September 12, 2007

Home



[Before I get to the mildly lame climax, I wanted to let you know that I will be starting a new website where I'll be writing a cultural, political and religious commentary of sorts. When it's ready, I'll be posting a link on this site. Please check back infrequently over the next few weeks to find it.]

Okay. We're home.

I've thought about writing this final post many times over the past seven months - pondering the intricacies of wrapping up an entire trip in just a paragraph. Each time I've given my mind to going home, I've gotten emotional. How can I possibly sum up what this epic adventure has met to us? The more I've thought about it, the more certain I am that I am just not sure how this once-in-a-decade trip has changed us or made us more complete - and I doubt you'll want to come back around Christmas when I can reflect with greater clarity. So today I'm afraid there is nothing substantial to leave you with, except that I'm glad we did it.

What I really wanted to convey in this last post is our sincere gratitude to you, our readers. We started this website as a way to chronicle our travels - we had no idea it would turn into a sources for happiness. It gave us routine when we needed it. It connected us to home when we felt so far removed. And it connected us to you - family and friends with whom we loved sharing this trip. Your comments and emails gave us fuel when we needed it most. So we say thanks, over and over, for making this trip more than we could have hoped.

We would love to hear from all of you - whether you followed our journey entirely, just for certain countries, or even for a short time. If you have a second, we'd love to hear from you via a comment below.

All of our pictures are here.

September 10, 2007

Day 216 - Mexico City, MEXICO
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[a. Stay tuned for one final summary post after this one - sure to be full of emotion and gratitude. b. In less than seventy-two hours, Mexico City has managed to take our number one spot on the best cities list. With subway rides for .20 cents, neighborhoods like New York, architecture reminiscent of Europe and tacos for a dollar, how could it not be?]

Some of the following stats defined our trip (see 1,4,6) while others are just, well, stats.

1. HOURS OF LAND TRAVEL: 539 - In total, we spent 22 full days on buses, trains and other random modes of public transportation. That's 1/6 of all our waking hours. This stat more than any other, perhaps, made our trip what it was. Seeing each country from the ground, mile after mile, bump after bump, will be some of our most memorable moments.

2. TOTAL SPENDING: $17,874 - Most people want to know what it costs to spend 216 days traveling around the world. Well, now you know...at least in our case. This figure includes every last penny we spent including: health insurance ($1156), plane tickets ($4904) and everything else ($11814).

3. NUMBER OF COUNTRIES VISITED: 13 - We have now land traveled in 27 countries or roughly 12% of the world. Our new world map of countries visisted now looks like this:



4. NUMBER OF BOOKS READ: 36 - Leg one reading here. Leg two here. The latest reading from leg three includes:
Garbageland - 2 stars - Elizabeth Royte
Middlesex - 4 stars - Jeffrey Eugenides
Chuck Klosterman IV - 2 stars - Chuck Klosterman
A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again - 3 stars - D.F. Wallace
Kaaterskill Falls - 2 stars - Alegra Goodman
The History of Love - 4 stars - Nicole Krausse
Shampoo Planet - 2 stars - Douglas Coupland
The Razor's Edge - 2 stars - W. Somerset Maugham

5. WEBSITE HITS: 28,451

6. TOTAL DAYS TRAVELED: 216 - Hong Kong to Mexico City - February 6. 2007 through September 10. 2007

7. MAP OF LEG THREE TRAVELS: - 35 Days, 7 Countries, 92 Hrs By Bus

September 1, 2007

Day 213 - Oaxaca, MEXICO
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As we bear down on the world´s third largest city and our final destination, we have been making a ´best of´ from the last seven months. Enjoy...

BEST COUNTRIES:
1. Turkey
2. Thailand
3. Nepal
4. China
5. Mexico

BEST CITIES:
1. Mexico City, Mexico
2. Istanbul, Turkey
3. Antalya, Turkey
4. Pokhara, Nepal
5. Hanoi, Vietnam

WORST CITIES:
1. Delhi, India
2. Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
3. San Salvador, El Salvador

BEST BEACHES:
1. Sihanoukville, Cambodia
2. Puerto Escondido, Mexico
3. Bocas Del Toro, Panama
4. Krabi, Thailand

GREATEST ADVENTURES*:
1. Bamboo Rafting - Thailand
2. Motorbike Riding around the Mekong Delta - Vietnam
3. Lagoon Hike - Thailand
4. Thai New Year Water Fight - Thailand
5. Cappadocia Hike - Turkey

BEST WONDERS:
1. Angkor Wat, Cambodia
2. Himalayas, Nepal
3. Great Wall, China
4. Cappadocia, Turkey

THINGS THAT MADE US CRY:
1. Sunrise @ Poon Hill - Nepal
2. Kari´s Nearly Broken Back - Mexico
3. India - India

BEST FOOD:
1. Spicy Chicken w/ Peanuts - $2 - Beijing
2. Grilled Meat w/ Sticky Rice - $2 - Anywhere, Thailand
3. Vegetarian Sizzle - $3 - OR2K Restaurant, Kathmandu
4. Tavuk SiS - $3 - Anywhere, Turkey

BEST BOOKS READ:
1. Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
2. Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
3. The History of Love - Nicole Krauss
4. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Jonathon Foyer
5. All Families Are Psychotic - Douglas Coupland


*After dropping large amounts of cash on canyoning, white water rafting, zip-lining, etc, only the nearly free made the list of best adventures.
Day 211 - Puerto Escondido, MEXICO
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Before and After, Beginning and End


February 5, 2007 -




September 5, 2007 -

Slideshow