With only one full day left we have an overwhelming sense of satisfaction as we pack our rucksacks for the very last time and reflect on what we have achieved. A combination of good planning and good luck has got us to Rio from Asia, through Australasia and South America to Ipanema beach where we rented a lovely apartment for our last few days and took the time to philosophise on the last twelve months of our lives. Certainly, our attention has been brought to the aspects of our "normal" lives which we would like to change and improve. Other than giving us a really good idea of what the rest of the world is like, we return with renewed motivation and desire to succeed in the rest of our lives.
This part of Brazil is so lavish, it really fits the bill for the perfect destination to end our trip in. Other than a visit to the famous Christ on the hilltop and a guided tour into the favelas (slums) of Rio, we have spent this final week simply lying in the sun near Copacabana beach, sipping cocktails and feeling very lucky indeed to have fulfilled this dream which, on first conception, seemed so impossible that we´d laugh and crack jokes just thinking about it.
Naturally we are a little sad that it has to end the traveling lifestyle despite its downsides has some very attractive advantages....dining out twice a day, sleeping as much as we please and being "free" to do what we like on a daily basis are among the things we´ll look back on fondly:-) Not to mention that it will be odd to pay more than 40p for a bottle of beer, and to deal with electricity and gas bills again.
It has to be said that traveling the world for a year is quite a selfish thing to do and we´re a little concerned about re-integrating ourselves into our families and respective societies. Bear with us! We feel a few weeks of "surreality" coming on, as we begin to grasp the concept of "sharing and caring" again rather than fending for ourselves alone. Of course, we are delighted to be returning to some kind of stability and seeing our families, friends and cat again! We have a brand new start to look forward to....
We definitely recommend this type of experience to anyone who is up for it. Radically changing your life and pursuing one goal to succeed at "having fun and seeing the world" does have very positive effects on your life (in our opinion). It does wonders for experiencing interacting with different people as well as learning more about yourself.... As for the relationship with your chosen traveling companion? Well, we would confirm that "love doesn´t make the world go around, but it sure makes the ride worthwhile!".
Right then, on to bigger and better things! Watch this space for details of "RTW 2" when we conquer Africa, Eastern Europe, Central America and the Middle East....might not be for a while still, but dreams CAN come true, so don´t dismiss this one just yet. Anyway, we intend to write to you in a few weeks to let you know how we got on and maybe as a warning to our friends who are still traveling not to ever go home!? We will of course post up all our South American photos when we have them developed.
In the meantime, here some statistics about our trip that you may find interesting (excluding the first 3 months in Europe):
Number of countries visited: 14
Number of flights in total: 16.of which only ONE was delayed!!!
Number of cars rented: 3
Number of hours spent in a bus (South America only): 160 (felt like more!)
Longest amount of time without sleep: 60 hours
Rucksack weight at its worst: 28kgs each
Rolls of film taken: 55 (but there´s still tomorrow to go!)
Number of parcels sent home for safekeeping: 5
Number of friends or couples visited: 10
Number of postcards written: 65
Number of EXTRA luggage in kilos that we´re flying back with: 38
Number of days where it rained all day long: NONE! (o:
Number of skydives made: 2(plus 120 if we were to include the first three months).
Number of hotel keys we forgot to hand in on departure: 3 (doh!)
Number of books read: 2 (Chris), 30 (Emily)!
Pairs of glasses lost: 1 (Chris), 4 (Emily)
Number of times we got married: 1 (Chris and Emily) - see "India" updates for full story
Number of strangers we slept with: about 100! So much for the marriage.
There you go, that was our trip! We just wanted to write this update while we are still "on the road". Perhaps our perceptions will be different when we get home? We'll see....
Look forward to seeing you all very soon. Thanks for tuning in.
Over and out
Emily and Chris.