Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!
I just want to share a genuine thank you for having joined this newsletter at some point over the last year and a half. It’s truly been a pleasure to write these for you all, and I’m pumped for 2023. We brought in the new year at a large countdown in freezing downtown Seoul, South Korea.
This year will look a bit different here. For starters, the name will be changed from W&R Newsletter to Sunday Somewhere. It’ll also be sent out weekly every Sunday rather than on the 1st of each month. I’m ramping it up because Reyka and I are often on the move so much that when it came time to write the monthly email, I’d overlook key moments or be forced to omit them.
Generally, my plan is to write about what is happening that week. It could be a travel update, tip, or idea. I’m really excited and I hope you stick around. I’m pretty sure you’ll like what you see.
2022 was a fantastic year.
We were able to visit 10 countries, 33 cities, and we posted 87 videos on our Youtube Channel!
Here are our Top 10 Experiences throughout 2022:
#10 – Exploring the Caves in Nerja, Spain — They were absolutely unreal. Sadly, we lost all our photos and videos from inside because Reyka’s phone fell in the ocean earlier that day. Still, you can see a little bit in our Nerja video here.
#9 – Hiking in the Countryside of Andalucia — Something about those peaceful little rocky mountains is just magical. It was just a nice day, and we ended it tasting some world famous cheese in Villaluenga, a tiny white-building town of like 400 people.
#8 – Visiting Universal Studios in Osaka — This place was just… unreal. I lived out my childhood dreams at harry potter world, and we almost broke our lungs (is this possible) on the Jurassic Park ride.
#7 – The Elephant Sanctuary in Thailand — Who knew elephants were such beautiful creatures? We had an absolute blast visiting this sanctuary near Bangkok. We cannot wait to visit Kenya or South Africa to go on a safari and see African Elephants, which are supposedly bigger than the Asian subspecies.
#6 – Singapore — This little country will always hold a space in our heart as the first Asian country we had visited. The food was amazing. The buildings were incredibly modern. And, for newbie asian backpackers, the fact that everyone spoke english was quite nice.
#5 – Visiting Tikal in Guatemala — It just looked straight out of Indiana Jones, which we had been binging the previous week. Tikal is a series of temples in northern Guatemala that was the seat of the Mayan Empire back in the day. Funnily enough, we visited four ancient empire capitals this year. Rome, Tikal, Ayutthaya (of the Thailand Siamese Kingdom), and Nara, which was the national capital of Japan from 710 to 784.
#4 – Glamping in the Dominican Republic — Sleep in a bed in a tent, wake up, eat a glorious Dominican breakfast, go to one of the nicest beaches in the world, go to sleep. Repeat. What’s not to love?
#3 – Climbing a Volcano in Guatemala — Probably the hardest thing both Reyka and I have ever done. But very worth it.
#2 – Family time in Ohio and Washington — All this away time makes the minutes with family even more precious. We got to spend a few months over the summer with Reyka and my family, and it was fantastic. We had a week long family vacation to Michigan with Reyka’s family, and just reconnected with mine in the Pacific Northwest. Michigan and Washington are both beautiful states.
#1 – Japan — It is Reyka’s favorite country so far, and it is high up on my list as well. Japan is one of the most interesting cultures in the world, hands down. The food, the people, the sites, the everything. If you ever have the chance to visit, don’t turn it down. We have some great stories from Hiroshima, Fukuoka, and Sapporo coming soon. Also, we’ll share about how I tried, with some success (but not much), to learn Japanese in one week. In the meantime, here’s our exploring tokyo video if you haven’t seen it already.
Until next week,
Wyatt and Reyka
P.S. If you’re itching to hit the movie theaters again, the new Avatar is outstanding. We saw it last week and were blown away.
Did you enjoy this newsletter? Send Sunday Somewhere to a friend or family member! Then you don’t have to get them a gift next year!