Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it – Roald Dahl

 

I just wanted to sum up some ideas – some fun, some serious –  that I have had while on this magic carpet ride. My thanks and acknowledgement goes to all who supported me  – including those who have read this blog – and helped me out in different ways which made my ride all the more interesting and fun.

 

TRIP TOTALS

121 days

17 weeks

17 countries

46 cities/towns

32 flights

2 long train rides

12 ferry rides

2 glacier all-terrain vehicle rides

1 amphibious vehicle ride

1 cable-car ride

1 speedboat ride

1 dinghy ride

1 pirate ship ride

1 ferris wheel ride

11 taxi rides

10 tuktuk rides

lots of airport shuttle rides

numerous metro train rides

numerous bus rides

hundreds of kilometres walking

1 donkey ride

1 hitch-hike ride

lots of climbing of tall things or high places, on purpose

2 lots of antibiotics

2 massages

2 boxes of souvenirs and/or winter clothes posted home

9 types of accommodation

100 videos

9000+ photos

$6500 AUD for travel insurance and ALL flights

$15000 AUD for ALL food, beverages/water, accommodation, tours, souvenirs, alcohol, socialising, extras (such as massages and entry to various exhibits), gifts, transport other than flights, donations, medication, suitcase storage, national parks entry, Cambodian visa, local payment etc

0 lost/stolen items

100% excitement, fun, adventure, magic

 

TRAVEL THOUGHTS

1. Most people will try speak English no matter what nationality you are, which is comforting. This goes for all travelling. Or they will practice their English on you so be prepared for impromptu lessons on pronunciation late at night or at sudden odd times, and explaining why you change your sounding of, for example, ‘ough’ when it is different between ‘thought’ and ‘through’ and ‘thorough’ and ‘enough’. Be happy that you learned it as a native speaker. No matter how bad your own English is, in their eyes you are already at expert level.
2. National quirks. In an international situation most people become representatives of their country whether they like it or not and are often reluctant ‘expert’ spokespeople on their own country’s quirks. Therefore, before leaving, read up on your country (I was asked all these questions about Australia while travelling): the geography (including the dimensions in metres and cultural significance of Uluru and why it’s called Uluru instead of Ayer’s Rock), population diversity and age percentage, mean annual income, social behaviour, spending habits, likes and dislikes, tourist attractions, weather trends including annual precipitation and temperature variations +/- the effect of El Niño/La Niña on crop production/lamb/beef/pig/chicken production, flora and fauna, public holidays and their meanings, political elections/issues/scandals and what each party represents along with specific important ministers and the like, major corporations and their overt and covert agendas,  currency exchange rate, language norms and jargon/accents, stance on indigenous issues, schooling system, cultural and socio-political history, etc or you will let us down. You cannot google this stuff mid-conversation – that’s just pathetic. But, you can have fun with this stuff. I once commented to a girl that instead of looking like a backpacker like me, she looked great. What I said was, ‘You look like a girl whereas I look and feel like a dag’. Immediately I had to explain what a dag was. I said, ‘well, literally it means a piece of poo attached to the anus of a sheep’, or words to that effect. (This brought snickers.) ‘But figuratively, it means that I feel like a scruffy backpacker in dirty worn clothes compared to her’. The guy said, ‘oh, a bogan?’ And I said, ‘well, yes’ wondering how he as an American knew that Aussie slang word. He just shook his head and said with a smile, ‘You Aussies and your slang’. Another national quirk I told him about, which he now wants to try, is drinking coffee through a Tim Tam.
3. You tend to meet so many more people when travelling alone!!!!!!!!!! This is apart from the fact that I will chat to anybody and do not find it difficult to strike up a conversation. I find that when you travel with other people, you tend to stick to them. With this established, it is not difficult then to find people that you click with. I have met a few people (you know who you are) on this trip that I have felt an immediate connection with, which makes the whole thing that much sweeter.
4. I have been mistaken for people from U.S., England, Iceland, Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland (both Swiss French and Swiss German), Russia, even Greece! In Athens people started to speak to me in Greek expecting me to answer. I thought I stood out as not being Greek being a blonde-haired blue-eyed white-skinned person but I was wrong in my assumption.

 

FAVES

Since returning home many have asked me about my faves, so here they are.

Favouritest place to visit: Iceland

Most breath-taking:  for beauty > Bolivia and Santorini, Greece; for pinch-myself-moment > Macchu Picchu in Peru

Places I could live: Santiago, Chile;  Reykjavik, Iceland; Paris, France; London, U.K.

Most picturesque: Malta; Cinque Terre, Italy; Geneva and Zurich, Switzerland; Mallorca; Paris, France; Vienna, Austria

Unique experience: floating silently past icebergs in a glacial lagoon, Iceland; staying on a yacht in Mallorca; standing in a clifftop monastery in Meteora, Greece; sitting on the salt lake of Uyuni, Bolivia; walking around inside a former royal palace on a private tour, Vienna, Austria; singing in an ice cave in Iceland

Sweetest people: Cambodia, Thailand, Malta

Most scary ride: Santorini, Greece – bus, cable-car, donkey

Worst plane flight: leaving Australia to fly to Santiago, Chile getting zero sleep and vomiting most of the flight; bumpiest approach and landing at Cusco, Peru

Most peaceful sight: Angkor Wat temple complex, Cambodia

Most anticipated sights: Macchu Picchu, Peru; the Acropolis in Athens, Greece;  Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia; Niagara Falls, Canada; the lights of Brisbane as I landed.

Most wanted box ticked: United Nations building in Geneva, Switzerland; Book of Kells and the Trinity Long Room Library, Trinity College , Dublin, Ireland; Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia; the Northern Lights, Iceland.

Most surprising sight: Millennium Bridge, London, U.K.; Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy; Carnuntum, Austria; Delphi, Greece

Best relax: Thailand; Austria; Mallorca; Dublin, Ireland; Toronto, Canada

Most alcohol drunk: Chile (Pisco Sours with Marcia); Austria (Sturm and schnapps)

 

THINGS I HAVE LEARNED ABOUT ME

I am intrepid, strong, adaptable, capable, and have a lot more self-confidence. I trust my intuition implicitly. I can speak French and Spanish better than I thought, though still not as fluent as I would like. I love cold places but I need to buy appropriate clothing to stay there. I can sleep anywhere and on any type of bed or public transport, even planes now. I am no longer afraid of flying. I am no longer afraid of heights. I need my rest. I can talk to anyone. I like and need my alone time. I only missed home a little bit (having technology helped). I found it easy to fit into any place I stayed.  I am in a constant state of homesickness for travel. I am so grateful that I did this for me.

THINGS I HAVE LEARNED ABOUT OTHERS

Everybody dies, but not everybody lives.

 

My spin around the world has ended.

I cannot believe I did it.

I cannot believe it is over.

I cannot wait until the next trip. Would you care to join me?