Around the World (Halfway) in 180 Days

Just a quick post today, but one celebrating a milestone.

Six months ago today, Amy’s sister Laurie dropped us off at JFK for the start of this journey. It seems like it’s been longer than six months, because we’ve seen so much, we’ve been to so many places already, and we’ve had so many unique experiences.

Amy and I have discussed this many times: when you go on a great vacation for a week or two, you go home and talk about it for months. It gets burned into your memory bank, and you can recount the slightest details – a great meal, a bad hotel room, some random encounter with a local. But with the scale of this trip, the details start to fade fast, and only the big picture sticks with you. Taking photos and writing about it helps, but the brushstrokes are much broader.

I can’t speak for Amy, but for me the “big picture” experience so far has been a bit spiritual. I don’t necessarily mean it’s been “religious,” but it has given me an appreciation for things bigger than myself, and my everyday selfish concerns.

I’ve begun to appreciate the beauty of the world we live in, having seen scenery unique to so many different parts of the planet. We’ve seen incredible sights and fascinating wildlife, visited stunning natural landmarks, and looked at the stars like we haven’t been able to before. The Great Ocean Road in Australia, The Franz Josef Glacier, sunsets in Cambodia, the Jeju Island shoreline, and the brightest Milky Way we’ve ever seen (when getting locked out of our New Zealand cabin one night) are just some examples. And when you see how much people are trashing it as well, almost everywhere along the way (except New Zealand!), you appreciate the scenery that much more.

I’ve also had a growing sense of the “mysterious ways” of the world; how things will work out, how chance or fate will put you in the right place at the right time, or how what you thought was a wrong move turns out for the best in the end. Getting lost and finding a great restaurant in Japan. Bumping into our NYC neighbors in Da Nang, Vietnam. Walking around to discover a beer festival in Melbourne. Travel will do that for you. Things work out in ways we just can’t explain.

And lastly, I’ve had an incredibly huge sense of gratitude. I feel so fortunate. Being able to do what we’re doing, seeing how other people and other cultures live, realizing just how lucky we are to live the way we do at home – it gives me a great appreciation for where I’ve come from and just how blessed I am to have this life. I will never take tap water, toilet paper, or garbage pickup for granted again. I might even appreciate taxes (maybe). But I’ve been handed a good life. There’s a lot of people to thank – parents, family, teachers, mentors – and a bit of personal ambition involved, but ultimately I think there’s something bigger at work and I should be thankful.

And I am.

Early last evening, as Amy and I were at a rooftop restaurant having a few beers and a bite to eat, the skies darkened, and there was a hail-storm that rained mothball-sized hail, in the middle of the Indian heat, for minutes on end.

A woman we were speaking to, who works in India frequently, said she’d never seen anything like it in her time here. The locals at the restaurant stood watching, in a stunned silence. The owner of the restaurant couldn’t help but laugh later. It was extraordinary. These are the sorts of things that happen and make you go, “Wow.”

And I guess that’s all I really mean by all of this, all of what I’ve been feeling. Just…“Wow.”

But not to get too heady, here. On this, the six-month anniversary of our trip, I have woken up to find that my sweat smells like curry. Bona fide. Just ask Amy. The mystery continues…

At three months we offered up a Q&A – you have questions, we have answers. Now at six months, feel free to send them to us via the contact page, message board, Facebook or email, and we’ll answer in a future post.