Back home in Minneapolis

We arrived back home on March 30 only to be greeted by 7 inches of snow the next day. What the hell were we thinking coming home so soon?! Yes, we were ready to come home after being gone for 5 months but we just weren’t prepared for the cold weather. It has been an adjustment being at home, first getting our internal clock adjusted coming from Australia, then fighting the depression as the realization that our journey has come to an end sets in and reality stares us in the face. It has crossed our minds several times to just pack the suitcases again and find some more destinations.

We tried to summarize our year long journey below but words don’t adequately describe the adventure that we experienced.

Stats from our year of travel:

· Miles traveled in total: 88,000

o by plane & # of flights - 60,000 miles, 30 flights

o by train & bus - 8,000 miles

o by automobile - 20,000 miles of which 9,000 were driven on the left

· Countries Visited: 15

· Winery visits: 33

· Micro brewery visits: 21

· # of photos taken: 18,000+

· # of gigs of space for the photos: 26

· Memories: Countless

Favorite countries:

· China

· Lao

· South Africa

Favorite experiences:

· African Safari in Kruger National Park, South Africa

· Walking the Milford Track in New Zealand

· Hiking in the Utah National Parks (Bryce, Zion, Arches)

· Visiting the local villages on Mekong River in Lao

· Our hike and stay at the monasteries in Emei Shan, China

· Visiting with students learning English in Lao

· Visiting Angkor Wat, Cambodia

· Hoi An, Vietnam for the tailors and the food

· Our first encounter with crossing the street in the Old Quarter of Hanoi, Vietnam

· Our two cooking classes (Thailand and Vietnam)

· Biking in the countryside in Yangshuo, China

· Bungy jumping in Queenstown, New Zealand

· Walking on Fox Glacier – New Zealand

· Diving and snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef

· All of our animal experiences – safari animals, pandas, koalas, blue penguins, loggerhead turtles, crocs, tassy devils, roos, sharks, and the millions of sheep grazing by the side of the road

· Most importantly, all the people that we meet along the way and the friendships that we developed

Favorite food experiences:

· Scorpion and tarantula (definitely in the Bizarre Food category)

· Eating at our local guides home in Phnom Penh

· Eating fried noodles in the middle of nowhere on our walk down from Emei Shan, China

· Cooking school meal in Chiang Mai

· Cooking school meal in Hoi An, Vietnam

· Eating at the lobster pound in Bar Harbor, Maine

· Ostrich sausage at the ostrich farm in South Africa

· BBQ of crocodile, kangaroo & prawns in Saigon, Vietnam

· Fish cooked in banana leaf in Lao & Vietnam (mmmm…..garlic, ginger, lime)

· Green papaya salad in Thailand

· Belgian fries, Flemish stew and Belgian waffles

· Egg sammies in Beijing (frequented our little ladies shop many mornings)

· Sichuan hotpot and the blue chicken affair in China

Things that we have taken away from this year:

· We have plenty to be thankful for and we shouldn’t take it for granted or be selfish and greedy when it comes to money and material things. People around the world have so many more hardships to deal with that are not under their control and they don’t have the resources and the benefits that we do in the west.

· There are plenty of things one can do for work. We met so many people that made significant life changes to have a better quality of life. We’ve not made any major decisions around this, but it will get us thinking more about the future and possible changes down the road.

· Although we could have spent less money traveling in Southeast Asia, we found great value in going with the Intrepid tours. We felt that we wouldn’t have had the “off the beaten path” experiences and local interactions and information had we traveled on our own. We would definitely sign up for another in the future.

· We can understand and focus more on the impacts of our actions on the environment and the economy when it comes reducing waste, buying local, and supporting local business owners (just to name a few).

· This journey was much better than any history lesson we could take in a class. We learned so much about different cultures, religions, political systems, economic and social environments.

In the end, we have no regrets about the decision to quit our jobs and look forward to hopefully doing this again even if it’s for a shorter time frame. There are so many places to see and we just barely scratched the surface this time.

Until the next leg, whenever that may be, just remember …..

Focus less on the destination and more on the journey!!