Ian and I have a tough decision to make…….where do we want to spend Christmas this year? Last year we stayed in Yunomae for Christmas, and honestly it was a little too depressing. To be away from home on Christmas is one thing. To sit alone in a cold house, Skype friends and family at home while watching them laugh and eat Santa shaped sugar cookies and realize that on that one day out of the year you hate your life abroad and just want to go home (wow…..am I getting just a little too personal..?) is another thing. Last year I had to save, save, SAVE my vacation days so that I could 1) use the days to get my driver’s license, and 2) come home in July, but this year can burn through all twenty vacation days on actual VACATION. 
Sweet! We’ve never had a luxurious Christmas getaway. So here’s our dilemma…….should we go to Australia or Thailand/Cambodia for Christmas? We haven’t exactly researched what we want to do in either place, but we have a few ideas. Let me break this down and give you some pros and cons for each place.
Australia:
Pros: This may be the closest we’ll ever be to Australia. Flights from Japan to Australia are A LOT cheaper than flights from the States to Australia. I have always, always, ALWAYS wanted to go to Australia. It’s a dream of mine! Seeing the Sydney Opera House, snorkeling with Nemo in the Great Barrier Reef, and spending Christmas/New Year’s on some of the world’s most beautiful beaches…..why not?!? What if this is the only chance I ever get to do that…..? Plus, it’s an English speaking nation. It would be fabulous to have a mental vacation and not have to constantly worry about what people are saying or not being able to read things. In addition, since Australia is below the equator….Christmas falls during the summer time there! Yes, please!
Cons: It’s expensive. Island nation! From the prices I’ve been looking at, even if we managed to stay with friends or couch surf and didn’t have the cost of housing, it would cost us probably as much as it cost us to go home last summer. Translation: not a happy price. 
Plus, it’s a HUGE country. We both want to hit up Sydney, visit friends in Cairns, explore the Great Barrier Reef, see Ayers Rock, and to do all of that might be just too much and cost waaaaaaay more than we can budget for.
Thailand/Cambodia:
Pros: Um, HELLO! BEAUTIFUL BEACHES! A simple Google search produced results like this:
Who WOULDN’T want to spend Christmas there? Plus, it’s cheap. CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP to go to Thailand. The most expensive thing for us would be the airfare….which is still cheaper than going to Australia. There are several markets that would be fun to go to, including some that are on the canals of Bangkok. In addition, MANY people in Thailand speak English, so once again we’d get the welcomed break of speaking English. If Thailand is considered to be cheap, then Cambodia is ROCK BOTTOM DIRT CHEAP. Seriously….no joke…..ridiculously cheap. Plus, Ankor Wat, the largest Hindu temple complex in the world and one of Ian’s top places he wants to go, is in Cambodia.
Cons: Not to sound arrogant, but both are third world countries. We’d have to be constantly vigilant about keeping our wits about us and clutching onto our passport and money. I know it’s ridiculous, but a small part of me is terrified to go to Thailand because I think I’m going to be captured and sold as a sex slave a la Taken style………minus the ex-CIA dad rescue part at the end. Plus, it’s a completely different culture and language. Even though many people speak English, we have absolutely no language skills with either Thai or Cambodian.
So here’s where we stand……Australia or Thailand/Cambodia for Christmas?
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