WanderingWhy…

While we have been home for nine months now, I feel at times we are still adjusting.  We are both back to all those activities we enjoy, like Jiu Jitsu and yoga (guess which wanderer likes each of those),and have returned to a life we lived before the trip.

But sometimes, all it takes is a little glimpse of a photo from the Galapagos, a charm from India, or a scarf from Egypt to take you back in time.

And even more mundane than that, is my moisturizer.

Today I had a travel moment that took me back to the Middle East.  You see, my Oil of Olay was bought in Dubai.  And the package is written in Arabic.  And today I ran out.

This is a simple purchase while I am in the grocery store.  In the Middle East, it took me a few trips to find something I recognized as moisturizer.  And when I saw that shiny Oil of Olay label, I knew I found a familiar friend.

And now its empty.

Why did this strike me so much?  I think it was an everyday reminder that I went, I did that trip.  I was there.  A reminder as I get ready for work, ready to go out, ready to live my life as it is now, so different than it was.

So with a sigh, I picked up a new bottle of Oil of Olay at the grocery store today.

And promptly emptied it into my Arabic bottle.

Bookmark To:

We have been home for a little over six months now.  We are both back to work, back to a regular exercise routine, back to visiting friends.  We have gotten our medical check-ups, dermatologist check-ups, and are fully insured once again.  We go to the grocery store, mall, and out to eat just like before.

But things are really not the same.

I find that I have a harder time talking on the phone, after being away from it for so long.  Before we left, this was a favorite past-time.  I have trouble engaging in every day conversations, as I feel like I am not connecting with what has been going on with movies and music and celebrities.

I am feeling the tug of my backpack, but also feeling the tug of life at home.  We re-tiled our bathroom floors.  We are putting in new kitchen cabinets.  My dog Hachi looks at me from his perch at my feet.  We are settled back into this life, but I can’t help but long for the life I left.

I was free to go where I wanted, when I wanted.  I ate new foods.  I met new people.  I had the opportunity of a lifetime to experience different cultures, practice new languages, and just wander this earth in general with experience after experience, good or bad.

I feel depressed at times, because no one really understands, and I cannot explain the experiences in a soundbite.  At the same time, I chide myself for feeling like this, as I had an experience that not many people get in their lifetime.

I was lucky.  Very very lucky.

Would I do it again?  Would I leave my house, friends, and family, and hit the road again to see the world?

Tomorrow.  I would leave tomorrow.

But I wish I could share the experiences better.  Explain to you what it smells like to walk down any street in Asia, with the street cart vendors cooking noodle dishes.  Have you feel the stares of locals on you as you sit in a train station, not sure what to make of your light skin or tall husband.  Taste the chai of a store owner as you discuss the weather while you bargain for their wares.  Experience the hospitality of total strangers, when you are a stranger in their land.  Wake up on foreign soil with nothing ahead of you but what that country has to offer, and all the time you want to experience it.

I wish I could do that in this blog.  I wish I could do it over the phone!  But I sit here lost for words, while the trip swims in and out of my vision constantly.

I may no longer wander, but I am still Wandering Dawn at heart.

Bookmark To:

I have never owned a dog.  When I was young, my mom was totally against it.  I think she thought she would end up feeding it and walking it, and she was probably right.  WS always had a dog growing up, and it was part of our plan when we returned home-become  dog owners.

We do have a cat named Pewter.  Pewter was against the idea of a dog from the beginning.

But to Pewter’s credit, he is adapting to this bouncy hyper new little member of our home.

The name Hachi came from a Japanese dog named Hachi-ko.  The “ko” is a term of respect, and as our little Hachi gets older and wiser, he will get the “ko”, too.

The Japanese story of Hachiko goes something like this: a professor owned an Akita named Hachi.  Every day he and Hachi would walk to the train station, and every evening Hachi would meet the professor after work at the station.  One day, the professor went to work as usual, but died of a stroke while at work.  Hachi went to meet the professor, but he never arrived.  Hachi got a new owner, but he continued to escape to meet the professor.  Commuters started to recognize the dog waiting, and would bring him treats and water to sustain him during his wait.  His story somehow made it into the papers, and Hachiko became a touching Japanese story to demonstrate family loyalty.  A statue was erected for Hachiko in 1934, and he was there for the unveiling.

During wartime, the statue was melted for war efforts.  Hachiko died in 1935.  The sculptor died.  But the story of family loyalty was not forgotten.  Years after the war in 1948, the original sculptor’s son was commissioned to redo Hachiko’s statue.  Iit still stands today outside Shibuya station in Tokyo.

Our friends in Bangkok told us about the story of Hachiko before we went back to Japan, and we were lucky enough to go see the statue dedicated to this loyal dog.

We wanted to give our new addition a name that meant something to us from our trip.  The story of Hachiko seemed to resonate with us, and when we met our little guy, the name stuck.

Little Hachi is grounding us back into this life, but allowing us to remember every time we call his name, of the trip that changed our lives. This little dog is changing our lives as well.

Same same, but different.

Bookmark To:

After arriving back to the states, we did a fare bit of visiting.  We went to NY for a week, we went to Arizona for two weeks.  Okay, a little more for me at three weeks.  Then we returned home:  Home Home.

WS beat me home, and tried to convey the weirdness.  A week later, I experienced it for myself.  Everything I needed to make a meal was right in my kitchen.  My tap provided potable water.  If what I needed was not in my kitchen, I got in the car and got it.  I had a closet full of clothes, and when they were dirty , I washed them in my washing machine.   I called friends on my cell phone, and visited friends for the first time in a long time.  I met babies that were not born when I left, and kids who no longer remember me.

Then I started to process my surroundings more.  I realized just how many clothes I had.  And stuff.  Stuff everyhwere.  After living out of a backpack for 18 months, the amount of stuff in our home was overwhelming.  We began to purge like mad.  Donations made, items distributed, trash recycled.  Check. Check. Check.  The stuff had to go, for us to start fresh again.  A simplier house made us relax more, and feel more in tune from where we were before to where we are now.

So now what?  At the time, the travel bug has calmed.  I don’t think it is gone by any means, in fact, I almost feel like a trip like this makes it worse.  I saw 26 countries, but there are so many places I have not seen.  Facebook says I saw 11% of the world.  Didn’t I see more?!  Well then, I gotta fix that!  I am missing a continent!  I am missing one of the Wonders of the World!  China!  Russia!  Eastern Europe!  Ahhh!!!

But for now, we are going to go local.  Next week we are flying back to New York for WS’s sister’s wedding.  Then we are going on a road trip.  Not long, nothing special, but a bit of a last hurrah before we begin looking for jobs and really settle in from this wandering adventure.

We’ll see how long that lasts.

Check out our photos from the trip here so you do not have to sit through our slide show.

Bookmark To:

With our journey now at an end, I think it’s extremely important to thank everyone that helped make this longtime dream become a lifelong memory.

First, I have to give the biggest thanks to my Mom.  Mom was kind enough to uproot her life in NY to move into our townhome in Florida, keep tabs on our finances, run down problems for us, and feed the cat (maybe a bit to much–he is FAT!) while we were away.  Thank you mom.  I love you.

I’d like to also thank:

My Dad for the gift of an Amazon Kindle which lightened my backpack tremendously.  Although the guidebook companies are still not on board with Kindle versions of their books, there was still plenty to load up and read away the downtime.  This is a great backpacker gadget (and yes, it’s more expensive crap to carry and worry about).  The only problem with it was fighting with WD over who got to read it next.  Thanks Dad.

My buddy Matt Shannon for hosting the now internet famous WanderingWhy.com website and his lightning fast response in troubleshooting the site while we were out there and barely connected at times (no comments from the peanut gallery about the photos being broken).  You are a true friend and a scary good IT guru.  See Matt’s website for all your computer security needs.

My doctor friend who will remain anonymous to avoid violating HIPPA <grin>.  Your prompt advice during some of the lowest times was a tremendous help and highly appreciated.  Thank you for the generosity of your expertise and your friendship.

My Jiu Jitsu friends Sonny and Chris for all their advice on Ecuador, and for introducing us to Sonny’s long lost brother, Juan, who showed us a great time in Buenos Aires.  Sonny, ever heard of Skype? Call your brother you bum.

My Jiu Jitsu instructor Eduardo not only for steering me to train at Gordo’s academy in Brazil for a new experience in my training, but for sharing and teaching me an art that opened up many new friendships in the different countries we visited.

And again, my Grandfather for all his travel stories and inspiration.

If I missed anyone, I apologize.  It’s tough to remember all the great friends who have helped us out over the course of this long journey.  Please don’t feel slighted as we do appreciate everything everyone has done no matter how small.

Bookmark To:

Countries Visited :26

Continents:6

Preapproval visas needed: 3 (Brazil, Vietnam, India)

Pages added to passport: once in Australia

Months gone: 18

Number of days wandering: 548

Plane trips:39 WS, 45 WD

Bus: I seriously could not tell you

Overnight Bus: 10

Cars and Campers Rented: 3

Subway systems learned: 12  (most intricate was Tokyo)

Languages WD can say “thank you” in: 10

Languages WS can say “thank you” in: 1

Visits to the doctor: 1

Emails to the doctor : many many many

Number of Cipro taken: 45

Packages received: 3

Of those packages, one damaged, one lost.

Packages sent home : 9

Of those packages, one damaged, none lost.

SIM cards used: 7

Most website hits in one day: 5000

Least website hits in one day : 0

MIA items: 10:

water bottle filter

tank top

socks

4 pair underware (only WD’s!)

cable lock

WS’s stinky hiking sandals

WD’s Haviana sandals

Photos taken: 30,000+ (want to come for the slideshow?)

Number of Days over budget: 103

Number of Days under budget: 177

Most expensive room: Paris

Least expensive room: Cambodia

Cost of cheapest postcard stamp: .70

Cost of most expensive postcard stamp: $3

Cost of traveling around the world with your spouse without killing each other: PRICELESS

HAPPY SIXTH ANNIVERSARY WS !!   Where to next?

Bookmark To:

When I was little I thought a summer trip to Florida to visit my grandparents was an amazing adventure.  It was at the time, and I’m thankful for all those memories now that I am older.  Sitting here thinking a bit about the last 18 months of adventure, I was pondering when I caught the travel bug that started it all.

I think my love of travel was unknowingly planted and nurtured by my Grandfather.  A child of the Depression, I’m sure he never imagined he would get to see the world beyond the United States.  Applying for the U.S. Marines as a young man and the United States later joining in a little thing called WWII changed that.  Not the most ideal of conditions to travel, but my Grandfather is the eternal optimist.

A charismatic storyteller, he has shared countless hours of interesting tidbits and observations of his travels .  No, the stories are not always different but each time they were told they were somehow new and interesting. I cherished those tales then and still do now.

He spent years fighting against the Japanese in the jungles of the South Pacific Islands (should I tell him Japan was one of my favorite countries?)  And yes, he has seen and told of horrible suffering, starvation, death, and loss.  But his stories are more apt to be about the positive or funnier side of things: A pet wallaby in a sick bay camp in Australia, a bier-meister in Samoa who preferred their canned beer to his own local brew and loved to trade,  falling asleep on a beach in Guadalcanal only to wake up and learn he had slept through a shelling, or accidentally blowing up the outhouse in camp.

I’ve sat and listened to first hand accounts of tales of tribesman from the Pacific Islands, land and sea battles of Guadalcanal, and the sheer beauty and tranquility of the Samoan Islands.  For anyone that has traveled to Papua New Guinea and find it isolated and exotic, one can only imagine what it was like 65 years ago.

While these may have been the most difficult years of my Grandfather’s life, I’ve little doubt they were also the best.  Living simply out of a bag and seeing the world for a time can give you experiences and memories worth more than any amount of money.  Gramps is now 88 years old and still talks fondly of these years all the time.

Thankfully, I was able to travel with my Grandfather back to the locations of some of these stories a few years ago.   To finally see these places after a lifetime of stories about them was indescribable. I know how much fun it is to show someone a place you love and I think we both created some new memories traveling to these places together. Pictures from the trip can be found here and here if you are interested.

I now realize that like most people I’ve lived my life with the expectation that I will grow old.  The truth is, there is no guarantee of longevity for any of us.  If I’m as fortunate as my Grandfather, I’ll get to grow old and look back on a life that was well lived.  But if not, I still want to look back on a life well lived and I’m glad my time away has taught me this.

Now in his twilight years, I don’t know if my Grandfather truly understands what we have been up to the last 500 or so days–but I still want to thank him for sharing his adventures so that I could find the courage to go out and create my own.  It is a gift I will always cherish.

Bookmark To:

Without much pomp or circumstance, the eagle has landed.  That’s right, we are back in the United States.  We landed in New York on a cold spring night, complete with snow flakes, and headed to WS’s dad’s home on Long Island.

The return home has been very interesting thus far.  We are not truly home home yet, which makes a big difference.  We are still technically wandering, visiting relatives and traveling around the States a bit.  So I can’t completely say what it is like to be home.  I am sure things will be much different when I hit my own bed and enjoy my house for the first time in 18 months.  Until then, we are decompressing and readjusting to life in the States.

I have to say our re-entry has been a bit overwhelming.  The first day back we went to Wal-Mart and there was a point when WS and I were ready to run out the door.  It was loud–really loud.  In a foreign country, all the talking is mostly white noise because you do not understand.  At home, you understand that the lady on the cell phone is mad her car is not ready and the guy yelling at his kids is doing just that–yelling.  And, you understand all of it.  It was crowded, and all that coupled with the sensory overload of all the choices were enough to make us ready to hop on a plane back to anywhere. Do they make a cultural decompression chamber?

An American size coffee is at least 3 times that of anywhere else.  I had a cup of coffee and a NY bagel our first full day back with flavored creamer (my favorite) and promptly had a stomach revolt.  My body was crying for a teeny tiny cup and a little breakfast, and instead I overloaded on the caffeine and carbs…  Gotta get used to the Vente again.  Same goes for our first meal out in the States, most of it went home in a doggie bag because the portions are huge!

We now have access to a reliable and consistent internet connection, my cell phone is up and running, and the job search is about to commence after we return home.  While all of this is very exciting (well, maybe not the job part) there is still a sense of disappointment I feel with the return home.  There is the let down that what I have done the last 18 months, I no longer do.  I am no longer Wandering Dawn.

I feel it’s expected I summarize these last 18 months into a sound bite.  I don’t expect anyone to care how I had to wait 6 hours for a train in India and all the weird things I saw in that time, but I don’t have much else to talk about either.  I don’t know what movies are out, what songs are popular, or what the latest fashions are.  I don’t know what is going on in my neighborhood or at my old jobs.  All I know is the last 18 months were an experience of a lifetime that I do not know if I will ever be able to describe well.

So as I decompress, I have to say right now I feel like I have the bends.  Bear with us as we re-acclimate to the good ol’ US of A, and reintroduce ourselves to all those things that we love about this country.  We are lucky, truly lucky to live where we do and call ourselves American, we just need some time to get into the groove again.

Can someone please hand me my “People” magazine and a latte!?  I gotta wash down this bagel.

Photos are here, the photo page is still not playing nicely with our blog.

Bookmark To:

Yup… we’ve been slacking on the posts lately–big time.  I think the last 18 months are starting to catch up with us.  We are constantly tired no matter how much sleep we get.  Still, it’s tough to face going home eventually.

We haven’t written much because we’ve been bouncing around Europe.  Travel is very easy here and more like vacation than travel.  Don”t get me wrong, we’ve been having a blast but I don’t think our readers enjoy hearing that as much as the funny, crazier, things that happen outside of the Western countries.

“WD ate lots of pain au chocolat in France.  WS stuffed his gut with bangers and mash in England and washed it down with several pints.  We both wandered the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa.”  See what I mean? snooore…

So this post is more of a thank you to all our European friends (which may still be boring unless you are one of them).  If you look back at our FAQ you’ll see we had no intention of traveling Europe due to cost.  But, the many new friends we have made along the way made it a possiblity so we scratched the loose plans for an African safari for some much needed sweet European travel.

I’m amazed at the trust and hospitality we’ve encountered in our travels.  I’ve had people I’ve known for only minutes hand me their Ipod for a day or lend me local currency with complete trust.  In the case of these friendships, they later evolved into entrusting us alone in their homes and even lending us their car.

A big thanks to our friend Gerald in Spain.  Starting out I would have never thought we would make a new Austrian friend in Ecuador, travel to Peru together, meet up again in Japan, then visit him at his home in Barcelona.  Crazy huh?  Maybe the world really is shrinking.

Thank you to our Costa Rica kiteboarding UK pals Alex and Catherine for a wonderful time and for educating us in traditional English food and pub culture.  We never thought we’d see Stonehenge, Bath, or the British Museum let alone with some great friends.

And last but of course not least, a big thank you to Pete and Anna.  You’ve helped slim down our horrible geography knowledge to include the beautiful city of Cambridge (maybe my favorite place in all of England) and the picturesque village of Stanford.  We never could have predicted a visit to Sweden too… just wonderful.  Seeing you again was like meeting old long-time friends.  We hope the jobs work out and you find a happy balance between the UK and Sweden.  Next time we see you we hope to be less “daft” and speak more “proper” English–you muppets!

I realize as Americans how fearful we are of things that have never even happened to us.  How many readers out there have had their material things stolen or their homes robbed?  Sure it happens, but it’s the exception not the norm.  Constantly looking at life through lenses like this only robs us of potential kindness and new friendships.  I think somewhere along the line we’ve slipped from awareness to paranoia.

I hope one day we get to a chance to reciprocate some of the kindness and hospitality we have received these last 18 months–I’d be embarassed not to.  I don’t care if the chance happens this year or in 20 years our door is never closed and the weather is always nice.  Thanks again friends.

Bookmark To:

You may have noticed our last two posts are now missing. Maybe not. We had the clue of where we were going, then the answer. But the server blew up, taking with it our next two posts as well. They recovered our clue and answer, but they no longer made sense, as people guessed where we were, I corrected our answer because it was off a bit, blah blah blah. Long story short, it did not make sense anymore, so we flushed them.

In the mean time, we will give you some links to check out, as we are too lazy to rewrite our entries right now. Maybe not lazy….we are in Paris for crying out loud! The city is calling.

Check out this interview we did for our friend Nomadic Matt’s website. It explains how we have not killed each other yet on the road.

Click here for photos of London (not many).

Click here for photos of Barcelona.

Click here for photos of Paris.

Click here to get Sean to fix our photo page.

Bookmark To: