Home Again and Final Thoughts

We flew back to Edmonton via Minneapolis. Due to the connections we had a four hour layover and we spent this time trying to nap as it was 3 am London time (seven hour time differences really can be annoying). We noted that the security at Heathrow and Minneapolis was much tighter than anywhere else we traveled. Mike even got a lecture because he wasn't holding his own passport and boarding card. I was holding it and we were reminded that this was illegal and that both he and Aidan had to hold onto their own passes. After being in twenty other countries where we didn't carry our passports most of the time, Michael just rolled his eyes.

Although our flight back to North America was long and uneventful, it did give us a good opportunity to reflect on the last six months. If we were to summarize our trip in just a few words we would describe it as being an amazing, exhilarating and eye-opening experience. We must also admit that in some places the travel was exhausting and uncomfortable. However, the sites seen and people met make the positives of this trip strongly outweigh any of the negatives.

People keep asking us to name our favourite place or the best thing we did, but it's not that easy. We have a hard time agreeing on our top 10 experiences, let alone the top 5 or 3. No one experience stands out as being somehow far superior to the rest. To many people this will sound like a cop-out, and maybe it is, but hey, it was our adventure and we can summarize it anyway we want. For kids its a little easier. Aidan puts zip-lining in Costa Rica at the front of his list every time.

Mike and I put the following, in no particular order, at the top of our list:

- Climbing in the ruins of Macchu Picchu and the Sacred Valley in Peru;

- Gazing at the marvel that is Angkor Wat;

- The vastness and wildlife of the Serengeti;

- Ballooning over the tower karst in China;

- Enjoying the sun and sand on the beaches in Indonesia and Thailand;

- Seeing the other side of life in the slums of Nairobi; and

- Experiencing the richness of the culture in Marrakesh.

Probably the second most asked question we get is: has the trip changed you? The answer is yes, but not in the way we expected. I think we both went away thinking we would have a spiritual conversion - to drop our old life and take up humanitarian causes in Borneo, or move the family to Singapore. But that didn't happen. What did change was our perspective on life. Going around the world made us realize that we all live in different realities. The reality of our lives in Edmonton and what is deemed "a crisis" here in Canada is not the same as the reality of people in Africa or South America. Most people realize this, but there is a big difference between saying it and experiencing it. For 6 months we got to sample a much bigger world reality - with all its beauty and its failings.

Living out of a backpack also made us realize how little we really need to be happy. A positive attitude, a place to sleep, and a few clothes is all we really needed. Now that we are home, we have decided to stay focused on living more simply, making time for family, and staying healthy. We sincerely feel that we have gained perspective and grown as individuals.

In summary, we will remember this trip as being the most wonderful gift that we have ever given ourselves. We felt very much alive - much more so than at almost any other point in our lives. Are we sad about our adventure being over? Yes. Would we do it again? You bet. We have already started making the list of places to visit for the next trip. Guatemala, Egypt, Turkey, Vietnam, Laos.....

Figuring out how to wrap up our trip journal is tough. So in the interests of ending this on a light note, we offer up the following tongue-in-cheek top 10 list:

10) Best coffee - whether you consider it gross or not, the civet coffee in Indonesia is pretty damm good.

9) Best world wide franchise opportunity - KFC (the world loves fried chicken).

8) Most annoying sound - tie between the Imams call to prayer in Indonesia at 4:00 a.m. and the howler monkeys overhead at 3:00 a.m. in Costa Rica.

7) Worst hostel - the Floating Island hostel in Phnom Penh where you were lucky not to fall through the floor into the lake.

6) Best hostel - tie between the Wildebeest Lodge in Nairobi for the fabulous people and beautiful grounds and the the Riad Pushka in Marrakesh for the sumptuous room.

5) Best cheap food - Pad Thai from the hawker stalls in Bangkok and the Zanzibar pizza in Tanzania was a great deal too.

4) Best airline and most inept airline - the best were Qatar Airways and Cathay Pacific and the most inept prize goes to Royal Air Maroc for losing our luggage on a direct flight from Lisbon, Portugal to Casablanca, Morocco.

3) Worst assumption made about Western tourists at the hostels - they all love Nescafe instant coffee (gaaaaa!)

2) Most dangerous place to eat - buffets at four star resorts because we got food poisoning twice at them on two different continents.

1) Most challenging aspect of world travel - schoolwork (Aidan); getting used to the squat toilets (Susan); falling victim to the touts (Mike).

To all our blog followers: If you would like a private viewing of our 3,000+ pictures, please give us a call. Make sure you have at least 3 free days.

Happy travels everyone, and thanks again for the support and comments during our trip,

Michael, Susan and Aidan If anyone reading this blog would like to talk to us about the trip, feel free to contact us at michael.jay.mcdermott at (substitute the @ sign folks) gmail.com

The End is Near

Hello followers (or any that still might be out there). We are finally back in Edmonton. We have another blog drafted of our final thoughts on the trip, but we haven't got it finalized yet. Soon, soon....

Jolly Old England

We landed in Gatwick after an uneventful flight from Faro on British Airways. A quick call to the B&B from the terminal and 15 minutes later were were ensconced at the Gable End Guest House. If you are ever in Gatwick we would highly recommend staying here. Joseph and Mary (yes, that's their real names) run a wonderful little place with good sized rooms and a 5 star British breakfast - bacon, eggs, toast, sausage, beans and grilled tomatoes.

We walked down to the local pub - Ye Olde Six Bells - for a pint and dinner that night. It was nice to be back in Britain! In the morning after our huge breakfast we jumped on the Southern Train into London. Interestingly, it cost us only 15 pounds for 3 people and took the same amount of time as the Gatwick Express at 1/3 the cost. Go figure.

From Victoria Station we hopped on the tube and made our way to Tottenham Court Road before walking the last little bit to the 'world-headquarters' for Head Communications where Susan's brother Rob works. After coffee, the rest of the day was spent strolling around showing Aidan the sights in London - Hamley's toy store, Big Ben and Buckingham Palace. We caught up with Rob again in the evening and made our way on the train to Bletchley. It didn't take us long to settle into Rob and Nikki's town-house.

Saturday was spent talking and relaxing. A fair amount of drinking was involved as well as a fine BBQ. Nikki's mom Di came over to join the festivities. Michael and Rob finished the day sitting out on the deck smoking Cuban cigars and drinking cognac. Unfortunately for Michael, he didn't realize how much he was drinking and ended up getting stupidly drunk and sick to his stomach (first time in a decade). Not too swift, but it was funny to laugh at both of them the next day.

Sunday everyone piled into the car for a picnic at a local farm. It was lambing season and we had the opportunity to watch several lambs being born. Aidan ran around from one area to the next enjoying the petting zoo, jumping castle and pedal carts among other things. It was a very enjoyable way to spend a Spring afternoon in the south of England.

On Monday Rob took the day off work and the four of us went into London to visit the Imperial War Museum. Aidan was in heaven. He ran from exhibit to exhibit dragging one or the other of us along while the others tried to actually read the information. Tanks, rockets, planes, artillery, guns, model battlefields and two interactive displays - the Trench Experience and the Bombing of London Experience. The whole museum is really impressive (and for once is free!), but the two experience displays really stand out. They were realistic enough that the smells, sounds and shaking floor started to frighten Aidan. Of course as soon as we were out in the hallway he wanted to go right back in again.

Tuesday was the last full day of our trip spent in another country. It was low key affair. Both of us felt that the adventurous part of our journey ended when we left Africa, so this was more of an encore farewell. Aidan played most of the morning, after which we took to a bus to Milton Keynes mall. We spent a pleasant afternoon looking through the stores and getting much needed haircuts. We met up with Rob later that evening and had our last overseas dinner at a very nice Indian restaurant.

The next day Nikki's mom Di was nice enough to drive us to Heathrow for our journey home. Visiting Rob, Nikki and Di in Britain was a really nice way to end our trip, and we're glad we got the chance to visit.

How to Know When It's Time to Go

The train ride back to Casablanca was a lot of fun, due mainly to the interesting people with whom we were sharing a cabin.  An American guy and his Moroccan wife had a lot of travel stories to share with us and so we talked for the full three hours back. We had a pleasant and uneventful plane flight and arrived safely back in Lisbon with all of our luggage this time.

A short taxi ride later and we were at the Pension Bom Comforto.  We were welcomed by a nice older woman and shown to our room.  This is not a four star place (or much of a star place), but it was generally clean and the staff were very nice.  The bad news was that we were paying as much as we were at the last place we stayed at in Lisbon, which was much nicer.  The other bad news was that Michael had a bad cold and was miserable. In the morning we slept late and had some toast and coffee while Tanya - the Russian owner - chatted about what to see in Lisbon.

We headed out and caught a streetcar to Castelo de Sao Jorge.  Situated on the highest point in the city, it offers some spectacular views.  Here we enjoyed a coffee and soaked up some sun.  The castle was built in Visigothic times, but took its more modern form about 200 years ago.  We all had fun walking the castle walls and ramparts.  Since we figured we had worked up an appetite, we wandered down the big hill and found a small local restaurant.  Sitting out on the street, we enjoyed wine and local fare (meats, cheese, bread, and some the best salad with tuna I have ever eaten).  Knowing that chilly England was only a few days away, I headed to the shops to find a pair of jeans.  After trying on 15 pairs in 6 different stores, I finally found some that I liked and because they were on half price - I bought two pairs.  Michael made sure he pointed out that I had to fit them in my backpack.

Much later that evening and after a late afternoon rest, we headed out for dinner.  Just down the street was an Indian restaurant and here we had some of the best Indian food we have ever eaten.  Wow two great meals in one day.  Aidan polished off a plate of pakoras and Mike and I enjoyed enourmous glasses of beer with butter chicken and curried vegetables.  We all waddled back to the hotel. If you are ever in Lisbon, we highly recommend the Ghandi restaurant for dinner.

The next morning we took the subway to the bus station to catch a bus to Faro.  We didn't have tickets, but luck was on our side.  We arrived at the bus station at 10:10 and caught the 10:30 bus.  Three hours later we were back on the southern coast.  We checked into our nice hotel called the Residential Sun Algarve and headed out to another local eatery (yes, our travel tales are dictated by our stomach).  The remainder of the afternoon was spent walking through the downtown area and enjoying the nice weather and sunshine.  We also stopped for many more pastel de nadas.  I must look for a Portugese bakery in Edmonton and see if anyone makes these delectable tarts.  Aidan got to pick the dinner restaurant and so we ended up at McDonalds.  It really was okay though because in Portugal you can get draft beer at McDonalds.  It's right up along side the sodas.  Horray for us.

We didn't have much time the next morning before we had to leave for the airport and so we took a quick walk to once again enjoy the sunshine and beautiful warm weather.  Unfortunately, while Aidan was playing in a park, I got shit on by a bird and so we had to head back to the hotel.  I guess this was a sign that it was time to go.

The reality is really starting to sink in for both of us that our trip is nearing an end.  We had a chat last night about our trip really being over.  Mike started to see the end of the trip once we flew to Madrid, but I didn't feel like the trip was ending until we arrived back in Portugal.  Everything is so, well, European and working.  We are being positive about heading back to Canada and our family and friends.  Aidan can hardly wait to get home to his toys, school, and his classmates. However, we are going to miss the adventure, the new experiences, the food, and the freedom of an unplanned day without commitments.  We haven't finished this trip yet and we are already discussing where to go on our next holiday.  Maybe two weeks in Guatemala?? Anyone want to come with us?