Malaysian Meanders: A Look Back Around the Globe in 2014

This Christmas finds me at my parents' house. In all my years of traveling, being married, having my own family, and living overseas, I almost always seem to find myself in my childhood home during the holidays. In fact, I've only been away from my mama on Christmas once in my entire life. No matter how far away I go, I also come full circle and end up where I began.

What a year it's been. Here's a look back at our 2014.

Orlando, Florida — Walt Disney World and Universal Studios

Cinderella's Castle, Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World

Visiting Disney World during the off season is a dream come true for hubby. We honeymooned here decades ago in June when it was hot, humid and crowded. You may find it hard to believe, but the kids have never missed a single hour of school due to traveling. With that family policy in place, hitting Florida theme parks when the crowds are low is difficult. This year was finally our big chance because school didn't resume until mid-January. Score!

Cambodia

Angkor Wat

Halfway around the world from the Magic Kingdom, we visited the Kingdom of Cambodia over Spring Break. We got our inner-Indiana Jones on climbing around the collapsed ruins of Beng Mealea and, of course, went to must-see Angkor Wat.

LEGOland Malaysia

The Taj Mahal built out of LEGOs at Miniland

The second part of Spring Break was spent at LEGOland Malaysia. For every day spent touring ancient Cambodian temples, the kids got to have a day of fun at LEGOland. The new themed hotel and waterpark were great ways to escape the heat. One of the kids' best memories from this trip is getting picked out of the crowd to be photographed for a promotional campaign and getting paid for it.

Photoshoot for an international marketing campaign (which I claim is code for Facebook status update)

The Philippines

"Hey mom, can I get this sword as a souvenir?"
"Umm, NO!!"

The kids absolutely loved our time in Manila visiting relatives. Only a few hours were spent sightseeing and the rest of the time was occupied with hanging out with my cousins' kids at the bowling alley, wandering malls, and playing Minecraft. Here's to experiencing a city like a local. They tell me I need to plan more trips like this.

Italy — Rome, Sorrento, Pompeii and Venice

Vatican Gardens with Saint Peter's Basilica in the background

Italy was the kids' idea. We let them pick where to go in Europe during a long stopover on the way from Malaysia to America, and this is where we ended up. Massive amounts of gelato were consumed. Gladiator school in Rome was downright pure awesomeness as far as they were concerned. We had thought that the Angkor Wat ruins were old, but the ones in Pompeii were centuries older. And yes indeed, I can understand why some people call Venice "Disney World for grownups."

Houston, Texas

A few weeks after I took this photo, a cargo ship with our household goods container from Malaysia would sail past here.

The family split up for a few weeks after Venice. Hubby went to Hungary for work and teeny bit of sightseeing in Budapest while the kids and I returned to America.

Houston is where hubby and I grew up, went to university, met and married. If we absolutely have to go on vacation somewhere, it's the kids' top pick, excluding theme parks. Since I grew up here, I don't really view it as a vacation destination, but I will admit that seeing family and childhood friends is wonderful. It's a getaway from regular life that's familiar and comfortable.

Northern California Wine Country — Sonoma and Napa Valleys

The Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco

The kids complain that I pick boring, adult stuff to do on trips like visiting art museums whereas they would rather do kid things. I contend that it's a rather even 50:50 split. I do try to plan fun activities for all parties involved, although not everyone will necessarily be having fun at the same time.

Obviously, separate vacations is the easiest way to keep everyone happy (except for perhaps my parents who got to take care of my crazy kids while I went off to California for a few days). While hubby was busy working his tail off in Hungary, the kids visited trampoline parks and arcades with the grandparents in Houston while I toured Northern California vineyards and fancy schmancy gourmet restaurants with my bestie who has the good fortune of living in Sonoma. Her 9-year-old daughter came along with us, and I am going to proclaim that she is a mini-connoisseur of fine living.

Zichichi Family Vineyard, Dry Creek Valley

New York City

The week-long Thanksgiving break was spent doing a whirlwind trip of the Big Apple, returning to Austin, and then doing a quick trip to Houston for a big, family dinner. Whew!

Empire State Building

New York is one of those iconic cities of the world, and couldn't wait to reintroduce the kids to magnificent America via a trip here.

The Big Move back Home

The view from my home in Penang, Malaysia

By far, the biggest change that occurred this year is returning to Texas after living in Malaysia for three years. Our time as expats was the catalyst for all this amazing world travel that we've done, and I wonder what reverting back to "normal" will be like. I still seem to view our time abroad as a "Cinderella at the ball" phase. As one of my fellow Texans-in-Penang trailing spouses put it, "It's not real life." At some point, you have to go back to reality.

I've been meaning to write about the experience of repatriating, but the busyness of American life has kept me from blogging as much as I'd like. Yet, it is the stillness — the staying put, the lack of a trip on the near horizon — that weighs on me as well. Busyness and stillness. That's what's in store for 2015.

Hubby, on the other hand, already has a trip back to Penang looming in a few weeks time. Granted, he'll be in meetings all day, but he'll still get to feast on amazing food each night. Lucky him.