It’s been 6 months already, and we are at the halfway(ish) point in our year-long(ish) travels. What an amazing 6 months it’s been, easily the best of my life.
Here are the cumulative numbers, so far:
- 9 Countries (Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Austria, Italy, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand)
- 7 Languages
- 7 Currencies
- Countless cities, towns, and villages
- 100+ Trains, buses, and subways
- 2 Taxis
- 12,700 kilometers (7,900 Miles) driven (rental cars in Australia & New Zealand only)
- 500 miles walked (low-ball estimate). and I would walk 500 more…
- 10 miles walked on marble (unbelievable amounts of marble in Italy & Ephesus)
- 1 minor theft (out of checked baggage during our international flight from NZ back to Europe)
- But still… 0 stolen organs, moped-vs-pedestrian accidents, carpets purchased, lethal crocodile encounters, or kayaking mishaps
- 1 jellyfish sting, 2 bee stings, 14 sandfly bites
Some reflections…
On a personal note… (that’s your cue to skip these 2 paragraphs if you despise all things sappy).
I feel compelled to acknowledge the enormous gratitude that is a central part of my life right now. Just getting out of my “daily routine” and seeing so many different places has put a spotlight on just how many blessings I have. First, and most directly, I’m grateful that we have been able to take on the endeavor of long-term traveling; it’s literally my dream come true. Second, (and perhaps more importantly) to have found a life partner who (1)shares the dream of traveling, (2)doesn’t mind leaving the comforts of having a home and car, (3) is an awesome travel companion, and (4) is, in more general terms, my best friend and a great husband. I’m grateful that I grew up in a free, prosperous country with educational opportunities. I’m grateful for my specific upbringing and all the values, lessons, love, support, and privileges it entailed (yes parents, I guess I said it). I’m grateful for family and friends (and how we miss you!!). I am extremely grateful to friends abroad who have shared their homes with us: having some time in “real homes” during our travels has been immeasurably comforting and refreshing. Beyond that, I’m grateful for every day to explore new cities and beautiful places; I’m grateful for health and for time; and I’m now disproportionately grateful for well-functioning showers with steady hot water.
Beyond “all the sappy gratitude”, the traveling has changed my perspective of things a bit, mostly of time: It passes quickly, and it’s important to seize it. (Ferris Bueller did say it best, so I guess I’m advocating calling in sick.) I think I’ll try not to “sweat the small stuff” so much… I truly hope that I am able to hold on to my value of time and well-being when I re-join the Real World in 6 months.
Some more reflections,
On a non-personal note (your cue, it’s safe to read again) –
We’ve seen lots of different cultures and ways of doing things, and have had to adjust our lifestyle and expectations accordingly. In general, the U.S. is one of the most efficient and convenient places you can be – probably the result of a more capitalistic and profit-driven culture (Germany, England, and Australia are also way up there for efficiency and convenience). Everything in the U.S. is so EASY - You can go to the bank at 7pm or the grocery store til 9pm (or later?), sometimes 7 days a week. You can even buy your meat, bread, shampoo, Ajax, and dvd’s in one building.
WAIT a minute! Is that a good thing? Maybe, long business hours and big-box stores are convenient. On the flipside, what America has in convenience, it lacks in charm and integrity of small businesses. There has been something very refreshing about going to a separate butcher, bakery, fruit stand, and drug store. Even if they do have shorter hours. Something feels good about supporting these small business owners instead of some big-box mogul who makes millions/billions at the expense of so many others.
So we’ve gotten used to restaurants and shops being closed Sundays (or Saturdays, or Mondays, and sometimes Tuesdays too) – especially in smaller towns. The Siesta is not only a Spanish thing, we’ve learned - - a lunch break or afternoon break is just part of the business schedule in many European towns. I think it may reflect a higher value placed on time and “living,” a lower value placed on possible revenues. GDP and per capita incomes are lower (than the U.S.) in most countries we’ve been in, but people certainly seem to be no less happy.
The lower “convenience” factor (and different customer service expectations) sneaks into other daily aspects beyond business hours. Sometimes internet doesn’t work - and other (European) people seem satisfied that there is no explanation or solution to the problem. Sometimes the line for train tickets is over an hour long - - and management is not putting more people at the ticket windows (even though there seem to be workers around). Sometimes the water is shut off during the night/morning, but you don’t find out until 10pm or 7:30am when you start your shower. Sometimes you have to pay for plastic bags at the checkout (although that just makes us use our pockets and hands, so the conserving may actually be a good thing.) Like I said, we have changed our expectations. We have missed trains even though we left ample time (what should have been ample time) to buy tickets; and we have gotten used to “things just not working right now.” Things that would cause an Outrage, or a Customer Service Scandal in the US are shrugged off – and we are the foreigners here, so getting “outraged” is out of the question. Most times these are small, trivial things and we shrug them off too; but rarely there is a very long day when I feel rather defeated, when I long for the convenience of “home”… and our couch. Or any couch. And an English movie on TV. (Those are the homesick days, thankfully few and far between.) And thankfully there is good dark chocolate everywhere.
We love public transportation and trains, and wish that the U.S. had more of them. Gas is expensive here (Europe) – it’s about US $2 per liter, which is roughly $8 per gallon (and that was before the recent price hike). So people are motivated NOT to use their cars – and public transportation supports that. The emissions are bad in Europe, though – cars use less gas, but for some reason the fumes from most cars are terrible.
We have adjusted completely to the metric system – it’s just easier to adopt the local way instead of constantly converting… So we talk (even to each other) in liters, kilometers, even Celsius degrees. We’ll adjust back to the local way when we’re back in the U.S.
We also make every effort to speak the language of the country we’re visiting (albeit badly). It’s easier in France and Spain (since we took those in school), but we still made an effort in the other countries – people seem to appreciate the effort (and a big apologetic smile). Australia & NZ were a welcome respite from the foreign language barrier, communicating seemed so EASY for 2 months!
We do actually have a routine, or rather several routines. We have a “train day” routine a couple times a week; we have a routine when arriving in a new city; we have a working routine, usually every evening (or for a full day at a time if no internet for several days). We love when our accommodation has a kitchenette, which is about 10% of the time. (The routine was entirely different when we were in Australia & NZ, having a car and a kitchenette changed things drastically.)
We’re reading a lot, sometimes about the places that we’re visiting. It’s a really cool way to learn about history and culture.
We enjoy the local foods and drinks. All of them. A lot.
What about the Cost of all this gallivanting? Do we regret it yet??? Well, it is admittedly about The Worst Financial Decision we could make: One year, foregoing 2 incomes in addition to the cost of traveling. And the exchange rate (everywhere) is horrendous. No, Suze Orman would definitely Not Approve at all: Denied. But we don’t regret it. Sometimes the best choices aren’t necessarily the best financial choices. I’m still paying off school loans, but I don’t regret that decision either. The work/small income that we have while traveling helps a little. And besides, we’ll buckle down again and build the savings back up when we’re back – we save pretty well when we are in buckle-down mode. (Very little shopping 3 years in a row so far, that’s one of the sacrifices that stings a tad – but really, it’s worth it now that we’re traveling – and the small sacrifices are Nothing compared to the traveling.)
That’s our strange lifestyle in a nutshell (a big 6-month nutshell). We feel blessed beyond compare. And on to new traveling adventures for the next 6 months.
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