Looking Back, Moving Forward

Man, we have had a LOT of fun this year. Now that we have been back in Canada for nearly three weeks, it’s time to wrap this big ol’ trip up! Let’s start with some fun facts, shall we?

Countries travelled to: 24 + 1

Uganda

Zimbabwe

Botswana 

Zambia 

Ethiopia  

Nepal 

Malaysia  

Myanmar 

Thailand 

Laos

Cambodia

New Zealand 

Canada 

Colombia

Argentina

Bolivia

Peru

Spain

Greece 

Scotland 

Belgium

Austria

Slovenia 

Croatia 

Portugal (added after missing our connecting flight to Toronto and staying overnight in Lisbon)

Days spent travelling: 375 (not including days in Ontario on either end)

Flights taken: 41

Places we’ve slept: 146 (including a couple overnight flights and buses, and one night in an airport)

Approximate kilometres walked: 3800 (which is 200km more than our drive between BC and Ontario!)

Missed flights: 1 (the flight back to Canada)

Incredible people we have met: far too many to count

My original version of this post was extremely long. We’re talking pages, people. I am a very reflective person, so new thoughts and ideas just kept coming to me. I wanted to summarize everything, to find a way to share every thought I had about this experience. However, as I look back on the posts written this year, I realize it’s all there. The experiences, the emotions, the connections… the story has been told. Plus, with all these thoughts running through my head, I realized I might never find a way to wrap it all up in a tidy package. So, I thought I would just focus on the most important bits.

Connection

Around the world, the single most important factor influencing happiness seems to be connection.

Find your people- the people who get you, who lift you up, who inspire you, who make life fun. We have an incredible network of friends and family who have managed to make us feel loved and connected all year from across the globe. 

Connect to the land. Touch the grass, hike those mountains, listen to the waves. Although we really enjoyed visiting many new cities, our favourite memories were created away from the hustle and bustle.

Even when you feel like you know everything about someone, you can always learn something new. For most people, spending nearly every hour of an entire year with the same person isn’t the norm. Aside from our time in Ontario in February, we can count the moments we were apart for more than an hour on one hand. However, even after all this time spent together, there were still days throughout where we would share a new thought or story. 

Connect with yourself. Find what you love- what fills you up and makes you feel so alive- and do a lot of that. 

Listen to your gut. More often than not, it’s right.

Play

All humans needs play. We lose ourselves without this. Young and old, we need to insert more fun into our lives. 

Music and laughter bring people together, even when you don’t share the same language. 

Everyone’s idea of “fun” is different.

Free time doesn’t always feel like freedom. We have enjoyed having free time sprinkled in between activities, but have found that we also thrive on purpose and routine. Spoken like a true teacher, I suppose!

Trying new things is often scary, but almost always rewarding. Most often, we realized we would regret not doing something much more than going ahead and doing it. 

Presence

Some moments can only be captured with an eye photograph. 

Nothing is ever perfect. Embrace the mess and the struggles, as they often make the best stories and the funniest memories.

Memories (and some photos) are the best souvenirs. We have been asked numerous times about collecting souvenirs along the way, and we are still very happy with our decision not to. We know that many people don’t feel the same way about this as we do, and that’s totally fine. For a couple who had just sold or given away a lot of what we owned before starting this trip, the last thing we wanted to do was collect more stuff. We have been given a few gifts along the way, and have bought a handful of items throughout the year, but we’re happy not to be bringing back more than that. 

Slow down, pause, look around. Rest. Take time to watch that glorious sun set.

Love

Kindness strengthens our relationships with others, as well as our experiences.

An open heart and mind are the best tools for the most incredible experiences, no matter where you are.

Gratitude 

We returned to Canada with our hearts busting. We are incredibly thankful for…

Community 

Family

Friendship

Health

Kindness

Laughter 

Nature

Safety

Time 

Teaching

You

We have had SO much fun sharing our adventures with you along the way! We have especially appreciated everyone who sent us messages or comments related to our posts.

A few other Very Important Realizations

Hammocks bring immense joy. 

Canada is seriously limited in specialty foods.

Never make big decisions on the first day in a new country. Everything always feels better on the second day. 

Speaking English is both a blessing and a curse.

Technology is also a blessing and a curse.

We have got to do something about the use of plastic.

Football (i.e. soccer) is the single most important sport around the world. 

Moving Forward

Many people have asked us how we are feeling as this trip comes to an end. We feel extremely thankful for this year of adventure together, and loved creating lasting memories in so many incredible places. We have added a lot of new places to our travel wish list too! After all of this, it does feel like the right time to be back in BC. There is so much about our “regular lives” that we love, which has only become more and more clear to us as we have moved around the world. As Sue Fitzmaurice says, “you must go on adventures to find out where you truly belong”. We couldn’t agree more.