Category: Blog

Getting a visa for China is very difficult. But there’s a 72 hour transit visa you can get upon arrival. Luckily a lot of the major attractions are close to the city and can be seen in just a couple days.

When were we there
4 days, June 3 – June 6

Where did we go
✈️ Flight from Seoul to Beijing
Quick and easy flight on Air China. We got upgraded to business for free!
🏨 Park Hyatt
We stayed at the Park Hyatt. It was $150/night (after discounts) and probably the best hotel we’ve ever stayed at. Giant 45th floor modern room, floor to ceiling glass on two walls. We could live there.

Highlights

• Great Wall of China
• Tiananmen Square
• Forbidden City
• Silk Market (epic shopping!)

I’ll be honest: I never thought I’d visit China. I was intimidated. Boy was I wrong. I thought Beijing would be like Delhi: busy, crowded, dusty, and still developing. Actually it was clean and modern. The air quality was the only issue.

We enjoyed incredible food (we ate everything! It was spicy!), beautiful sites, and a rich ancient history.

We had a tour guide take us around for 2 days and she was awesome! Super energetic and funny!

China seems to be developing WAY faster than India. They seem to have come very far in just the past 20 years, and I don’t think I can say the same about India.

When were we there
4 days, May 31 – June 3

Where did we go
✈️ Flight from Osaka to Seoul
🏨 Metro Hotel

Highlights

• Gyeongbokgung Palace
• Food and shopping!

Our stop in Seoul was short but fun. We weren’t planning to stop in Korea but our friend Joe urged us to. Glad we did! Seoul has a similar energy to Tokyo, and great food. Transportation is easy, people are very nice, and there are some great sights to see.

Unlike Japan:

• People speak more English and are more touristy friendly
• There are way fewer tourists, so it feels more authentic
• The food is *spicy* which we love
• It’s way cheaper

I don’t think Korea is on many people’s travel lists, but I think it should be. I wouldn’t pick it over Japan, but it’s a great addition. I’m hoping we can return in the future for a longer stay.

We had a great trip to Japan a few years ago, and wanted to spend more time in this amazing country.

When were we there
17 days, May 15 – May 31

Where did we go
✈️ Flight from Honolulu to Tokyo
🏨 Park Hyatt Tokyo
We got a crazy good deal to stay at this famous hotel (70% off) so we jumped on it. The rooms are incredible: large, modern, and breathtaking views from the 50th floor. But the location isn’t ideal (not close to a train station) so I wouldn’t stay here again.
🏨 Millennium Mitsui Garden Ginza
We spent half out time in Tokyo at the Park Hyatt, and the other half at this hotel. The room was small but incredibly well designed, probably the best use of space we’ve ever seen. The hotel is right at the Ginza station, which was super convenient. Highly recommend this place.
🚄 Train from Tokyo to Hakone
We decided to do a day trip to Hakone, where there are natural hot springs, on our way to Kyoto.
🏨 Manatee Hakone
Cool little hotel. We had a private hot spring bathtub in our room!
🚄 Bullet train from Hakone to Kyoto
🏡 Airbnb in Kyoto
🚄 Train from Kyoto to Osaka
🏨 Hotel Vista Grande Osaka
Nice hotel right in the middle of all the craziness at Dotonbori.

Highlights

Tokyo

• Robot Restaurant
• Jiro Sushi
• Ramen, Okonomiyaki
• French restaurant for Kate’s birthday
• Day trip to Kamakura

Kyoto

• Day trip to Nara, where you can see and pet wild deer
• L’escamoteur, awesome bar we went to twice

Osaka

• Osaka Castle
• Wagyu beef lunch
• Umeda Tower + Floating garden observatory

Our first stop was Maui. We decided we needed a few days to decompress and relax in the sun before starting our adventure.

When were we there
6 days, May 9 – May 14

Where did we go
✈️ Flight from San Francisco to Maui
🏨 Makena Beach & Golf Resort
✈️ Flight from Maui to Honolulu

Highlights

• Epic helicopter ride over Maui and Molokai
• Sunset all you can drink booze cruise
• Sachin’s birthday dinner at Ka’ana Kitchen
• Dinner at Monkeypod, the best Mai Tai on Maui
• Amazing lunch at Star Noodle, our favorite!
• Maui brewing company tour and tasting

The Orbit Room is one of our favorite bars in San Francisco. It’s just blocks from our house and they make incredible cocktails. And with the name “Orbit Room”, we couldn’t imagine a better spot for our going away party.

Thanks to all our friends for coming out and seeing us off!

A couple years ago Kate and I decided we would take some time off after Twitter. We didn’t know when that would be or how long we would take off, but we knew we wanted a break. Eventually we decided to do a full year.

Once we decided how much time we were going to take off, we started creating a bunch of docs and spreadsheets. We listed out everywhere we want to go, what time of year and for how long, and ranked them. Then we plotted them on a calendar.

We have a few fixed dates (a couple weddings and a safari) but otherwise we’re trying to be flexible. We didn’t optimize for traveling the shortest distance, but for being in the right place based on weather.

We also optimized for seeing lots of animals and drinking good wine :).

We rented out our home, I sold my car, and we packed our bags. Here’s what we’re roughly planning on doing:

East Asia
We are starting off in Asia before the weather gets too warm (after a quick stop in Hawaii). We’re planning on visiting Japan, South Korea, China, and Hong Kong.

Europe
From Hong Kong we’ll jump over to Turkey, Greece, then France. We want to spend a lot of the year in Europe, but we’re limited by the visa situation (90 days per 180 days). We’ll spend a bunch of time in France (Paris and also wine country) and travel to other European cities as well (Brussels, Amsterdam).

Iceland and Buffalo
In August we’re heading to Buffalo for a wedding and to visit family. We’ll stop in Iceland on the way, one of the top places on our list of places to visit. Super excited.

More Europe
After the wedding we’ll head back to Europe. So much more we want to see there! This time we’ll focus on Italy: Rome, Modena, as well as wine country. In early September we’ll be in the UK visiting family.

Africa and the middle east!
After some peaceful time in England, we’ll swing through the middle east and Africa. We’ll do quick stops in Jordan and Egypt before going to Kenya for a Safari at the end of September. After Kenya, it’s South Africa (Cape Town and more wine country, of course).

India and Southeast Asia
Things get a little fuzzier after Africa. We want to visit a bunch of Southeast Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, etc) and we have a wedding to go to in Delhi in November. While in India we want to visit family in Lucknow, and then travel through the south (Kerala, Tamil Nadu, wildlife sanctuaries).

Down Under
We’ve been to New Zealand and it’s our favorite place in the world. There’s so much more we want to see there. So we’ll spend a few weeks driving the islands (and drinking wine). We haven’t spent much time in Australia and we’re really excited about driving the coasts and patting some animals.

Back to Europe
In early 2017, with a fresh Schengen visa, we’ll have another stint in Europe. We want to see the Northern Lights, and then head to Spain and Morocco.

Home
Eventually we will have to return home, probably in April 2017 :).

We’re booking roughly a month ahead of us. If you have recommendations on places to visit and things to see, please let us know. And if you are planning any travels, we’d love to meet you somewhere!

♥, Sachin and Kate