It's all over but the crying...Wow, it's hard to believe the adventure has come to an end...and to tell you the truth...I'm not acclimatizing back into reality very well. I feel like I'm supposed to be somewhere else seeing new places and meeting new people. So I hope this last posting puts some closure to my trip and allows me to move on with memories that will last a lifetime.
To summarize my adventure in one posting is impossible as I quickly found out trying to pick some of my favourite pictures out of the 3900+ pictures I took. Instead of duplicating pictures you've already seen, I've decided to post others that didn't make earlier postings.
As a quick overview...
The adventure began on October 10th, 2007 and officially ended on December 11th, 2008. During that time I travelled (to the best of my knowledge) 77,000+ kms by plane, 9900kms by bus, 12500+ kms by train and 1700kms by ferry for a total of 101,100kms or almost 8 times around the world. Not bad for a small town boy.
The most frequently asked question I get is 'what is my favourite place' in all my travels. That question is too difficult to answer as every place had its unique charm and my experience will be different from everyone else who has visited the same place because it really comes down to the people that you meet.
With that said, I do have a few of my favourites to share with you.
My favourite countries were Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Spain.Some of my favourite cities (in no particular order) include Sydney, Vienna, Salzburg, Zurich, Lucerne, Berlin, Munich, Paris, Barcelona, San Sebastian, Porto, Florence, Edinburgh, Copenhagen and Galway city.
Taking it down to a regional level...a few of my favourites included the entire east coast of Australia, the entire south island of New Zealand, Koh Lanta island in Thailand, Santorini Island in Greece, Cinque Terre in Italy, Bavaria in Germany and Western Ireland.
The few places that I was hoping to get to, but for some reason or another I didn't make it to include...Scandinavia, southern France, the Lake District in England, the highlands of Scotland and more of eastern Europe such as Croatia, Poland, Turkey and Hungary.
Although many of you comment on me seeing the world...in actuality...I saw very little of it. The one thing that I did learn during my travels; the world is a very big place with many fabulous sights and places...so I look forward to seeing much more of it.
And taking it down a further notch, my favourite activities (once again in no particular order) included...trekking through the hills of northern Thailand, a multi-day 'safari' of Fraser Island, the train rides to and from Jungfrau Switzerland, bungee jumping in NZ, glacier hiking, Berlin's nightlife, getting my scuba certification (PADI) and exploring the Great Barrier Reef, all the time spent on the Groovy Grape tours in Australia and the Magic Bus ride throughout NZ, all the great wine and port tours, watching beautiful sunsets in many different countries, the coastal hike through Cinque Terre, the Louvre, seeing the Colosseum for the first time, fabulous architecture in every country, the excellent and varied cuisine in every country, definitely the awe inspiring Tongariro Crossing in NZ and the best was seeing friends I had met along the way in their home towns as we crossed paths for a second time.
The lists above could honestly go on forever. They certainly bring back amazing memories for me, but the main reason I list them is to give you a very small glimpse of what's out there for you to discover on your own.
So get out there... see and do them for yourselves or go experience something altogether different. You know you want to...and you won't regret a second of it.
As many of my old and new friends know...I am full of useless trivia. I'd like to share some more with you now.
The adventure spanned 14 months and 22 countries.
The blog now officially has 60 postings with each posting taking an average of 1.5-2.0 hours to complete for a total of 100+ hours or more than two weeks of work. Who says this trip was all play and no work?
I would hazard a guess I tried at least 150 different types of beer.
You can live on wine, bread and cheese for weeks at a time.
And I wasn't going to tell you this, but my best guess is that I had approximately 2050 alcoholic drinks while away. Since I wasn't really working, I thought a least part of me should be...good liver!
I would like to take this time to thank all the wonderful people that I met during this adventure whether they be fellow backpackers or locals who bridged language and custom barriers to help me along the way. It is because of them that this was a once in a life time experience and I won't soon forget.
And for the blog readers...I hope you've enjoyed the blog. I want to thank all of you, especially those that took the time to write comments or sent me emails to stay in touch.
As in this picture...the sun has set on my big adventure.
I look forward to seeing the 100+ backpackers who said they'd look me up in Canada.
And now I find myself back to reality...homeless, unemployed, broke and in dire need of a detox.
And now I find myself back to reality...homeless, unemployed, broke and in dire need of a detox.
But I'm hoping my next adventure is just around the corner.
And now it's time for the Embro Boy to sign off...Cheers!!
