Oh, the places you'll go: Thank you, Asia "Sand" (87 days left)

Friday, March 5, 2021

Thank you, Asia "Sand" (87 days left)

I didn't know there were so many different types of sand until we began travelling to beach locations such as those around Asia. I hope to bring my sand collection home to Wisconsin, but I don't know if it will make it intact. Here we have sand samples from our travels these past 11 years. Perhaps you can spot the black sand from Bali, Malaysia.

Our first beach trip was to Boracay island in the Philippines our first Christmas abroad (2010). This is still my favorite sand in the world! Until vacationing here I didn't know that sand could come so white and so fine and soft. The local children in Boracay can even pack sand balls the size of large snow balls to play a local game. Thus began my collection of sand.

The kids on the beach in Boracay.

The Braykos have a long-standing tradition of taking pictures of our writing in the sand. Hanging out with kids on a beach is an easy day. Sun + sand + kids = fun. In 2015 we headed to the Sabah region in Malaysia, staying at a resort in near Kota Kinabalu. The water was warm and the sand hard packed.

Alec at Sabah

In 2015 I reunited with an old friend in Phuket, Thailand. Alexandra had survived the 2004 Tsunami at the very resort we stayed at.

Another Christmas with sand was in 2014 where we vacationed with friends from our time in Korea, the Cabalunas. Phu Quoc, Vietnam had an amazing beach that wasn't too overcrowded, as the area was newly open to tourism.

Closer to home, in 2012, I attended a women's retreat with ladies from my church in Hong Kong, Church of All Nations. We spent a few days in a lovely Airbnb enjoying the sand and water on our breaks. And of course there are a myriad of other beaches in Hong Kong closer to home where I have spent a good amount of time with friends and family or all alone.