#adventuresquad: TOP 10.

in our country, "christmas break" just isn't a thing...instead, all universities, restaurants, companies, and stores take a break for the new year holiday (which happened to be january 31st...you can riddle me that...). so we had a couple week break from school and some time away from hanging with our native friends where we got to explore some more of asia! although i have countless crazy stories, the absolute best memories, and pretty incredible pictures; squeezing it all into one blog post proved to be a challenge. i decided to make a "vacay top 10" to summarize our trip...so get ready for a whirlwind recap (in the order of adventure):

1) let the adventures begin (siem reap, cambodia). i traveled with a crew of 10, and we aptly named ourselves the #adventuresquad, as we conquered all of cambodia in a week and then spent another week exploring the beautiful beaches of thailand. i don't think i've ever laughed as hard as i did on this vacation. just to give you an idea: the guy below, miller, tried to get his pet turtle thompson through security our first night. although thompson sadly didn't make the trip, he started our adventure en route to unforgettable laughs....

i've never had a welcome sign with my name on it...

2) sunset at angkor wat (siem reap, cambodia). these ancient temples are the oldest religious buildings in the world. we spent the day biking ~30 miles from wat to wat with glimpses like this all along the way. it was the perfect first day of adventure: besides biking, we climbed all around the wats without restriction...makes me thankful we live in asia where rules aren't really a thing either. in the end, it was a day of #highwattage.

3) #adventuresquad (comin' atcha from all over asia). the coolest travel crew you could imagine, enough said.

lookin' a bit like real world china.

4) jungle trekking (ratanakiri, cambodia). not sure exactly what "trekking" was, we signed up for a day of adventure with our new friend and guide 'smiley'. we soon found out trekking is simply hiking without a path. we had a blast exploring the jungle of cambodia, eating soup cooked in a bamboo shoot, and swimming in waterfalls along the way. our legs bore the brunt of this adventure as we emerged undeniably scarred by this trek: #worthit

girls TREK selfie

5) planes, trains, automobiles, and MORE... (banlung and phnom pehn, cambodia). while traveling we racked up some crazy statistics including the fact that we traveled by plane, train, car, taxi, van, tuk-tuk, songthaew, bicycle, boat, ferry, motorbike, bus, elephant, pickup truck, and zipline (shoutout to fraser for this thorough listing). here are some of my favorites and clearly the most fun:

scooter ridin' through uncharted lands

tuk-tuk selfies for days

6) volcanic crater lake and waterfall swimming (banlung, cambodia). the bros i traveled with made an effort to swim as often as possible. we made some unforgettable memories and these pictures give a little glimpse into the unbelievable experiences. 

terch flippin' on into that crater lake (photo cred: chris o)

waterfall explorin'

how picturesque is this...can you believe we got to swim here?! (phot cred: fras)

7) sunset at the beach (koh lanta, thailand). one night i got to have a really fun dinner with this phenomenal view at the coolest little restaurant called "noon". each night at the beach we were floored by the glorious sunsets that engulfed our views! after six months of not seeing the sun in my new hometown, i've started storing up views like this!!

beyond what words can describe.

8) scuba diving (koh ha, thailand). this picture alone screams of the beauty we were surrounded by the entire week in thailand. i had the chance to scuba dive in this breath-taking water, see fascinating coral reefs and fishies, and even find NEMO! i can confidently say this is the most beautiful place i have ever been.

have you ever seen such incredible water?!

9) jungle FLIGHT (chiang mai, thailand). in chiang mai, the most popular attraction is zip-lining through the treetops. of course we could not pass that up. a crew of 24 of my new friends spent the day zip-lining through some of the most beautiful vista views i've ever seen! 33 platforms, 24 ziplines, 3 sudden drops, and an obstacle course of a hike later, we could hardly believe what we got to experience!

besties do ziplines.

10) i mean i'm riding an ELEPHANT (chiang mai, thailand). this was for sure on my life bucket-list...i still can't believe it actually came true!! after an unexpected adventure of a day, we finally ended up at the elephant park where we got to see elephants dance, play soccer, paint a picture with it's trunk, and RIDE. at one point when our arrival at the park looked questionable, i told the bros, "i mean i'm wearing an elephant tank...i HAVE to ride an elephant today!". thankfully, my wish came true: the elephant gallump'ed down the river on it's tree-like legs, and we were all smiles riding along!

casually sittin' on an elephants neck