Sweet Home Chicago

Whats it like to be home?

Its good......different, but good. 

By now, I have caught up with most of you at home...and there seems to be a common thread of questions that I figured I would answer for everyone on here.

First of all, the basics: What am I doing now that I am back?
Well,  I was already re-hired at my job with a start date of August 6th, giving me just shy of 2 weeks when I returned home to try and reorganize myself. I spent that time hanging out with my parents, visiting my brother, enjoying one of my best friend's weddings, and furiously hunting for an apartment. 
Luckily, everything fell into place in due time (as it always does :), and I settled into my (wonderful!) new apartment the very end of August. I am officially completely unpacked, about 90% organized, and am definitely back in the rhythm at work. 

And now, the dirty details.....

I had an interesting conversation with one of our family friends a few weeks ago during which he asked me what the "lowlights" of the trip were. I started to say Vientiane (the dirty town in Laos that we heaved-ho out of ASAP), but then I remembered the wonderful experience we had at the COPE center while we were there, making it (albeit not a great city) a good experience for me.

After this answer, he looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Come on, give me the dirt. There had to have been some crappy times....."

So I thought harder, try to conjure any negative experiences we had during the trip, because EVERYONE has asked me that since returning home.

And honestly, I really can't think of any.

The sweatiest, longest bus ride (see Stories From the Back of the Bus) of my life was certainly not something that I had on my list of "must-do's" when I left for a 6 month journey, but out of it I got a wonderful story, a pretty funny blog post, and a new friend :)

The only time that I felt even the tiniest bit unsafe (while on a dala dala just outside of Arusha, Tanzania) turned out to be a good experience in that I learned to have a little more faith in the people around me, because even in a not so great town, in the dark, stuffed into the back of the local transport, with my computer on my person (stupid!), there were locals watching out for us who were willing and able to help despite the language barrier.  

Then I started thinking about why.  Why can't I remember anything as "BAD?" 

And the I realized that without knowing it, Katy and I had such a "glass half full" attitude throughout the trip that we didn't even allow for bad days.
I was reminded of the day that we came off the mountain (Kili).  We ran into some German guys back at the post-hike hotel, completely high on adrenaline (even after 20 or so hours of hiking in the past 2 days) due to our summit success.  We had seen the Germans the day we got on the mountain as well, so naturally, we asked them how their hike was. 
I was shocked. The one that responded seemed irritated as he said, "Well, it was alright. But it rained the whole time and it was so windy and cold and rainy that we just got up and down as fast as we could so that we could get back." Katy and I looked at each other in awe as we told him that it really didn't rain for us and we cherished every moment.

How is this possible? Well, let's start with one fact: They climbed a different route than us, and the route we picked does offer less precipitation than the route they used. HOWEVER, it is still the same mountain and its just not possible that these guys got poured on for 7 days and we got nothing.  So then we started thinking. Maybe it rained more than we realized?  We thought long and hard and came to the conclusion that it rained for between 1 and 5 hours each day.  I guess thats a decent amount of rain. But here's the thing:
We went into this hike knowing it was the rainy season. In my head, I was prepped for heavy rain all day, every day. Guess what though? Only rained a bit each day....and the times that it wasn't raining it was sunny and beautiful. So in my head, the hike was a complete success with perfect weather.........thus reinforcing one of my beliefs that life is about 30% what happens and about 70% how you perceive it.

I guess my point is that whatever you are doing, picture it the way you want it to be. It may not turn out that way exactly, but there is a good chance that your attitude can influence the outcome.....

 What Now??

Funny thing: I think most people (myself included?) thought I would go on this trip, the "itch" would be scratched, and I would nestle back into home life in Chicago and stay put for a while. Well I think anyone who does long term travel would have laughed at me for even typing this notion, and they would've been right.

Do I miss it?

YES! 

Do I seriously miss hostel beds, not knowing if my bus may or may not have air conditioning and/or breakdown, not knowing if any of the next 30 people I run across will be able to speak the same language as me, wearing the same clothes every day, etc, etc?

Every day.

While there is something reassuring about knowing in advance where you are going to lay  your head at night and knowing that you don't have to carry a 50 pound pack around (potentially for multiple hours at a time), there is also something very mundane about the day to day life here.

It is sad knowing that you probably will go about your daily life and NOT meet anyone from a different country who wants to sit, have a beer, and talk about life. It is utterly overwhelming watching people sit around on their IPhones while in a group setting instead of shooting the shit with the human beings in front of them (and no, I don't have an IPhone...I don't even have internet on my phone).

So what am I going to do about all this?

At the moment, I'm unsure. For now, I am enjoying the company of those that I love and channeling any negative thoughts towards positive travel concepts: ie: future trips/projects, and groups that inspire others to do long term travel (ie: I am attending a Meet Plan Go event next week!).

In summary, coming home is obviously a big adjustment for anyone who has done long term travel....and I know I just have to rediscover my place back here in Chicago....and I'll get there eventually.  In the meantime, stay tuned to the blog for future travel plans as I rebuild the travel bank by working mass amounts of overtime :)

And as one final side note: I have, officially, looked at every single one of my 27,000 pictures from my trip AT LEAST once.....not bad, huh?

People, people, people

And for my final post, as we head out this afternoon, I want to write about the amazing people we encountered during our circumnavigation of the planet.

Sure, seeing the Taj Mahal was breathtaking. And watching four female lions devour a wildebeest was a once in a lifetime experience. And eating street pad thai in the middle of Kho San Road was definitely a treat for my tastebuds.  And driving through the highlands of Scotland completely blew me away....until I went to Iceland :)

But trumping all the unbelievable things I saw and did was interacting with the people along the way. Whether it be other backpackers or locals, tuk tuk drivers vs. fellow tubers in Vang Vieng, the hostel owner in India who invited us to his wedding after knowing us for 5 minutes or the guy who we hung out with in Turkey for 48 hours who offered up his apartment to us for his final 3 days of his study abroad in Athens (which we definitely took him up on!), it truly is the people who were the most important part of this trip.

Katy and I hate to be asked what our favorite country, or city, or day was in this trip, because it really is comparing apples to oranges. But if we absolutely, with a gun to our head, have to pick and choose....the memories that we are most fond of always revolve around the people that we were with at the time and the relationships that we formed.

My original intention of this post was to write about ALL the amazing people we encountered on this trip. However, I started doing that and it might be 20 pages long if I continue at the rate I was going.  So in lieu of that, I will just thank a few very special people that helped make this trip everything it was:

In order of country.......

Tom Russell, it was so nice to meet you right at the beginning of our trip.....your long term travel plans were inspiring to me despite the fact that I was also on my own journey, and your words of wisdom that, "we will  hit a few places where we don't make a lot of friends and things slow down, but not to be discouraged" were honestly something that Katy and I remembered when we were having a few down days here and there. 

Pras, I think you are one of the coolest, open-minded people that I have ever met, and I can't wait to hear more of your thoughts when I come to San Fran sometime in the near future!

Nick and Dominic, thanks for giving us a "family" for our five days in Vang Vieng.  I'm so glad we made it out of that cave alive...... :)

Jesus! Thanks for shacking up with us in Chiang Mai and it was hilarious to run into you again in Vang Vieng in the midst of chaos!

To Sam and Shi, the perfect tubing buddies AND two great blokes to share a pint with in London :) (see what I did there?)

Megan, you were the PERFECT person to join us for our 2 weeks in Vietnam. I can't think of a more carefree, go with the flow friend....one who tolerated more overnight buses in two weeks than anyone should in their whole life, and shook it off (literally) when you woke up with cockroaches crawling all over you :)

Mike and Carter, it was great to see you guys up and down the coast of Vietnam....and I definitely learned more about hockey in Vietnam than I will probably know in my whole life!

Sammy and Steve, so sad the Halong Bay attempt failed but I think we made up for it back in Hanoi! 

To Rajendra and his staff at Chitwan Village Resort, you were the most welcoming bunch we encountered anywhere.....your hospitality blew me away and I am so thankful that you were able to share your national park with us.

To my Nepal group: Hiking Annapurna Sanctuary was an amazing experience to share with all of you and I will never forget our morning at base camp...and to our guides, Bharat and Krishna, two of the most motivating, hard-working, individuals I have ever met.

To Vinay in Varanasi, thank you for giving us a taste of what your city is really like, for showing us around, educating us, and genuinely caring about us.

To Johnnie, James, Juma, Nyamaissa, Boniphace, Aloyce, Christopher, Kasian, and Robert.....you are now burned into my brain as the crew who helped me do the most monumental thing in my life thus far...make it to the top of Kilimanjaro.  THANK YOU for taking care of us every step of the way, from coaching us up the mountain, to having warm tea ready for us seconds after we made it to camp each evening, for being our alarm clocks, our friends, for the smiles that you gave us after we made it down from Uhuru.....
And to Johnnie specifically- thank you for being who you are. I honestly don't know anyone with a heart as big as yours, and I genuinely hope we stay in touch for a very long time.  Your stories about your family moved me to tears and the birthday card and letter you gave me will forever be treasured.  Stay safe on that mountain and hopefully I will be back in a few years!

Santi and Aaron, I couldn't think of two better roommates to meet our first night in Istanbul....I was on sensory overload during our food tour of the city, and will never forget our fort party :) 

To Nick, a fellow Midwesterner who met Katy and I while we were actually have a brief argument re: flights...however he then proceeded to spend his two days in Cappadoccia hiking and hot air ballooning the valleys of Goreme with us, and then kindly offered up his spare bed in Athens for us to share when we arrived there a few weeks later. We took him up on his offer and not only was he a great host, but he was gave us a stellar tour of Athens and let us partake in his end of semester festivities with him and his friends! We hope to return the favor when he comes to Chicago (hint, hint) :)

Em and Kelli, I am SO GLAD you joined us for our cruise up to Norway! It was so nice having some girlfriends around, and Pulpit Rock is one of the coolest hikes I have done!

Elise and Dennis, I cannot believe that 4 Americans, a Norwegian, and a Swed randomly met up for lunch one day in June in Oslo....but I am so glad that we did-it was great to see you both again!

And finally, to my piece of home in the UK: Brandon, Harry, and Shauna.  Harry and Shauna, thank you for letting us crash for over a week after not knowing anything about us except we were two American girls
that Brandon had met a few months back on his trip to Patagonia. And Brandon, we can never repay you for all you did for us while in the UK.....taking us around to all the sights, letting us make a home in your room for an entire week, meeting up again with us in the North of England and then again in Wales, being our guide in Dartmoor National Park, offering to follow us 45 minutes in the wrong direction of your camp just to make sure we got back to our hostel safely on the scary dark teeny roads, and then actually driving us 2.5 hours out of your way to our ferry terminal in Dover when you had a million other things to do that day.  Thank you for introducing us to your family and I am grateful to them for making us feel so welcome in their home.  You have become like family to both of us and there is no doubt in my mind that this friendship is a lifelong one.  See ya in Chicago...........

And I think that about covers it for now.....there are really no more words to express how thankful I am to have met such wonderful people.......

In conclusion (ha, didn't think I would ever get there, did ya?) THANK YOU to everyone for reading. I know some of these posts were (very) long, some were me giving opinions that I am sure many of you don't share, and lets be honest, some of them were really funny :)  I sincerely appreciate all of you reading this blog. Not only did it act as my main communication line between home and whatever city I happened to be in that day, but it will also serve as the most in depth journal I have ever managed to keep while on the road (and there have been numerous attempts). And on a less selfish note, I truly truly hope it inspired at least one person to consider (and hopefully embark upon!) a long term travel stint.  I know most people say its not feasbile....thats what I always said. But if the circumstances start to line up, you are a good budgeter and saver, and you take a few risks here and there, it really is possible for many people to do.

I will hopefully post many more more pics and Iceland updates once I return home, and please remember the quote I threw on here months ago:

Sab Kuch Milega!!

Maruf, from our hostel, in Bodrum, Turkey

Santi and Aaron in Istanbul, Turkey

Kili porters and guides

Elise (our Norwegian friend that we met in Peru last year) and us in Oslo, Norway

Found Dennis in Oslo, Norway!

Jesus, our roommate in Chiang Mai

Em, Kel, Katy, and I on our way to hike up Pulpit Rock in Stavanger, Norway

Nick, Katy, and I in Athens, Greece

Feeling at home at the Witkowski's home in Bromsgrove, England (Brandon's mom, dad, and sister!)

The staff and owner at Chitwan Village Resort in Nepal

Failed Halong Bay attempt Crew- Hanoi, Vietnam

Vicki, our buddy in Phnom Penh

Meeting up with Mike and Carter in Hanoi, along with Lucy, our Australian friend from Chile's sister!

Annapurna Sanctuary hiking group

Vinay in Varanasi, India

Gavin, Katy's bartender from when she was studying abroad! Dalkeith, Scotland

Nick and Dominic, Vang Vieng, Laos

Most of our Kili crew, Tanzania, Africa

With Brandon in Dartmoor National Park, England

Woops, missed a day :)

Yes, the post a day series is out the window as I missed a day.  And while I don't have time today either to do a full-on post summarizing our trip, I DO have time to post this handful of teaser photos from our past two weeks in Iceland, and I promise many many more will be coming after I get home and settled.


A VERY short summary of our time in Iceland so far:

Landed in Reykjavik, spent a few days there. Picked up a rental car and drove the whole Ring Road!!!! in 9 days and 3400+ km. Started with the "Golden Circle Tour" (Þingvellir Park, where the great rift between the North American and Eurasian plates is located....we walked in it!, the famous Geyser, and Goðafoss, the waterfall of the Gods).  Then, we spent time on the Snæfellsnes peninsula, went up to the Westfjords (these two days of driving combined are the most beautiful I have EVER seen....even beat Scotland). From there, over to Akureyri (second biggest city in Iceland, population just around 20,000).  Spent three days there, whale watching and kicking around town.  Then over to the Eastfjords (Seyšisfjöršur, to be exact), after playing all day around Lake Mývatn in all the bubbling geothermal fields around the region and walking all over tons of geology :) We stopped at about one hundred places on our drive down to Skaftafell National Park, where we spent a breathtaking day snowmobiling on Vatnajokull glacier, the worlds third largest icecap (the largest outside of an arctic region!), and taking a boat ride in the Jökulsárlón lagoon.
Returned the car yesterday and spent today snorkeling in the rift mentioned above (amazing....), and exploring a cave :)  

Puffins! On the Latrrabjarg cliffs

Post whale-watching in Husavik

In the Lagoon....chunks of the glacier break off and stay here.  This lagoon is growing exponentially by the year due to the glacier melting.....so sad

Just out for a nice little Sunday drive.......

One of the teeny towns we stopped in

Waterfalls :)

Hverir, a giant geothermal field in the middle-north of the Island

Bubbling acid mud pots at the geothermal fields

Volcanic lake

Caving earlier this afternoon :)

More to come after we spend our final two days in the Land of Fire and Ice!

Maintaining a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week, friendship :)

Literally. Save showers, a few treadmill runs on the MS Ryndam, and the occasional afternoon exploring alone, Katy and I have spent the last 4000+ hours together....and yes, we are still friends :)

The Taj Mahal from Mehtab Bagh, Agra, India

Picture spending this much time with someone in your life....and yes, I know many of you are married, maybe you even work with your spouse- but I bet your drive somewhere during the day without that person, or maybe one of you sits in the family room while the other is cooking in the kitchen, etc.  We don't have that as we usually have about 100-400 square feet of "personal" space......to share (we are actually feeling quite spread out in our car, being that we have a whole backseat to put things in!)

Haha sometimes our space is THIS small :) When you are in London, you have to take this one, right?  Out in Covent Garden

So what happens in that close of proximity over such a long time? Well, every thought, every emotion that crosses your face, has now been shared with that person.  There is no hiding any feeling that you may have, as hard as you try....and you can't save it up until the next time you have some personal space, because that next time isn't coming :)  That being said, it becomes a little challenging to sort through all the emotions that come and go during a trip of this magnitude.  

Way back in the first two weeks of the trip....homestay near Chiang Mai, Thailand (candlelight!)

So, many of you might wonder, how the hell did we pull this off? To be honest, I'm not quite sure....but I do know that we started off with some basic ground rules....and took it from there:

Exploring the pubs in Delhi, India

1. How to deal with money:

It may seem strange to talk about, but it must be addressed (and this would be my advice to any long-term travel pairs). What is one of the primary things that "couples" fight about? Money!

So we decided to nip this one in the bud right from the beginning and agree that there would be no hard feelings about splitting everything in half....and that means everything. No joke, today I gave Katy 5 krona that I owed her (okay, this one was more of a joke--5 krona is like 4 cents).  But in all seriousness, whether it is one dollar or one hundred, we try very hard to keep things even so that this never had the chance to become an issue.

Definitely not worried about money on this day.....does it even need a caption? At Uhuru Peak, 5895 m, Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Africa

2. There are no stupid questions:

Traveling around the world (and having inquisitive minds), we have learned more history than I can even begin to process (truth be told, if I had paid more attention in high school history I would probably know a few of the things already....).  This being said, we made sure that it was clear to each other that there are no stupid questions; if you want to know the answer to something, just ask.  ie: When I was unsure of Macedonia's location (or perhaps even country status?), I had no fear in asking my travel buddy what she knew about it. 

There have been far stupider questions swapped between the two of us, usually whispered when we think no one else is listening......but the good thing is, we either a) learn something, or b) realize that it must not be that stupid of a question if neither of us know!

On our way back from Kuang Si Waterfall, near Luang Prabang, Laos

Annapurna Base Camp, 4130 m, Nepal

3.  Let the little things go:

Like I just said, we have been together for the past 4000+ hours....there have definitely been a few times that we pissed each other off.....but you just let it go :) There is no doubt that some of the things we have experienced would test the limits of any friendship, but I think at this point, there is nothing that could break us! It is an unwritten rule that mornings aren't our most chatty times, and you definitely don't correct the other one when you KNOW she is wrong but will figure it out momentarily...and if something is really bothering one of us about the other, guess what? The other one will be there to talk about ANY TIME you look over for the next 5 months.

I believe that this trip has taken both of us on an emotional rollercoaster as far as realizing what things are truly important in life, trying to discover where we will best fit in upon return, gaining compassion for whole new genres of people, and seeing things that some people only dream of in a lifetime--it can take you for a ride.  Therefore, if one person is having an "emotional" day, you just brush it off--and usually they address it later.

All smiles here :) Kayaking in Vang Vieng, Laos

More pictures of our global friendship:

Dinner at "Hot Tuna" (no joke).....Hue, Vietnam- with our good friend Megan!

Again at Annapurna Base Camp....because its just that beautiful

Prepping for sunset...Oia, Santorini, Greece

So I was trying to put a picture of us together in each country....and then I realized we don't have a picture together in Wales. So here is a picture of me in Wales! Snowdonia National Park :)

With Brandon at Stonehenge

Dinner in Bodrum, Turkey

Learning how to drive all over again....near Dover, England

Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Kibo Camp, Kilimanjaro

And we also forgot to take one together in Scotland (we are getting bad at this)....so here is Katy on the island of Staffa in the highlands of Scotland

And then there were the rules that developed along the way.......


"The Passenger"

This role/rule developed in the UK, where we rented our first car. Not only were we driving on the other side of the road, but we didn't really know where we were going....and there was no guarantee that whomever was driving wasn't going to throw us over the side of a mountain at any time due to misjudgement of the location of the front left of the car.

This is when we developed some very strict driving guidelines:

If you are driving, you watch the road, and trust that "The Navigator" will lead you the right place.

If you are "The Passenger," you DO NOT judge the other's driving skills (no matter how many curbs she may hit). You answer questions re: the map, you play good music, and you take pictures of beautiful scenery. You trust that the driver has no intention of crashing the car :)

We followed these simple rules through many single track roads, up and over mountains, and are still following them on gravel mountain roads in Iceland (although they drive on the right side here, so not as tough :)....and so far, so good!

10 and 2 Michelle....and just pray that no one is coming at you from that blind hill on your single track road in the fog

You put up dumb pictures, against everyone's better judgement:

Pondering the cigarette advert. in Selcuk, Turkey

We don't know who this guy is, but he sure made our picture :) Tubing in Vang Vieng, Laos

And then we took it day by day from there, developing the simpler, stupider rules of travel partners:

You put each other to bed when its time..... (see above rule!)

Maybe too much Chang? First night on Kho San Road, Bangkok, Thailand

Being together all day, every day, means no secrets:

You learn about each other's basic needs....nuff said.

You keep each other's beers full......

Our pitiful 4th of July celebration in Oban, Scotland (don't worry, we made friends shortly after this picture!)

We may really hurt each other if one pisses the other one off too much......so be careful!

She wants my head on a platter!!!! Museum in Edinburgh, Scotland

Its all about perspective....same museum

You support each others poor appearance decisions:

Trying to be culturally appropriate at the Golden Palace in Bangkok, Thailand (and no, those are NOT my clothes)

What? You don't like this hat???   Edinburgh, Scotland.....trying to summon Nessie

Looking stupid in an effort to be warm at Tadapani Camp, Annapurna hike, Nepal

No, Katy hasn't changed that much-playing "Black Face" in the Karen hilltribe village of Thailand (near Chiang Mai)

Our sexy footwear......waiting for anyone (literally, to pick us up and take us to our hostel) in Pak Chong, Thailand

Hey, she might look like an idiot but she's warm!  Kili :)

You share each others excitement in the little things.......

Toilet paper and soap, oh my!!!!

And the big things.......

Leaving the mountain....Day 7 of Kilimanjaro

You trust each other......

Don't let go!!! Annapurna Base Camp, Nepal

"No, I definitely won't push you out of the safari Jeep"

You help each other out if one is lost.......

Hiking Annapurna Sanctuary, Nepal

You support each others crafty endeavors....

Making wine glasses out of old water bottles, Selcuk, Turkey

You advise each other on unwise hotel choices:

Probably should skip this one.....goofing around in Athens

All kidding aside, I am quite proud of the friendship that we maintained over the past 6 months. Not only have we traveled the world together, but I know that we are now better friends for it.....and I couldn't be more thankful to have shared it all with this girl :)

Bar hopping in Bodrum, Turkey