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JOEL'S TEN CENTS
It's not every day you get to take a year off work and travel the world and if it wasn't for working in the UAE this would not have been possible for us. We are very lucky!
Travel for Tanya was in her blood, as for me not so much! After spending a year 'on the road' I can definitely say it's been an awesome adventure. Every day was so different! Coming from little NZ and not knowing much about the world was a real eye opener for me! You see so many negative things in the news and I'd definitely heard a few 'travel horror stories' but throughout our entire journey we never had a single problem - the world isn't such a bad place!
Some of the things I've learnt/observed along the way...
PEOPLE - Everybody has their own culture, beliefs and values and a lot of these views are very different from our own. Part of getting along with people is respecting these differences, you don't have to agree with them.
I've found it interesting to watch families going about their daily lives (kids playing, mums cooking, dads working, etc.) I don't know what it is but I could watch it for hours.
Everyone we met welcomed us into their countries; they were as interested in us as much as we were of them. The difference is we were the lucky ones who got to travel around the world while most people will never get this chance ... make the most of it if you can!
POVERTY - 1st world "problems", no hot water... 3rd world problems, no water! This is very real and extremely sad. Seeing kids without clothes, begging for food and bathing in dirty streams is the norm in many of these countries but the unbelievable thing is 90% of the time these kids have the biggest smiles on their faces... It's really something you have to see with your own eyes and trust me you'll have a very different perspective on life afterwards! I have a vivid memory of a homeless old man and woman cuddling each other on the side of the road in Ethiopia in one of the heaviest rains I've ever seen. I'm certain this image will stay with me forever.
"We don't know how lucky we are!"
FOOD - WOW! If, like me, you love food you'll be blown away. I hope Tanya has been taking notes! The meat through Africa and the curries in India, Sri Lanka & Cambodia were awesome! The different dishes and fusion of flavours was unreal!
And we can't forget the beer... I've made an effort (for research purposes of course) to sample every local beer in every country we've visited. My findings: Every country has great beer and it's all far cheaper than prices in NZ (except maybe Singapore)! The cheapest I managed to find was 25c pints in Vietnam!
SITES, ACTIVITIES AND ANIMALS - I'm jealous of countries that have so much history. Some of the sites we've visited have been breath-taking ... the Ancient City of Bagan in Myanmar, the Rock Churches of Lalibella in Ethiopia, the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, the Taj Mahal, India. At all of these places we found ourselves scratching our heads thinking HOW? How the hell did they do this? I wish we could go back in time and see these places as they were back then but I'm still very grateful to be able to see these masterpieces today!
It's easy to become a bit of an adrenalin junkie with all different types of activities on offer for tourists. Your dangling on the end of a rope, completely terrified, swearing you'll never do something so stupid ever again but find yourself signing up to do the same thing somewhere else in the world! From trekking to Everest Base Camp, White Water Rafting and River-Boarding the Zambezi, Diving in Dahab, Zip Lining and Bridge Swinging in Zimbabwe, Canyoning in Nepal ... it all becomes very addictive. My favourites: diving & canyoning!
We've been lucky enough to see all sorts of animals from leopards to whales to rhinos to pandas to manta-rays to Komodo dragons ... not to mention physically interacting with tigers, lion, snakes, elephants, cheetahs and seals, just to name a few. Some truly unforgettable experiences!
TO SUM IT ALL UP - Traveling has been a great way for me to learn first-hand about people, cultures and the world we live in. It has really made me appreciate the simple things in life and I hope one day, when we have children of our own, that they will be inspired by our travels and want to go out and see the world too!
- comments
Walter Samuela Shot banana man! Great little blog and sharing your experiences, yes inspiring and sobering your story of your travels!
sandra goedhart Nice to hear from you Joel. We have not met but I have known Tanya forever. I agree travelling is amazing. I am only just starting my adventures at 53. You have indeed been lucky to be able to do it while you are young. Dont stop now and dont let children stop you, take them with you and share the wonderful places with them. Maybe one day somewhere I will get to meet you. Thankyou for sharing all of this with me