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Trip Start Apr 03, 2007

Trip End Jun 16, 2007

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Flag of United States Portland, Oregon
Saturday, June 16, 2007

I'm back home, safe and sound (although somewhat jet lagged). Everything coming home went as scheduled. The only near hitch was that the Tube was closed between a couple of stations, so everyone heading to Heathrow had to get off the train and onto a bus for a couple miles, then back on the Tube again to continue to Heathrow. Luckily, I left with plenty of time to spare, but instead of having a full 2 hours to get checked in, I only had 1 hour. Still, made it onto the plane just as they were making the final boarding call. The first flight (to Dulles in Washington, D.C.) wasn't bad at all since it was the middle of the day, and they brought us 2 meals to eat. The tough flight was actually the 2nd one from Dulles to Portland, since it was more cramped, no meals, and it was getting very late by my time. I may have gotten a couple of fitful naps in, but was still very tired when arriving in PDX.

All-in-all, it was quite the trip. I visited seventeen countries on 3 continents, rode on close to 40 trains, a bunch of busses, boats, and one large ship. Out of the book "1000 Places to See" I visited 42 more of the sites, bringing my total up to 97 (almost 10% of the world). So there's still lots more to see, but this trip will certainly be among my most unforgettable. I experienced so much of the art, history, and culture of the places that have the most of them. I had a few near misses (such as the bag theft in Paris), but overall nothing really bad happened and I was able to get around everywhere that I planned to (except for Volterra due to an Italian bus strike) without having to beg, borrow, or steal, without sleeping in any train stations, and without having to visit any embassies in search of a new passport and/or a way back home. I found the vast majority of people that I met in Europe to be very friendly and helpful, and met all kinds of interesting fellow travelers like me. On this trip, I didn't really get culture shock or feel homesick at all (like I did when I stayed in Malaysia for 6 weeks), I think because the culture is really not all that different in Europe (of course, in small ways it is, but overall it's much less difference than with Malaysia or Egypt). Egypt was of course a highlight, both because of the chance to see the only surviving wonder of the world, but mainly to see the different culture and realize that only a relatively small % of the total population of our planet lives like we do. So many still get by on just a few dollars a day.

People have asked me what my favorite country was (out of the 17 I visited this trip). I guess if I had to pick one, I would say Switzerland. Amazing scenery, a very well-educated and multilingual population, high standard of living (free healthcare/education, etc), and a great central location for going to anywhere else in Europe. The only downside is that it's expensive. For best city, I'd have to say Stockholm. It's got beautiful islands, a great old town section, and also a high standard of living and well-educated, multilingual population.

At some point (when I'm sufficiently recovered from jet lag), I'll post another entry with some more answers to questions I get, and my general travel advice for a trip like this one. Until then, thanks for following along, and to all my fellow travelers, may all your journeys be safe ones.

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