10 Years...

San Francisco, CA USA

January 29, 2017
N 37°48.049
W 122°24.580

 

It was ten years ago today we took a final, anxious look around our condo, threw our bags on our backs and headed to San Francisco International Airport with tears in our eyes. We were excited, yet uncertain, what the year ahead had in store for us. We had a rough itinerary, a desire to explore the world, and a bank account that we hoped would last us for at least a year. In the end, we hit 99 cities in 23 countries during our 1 year and 3 days of travel; coming in under budget and we had the experience of our lives. 

 

Cuba 2009

There are days when the ‘Big Trip’ feels like yesterday, other times it feels like a lifetime ago. Travel still helps define who we are as individuals, and as a couple. The excitement, and newness, of landing in a new city, finding lodging, meandering through streets, looking for good coffee, learning the public transit systems, new currencies, meeting people from different cultures and visiting landmarks/locations that we’ve only seen on TV or magazines helps keep us young. Experiences we never imagined we would have growing up.

 

We’re always looking and planning our next adventure. We still envision a time when we can simply be Travelers again; without time restrictions, without the dreaded re-entry, without moving every 3-4 days, but getting to know a city like we know San Francisco, all the good and bad.

 

Madrid 2012

After 10 years the dreaded re-entry phase is mostly in our rearview mirrors, but the memory of coming home and reintegrating into the workplace and “real life” was very difficult for both of us. It was difficult to not feel the excitement and newness of a new place on a regular basis. It was a challenge to be individuals again. We were with each other for 24x7 for 368 days. We were a team; rarely apart for even ten minutes. Strange, I know.

 

Suddenly, after more than a year, we were apart more than we were together with long commutes and even longer work days. When we were home, there was work to be done - laundry, dishes, dinners. Instead of enjoying each other and working toward a common objective, it was almost like a business partnership in the house, instead of the team we were on the road. Each passing day took away another piece away from who we became that year. In the end, it took us some time, but we figured out a new "normal." The re-entry took its toll on
both of us - I said I wouldn’t go through it again. The next time I will be out for good. 

 

Rio 2010

This blog was created to document our journey. Over the past 10 years, we’ve looked back at the blog to see where we were on that day in 2007, transporting us back to that moment in time. We reminisced about the places we want to visit again. 

 

We talk about the people we met, the sites we saw
and the adventures we had. Recently we were in Tasmania where we joked about running into Ralph, a gentleman we met in Patagonia, in the country side as we were driving along a dirt road, sorta like he did in El Bolson a few weeks after we met him. 

Tariffa 2013

 

We talk about Roger and the trek he sent us on to Ba Na to deliver money to his family. The eldest daughter, who was 16 at the time, had an opportunity to go to school for a few more years because of the money we delivered that day. It’s still one of my favorite stories to tell. We felt like we made a difference in that child’s life, that child who is now 26. Roger visited us a few times after we returned. In fact, when Roger visited us last, he brought his new girlfriend, and told us all about his renewed love for travel with his new partner.

 

Queenstown 2016

There are many others we keep in contact via Facebook. We continue to follow Sara Patterson’s adventures.Sara, who we met on a junk boat in the middle of Ha Long Bay, continues to travel and live around the world. We’ve seen her get married, have two kids and live overseas. Her current home is in India, I believe. We hear from Janis on occasion too. We met Janis at the top of the Millennium Hilton in Bangkok during a happy hour where we took full advantage of the free food and drinks to balance our daily budget.

 

The year we traveled, Facebook was in its infancy, blogs were fairly new and not everyone had a Twitter handle. We were pretty satisfied when the views of our blog passed 10,000. Our last update was in December of 2010, yet we now have over 438,000 hits on our site. If we traveled today, documented the trip the way we did, we might have had a larger following. I guess we won’t know… until next time.