In Summary

The trip is over, we're home, and everyone wants to know, "How was it?"..."What was your favorite place?"...and my favorite, "How did you guys get along?"

Well, answering those questions is easier said than done. If you had a couple of hours to burn, you could start at the bottom of the blog and read your way up...however, if you are the type of person who prefers the Cliffs Notes to the real book, then this is the blog for you. Here it is, in no particular order, our trip...

We've:

• traveled to three continents, throughout nine countries (Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Australia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia & Vietnam).
• covered thousands of miles by land, by sea, and by air: bus, car, tuk-tuk, speed boat, sail boat, ferry & of course, campervan.

• collected over 20 stamps in our passports.
• eaten llama, alpaca, crocodile, kangaroo, & numerous unknowns (probably including dog).
• met people from around the world including countries we no longer knew existed, like Slovenia.
  
• sampled wine from regions across the globe; not that we couldn't accomplish the same by visiting a Trader Joes.
• thrown up everywhere...in nearly every country, on the land, on the sea and in the air.
• encountered bathrooms that upon first inspection don't even look like bathrooms, but the smell always gives them away.
• explored beautiful cathedrals, massive temples, ornate wats, impressive monuments & creepy mausoleums that demonstrate the power of a people's beliefs.

(Apsaras carved from sandstone at Angkor Wat)

• seen natural sights so awe inspiring they would cause even the most devout atheist to ponder the presence of a divine being.

(The impressive rinse cycle at Iguazu Falls)

• and then, witnessed animal species so strange that only Walt Disney could have created them, or rather, they evolved.

(Rafiki?)

• gawked at menus where the most expensive meal was less than $5 dollars, and then moved along claiming, "it's so expensive!"
• spent anywhere from $2 to $200 on dinner
• witnessed men, women & children in a seemingly depressing state of poverty, smile more radiantly than a child pop star.

(no wonder Angelina has half a dozen of them)

• seen an eclectic mix of beggars & sellers from 2 year olds who could recite capital cities across the world to 75 year old land mine victims who did nothing more than sprawl out on the sidewalk displaying the few limbs that they still had.
• stayed in a range of hotels, hostels & guest houses, from 5 star resorts to places that could only be classified as shit-holes.
• switched rooms more often than Goldilocks; sleeping on beds hard & soft, covered in plastic & sometimes bed bugs.
  
• stolen airline blankets that proved to be lifesavers on various freezing nights.
• seen looks of confusion disappear as we shamelessly act out what we're trying to say in a form of archaic sign language.
• cruised through airports with ease as if it were the pre-terror era, (accidentally) bringing knives, lighters & even liquids aboard the plane.
• swam in lakes, rivers, streams, oceans & seas, such as: the Pacific, Atalantic, Amazon, Tasman, Coral, South China, Mekong, Nam Ou & the Gulf of Thailand.

(Only a place so serene as Ko Samui, Thailand could get me to read)

• shamelessly snapped off over 10,000 photos...and I still feel we don't have enough.
  
• witnessed the largest land mammal, the biggest fish, and a chimpanzee eat his own (or maybe his mother's) shit.

• lived out of a bag for four months, packing & unpacking over 60 times.
• fought with each other repeatedly, about mostly stupid things like whether they use peanut butter in the dough of banana pancakes (I was right, they do).
• jumped out of a plane, willingly, arriving safely on the beach in Wollongong.
• arrived on US soil for the first time in months to one of the most incredible sights: a sunny day in San Francisco.

How was the trip? It was absolutely amazing! But it was also completely stressful, enlightening, draining, inspiring, depressing and compelling. The culinary experience was remarkable: the exotic, the familiar, the delicious, and the vomit inducing...were all unforgettable. The people were nearly always awesome; but there's always the one person who leaves the greatest impression on you, and just so happens to be a complete asshole. We rarely got a good nights sleep, which is possibly the thing you crave the most while traveling...besides good Mexican food. How did we get along?...Pretty well, considering we spent four months together (nearly every minute)...while enduring every emotion known to man (or woman), including exhaustion from sleep deprivation and days spent traveling, hunger, and homesickness. And despite it all we returned intact as a couple, a couple with a little bit more experience. I suppose the best answer to the question, "how was it?" is to go find out for yourself. Just let us know if you need some advice.