In retrospect

Trip Start Sep 07, 2005

124

Trip End Aug 18, 2006

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Flag of United States Denver, Colorado
Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Time sure flys when you are having fun, but since we have been back in the US we have noticed that time can also move at a pretty fast clip when things start to get a bit less exciting. We made arrangements to have one week of downtime after we got back home and before we both started working again, and perhaps not surprisingly this was one of our craziest weeks in the past year. In addition to finalizing our apartement plans in Denver, moving our junk from Colorado Springs to Denver, and trying desperately to get the stench of the road off our bodies before we had to become professionals again, we also found ourselves on the market for a car. The net result of these assorted perigrinations is that within the first few days of our return we had officially re-established our national identity: we had ingested fast food, shopped at Wal-Mart, bought a new car, registered to vote, and adopted the uniquely American pace of life.

In retrospect we both agree that this frenetic pace turned out to be a good thing, even if it was a major shock to the system

home 1

. Yanking ourselves from the idealic life we had been living where well over 50% of the time we had no real clue where we would be the following week and where at least 95% of the time neither of us knew or cared what day it was was bound to feel like a slap in the face, but had our schedules allowed us time to quietly reflect on the extent of the change we were working though it would certainly have been more difficult.

We also compiled a few lists that we thought might be interesting to share. These sorts of things change as quickly as our moods do, but it is at least an effort to document our answers to those most common questions folks tend to ask about our trip.

TOP SMALL TOWNS
1 - Bariloche (San Martin), Argentina
2 - Yangsho, China
3 - Luang Prabang, Laos
4 - Cesky Kremlov, Czech Republic
5 - Cusco, Peru
6 - Antingua, Guatemala
7 - San Malo, France
8 - Takayama, Japan
9 - Goreme, Turkey
10 - Crested Butte, USA

MOST MEMORABLE MEALS
1 - Mango Caf� in Hoi An
2 - Mango sticky rice under the stars
3 - Sausages and crackers on the trail in Torres
4 - Lebanese feast with Naji
5 - IndoChine Restaurant in KL
6 - Mexico City Los Girasoles
7 - gorgonzola gnocchi in Hoi An
8 - Brasilian churrascaria
9 - Sushi with Naji
10 - Traditional Palestinian dessert in Amman

RUNNERS UP
Goat roast in Mongolia
Tajine in Berber tent
Fsh at Flavio's shack in the Amazon
Free champagne will get you sick in Salta meal,
Chicken rice with Josh and Eric in Singapore
Our failed Thanksgiving feast in San Martin
Argentinian steak meal for Christmas in BA
Goa restaurant with cow looking on
Vending machine noodles in Kyoto
Olde Hansa in Tallinn
Sandy koshary from the Pyramids
Cheap chai and coffee on Indian Railways
Fried guinea pig in Arequipa

BEST LODGING DEALS VALUE FOR DOLLAR
1 - San Martin cabana
2 - KL Sheraton
3 - La Paz Blue Star Hotel
4 - Guangzhou Victory Hotel
5 - Chiang Khong Riverside
6 - Hoi An Hostel
7 - Krakow Gardenhouse Hostel
8 - Temujin Ger Camp
9 - Darjeeling Viceroy
10 - Trans-Siberian Express

BEST CITIES (OVER ONE MILLION) (not just this trip)
1 - Hong Kong
2 - Chicago
3 - Rio
4 - Rome
5 - London
6 - New York
7 - Paris
8 - Tokyo
9 - Sydney
10 - La Paz

FAVORITE COUNTRIES
1 - Argentina
2 - Vietnam
3 - Lebanon
4 - Bolovia
5 - Japan
6 - Turkey
7 - Thailand
8 - Jordan
9 - Peru
10 - Egypt

BEST PEOPLE (NATIONALITIES) TO TRAVELERS
1 - Turkey
2 - Uruguay
3 - Italy
4 - Thailand
5 - Japan
6 - Argentina
7 - Denmark
8 - Jordan
9 - Malaysia
10 - Estonia

BEST BEACHES
1 - Goa Palolem
2 - Belize Key Caulker
3 - Costa Rica Osa Penninsula
4 - Hoi An
5 - Zanzibar
6 - Ko Pi Pi
7 - Big Island Hawaii at Kona
8 - Copacabana Rio
9 - Red Sea Sharm el Shiek,
10 - Ft

home 2

. Lauderdale

FAVORITE TRAVEL KIT
1 - Life Drive (for typing this entire blog)
2 - Keen Flip Flops with toe protector
3 - Osprey backpacks
4 - Bluetooth Think Outside Keyboard
5 - Montbell Down Coats
6 - silk sleep sheets
7 - Timbuktu small shoulderbag
8 - MSR water filter
9 - Pentax Optio WP
10 - Salomon tech amphibian sneakers

RUNNERS UP
Sharper Image space bags
Patagonia capilene quickdry travel shirt
Patagonia quick dry underwear
two airline pillows

PLEASANT SURPRISES
1 - seeing four tigers on safari
2 - Jordan and its people
3 - kindness of strangers in Costa Rica, Rio, and Mongolia
4 - Indian rail system
5 - not entirely astromically expensive in Japan as expected
6 - Brasilian embassy in Mexico
7 - Krakow
8 - Munnar
9 - safety in Moscow
10 - United Airlines in Mexico

BEST DECISIONS/TRAVEL TIPS
1 - Meeting up with friends and relatives
2 - Packing light
3 - Moving faster than traditional wisdom would dictate
4 - Sequencing of itinerary given seasons and weather
5 - Making reservations or plans upon arrival in a new country
6 - Visiting Naji in Lebanon
7 - Keeping a travelogue on travelpod
8 - Stopping over in US during trip
9 - Keeping a daily budget
10 - Buying Japan Rail Pass

RUNNERS UP
getting travel insurance
getting skype
googletalk
leveraging airline miles and hotel points
preserving flexibility in itinerary

BEST PANORAMAS/SCENERY
1 - Iguazu Falls
2 - Li River
3 - Torres del Paine
4 - Salyar di Uyuni
5 - El Chalten
6 - Laos karst - drive btwn LPB and Vientiene
7 - Belize Keys
8 - Montenegro coast
9 - Munnar tea estates
10 - Capadoccia

RUNNERS UP
Perito Morino Glacier
Siete Lagos and Circuito Chico Bariloche
Erg Chebbi
Halong Bay
Victoria Harbor
Great Rift Valley
Table Mountain
Sacred Valley of Urubamba
Mendoza
Matterhorn

MOST IMPRESSIVE BUILDINGS
1 - Taj Mahal
2 - Pyramids
3 - Abu Simbel
4 - Casablanca King Husssein II Mosque
5 - Petra
6 - Parthenon
7 - Pantheon
8 - Petronas Towers
9 - Ankor Wat
10 - Corcovado Statue

RUNNERS UP
Hermitage
Jin Mao Tower
Colloseum
Forbidden City
St. Basil's
Jaresh
Alhambra
St. Peter's
Westminster
Frank Gerhy Pavillion
Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia

THE SINGLE BEST THING ABOUT OUR TRIP
Spending an entire year together

Denver hotels Slideshow