Vietnam, 12/12/2005

Dear family, dear friends

What an unusual situation it is for us to write a Christmas letter in hot and humid conditions... We are sending you our warmest season greetings from Hoi An, Vietnam. We hope that this letter finds you happy and healthy, enjoying Christmas time with family and friends. Since we are still on the road, this years letter is in a slightly different format and somewhat shorter.

This year brought much excitement and change in our lives. We were treated with a wonderful visit of my parents in January and found ourselves back at work way too fast. The following months leading up to departing the US proved to be a challenge.

Markus continued working for Navitaire and was engaged in some very interesting projects using the newer software development practices of XP (eXtreme Programming). They involved the design and implementation of a next generation accounting system as well as a revenue management and price optimization for low cost airlines.
I kept teaching in three local dance schools, doing event performances with the dance company as well as developing some of my own choreography that I eventually performed in May.

While our lives were "business as usual", preparations for the trip and the big move kept us busy during our spare time. We got all the necessary vaccinations, travel equipment and literature, and booked the international flights. We also had to organize the shipment of our household goods and our cat, Sidi, back to Switzerland. This was accompanied by days of much excitement but also days of deep sadness (an emotional roller coaster ride) - realizing we were leaving so much behind, most importantly our wonderful friends. Selling our house kept our nerves tense since we could not find a buyer until one week before departure.

After my return from guest teaching in Michigan's Interlochen Dance Academy in July, the day of our moving sale arrived. With the big help of our friend Katie, we managed to sell our entire household within 3 days. So there we were, owning nothing but two backpacks and a pair of tickets around the world.

On July 28th we embarked on our big adventure, and we are still enjoying every moment of it. We are deeply thankful for this opportunity to travel the world and hope that the impressions and experiences will help and lead us in our new start back home. To read about our trip you can visit our blog at http://markusanjatrip.blogspot.com. It includes commentaries from the countries we visited as well as a selection of photos.

We wish you a New Year full of joy, happiness and good health for you and your family.

With lots of love from Vietnam,

Anja & Markus.