Notes at the End

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Trip Start Aug 17, 2008 Previous
Entry Trip End Jun 17, 2009

  Basel, Basel, Switzerland
Sunday, July 12, 2009

Dear friends, thank you all for the support you've offered us throughout this trip. We don't know what we would have done without your support, even if only moral at times. Getting your encouragements, news and gossips from back home(s) were a tremendous help for the weary travelers. So thank you all!

We wanted to summarize a few final thoughts for you, especially for those of you who are considering your own adventures in the wide world.  But first, some numbers:  during this trip we’ve:

-          visited 11 countries

-          traveled 52,000 miles (FYI Earth’s circumference is 25k miles) of which we flew 38,200 miles (16 flights), drove 13,400 miles (2 vans, 1 car, 1 jeep, 2 scooters – using up 1560 liters/404 gallons of gasoline; sorry Mother Earth!), sailed 614 miles/550 nautical miles (6 ferries, 3 kayaks, 1 canoe), hiked over 156 miles in national parks

-          slept in 62 hotels, motels, campgrounds, friends’ houses, resorts, campers, etc.

-          bought 26 music albums of local music

-          bought 31 pieces of jewelry for L

-          tried 100+ types of new drinks (not counting the non-alcoholic ones ;-)

-          recorded 380 GB of videos (2/3 in hi def)

-          took 35 GB/17,700 photos.

Our own private Guinness book:

* Food:

   - Best: Singapore

  - Worst: Australia (esp. in the Outback)

* Best looking:

  - Men: NZ Maoris

  - Women: Tahiti Polynesians

* Best native art: NZ

* Most interesting indigenous culture: NZ

* Most ubiquitous tourists: the Germans

* Most annoying tourists: the French

OK, we got this question from several of you, so here it is: we’ve spent ~$400/day on this trip (TOTAL budget, including preparations and plane tickets) but it could have been a lot worse has it not been for the financial crisis (that inflated the US dollar big time! Thank you, Mr. Greenspan!).  Either way, we do think it was well worth it given how many things we’ve learned during these last few months.

What did we learn? For starters, that happiness does not seem to correlate very well with the financial well-being.  Some of the happiest people we’ve seen were in Fiji albeit the poverty there seemed to set new standards for our concept of "poverty."

Another interesting observation was that we DO live in an amazingly globalized world.  We found wireless Internet (almost) everywhere (OK, less so in Tahiti, but they’ve probably started from the assumption that you don’t need virtual worlds in Paradise). And while we expected to find the omnipresent American pop culture and the American fast food chains literally everywhere (with the particular surprise that they seemed to be ubiquitous in the vocally anti-American Qatar), we didn’t expect to hear an icon of local culture like Garrison Keillor on the Australian Public Radio or, surprisingly given how many foreign apples you find in the American stores, American apples in stores as far as New Zealand.

Even more surprisingly though was to find the presence of a seemingly much smaller country like Romania.  Hard to believe but we listened to Romanian music at a café on Easter Island ("Dragostea din tei" that launched the Numa Numa internet phenomenon) and seen Romanian-made Dacia Logan cars as far as Tahiti or Argentina.  However, more relevant to you, potential travelers, was the fact that the debit card worked EVERYWHERE (OK, the same exception as above: a couple of ATMs in Tahiti).  Without hesitation, we DO recommend HSBC Bank’s Premier program.  You can withdraw money from any ATM in this world and incur no ATM withdrawal or currency conversion fees (applies to their credit cards, too). We calculated that we saved at least $600 in fees with them (we can’t stop thinking of guys like Marco Polo who had to travel with all their money in gold coins or tradable merchandise; life is so much easier these days!).

We did have our share of funny moments:

-          the amusement of the gas station attendant in Qatar when we just couldn’t understand how cheap gasoline is there – 20 cents a gallon

-          the staring of the NZ cows when we tried to help a hedgehog)

-          the Viennese student that planted a beer bottle in DaVinci’s hand

Of "so-so" funny moments:

-          Being chased by a crazy bee in Australia

-          Dinner at Juta’s family in Fiji

-          Not being able to do laundry for 3 weeks

-          The bus ride from hell in Rio

-          Or L’s first “contact” with an electric fence in AU

Or “Oh-Oh” moments:

-          Being locked out at our friend, Richard

-          Being stared at by a gang on the Papeete ferry dock

But it was all well worth it, no matter how we look at it.  The biggest regrets of the trip:

For G:

-          not getting a Maori tattoo

-          not flying a powered hang glider

-          and the biggest of them all, Rugby Union being out of season Down Under

For L:

-          not being able to let go earlier in the trip (warning to all of you, travelers: leaving everything behind is so much easier in theory than in practice)

-          not getting to do whitewater rafting in NZ due a bad episode of budgetitis

Finally, we throw below a quick list of the things/items we took with us on this trip (many never used, but we’re sure that we would have needed them if we wouldn’t have taken them with us):

* Electronic Gear

Dell XPS1300 + charger.  DVD drive not really necessary. Get something smaller, like a good netbook and bring along a large portable HDD instead (preferably USB-powered)

Headphones with microphone (2)

Blank DVDs for data backup – not really necessary. Again, better, get a portable hard drive.

CD Shades

mp3 players with USB sync/charging cable (2)

Unlocked Nokia GSM cellular phone with USB charging cable

Mobal GSM card – international phone number that works everywhere

Casio Exilim camera (2) + batteries (4) + charger + SD cards (4)

Portable USB adapter for SD cards

Underwater camera case (~$60 but worked great for snorkeling)

Camcorder + charger + tapes (2)

Small tripod

Universal power adapters set

Retractable Ethernet cable

* Packing gear/Containers

Eagle Creek backpacks (Grand Voyage 90L and Maiden Voyage 60L)

Expandable daypacks (2) attachable to the bigger backpack

L

Eagle Creek 12" Pack-it cube

Toiletry kit

12" zippered pouch

Waist security wallet

G

Padded removable computer sleeve

Eagle Creek 12" Pack-it cubes (2)

Zippered pouches (3)

Waist security wallet

* Toiletries

Nail clipper and file

Tweezers

High SPF sunscreen

2 Chapsticks with SPF

High DEET insect repellent (Off Active and Off Deep Woods)

Q-tips in a plastic container

Epilator

Hand wipes

Brushless shave cream in tube

* Clothing

* L:

1 pair hiking/town shoes

1 pair hiking boots – Keen Targhee Mid 2 – excellent hiking shoes in any climate

1 pair Eddie Bauer flip-flops – not cheap at ~$30 each but they were amazingly resilient and are still in good shape after being used 24/7 in all warmer climates

1 pair sandals – stay away from Teva; the ~$100 pieces of junk fell apart after only 1 month

4 short sleeve t-shirts

2 long sleeve t-shirts/pajama blouse

5 pairs socks

10 pairs of cotton underwear

2 jogbras

2 tank top

1 pajama pants

2 pairs capri pants

2 pairs convertible long/short pants

1 beach dress

1 Buff seamless headwear

1 hoodie

1 nylon rain jacket/windbreaker

2 bathing suits – we’ve been in many tropical places ;-)

1 large cotton sarong

1 wide brim hat

* G:

1 pair Eddie Bauer flip-flops – same story as above

1 Pair of Eddie Bauer sandals

1 pair Rockport Nubuck (brown)

1 pair hiking boots – Keen Men's Targhee Mid 2

8 Cotton (2 black, 2 gray, 2 white, 1 orange, 1 blue) T-shirts

1 polo shirt

1 Pair North Face pants

2 Pairs of Eddie Bauer convertible pants/shorts

6 pairs socks

7 Pairs of cotton boxer briefs

1 turtleneck

1 Eddie Bauer rain jacket/windbreaker

1 pajama pants

1 cotton wrinkled shirt

1 pair jeans

2 Eagle Creek nylon web belt (w/ hidden pocket) – very comfy and practical

1 Swimsuit

1 Zippered hoodie jacket/sweatshirt

1 Wide brim cotton ranger hat

1 Eddie Bauer quartz watch – "waterproof" kind of; water seeped in after less than a 2 months. Had to buy another one. Keep in mind: it has to look cheap though so that it doesn’t attract unwanted attention

Other items we brought along:

sleeping bag liner (2) – never really used; didn’t rough it up so badly

Bath-sized pack towel (2)

Ditty bags (2)

Eye masks

Multitool

Nylon wallet

Leather wallet

Shaving tools

2 toothbrushes

toothpaste

Laundry kit (universal sink plug, nylon clothes line, hand wash detergent)

2 Sanitizers

Earplugs

2 Ballpoint pens

Small scissors

Door wedge (backup security system)

Business cards preprinted with our website and email address

4 backpack locks

Large and small Ziplock bags

2 Small carabiners

5' length of duct tape wrapped around a marker

Deck of playing cards

Compact blank notebook/journal

Compact flashlight

Light binoculars

Sewing kit

Compass

Lighter

2 candles

measuring tape

spare glasses

Small eyeglasses screwdriver and extra screws

Compeed medium-sized hydrocolloid bandages

Small and medium sized safety pins + rubber bands

Potable Aqua water purification tablets

Small plastic zip-ties

Spare headphones

Sporks

Hair brush

Superglue

Tide to Go

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