New to Wallstraville?

Welcome to Wallstra-ville.

This blog began as a way for us (Megan and Josh) to stay in touch with people we know as we left our lives in New York City and took off for a year. It continues to live on, despite its original scope, as we continue to travel and live in new places. But rather than simply ramble on we’ll continue this introduction in the good ol’ question and answer format. Isn't that what most people want anyway? To be force-fed questions and answers that serve someone else's purpose?


So why "Wallstra-ville"?
We originally chose the name as an inside joke. When we got married in 2003 we were considering what to do about last names. One of the options we considered (but wisely rejected) was creating one from our two, Feenstra and Wall… hence
Wall-stra. Somehow it stuck and still shows up every now and then. As for the “ville” portion…. I’m still not entirely sure where that came from, but there it is. And we are too lazy to remove it at this stage.


Where are you now?
Well, presently we are in Durham, England, where I, Josh, am doing an MA in Theology. Megan is working as an architect in the nearby city of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. This was planned as a one-year stint ending summer 2008, but we've decided to stay on for a few more months. We may try to stick it out until the spring when it will be warmer in the Mediterranean.


Where have you been?
Our trip really began when we left New York around Christmas 2006, quitting our jobs, letting our Hell's Kitchen apartment lease go, and packing all our belongings into a truck to be taken to various attics, closets, and basements of generous midwestern family members.

We first headed to Colorado to work a season at a ski resort. We funded our long-time dream of ski-bum-ness by strapping long boards on the feet of small children and sending them off down the snowy slopes. With a quick trip to check out nearly every other major resort in the state, we wrapped up our time in the USA.

In April, we took off for the overseas portion of our trip going to Hong Kong, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar/Burma, Bangladesh, Nepal, and India. After that flurry of travel, we finally settled down (in comparison to how we had been living) in England in October 2007.


What was your favorite part of all that?
I don’t know how to attempt to pick favorites from such an odd and varied excursion. But if were to try and pick some highlights then we enjoyed living in the mountains, Angkor Wat, Mr. Minh’s Moto-trip, Ha Long Bay, Singapore, Bagan, Darjeeling, and learning to dive… and then actually diving.


So where am I supposed to start on a blog that's been around for a year?
Well, start at the beginning. You could also check out our maps, carefully hand drawn by Megan en-route, or try some of the highlights above. If you'd like to search for something in particular, try the listings by date or location over on the sidebar. The statistics over there might also give you a taste of what we've been up to.

Some other entertaining posts? Try Snot and Tears, James and the Giant Pacifier, Kid Quotes, AAA in Cambodia or the Sign Post. The Tourist Tax, Sa Pa, Celebrity and Relationships (and long term traveling) will give you an insight into some of our experiences as travelers. And in case you thought it was all fun and games, read the post about our two month slump.

Of course, the ultimate overview is found in two statistics posts (yup, two) full of funny lists and graphs (these are highly recommended), as well as two posts showing some of our favorite photos from the 3,668 we took in Asia (Josh and Megan).


How did you afford to travel so much?
We saved. We ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for four years, we didn’t eat out much, and we didn’t spend money on things we didn’t really need. Honestly, the saving money part of the trip was rather easy and we managed to save all we needed (and more) in a six month period of time after we'd both finished grad school.


What's in the photo up at the top of your homepage?
Raindrops and moss in Darjeeling, India, taken during our honeymoon period with our newly discovered macro lens.


Why don't all these links above open in a new window instead of annoyingly steering me away from here?
Because we don't know how. Plus we don't feel like figuring it out. Plus you can easily get back to the FAQs through the sidebar to the left. Oh, and there's always the "back" button on your browser...


And if what I see and read is just so wonderful and witty that I want to talk to you directly, then what? Or what if I come up with a specific question like how many days did you eat ice cream while in Asia for five months? Or what if I want to send money because I find you so inspiring?
Your best bet would be to post a comment. We read them all, so we'd be happy to answer any specific questions you might have, especially if it means giving you our address so you can mail us a donation (we take cash or check). No, no, give your money to some other worthy cause. Sigh. We also are easily available via email, although I hesitate to list them here. Oh, and the answer is 65 days (47%), but you can find that yourselves in that statistics post listed above...