Over 59,000km covered in 312 days; 83 cities and towns; 23 countries; 18 currencies; countless hostels, new friends, awesome dishes of food and beer consumed!
Two things I can say with pride are that during my time away I never once got food poisoning, despite never using hand sanitizer and eating all the street food I could find, and never had anything (of significance) stolen or lost! I can almost say I never missed a plane, bus, boat or train, if it weren't for that last night in Berlin partying until 7am before a 11am bus to Copenhagen...
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Now, watch this.
One activity that I really never thought would appeal to me as much as it did was scuba diving. The feeling of being underwater and seemingly floating cannot be matched. Now that I have my own dive computer and mask I really just want to get more and more use out of them and dive everywhere that I can! However I do feel as though I was immensely spoilt by South East Asia.
Secondly, motorbikes.
Given my thrill-seeker nature, being on a motorbike is an immeasurably awesome way to get about. At home, my dad never let me get a motorbike, so when faced with the opportunity to buy one in Vietnam I jumped on it! You should have seen the massive smile on my face as I rode it for the first time on an open highway in Vietnam!
Travelling South East Asia by bike is also an awesome way to get off the beaten track and into areas where tourists do not usually venture, and you can be greeted by situations like these below!
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People say that travelling changes you. While the changes may often be subtle, I do tend to agree with it.
I started this trip with fears of my ability to walk into a hostel alone and make friends; while not always easy depending on the hostel, I have become much more adept at it! With this knowledge, I feel like the entire world has opened up to me - I do not have to rely on convincing another friend to travel with me, I can simply go it alone and go with the flow! On the other side of the same coin, I am also a lot more likely to go exploring or eating alone than ever before ... I even went to the cinema alone in Bangkok!
I've also started to care less about material things and things purely for show, and more about spending money on valuable experiences. Brand name clothing now does nothing for me as it did before. Things like ziplining at the Gibbon Experience, learning to scuba dive and diving throughout the Philippines came before staying in the fanciest hostel or hotels, eating at expensive restaurants, or buying new clothes to replace the worn out, same old tee I had been wearing for ten months straight!
I also learnt that, generally speaking, people are good. Those that stay in hostels often have similar mindsets to each other. People are easily approachable and are interested to hear what you have done, where you've been and where you're going. They also respect each other's property - leaving a phone out on charge on your bed does not mean it's going to get nicked!
I often get asked "so what next, where will you go?". After seven months in Asia and three in Europe the highest on my to-do list is actually more of Europe! Three months is no where near enough time to experience the culture that Europe has to offer - I missed out on Italy, Croatia and Greece; countries that I really wish I made it to. Next trip will be 4-6 months in these and Eastern Europe. Central and South America is high on the list also, but we'll see how that one pans out.
One piece of advice I can offer to anyone planning an extended trip such as mine - know that travel is exhausting. Although I had so many highs while away, there were definitely lows - saying goodbye to new friends never gets easy, for example. Changing hostels every few days, catching 10+ hour buses, meeting new people, unpacking and repacking your backpack, walking around a new city in search of food for the first time - it can all wear thin!
I rarely missed home while on the road: I missed having a place to call home. The longest time I spent in one place was the week in London. Over the course of the trip I spent an average of 3.75 nights in each city - that's a LOT of moving about. I really loved staying with my American buddy Nelson's sister in Lisbon, it was the first time I had a couch to chill on in months!
Unfortunately, I also occasionally fell into the trap of making comparisons - I got jaded by awesomeness. To many, the cable car ride in Hong Kong would offer amazing views - I couldn't help but compare it to the Gibbon Experience and thought "eh, its alright". It was a case of "Oh? Another stunning mountain-scape/waterfall/beach/church/temple/shrine/green curry" .. it became somewhat dulled. Breaking it up and taking time away from the hustle and bustle of adventure, to relax and reflect, is a valuable part of extended travel.
All said and done, it really was the trip of a lifetime - 2015 will forever be cherished as the year I had of pure, unadulterated, freedom. The fact that I spent a good portion of my house deposit, what I'd been saving for for four years prior since breaking into the workforce, doesn't phase me. I wouldn't trade last year for anything. Money comes and money goes, it's what you spend it on that matters.
Safe travels.
If you haven't already, check out my summary posts after Asia and Europe.
All said and done, it really was the trip of a lifetime - 2015 will forever be cherished as the year I had of pure, unadulterated, freedom. The fact that I spent a good portion of my house deposit, what I'd been saving for for four years prior since breaking into the workforce, doesn't phase me. I wouldn't trade last year for anything. Money comes and money goes, it's what you spend it on that matters.
Safe travels.
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If you haven't already, check out my summary posts after Asia and Europe.
