We thought we could avoid Christmas by traveling half way across the world to a Buddhist country. It's not that we dislike spending time with our relatives. On the contrary, we are lucky to have families that we love and appreciate and who do not annoy us in the least. What annoys us is the fact that Christmas seems to now start in October and that the commercialism of the holiday seems to overpower any sense of spirituality. That said...Christmas cannot be avoided. It is everywhere. There was a 6 foot tall animatronic Santa playing a saxophone in Siem Reap. Frank Sinatra's version of "Let it Snow" was playing at a coffee shop in Phnom Penh. Looking down the beach at night in Phu Quoc, Vietnam we saw tree after tree lit up with festive lights. On our ride to the Mekong Delta we saw countless manger scenes on the side of the road. So... we decided to give up and just go with the flow. Merry Christmas to all our friends and family. We miss you.
Love, Pete and Natasha
