We have found during these three months of traveling (can you believe it’s already been that long?!?) that the littlest things can totally make our day. In honor of Thanksgiving, we complied a list of some of the things that we are grateful for.

Thanks for…

• Reclining seats on a bus (especially the nice “VIP” fold out beds in Peru!).
• Finding toilet paper in the bathroom. Double bonus if you find a toilet with a seat.
• Heck, even finding a bathroom is sometimes the greatest thing ever.
• Hostels with WiFi, especially when it is faster than dial-up.
• Coke in glass bottles and made from real sugar. Kristen has replaced her Diet Coke addiction with these.
• Hot water showers. Bonus if you don’t get electrocuted or if it has any sort of water pressure.
• Cooler days because then we can wear the same clothes the next day (and possibly the day after that).
• Finding a hidden pair of clean underwear at the bottom of your backpack.
• Ipods. Not sure if we could survive the bus only listening to the pan flute for 9 hours.
• Street food!
• Hostels that let us in early after we arrive on a long night bus.
• Correctly conjugating/speaking a Spanish sentence and actually being understood.  Understanding the response we get is another thing.
• A spouse that we still enjoy being around, even after all this time.
• Getting laundry professionally done. That smell is heavenly!
• Nice locals who help us find our way.
• Online banking and bill pay.
• A friend who knows all about plumbing. We owe you big time, Anthony!
• Tripadvisor- much more reliable than Lonely Planet.
• A sister who is willing to restock all our supplies when she comes to visit.
• Emails from home.
• Jugos (Fresh juices)! Our new favorite is pineapple.
• Not stepping in the open manhole in the sidewalk. Or the ever-present dog poop.

Most of all, we are so thankful to get this once in a lifetime opportunity to explore the world. While traveling through these countries, we realize how lucky we are to have the life and opportunities that we have back at home.

We are also extremely grateful to all of our friends and family. We appreciate all the emails and comments. We love and miss you all.

Have a great Thanksgiving and eat some extra stuffing for the two of us!