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 :)
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| 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!)
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| 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.
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| 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:
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| 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.
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| 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!
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| On our way back from Kuang Si Waterfall, near Luang Prabang, Laos |
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| 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.
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| All smiles here :) Kayaking in Vang Vieng, Laos |
More pictures of our global friendship:
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| Dinner at "Hot Tuna" (no joke).....Hue, Vietnam- with our good friend Megan! |
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| Again at Annapurna Base Camp....because its just that beautiful |
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| Prepping for sunset...Oia, Santorini, Greece |
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| 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 :) |
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| With Brandon at Stonehenge |
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| Dinner in Bodrum, Turkey |
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| Learning how to drive all over again....near Dover, England |
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| Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia |
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| Kibo Camp, Kilimanjaro |
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| 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!
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| 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:
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| Pondering the cigarette advert. in Selcuk, Turkey |
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| 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!)
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| Maybe too much Chang? First night on Kho San Road, Bangkok, Thailand |
Being together all day, every day, means no secrets:
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| You learn about each other's basic needs....nuff said. |
You keep each other's beers full......
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| 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!
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| She wants my head on a platter!!!! Museum in Edinburgh, Scotland |
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| Its all about perspective....same museum |
You support each others poor appearance decisions:
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| Trying to be culturally appropriate at the Golden Palace in Bangkok, Thailand (and no, those are NOT my clothes) |
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| What? You don't like this hat??? Edinburgh, Scotland.....trying to summon Nessie |
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| Looking stupid in an effort to be warm at Tadapani Camp, Annapurna hike, Nepal |
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| No, Katy hasn't changed that much-playing "Black Face" in the Karen hilltribe village of Thailand (near Chiang Mai) |
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| Our sexy footwear......waiting for anyone (literally, to pick us up and take us to our hostel) in Pak Chong, Thailand |
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| Hey, she might look like an idiot but she's warm! Kili :) |
You share each others excitement in the little things.......
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| Toilet paper and soap, oh my!!!! |
And the big things.......
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| Leaving the mountain....Day 7 of Kilimanjaro |
You trust each other......
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| Don't let go!!! Annapurna Base Camp, Nepal |
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| "No, I definitely won't push you out of the safari Jeep" |
You help each other out if one is lost.......
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| Hiking Annapurna Sanctuary, Nepal |
You support each others crafty endeavors....
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| Making wine glasses out of old water bottles, Selcuk, Turkey |
You advise each other on unwise hotel choices:
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| 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 :)
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| Bar hopping in Bodrum, Turkey |
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