the home presents them with a gift. 
We loved watching the dances and finally joined in, not to be deterred by a rainstorm (I didn’t say we were GOOD dancers!) 
We sojourned on in the morning, down the mountain and back to our waterfront hotel where we were happy to relax and enjoy the stunning lake views. The next day I woke up and exclaimed to my awesome roommate, Louise, “it’s paragliding day!!!” She’s not so much a morning person and usually ignored my early morning chatter, but despite not saying anything I knew she was excited too. Here’s me and my awesome roomie: 
I was way more excited than scared as we boarded the van to drive to our launch point but as we drove up the twisty mountain road (and up and up and up) I started to feel twinges of nervousness. By the time we reached the top the group’s chatter had subsided and we all tried not to look down but couldn’t help ourselves. We were HIGH! I took some consolation in knowing there was an instructor attached to me, and that he had a lot incentive to make sure things went smoothly for both of us. After a running start we were in the air- literally flying like a bird for 30 whole minutes! It was absolutely incredible, both the views and the exhilaration. 
The way paragliding works, the instructor can adjust the parachute to catch the wind in different ways and you can actually go up and down. At first we went up so high that my ears almost popped- it was so much fun to look down at the birds beneath me and to wave at my friends whizzing by in a sky dotted with paragliders.
Still on the adrenaline rush from paragliding we opted to spend our “free afternoon” visiting a local orphanage. Amar kindly set up the visit and helped us purchase supplies to bring to them. We were told they needed paper and pens so we got a set for each of the 22 girls (it was a girls-only orphanage) but that seemed kinda boring so we also got a bunch of “fun stuff” that we enjoyed playing with them in a big dirt field. The girls were incredibly articulate (their English was almost perfect) and seemed thrilled to have visitors as well as some new games. 
We learned from the director that the girls come from varied backgrounds- some were found abandoned and others had families that couldn’t care for them. Despite this, they were full of smiles and giggles…and with the seemingly carefree exuberance of other girls their age. It was truly a humbling experience to meet them. We concluded our visit with a ceremonial presentation of the supplies we’d brought and a group picture (as well as many requests for our names so they could look for us on Facebook).
Our final adventure of the trip was a whitewater rafting trip down the Seti river. The first day was pretty calm and we paddled along taking in the serene atmosphere and waving at school children crossing the many suspension brides high above us. We spent the night “glamping” at the Seti River Camp, overlooking the mountains and river, before day 2 of rafting, that brought with it some shriek-worthy rapids.
Our final big bus trip was back to Katmandu, where we spent the final two days as a group. We went to the nearby city of Patan, where we saw firsthand remains of the damage down by the tragic 2015 earthquake that took over 3,000 lives. For reasons unknown some of the temples were completely decimated while others were untouched. The country’s resilience is evident in both their restoration efforts and their unwavering faith and perseverance in the face of tragedy.
The next day I had to say goodbye to my new friends as they left for their respective flights, as I was staying in Katmandu for a few more days. I stayed in a lively part of town (called Thamel) and enjoyed exploring the city more, shopping at the street stands, visiting local attractions (including the Monkey Temple), and touring the nearby ancient town of Bhaktapur (known as the “City of Culture”). 
I also enjoyed many more of my favorite Nepalese food- the Momo. Momo’s came highly recommended by my friend Sarah, whose parents used to live in Nepal. They are like a cross between a dumpling and a potsticker and have different fillings (veggie, chicken, or buffalo- cow meat is rare in Nepal as the cow is a sacred animal in the Hindu religion). My favorite were chicken and after I first tried them I think I had them every day, sometimes twice.
Man, do I miss those momos. I also miss my 12 new friends (although we’ve maintained a consistent banter on our What’s App group) and the two very special countries that I had the honor of visiting.