It is over ... or is it?
Hard to believe, but is true. We are home. End of everyday packing, searching for this and that transport, deciding where we are going to eat today, checking the backpack for clean underwear. A year goes by too quickly, but still, I like to remember (almost) all of our adventures.
Let´s check some statistic
- Distance travelled: 107.000 kilometres
- Favourite country: Australia for living, for travelling; Japan, Thailand, Laos, Colombia.
- Where we didn´t really feel at ease: Bolivia (would you at an altitude like that?).
- Number of flights: 38
- Number of buses: More than we can count.
- Number of boat rides: A lot – among them a terrible ride in Malaysia where I emptied my stomach and Jure was searching for the life vests; 2-day boat ride on the Mekong with our British friends with the help of liquid time accelerator.
- Number of trains: Some, but the Japanese ones were the best.
- Missed transports: None
- Stolen items: Nothing shocking, condoms, tampons, body lotion, rain coats.
- Luggage on departure: 2 big backpacks (13 and 14 kg), 1 computer backpack, 1 small backpack and a photo bag.
- Luggage on arrival: All the above with a difference in weight (18 and 19 kg) + 11 kg package sent from Thailand + a package that is still waiting for us in England + a package that was taken to Slovenia by our friend Ris + a bag full of winter stuff that was taken home by our Maribor people + 2 books waiting for us in Ruše + my winter jacket from Japan that was taken home by lovely Ms Marjeta.
- Travelled countries: 20 + 1 night in China with a police control, checking and registering our passports (getting a visa for China should be fun) + 1 night in Vienna when we came to Europe.
- End of our trip: Officially Thailand, but unofficially Montenegro.
- Number of prepaid SIM cards: 9
- Money spent: 29.000€
- Special events: Seeing an NBA game, seeing a game on Maracana, seeing the game between Argentina and Ecuador in Buenos Aires. Seeing Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova play live in Melbourne at the Australian Open, Going to an EDM festival in Thailand.
- Splurges: A Bahamas cruise, New Years in Sydney, Simona's birthday on Bali, Jure's birthday on the Philippines, luxury holiday in Thailand.
But of course we also forgot some things and that made life quite interesting. I forgot my wallet in Peru, phone on the plane, passports on the Maldives, but was lucky to get all the things back the same day. Jure wasn´t that fortunate (only forgot one thing), he forgot his phone in Buenos Aires in the second week of our travel. Since then, he was always the guy without a phone.
I could continue with statistic, also more trivial, till tomorrow. But in the end it doesn't really matter how many countries you visited, how many kilometres you travelled. The most important things are what we experienced and the people we met. We like to brag that we have quite some global friends who have already invited us to come. And our doors are also open to them.
We were terrified in Peru, indescribable feeling on the Galapagos Islands, we were melting at the sight of cute orangutans, whale sharks... we encountered so many animals that I could go on and on for a very long time. It is hard to put into words what is going on in my head, thinking about the year behind us. There are so many impressions and memories, I feel an inner gratitude that we were even able to go on such a long trip. But something remained unfulfilled. It wasn´t enough, my feet are itchy and my mind is wandering to... the next country.
But for now, we are »home«. We rented a lovely apartment in Graz, I returned to my old job, Jure still works online. We use weekends for shorter or longer trips, spend time with family and friends (we got a new member of the group in our absence) and our dog. At the moment our lives have slowed down a bit, but they are not any less full, because we have time to remember and to relive what happened last year, the year that was as a dream.
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