| Days Travelled | 303 | We called it a year away. It was closer to 10 months, enforced by the lease we signed with tenants who cared for our home and cat, Pirate. It wasn’t always easy to keep going, and we may have come home earlier if we could have! |
| Forms of transportation | 52 | It turns out people have a lot of ways to get around. We’ve been sampling some of them. |
| Number of flights | 75 | We have been on too many flights this year! |
| Hours spent in the air | 207 | Really this is too many hours in the air. |
| Trees planted to apologize for our carbon footprint | 35 | One tree will absorb more carbon than we can all use in our lifetimes. But we planted more, in a forest area of Colombia that is being restored by local farmers with an NGO. Go mother earth! |
| Continents visited | 6 | All but the cold one. |
| Countries visited | 25 | There are just so many! We tried to see a lot, but only scratched the surface of our species’ amazing prevalence on our planet. |
| Beds we slept in | 62 | Too many hotels! |
| Meals eaten out | 720 | Eating out is not always easy. The food is salty, heavy and there’s usually too much of it. It took us a while to learn to only eat what we were actually hungry for. On the bright side, we didn’t have to do dishes much this year! |
| Meals cooked ourselves | 180 | Having an apartment with a kitchen was always exciting. The kids could make slime, and dinner, and we could shop for our own food and cook to our own tastes. This year we learned that the rest of the world considers us “health nuts.” In South Africa our guide told us, “I’ve never seen a family eat so much grass!” |
| Rolly bags + backpacks, each | 1 | We also packed a tiny duffel bag each for those times when our rolly-bags were too big to fit inside the small plane that was carrying us to a remote area. Sometimes we expanded and used a duffel as an extra carry-on, for instance when we had too much dirty laundry and not enough time to pack it neatly. |
| Water bottles used | 3840 | Most of the developing world just does not have tap water we could drink, and we each drank about 4 bottles per day. |
| Days until we return home | 1 | Cant wait! |
Category: memoir
Trains, Planes and Automobiles
It turns out people have a lot of ways to get around. We’ve been sampling some of them. In the past 10 months we’ve travelled by:
- Seventy-five airplanes
- So Many Trains – airport trains, commuter trains, sky trains, Indian trains, subways
- Cars
- Trucks, including a kiwi Ute
- Land Rovers in Mongolia
- Tourist vans, in so many places
- Topless Jeeps in India
- Mules in Bhutan (for our stuff, we walked)
- Inflatable raft in Bhutan
- Cable Cars up the mountain in New Zealand
- New Zealand Luges
- Ding Ding, the Hong Kong street car
- So many mini vans
- Asian Elephants
- Motorcycles
- Vespas
- Sidecars
- Bactrian camels in Mongolia
- ATVs in Siem Reap
- Zip Lines in Siem Reap
- Parachutes and skydivers in Queenstown
- Horses in Mongolia
- Busses
- Tuk tuk, including the Cambodian christmas elf party tuk tuk
- Boats: long tail, trimaran, converted fishing boats, ferries, Kayaks
- Zorbs in Rotorua
- Walking, trekking and hiking everywhere
- Bicycles
- A Water buffalo in Vietnam (guess where they tickle it to make it relax?)
- Andy’s Massey Tractor
- Ox-drawn wagon
- Electric airport buggies
- Escalators
- Elevators
- Moving walkways
- Sledding in New Zealand
- Ski lifts in New Zealand
- Pump train car on the pier in kangaroo island
- Speed cat at the great barrier reef
- Snorkels and flippers
- Israeli 4x4s near the dead sea
- Riverboat on the Nile
- Egyptian felucca
- Windsurfers in Sinai
- Dromedary camels in Jordan and Egypt
- Rotating cable car down Table Mountain
- Safari Jeeps in Kenya
- London Underground
- Chunnel train
- Paris Metro
- French rental car
- Hop-on Hop-off canal boat in Amsterdam
- Boston T
- “Shoe” taxis in Colombia
- Our own feet, hiking through Peru
free time
Time speeds up as you grow older. Everyone says it. It’s true.
I used to have a theory about it: maybe it speeds up because I remember less. Maybe I’m more forgetful so there’s less I remember. And the years go faster. Everyone knows children learn faster. Maybe they also learn more, and that’s why time is slower when you’re younger.
Then I took this trip. Somewhere around week 3 time started slowing down. A week felt like a month. Week after week. My life felt so rich, and vibrant, and sloooow.
Now I have a different theory: maybe time speeds up as you get older because there’s not much worth remembering. Every day is sort of the same as the one before. There’s less novelty, fewer new things. There’s less to learn. So there’s less to remember. Fewer landmarks, fewer memories. Faster years.
The secret to slowing down time is to mix up the routines. To do things every day that are different, novel, and inspiring. To keep learning every day. Slowing down time – living richer days – is even better than living a longer life. Kids know how to do it. How to notice a bug on a leaf, or the funny way someone says hello.
The biggest gift of this year has been this “invented time.” The time I didn’t know would exist in my life. Ten years packed into one, with the people I love the most. We say in business that time is the one resource you can’t get more of. I feel like we got more time – free time – this year, with each other.
It’s been a lovely gift.
Ode to a traveler
I have lived it.
A developed life.
The safe familiar.
The organized, the efficient, the straight.
A symphony half-whispered.
Space carefully managed.
A million perfumed bodies.
Sweet flavorless air.
I have lived it.
A developing life.
The worry of being sick.
The low drone of a stomach longing.
A cautious curiosity.
Wet and green, soft and flexible.
Laughter of families kept close.
A billion people pressed against me.
Combustion clouding my breath, my head.
Spice surpassing it all.
I have lived it
A bit at a time
With you, my family
Who I love
Who I hold close
Who share my thoughts
My feelings.
You have lived it.
These sights
Sounds
Touches
Smells
Tastes
Feelings.
They are mine
They are yours
They are ours.
Hope for a Cambodian 4 year old
Sokhem is a small 4-year-old Khmer boy. His name means “hope.”
Hope for all the things he didn’t have.
Hope for a fully working body.
Hope for a community where people have enough food to eat.
Hope for a water filter so he doesn’t get sick every month.
Hope for a better home — stronger than just sticks posted in the mud.
Hope for better quality clothes.
Hope for a better body brace because his broken shoulder hurt whenever he moved.
Hope for all the things he didn’t have, because for a four year old, hope is something you can always have.
Maumere, Flores.
Part 1: Getting There
We motor to another deserted tropical island to snorkel in pristine water and explore white sand beaches. Someone’s image of paradise, or perhaps their antidote to cold winters and too much work. I enjoy the beauty and the amazing colors of the ocean wildlife, and treasure time with my daughter. But the tourism photos fail to communicate the constant humidity and deafening diesel engine that sits a meter from my head. It drones on at an unbelievable volume, having been liberated of its muffler to explode a belly full of fuel with unrestrained force. The holes in the sides of my head are stuffed with insulating foam to deafen the air vibrations that shake my whole body, my own personal muffler.
Paloma and I chose two more days of Flores over an early return to Bali to reunite with Rachel and Anika. Our program shimmered with possibilities of snorkeling, a relaxing afternoon on a beach, a trip to a local fishing village and elementary school, and dinner at the home of our guide, whose brother will teach us how to cook Indonesians style. Nostalgia is my friend and I’m sure I will remember the hue of the crystal waters over the shaking of the truck engine that drives this boat, reliving selective memories through photographs. And I will treasure another visit to local children to see how their days are in some ways the same, and in other ways so very different from our own. At very least we will be grateful for those things we have — as Paloma said to me today, we feel more grateful for things when we live without them for a little while.
Part Two: The Reef and the Sand Bar
When airline companies sell you a plane ticket, they don’t show you a photo of your seat on the airplane. Or the airport. Almost nobody likes those places. They show you the picture of the tropical island. It’s the experience you are paying for.
Yesterday was the best snorkeling of my life. A sunken atoll encirlcled the deep-sea beneath our now-quiet fishing boat, creating a pristine caldera for millions of fishes and corals to live upon. I always loved gazing at tropical aquariums as a child, and now I was inside all of them put together, with surprises around every turn. Did you know corals sway in the breezes of the ocean currents? Did you know sea stars come in bright blue, and sometimes have 4 arms? At only a couple of meters deep, all the colors of the reef glistened in front of us.
After exploring the richness of the reef we broke for a trip to the sand bar. Beneath the aquamarine waters rested a submerged spit a half km long with a lone mangrove tree decorating it, the elevation of its leaves indicating that we had several more hours until high tide. “Dad, take artsy photos!” she commanded, so I grabbed Paloma’s camera, walked out to the tree and got down low. I took too many pictures while I squinted in the sunlight at my happy daughter who got her “Instagram worthy” evidence of far-flung adventures.
My tummy is not 100% today. Rocket Flores, they call it – their version of Bali belly, Indonesia’s take on Delhi belly. But I’m glad we stayed. Glad we got on that fishing boat, and glad we visited that reef and that sand bar. And I am looking forward to the things we will discover today. What discomforts will we suffer? And what memories will we keep?
The Doggy Litter Box Commercial
Do you have a puppy.
That has problems with containing its pee pee.
Well, worry no more,
cause your carpet is safe.
Just get your dog this xx large doggy litter box,
and it will be your pals best friend soon.
Second up to you of course.
Now keep your carpets clean,
and get this for your favorite doggy.
Da da da da!
(Credit to the Taj Mahal and their flower boxes.)
Luge Luxury
Luge
Noun Definition: a light toboggan for one or two people, ridden in a sitting or supine position.
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You stand in line for tickets.
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You get tickets for the gondola and the luge
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You ride up the gondola
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You get helmets
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You stand in line for the luge
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You get into the little sled car
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You ride down the hill
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You feel the wind beating against your face
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You get to the bottom
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You do it again
Here are some pictures:
Here is a bonus video link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/QRv6JzT7VYYqYdt63
Arizona Memorial
Arizona Memorial
Names. First and middle initial, then last name.
The USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, symbolizes 1102 of the 1177 sailors and marines killed on the boat during the time the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. This attack is what caused the US to join World War II. When you get off the boat and walk onto the memorial, you feel sadness creep into the air around you. You look around and notice everyone is quiet. Everybody is looking at the many names on the wall. People pay respect to their loved ones. You search for names you know and stumble across a few. Then you see a line starting to form outside the boat. You get in the line and take the boat back to the museum.
Here are some photos of the Arizona Memorial:
This is what the Arizona Memorial looked like from the outside
The top of the sunken ship
Some of the many names of people on the USS Arizona who died in the attack
A kind of blurry photo of the sunken ship
A diagram of the ship before and after the attack
Stop 1: Pip’s Donuts
You crunch into the sweet, crispy exterior of the delicate dough. You are suddenly greeted with the soft, bready interior, as well as the crunchy, sweet and salty top. This gives you an urge to take another bite. As you take your second bite, you start to taste the flavors more intensely until you know exactly what the flavors are. But wait! Is it what you were thinking? You have to take another bite to confirm. And another. And just one more. Yep. It is the sweet, comforting, maple flavor combined into the salty bacon, balancing out the sweetness of the maple syrup on the donut — all captured in that 1’’ x 1’’ piece of fried sweet bread. The sweet maple bacon donut madness from Pip’s donuts in Portland Oregon is enough to make you turn around in your car, drive back, and grab a few more.
we have a plan
and here it is…
I'm sure it will change, but you've got to start somewhere!
xmas in s africa
A decision made!
My rationale, just sort of "thinking out loud":
- we'd never go there on a normal holiday break
- our friends are super comfortable in Africa, so that will be a treat to be there with them
- other friends we've traveled with told us we'd love cape town, and I believe them.
- I think it will be interesting and different from home, but easy too (speak english, things will be familiar enough) so we can relax
- looks like great waves for the girls, and plenty of other things to do for the group. the girls can wear wetsuits.
east or west…
which way should we go? Here’s a link to an interactive map you can play with.
A main thing on my mind with the planning is, will we have breaks when we want them, so we don’t get too worn out? Here are the plans so far, with what I expect will be the harder parts in bold.
The original plan: head east
- Iceland. Hiking, crazy landscapes. Climate Change.
- Europe. Friends, show our kids Switzerland (honeymoon!), take a train, eat cheese and chocolate (make cheese and chocolate?). Learn western civ.
- Morocco. Start exploring more different cultures
- Israel, Jordan, Egypt. See friends, explore ancient and modern civilizations. Mid east politics past and present.
- South Africa for xmas. Colonialism, apartheid.
- India. Get out of our comfort zone, see a really different lifestyle
- Nepal, Bhutan. Mountains, landscapes, hiking, buddhism. Chinese culture, Mongolian history, geology.
- Australia. Friends.
- New Zealand. Hike, tour. Take a break.
- Tahiti. Surfing!
- Argentina, Guatemala, Mexico. Learn Spanish and learn about latin cultures before coming home.
A new plan: head West
This plan doesn’t really make much sense yet. Will we burn out before xmas? Will we be sad that we never learned Spanish in S/Central America? Here’s where it’s at:
- Australia. Soft start for the kids: English speaking, swimming, see friends.
- Mongolia. See the golden eagle festival. Indigenous culture, really different. Cold, barren landscapes.
- India. More different cultures
- Nepal. Visit Sophie. Mountains.
- Bhutan. Mountains, landscapes, buddhism
- More of E. Asia: Vietnam, Cambodia
- Sri Lanka. Slow down on some islands. Still cultural
- Maldives. beach vacation.
- UAE: modern mid east, oil & economics
- S Africa: xmas. apartheid, beach, safari
- Egypt, Jordan: ancient civ + modern ones
- Israel: take a break with friends. Zionism. Jewish history.
- Morocco: food, mixing of cultures
- Spain: into W. Europe
- Turkey
- W Europe and Iceland
- Vacation in Greece with Friends
- Home
Plan #2 covers all the continents:
- Head S towards central America.
- Mexico, Guatemala. Learn Spanish
- Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Argentina: explore S America
- Antarctica: 2 weeks on a research vessel to learn about the wildlife and climate change
- S Africa for xmas. colonialism, apartheid, safari, surfing.
- Mid East: Egypt, Jordan, Israel. Cultures, past and present. Zionism.
- Morocco: mixing of cultures
- W Europe: Spain, France, Netherlands
- Iceland in the late winter. Waterfalls and northern lights.
- Turkey
- India
- Nepal, Bhutan
- Mongolia
- New Zealand: take a break, do some outdoors & hiking
- Indonesia & Papau New Guinea. See some very different cultures.
- Australia: take another break, hang out with friends
- Tahiti: vacation
- Home!
from…the living room
all the ladies are out of town. Just me and Norah Jones here in the living room, trying to manage a whole lot of to-do’s and to-figure-outs. I put about 200 pictures on the walls so I can start thinking more visually about all the places we might go… it helps, sort of.
I noticed this weird thing where travel pictures don’t have people in them. Weird! It seems to me that the people are the major attraction. Sure, hiking, and surfing, and cycling, and waterfalls are all AMAZING, but…. So are the people. So I found pictures of people and food, but it wasn’t easy.
Maybe by tomorrow I’ll figure out the top two questions:
- where to go for the xmas holiday, since Ella’s family will join us?
- should we travel east or west?
I’ll keep you posted.
+hayes
busy thursday
I didn’t go on the bike ride. I guess I was a bit hung over and woke up late. And I was afraid of the heat. Lame excuses though – I needed the long ride. No long rides yet this year, and the death ride is in less than a month. Sigh. And I’m a bit – how do I say – not at my race weight.
But I think the real excuse was the 8:30 am call to Karine. Wow, we have not talked in a long time! It was nice to reconnect with her. Such a familiar face, from soooo long ago. I’m looking forward to seeing her in southern France. We won’t stay with her, but perhaps will stay nearby. She was excited to have my Mom visiting us there at the same time. She loves my mom.
We were a bit rushed after 45 minutes on skype. We did do morning math again. 2 for 2, but it was less fun today. I have to make them more fun, or we’re not going to want to do them for very long. That’s my job. Fun dad.
Anyhow, I got a lot done today, at least. Long to do list. Crossed off a few of the smaller simpler things that have to be done in advance. Ordered a new passport, so I don’t run out of pages. Called the VW dealerships in WA and CA to see about returning the car. And then filled out more of their paperwork to advance the return process. Made a doctor’s appointment. Made a dentist appointment. Did a writing assignment left over from earlier this week.
Anika tried to get ebooks of the Fred books. Stan said no, in the most polite way imaginable. So…we made our own. YOU CAN’T STOP US, STAN! Rigged up the camera and flash on the tripod, set up a jig, and started flipping pages. 2 hours later we had all the books beautifully scanned, cropped, compressed and bound into nice ebooks. So that’s a good 15 lbs we won’t be schlepping around the world. Thank god.