So,
I have come full circle and arrived back in Europe, exactly 7 weeks after departing from London!
I decided at the last minute to change my same-day transfer flight to Luxembourg and actually spent a couple of days in London before heading “home” to family in Luxembourg, and then onwards to Munich, where a “mountain” of new challenges is awaiting me. It was a right decision, because not only has it given me some more time to settle back into “European life”, it has also been good to catch up with friends in London.
Currently I am in my home town Grevenmacher, Luxembourg (according to my aunt Marie-Anne, the most beautiful place in the world…and she may well be right…) and I have over the past week been reflecting on my journey around the world, its highlights and lowlights, and so here are some final thoughts and conclusions, and a little bit of philosophy…
It has definitely been a once-in-a-lifetime trip. I know that a dream has come true and I am very glad and grateful to have done it. And I would do it again immediately and not necessarily change anything. I have enjoyed every single minute of the trip and do not regret spending a single penny, rupee, cent or peso. I am bringing back with me an uncountable number of pictures in my head, and memories in my heart. At the moment, these are of course very fresh, and they spring back to my mind without the need of re-calling them. But I have no doubt that I will draw on this experience for a long time, hopefully for a life-time.
My biggest concern about this trip was that I was going to be moving too fast from one place to another and would be too overwhelmed with all the impressions. However, I am glad to say that, apart from the odd moment here and there, I did not have this feeling while travelling. I took great care trying not to overload my days with too many activities or sightseeing, because at the end of the day, the trip was also meant to be a relaxing holiday and give me plenty of time to catch up with friends. The 7 weeks felt exactly like 7 weeks, and I think I managed to make the very most of the time I had by maintaining a relaxed attitude, an open mind and a curious nature. In addition, writing the travel journal has certainly helped me to digest a lot of things during the trip, and I have enjoyed writing it very much!
I am thrilled that everything has gone so smoothly and made this a totally enjoyable and entirely positive adventure. Contrary to my usual trip plannings, this time almost everything was organized in advance in terms of transits and accommodation in order to save this time while travelling. I have been lucky with all my flights and other transits as I had practially no delays or cancellations (not even in India, imagine that!). There was only one occasion where there was a slight problem, this was my flight from Los Angeles to Mexico City that I had changed (over the phone) to depart 2 days later than originally planned. Upon check-in in L.A. airport, the flight change did not come up on the operating airline’s system (Mexicana) and they would not check me in, despite the fact that I had the updated itinerary printed in my hand, as they could not get a confirmation from Qantas who were the cooperating partner airline in charge of my booking! I then had to make several phone calls myself, to my travel agent, to Qantas (because neither the Mexicana nor the Qantas customer service at the airport were helpful AT ALL), and after waiting in telephone queues for about 45 minutes, eventually got confirmation from Qantas that the change had been corrected on the system, and I could finally check in with Mexicana!
I usually don`t have major health problems while travelling and it seems that I have been fine again on this trip. I had a couple of mild stomach upsets from spicy food in India and Mexico, and caught a little cough/cold on my arrival in Australia after India/Singapore, which was likely due to the drop in temperature and/or extreme air conditioning. I have coped pretty well with all the jetlags, always managing to get into the local time and rhythm with relative ease, even if I was always feeling slightly spaced out on the day of arrival. I always took things easy on the first day after arrival, tried to drink plenty of water and walk around, and make sure to get a good night’s sleep the following day, and I was fine. One thing I have felt on a couple of occasions though, likely a jetlag side-effect, is slight dizzyness and mild nausea for a couple of days. This was particularly strong when there was a bigger temperature/climate change involved.
I have also been extremely blessed with the weather on this trip. Almost everywhere I went, the sun seemed to travel with me and and a clear blue sky provided the perfect backdrop for my photos, and the perfect light to enhance bright colours. There were only 3 days during the whole 7 week trip where it rained and very few days where the sky was overcast with clouds. It was also an almost ideal time and timing for travelling – not too hot in most places, especially Australia, and as I was moving on from West to East on the Northern hemisphere, the temperatures were going up as I was moving on.
I like to brighten up my life with colours and so I am naturally attracted to the colourful things. This journey has indeed been very colourful. The bright saris of Indian women, the many shades of blue of Australia’s oceans, the rainbow-coloured houses of Mexican houses – perfect compositons through the eyepiece of my camera, but most beautifully captured in a single frame in my mind. They will give me ideas for paintings and a palette for my dreams, make pretty collages on bare white walls and empty computer screens. I think every person should dare to add some more colour to their lives – it will not only brighten up their own, but also many other peoples days.
It was also a journey full of contrasts. Contrasts not only in the sense of primary colours, but also in terms of culture and civilisation, the speed of how things were moving and happening, tastes and smells. The biggest contrast was arriving in Singapore after having spent 9 days in India – likely one of the dirties, messiest, and noisiest countries in the world - Singapore was so clean, calm and efficient that it was almost surreal.
There is one unifying theme that has been consistent throughout the trip, and this is really what has made this trip so unique and special: these are my friends that I have visited or travelled with on each leg of my journey. I am therefore extremely grateful to: Jacqui & Marc (India), John & Yas, (South/East Coast Australia), Gemma & Rob (Western Australia), Mansun & Jiyoung (and the rest of the gang, San Diego), Anelore (Mexico), Ollie & Abi and also Sebas in New York, Paul & Sara, Betty & Co (East Aurora), and finally in London, Anna – thank you all for your help and support prior, during and beyond my stay, your fantastic hospitality and last but not least a lot of fun! Local “expertise” is always priceless, but it has also simply been great to spend some time with you! Most importantly, thank you for your friendship – it is invaluable and precious to me. I wish we would all live around the corner and we could hang out more often…and I really do hope that some day, I can return the favour and show you some of the best of my local neighbourhood (whereever that will be)!
Special thanks also to Mike, for coming out all the way to Australia, and going on a crazy sailing trip with me!
Towards the end of my trip, and especially now on my return, people constantly ask me: “What has been the best part/your favourite place?”.I am sorry, but I have no clear reply to that question, because there is simply no single one that stands out above the rest. Each country and place that I visited has been unique and amazing in its own respect, and I do not really have a favourite country or city. I have loved (and loathed) the innocent persistence of locals in India and their impressive collection of colourful clothing; I have indulged in Singapore´s little luxury; I have enjoyed the sight, smell and touch of every single beach and ocean in Australia; I have a glorious memory from my surfing days in San Diego; I will definitely return to Mexico to discover the “other” ways of drinking tequila, and I suprisingly liked walking around the city of New York! And, despite of a rather “grey” return to London, it has been nice to be back there as a visitor too and I will miss everyone I have met there in the last few years.
Some highlights include (in no particular order, apart from nr 1, which is really a top moment/place)
- Visit toWhitehaven Beach (Queensland, Australia)
- Bus journey from Pushkar to Bundi (Rajhastan, India)
- Escape to an Island I and II (Three Hummock and Rottnest Island, both Australia)
- The sunset where I had no camera with me (Buffalo Beach, Western Australia)
- Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef (Cairns, Queensland, Australia)
- Enmoladas y Micheladas (Guanajato & Patzcuaro, Mexico)
- Americans and Luxembourgers dancing to “Lacs du Connemara” (East Aurora, NY, USA)
- Riding my first proper wave (San Diego, California, USA)
- Our private tour guide in Morelia (Michoacan, Mexico)
- Champagne picnic on the west bank of Manhattan (New York, USA)
- Shopping in Fabindia (Jaipur, India)
Very few lowlights:
- Bus journey from Bundi to Jaipur (India)
- Checking in for L.A. to Mexico flight (USA)
- Second night on the sailing boat (Australia)
A few things to do and not do that I gathered along the way (if you ever consider doing a crazy trip like this):
Do:
- learn as much as possible of the local language
- speak to strangers
- less and you will realize that it is more
- take a pashmina (scarf). I have used mine as a 1. scarf, 2. skirt, 3. beach towel, 4. head cover, 5. blanket, 6. dog leash!
- Register in the frequent flyer programme BEFORE you embark on a round-the-world trip (because sometimes you can not claim miles afterwards, especially from alliance partners)
- Run a virus scan on all your computer equipment (flash drives, camers, etc) that you have used in internet cafes around the world. I had several infections on my return.
Don´t:
- take heavy hiking boots when you’re not actually going to do any serious walking. Take a pair of trainers, they are more versatile.
- Buy Boots-brand DEET insect repellent. It stinks! Get a more expensive one instead. (Still toxic, but less suffocating).
- Listen to airlines when they tell you that you have to call your travel agency to change your flight. After your departure, the airlines are in charge of your ticket, so if you need to make a change, you do it directly by calling the airline.
- Just add spoonfuls of red or green salsa to your quesadilla/tacos/whatever when you haven’t tasted it first. Spicyness is very variable…
And to finish, a few more random facts:
During the trip I have done 4 laundries, changed 3 flights, sent 2 parcels and only 3 postcards (but many e-mails), signed 1 fellowship contract, taken approximately 3000 photos and had 0 sunburn or haircuts!
This is it!
For those of you that have been reading these posts regularly, I hope that you have enjoyed it and that I have managed to show you a little glimpse of the world through my eyes.
There were various reasons why I wanted to do this trip (I needed a break, I love travelling…) but there was one more reason for doing this particular trip (this is the philosophical part … ;-)).
We all have dreams, hopes and fears that we deal with on a daily basis in one way or another. Regarding hopes and fears, well, I am not always good at confronting my fears, but I definitely never give up hope. As for my dreams, I chose, some time ago, that I will try to live some of them, and it makes me happy knowing that I have fulfilled this one of the round-the-world-trip, that has been lingering inside me for more than 10 years. I am aware, that fulfilling these dreams involves a certain degree of selfishness and sometimes occurs at the expense of my nearest and dearest’s feelings and patience. But I believe, for a long time now, in exactly what Andrew, the Australian at Hamilton Island airport said: Life is a journey. And that’s how we need to live it. It is always good to have a plan and a final destination, because it helps you to focus on the end point (which is, I think, at the end of the day, to achieve happiness for ourselves and those that we hold close to our hearts). But we should always leave space and time for the Unexpected. And sometimes stand still and just take a good look at everything around us. Because as we go through the ups and downs of our every day, it is sometimes easy to get submersed, or become superficial, and forget that it is the small things that make life so beautiful. And finally, with thousands of sad and bad news hitting the headlines every day, you just never know when they will hit you, right in the middle of your very own heart. I hope to continue this journey in years to come, but at the same time, probably the most important lesson I have learned from this experience is what really makes this world so beautiful is the people you share it with. You can be in the most amazing place in the world, and be stunned by its beauty, but it is worth nothing compared to the smiling faces of your family, your friends, and even just that of a total stranger.
Thank you for reading. May you all have a safe journey through your lives. And don´t forget:
Always love.
And keep smiling.
☺ Michele
31st May 2009
