That’s it, it’s the end of our year of travel. Nothing happened as planned… But that was planned!
A short review of a year of travel around the world.
When nothing goes as planned
We imagined ourselves, at the heart of this sabbatical year, traveling across America, starting with South America, then Central and North (hence the name of our project “Back to America”). And in the end, that’s what we did… But not in the way we imagined. We know we can’t keep a plan. This is also why we avoid making them as much as possible!
After 5 months in America, we flew to Europe to attend the Travel Blogger Fair. Secretly, we had decided to shorten our sabbatical year so as not to spend all our capital to start again better for our next project… But finally, different opportunities presented themselves to us (sailing in Croatia, flying to a distant island) … And we couldn’t refuse them!
Not a world tour!
Our journey around the world has nothing to do with a world tour. Already we think we can’t go around it, around our big planet (or in any case not in such a short time, we are far too slow for that!) and then our route is not a linear tour tidy.
Round trips, unforeseen events, and changes of direction: this is what our year of travel has been made of!
Here is the somewhat messy itinerary of the mother daughter trips around the world (click on the country name to discover the cities and regions we visited):
Myths and demystifications
A trip is an opportunity to confront one’s preconceived ideas, verify certain legends, and demystify some.
The whale sharks
Like the unicorn, the whale shark does not exist. It is obvious now. Everywhere we went, we were told about this big fish. We were told that he had been seen some time ago or, on the contrary, that it was not the right season and that we were just missing him. We were told beautiful stories, showed breathtaking images. Me who dreamed of swimming with a whale shark… But that’s it, it’s decided: the whale shark does not exist… until proven otherwise!
A bug-free room
A room without insects, that also does not exist. The most common roommates will be the ants who, indifferent to our ephemeral passage, continue their comings and goings relentlessly, looking for a crumb to bring back to their city.
Good ants, if they don’t come to share my bed, I manage. But next to them, mosquitoes are much less accommodating (especially when traveling with someone allergic to insect bites) and spiders don’t like to be dislodged (especially when I’m assisted by an arachnophobe who runs faster than his shadow!). As for the cockroaches, even if their Spanish name sounds nice, sorry, no: I don’t like having them near me!
Tuk-tuk
In Asia, one of the main problems of the traveler, compared to Latin America, is the language. Difficult to learn for a novice, and especially difficult to learn them all. Because where Spanish is enough to travel on almost 3 continents, each country in Asia requires starting from scratch.
But, because there is a bit, we have discovered a word that is found in (almost) all these countries. A very important word, identical for all these countries:
“Hello” is said… “tuk-tuk”.
If so, really think about it: how many times are we not approached by a friendly “Tuk-tuk sir!”? What should be politely answered: “Good tuk-tuk to you too!
Fun facts and bulk memories
These transports
A one-year trip around the world is an opportunity to take many forms of transport. In bulk, in a messy and anachronistic list, it gives this:
seaplane, horse, sea kayak, lake kayak, river kayak (in short, a lot of kayaking!), plane, rafting, surfing, quad, 4X4, car, bicycle, ferry, speedboat, catamaran, bus, train, train steam, tram, metro, van, tuk-tuk, Segway, paraglider, sailboat, zodiac, personal submarine, canoe…
These strong moments
Intense emotions and crushes, here are my 10 strongest memories of this year of travel around the world:
- paragliding along the cliffs (Peru)
- chat by the fire, hosted by a Peruvian family
- discover Peruvian cuisine in its refined side and Japanese influences (yum!)
- walking on a sea of ice in Chilean Patagonia
- participate in the life of an NGO in Patagonia (Argentina)
- go see a Mayan spiritual guide (Guatemala)
- face the imposing pyramid of Chichen Itza (Mexico)
- abseil in a cenote and dive in a cenote (Mexico)
- being invited by a Chinese community to share their festive meal (Thailand)
- getting surrounded by gluttonous elephants (Thailand)
These people who touched me
For this year, I have been touched by…
- the family reception of Afro Peruvians
- the sweetness of life of the inhabitants of Easter Island
- the endearing emotional modesty of the Patagonians
- the generosity and warmth of Central and North American Latinos
- the benevolence of the women of Sri Lanka
- the laughter and sweetness of the Thais
Those first times
- First seaplane flight
- First night on the ferry
- First birthdays abroad
- First appearance on television
- First travel conference in front of a group of children
- The first presentation to an assembly of tourism professionals
- First cake contest and first tai-chi class on a sailboat
- First immersion on a personal underwater scooter
- First (and last) ingestion of bee larvae
- First time on a Segway
- First marshmallows roasted on a volcano
These Bucket List dreams come true
In one year, we have achieved 7 points of our long Bucket List:
- go to Mexico
- go to Thailand
- go to easter island
- see Mayan temples
- dive into a cave
- walk on a glacier
- To go on a safari
And we’ve repeated some, like “backpacking Latin America” or “going to Peru,” and missed others by very little (like “swimming with a whale shark”!).
It’s finished…
Here. It is the end. The end of an adventure. The end of a chapter. The end of a lifetime within a lifetime…
But life goes on. Blank pages are available to us, ready to welcome new expeditions on our small planet!
So many new adventures are on the horizon…
