Home Sweet Home

It was over 6 months ago that me and my brother James set off from Ainsdale in England on our journey around the world. We had been planning this trip for well over a year, but the idea had been lodged in our heads for many more. The time had come to take the plunge – we had moved out of our abodes and cleared it with work to come back in 2013 and were the proud possessors of two brand new Berghaus rucksacks, both full to the brim with everything we would need for the next 6 months.

I still think that one of the most amazing experiences was when we stepped out of Grand Central Station in New York City and were confronted with the unimaginably high skyscrapers right outside. Unbelievable. New York itself definitely goes down as one of the most amazing places that we visited and I would go back there in an instant as we certainly didn’t get to see all of it. Come to think of it, most of America was amazing, each city in its own unique way. I, of course, have to thank at this juncture Mr Don McFall of Birmingham, Alabama for being our first couchsurfing host. It was a bit of a leap into the dark to do this and he made it very much worthwhile and certainly an experience we weren’t expecting and will never forget!

My next thanks goes to Susan Lauer for letting us stay with her in Fort Worth. She not only put us up for the night but also took us round both Fort Worth and Dallas and gave us the grand tour. I would also like to mention that we would never have got around all the places in the US without the use of the Greyhound coaches. I would like to thank them for the journeys we went on……but I can’t. There were just too many flaws in the system, and we especially got narked with the full bus from Albuquerque to Las Vegas. But without that we would never have met Kwan in the bus stop (and subsequently got a lift to the LVH hotel) or got to ride in the back of the truck to the local Wendy’s in Flagstaff.

Whilst I am thanking couchsurfing hosts I cannot leave out Coco who was a most gracious host in San Diego. She had some truly fascinating thoughts and opinions on the world and that made our conversations and time with her truly memorable. Along with dancing the night away in Whiskey Girl, natch.

The next stop on our trip was one of my personal favourites…New Zealand. A place that I had always wanted to go to and did not disappoint one bit.  Careering round the north and south island in our Toyota Hi-Lux campervan is undoubtedly a highlight of our trip. A month is a long time to be cooped up in a campervan with just the two of us so it was a welcome break when we left to go to Australia.

I had been looking forward to the hot climate and the sandy beaches (James not so much!) and it was a nice change from the chill of New Zealand. The trip to Fraser Island was fantastic but I think the best bit about Australia was staying with my friends from university, Harry and Liam. They were fantastic hosts also, feeding us and taking us round their adopted country. I do feel the need to apologise for somehow letting their puppy learn how to get into the house by using the cat-flap. Oopsy! Thanks also got to Cass and Ti in Sydney for giving us such a good time in Australias biggest city. They really showed us a good time and what it meant to be a true Aussie, even to the point of having a barbecue out on the balcony with a couple of beers and a drop of goon!

And then it was time for Asia. We had not made as many plans as we had done for the first 3 stops and were going to very much “play it by ear” or “fly by the seat of our pants” as it were. It was a nice gentle welcome to Asia in Singapore and we really enjoyed the place. It meant that when we got through Kuala Lumpur and into Thailand we were already well aware of what travelling round Asia would be like. Thailand was amazing and my trip to Phi Phi Island with Svetlana still holds fantastic memories for me. I also thank the guardian angels (if there are any) that my foot didn’t get horribly infected when I accidentally gashed it open on a gate pin thing in the ground.

Cambodia and Vietnam opened our eyes in so many ways. Not just about the culture and the people, but the history too. Not all memories are happy ones, but they will all stay with us for a lifetime. One of the low points of the trip has to be the two day journey from Hanoi into Hong Kong, one that I really wouldn’t want to repeat at any time in the future. But it was a means to and end and it meant that we could begin our foray into China in great style. Chungking Mansions was a memory in itself and even though the movie that was filmed there was rubbish the whole place was just full of character……and characters.

What we also encountered in China was a dramatic drop in temperature. We fought through it with brave English spirit and came out the other side with a whole new winter wardrobe, amongst other things. One of our fondest memories of China is in Shanghai and the great Tea Scam. They thought that they could scam us……us for crying out loud! The story is in two parts and each one has a beauty of its own. But it taught us a few things and made sure that our eyes were wide open and that our spidey senses would be on high alert for the rest of our trip.

Our trip through Nepal was a great experience, if anything it just taught us to be grateful that we always have power at our fingertips in everyday life – those power-cuts were truly soul-destroying. And that led us in to India. I was prepared for what we would be facing but for James it was his first time. After already getting sick in Pokhara, Nepal, it came for James’s turn to look after me when I got the bug in Jaipur. It was a shame to come down poorly so close to the end, but we had been expecting it, and powered through with proper English grit and determination.

And that leads us to……home! Home, where we could recover from our 6 months round the world. The most amazing experience of our lives and one that leaves us with very happy memories. And they will hopefully keep us going......until the next trip!