Yes we have done it; we have completed our world tour!!

15 months travelling through 4 continents, visiting 23 different countries and using over 38 different modes of transport (from camels and elephants, to motorbikes and trucks, to jet boats and catamarans). We took 15 flights, which was a total of  65 hours by plane. Not to mention around 685 hours by bus (yes, more than 28 days in total!!), 31 hours by train and various road trips by car, campervan boats and motorbike.

o       Road Trip Ushuaia – El Chalten in Argentina: 10 days by car.

o       Camper Van Road Trip in New Zealand: 3.389 km in 26 days

o       Great Ocean Road Trip in Australia: 4 days with Valerie!!

o       Hitch Hiking Cairns – Brisbane in Australia: 1700km!

o       Uluru Road Trip in Australia: 1000 miles in 2 days in a Yaris!

o       Wicked Darwin-Kakadu-Litchfield Road Trip in Australia: 1000km in 5 days

o       Thailand Road Trip: 29 hours – 15 days – 2500kms by car

o       Motorbike Road Trip Laos: 7 days

Then to top it all off 202 beds to rest our weary heads and numerous types of rare foods to keep us energised (camel, kangaroo, emu, crocodile, worms, termites, jellyfish, larva, dog and grasshoppers to mention but a few!).

When we decided to say goodbye to all our family and friends, quit our jobs leaving behind the security of two good careers, give up our flats, and turn our backs on all our home comforts and worldly possessions, to head in to the unknown with our shiny clean backpacks, as you can imagine we got mixed reactions. Some people thought we had lost the plot, some people though we were the bravest people they knew, some thought we were just plain silly, while others thought it was a great idea… although they would never do it! We got many questions put to us, “Don’t you realise those are dangerous countries?”, “Are you not worried about the negative effect on your career?”, “Where will you sleep?”, “What about all those tropical diseases?”, “How will you cope with only one small bag of belongings?” etc. One person even asked us “why are you rejecting society?”! Of course we knew that all those were reasonable questions and we were taking a chance, however our desire for adventure and travel out sized all the possible risks. So on 7^th October 2007, after spending a month in our respective homes, we met at Starbucks in Heathrow airport. At that point all we knew was that we were going to Mexico and had a hostel booked for the first night….the rest was all to be decided as we went along!!! Now here we are…15 months, 4 continents and 23 countries later, back home again.

The main question we get asked now is, “How was it?”, the answer is simple, it was the best thing we ever did, it was the most amazing experience of our lives to date, an unforgettable adventure which has marked our lives. We have seen, lived, tasted, and experienced so many things, places and situations that words will never be able to explain the extent of those 15 months. Another frequently asked question is “Which was your favourite country?”, it is however impossible to decide. How can you decide between the amazing Aztec /Maya and Inca ruins of Latin America and the imposing Angkor Wat in Cambodia? How can you choose between eating fresh coconuts on the Caribbean island of Caye Caulker in Belize or snorkelling along the Great Barrier Reef in Australia? How can you choose between the noise of the erupting volcano in front of you in Guatemala and the boom as a large chunk of ice slides from the Perito Moreno glacier under your nose in Ushuaia? How can you prefer volcano boarding in Nicaragua to jet boating in New Zealand? How can you choose to go rock climbing above the most amazing beaches in the world in Thailand over the nerve racking experience of abseiling down a 25m raging waterfall in Vietnam? How can you say which shook you more, to stand in front of the Taj Mahal in India or at the foot of the famous Ayers Rock in the Australian Outback? How can you say which is more beautiful between the stunning salt planes of Bolivia or the outstanding countryside of Bali and Lombok? How can you say if you prefer the feel of rubbery elephant skin under you as you bath an elephant in Laos or the spiky camel hair that tickles you as you ride a camel along the Indian/Pakistani border? How can you say where you felt the proudest, standing at the peek of a snow covered 6008m mountain in Bolivia or the foot of Torres del Paine after days of tough hiking in Southern Patagonia? How can you say where you felt the freest, with the wind on your face horse riding through the Chilean desert or on the back of a motorbike touring around Laos? How can you say which made you more nauseous, the smell of sulphur in the volcanic town of Rotorua in New Zealand or dog cooking on the fire for dinner in Vietnam? How can you say which was more intriguing, a boat trip in the middle of Cambodia to see a rare species of salt water dolphins or a trip to see the penguins almost at the south pole? How can you say which was more relaxing, watching the elegant movement of the tango being danced in Argentina or a two hour massage in Thailand for 5 euro? How can you say which taught you more, a cooking course in Thailand or mediating with a Buddhist monk from Laos?  How can you say which was more scary, sleeping rough on the streets of Calcutta for the night or walking among the armed gunmen in the streets of El Salvador? How can you say which makes you run faster, a wild monkey baring you his teeth in Cambodia or a starry eyed dingo watching you on Fraser Island? How can you say which tastes better, fried grasshoppers in Mexico or barbeque crocodile in Australia, fresh termites in Costa Rica or jellyfish in Thailand? How can you say when you felt the cleanest, after the shower in the middle of Kakadu Park in Northern Australia when Antoine got on the roof of our camper to pour water over me or after a morning “hot bucket” in the plush Indian hotels!! How can you decide which was the craziest idea, between sitting on the roof of a shaky old train rattling through the Andes Mountains in Ecuador or getting a Tattoo in New Zealand? How can you say which border was the most dangerous, between getting stalked going from Ecuador to Peru and stranded going from Thailand to Cambodia? How can you pick between the smell of fresh coffee from the plantations of San Salvador and tea straight from the fields in Malaysia? How can you prefer the “little New York” of Panama to the towering skyscrapers of Singapore? How can you prefer the adventure of hitch hiking along the East coast of Australia to the peace of touring around New Zealand in a camper van? How can you say which gave you more pleasure, to visit the highest city in the world in Bolivia or visit the Land of Fire and Ushuaia, the end of the world and the southernmost city in world? How can you say where you got more rest, sleeping under the stars in the Jaisalmer desert in Indian or sleeping on a wooden boat in Halong Bay in Vietnam? How can you say which made you smile more, the sight of jumbo eared cows on a Honduran farm or the sight of the rough pacific sea from your hammock in Mexico? How can you say which gave you the best memories, Christmas spent in Peru, Full Moon festivities in Asia or the Day of the Dead celebrations in Guatemala? How can you say which was more magnificent, the roaring Iguazú Falls on the Argentina / Brazil border or the calm crystal clear seas of Indonesia? How can you say which makes you laugh more, the Indian who says he is sorry when you tell him your not married or the Malaysian Muslim who asks you out for a drink? How can you say which will stick in your head for longer, the sight of a goat being sacrificed for a Muslim ceremony or dancing in an Indian wedding?

So I’m sure you get the point by now, the examples I’ve given don’t even touch the surface of everything that we have experienced over our 15 months of adventure. However one question that I can answer is “What do I miss about travelling?” which could also be read as “What did I love about travelling?”, that one is easy. I loved the adventure and freedom of travelling, the fact of being able to go anywhere, anytime, not tied by responsibilities, obligations or duties. Doing what the moment suggested and not impeded by a mobile ringing in my bag or an already packed agenda. It really is living in the moment and grabbing each opportunity that arises. Each day is a new adventure, you don’t know where you will go, what you will see, what you will eat, who you will meet and perhaps not even where you will sleep that night….that is a sense of freedom and liberty that I’ve never experienced before and definitely what I miss most about travelling. A holiday can never give you the same feeling as you know you are limited by time and your not 100% free from your responsibilities and restraints, your job is still waiting for you when you go back, your diary for the following weeks after your holiday is already filled with dates and obligations. Give all that up and you experience a complete sense of being free, that’s the meaning of a world tour for me. I also love the fact that everyday you meet tons of wonderful and different people, if a traveller is alone then it is by choice. So yes I miss the freedom, the adventure and the mad mix of people that we met along the way.

The last big question that people asked about going travelling was regarding the fact that Antoine and I were going to be glued together 24 hours a day 7 days a week, and often not in the most comfortable of situations. One friend tried to convince me before I left that it was not a good idea, giving me examples of other couples who had gone away together and as a consequence broke up. This never really bothered me as I knew that Antoine was definitely the one for me, however we had only been together for 1 yr 8 months and were still enjoying the honeymoon phase J I didn’t want that to come to an abrupt end with smelly buses, cold showers and dirty hostels so we decided that once a month we would spend a few days apart, just to give each other a bit of space. However I’m glad to report that those days apart were never mentioned once we set foot on the plane and instead we stayed together, yes 24/7 and loved it. The first time we were actually separated for a few hours wasn’t until almost four months later in Bolivia, when Antoine went to do downhill biking for the day, and we missed each other terribly!! During those few hours apart we even randomly bought each other a small present and it was the same present! So for the rest of our trip we spent all our time, every meal, every encounter, every high and every low together. Now here we are 15 months later closer than ever, Antoine is without a doubt my best friend and my soul mate. He always puts me first, he spoils me rotten even though I don’t deserve it and he always knows how to make me laugh. When he was sick in Malaysia my world collapsed, it broke my heart to see him suffer and not know what was wrong with him; however like always he was my rock and actually comforted me! Antoine is without a doubt one of the funniest, kindest and bravest people I know and I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to be with him. After becoming each others right arm during the trip, being separated after was tough. I thought that a part of me was missing and I even talked to Antoine on many occasions before I looked around and realised he wasn’t there. Different nights I even woke up in a panic looking for him, it was like having withdrawal symptoms from a drug!

So to sum up here we are back home after:

o       15 months

o       4 continents

o       23 countries.

o       Sleeping in 202 beds..

o       15 flights

o       65 hours by plane, around 85.000km

o       685 hours by bus

o       31 hours by train

o       Over 38 modes of transport (camel, elephant, plane, richshaw, motorbike, kayak, truck, scooter, jet ski, luge, gondola, mountain bike, jet boat, camper, sail boat, pick up, taxi, bus, catamaran, quad, teleferico, horse, 4x4, train, ferry, dirt bike, fishing boat, etc)

o       Camper Van Road Trip in New Zealand: 3.389 kms in 26 days

o       Hitch Hiking Cairns – Brisbane: 1700km!

o       Yaris Uluru Road Trip in Australia: 1000 miles in 2 days!

o       Wicked Darwin-Kakadu-Litchfield Road Trip in Australia: 1000km in 5 days

o       Car Thailand Road Trip: 29 hours – 15 days – 2500kms

o       Motorbike Road Trip Laos: 7 days