Montreal, PQ
August 4, 2009
In the end I arrived home on the morning of May 5th to warm reunions and loving arms. I was very glad to be home.
In the end I traveled for 110 days, through six countries. I'd spent in excess of 200 hours on board buses that brought me over the Andes from Chile to Argentina then back over the Andes from Uruguay to Paraguay, Bolivia and Peru.
In the end I chalked up countries #92, 93, 94, 95 and 96. And, yes, I do count.
In the end I spent $2,943.22 on accommodations for an average of $26.76 night, which included a five week stay in a fully furnished one bedroom apartment in an upscale neighborhood of Buenos Aires.
In the end I spent $2,406.58 on transportation for an average of $21.88 a day. This included the return flight from Montreal to South America, my flight to Easter Island, two internal flights and too-numerous-to-count buses, trains, taxis, metros and boats.
In the end I returned home with the equivalent of a month's salary in my checkbook, which just goes to show that travel doesn't have to cost and arm and a leg.
In the end I lost 15 pounds, all of which I've put back on.
In the end, despite the dire warnings of well-meaning people (OMG. You're going THERE? They kill you THERE. Be careful, Dan. I've read stories about THERE. It's very dangerous THERE.), I never had a single negative encounter. Oh, sure, there were a few jerks, but they're everywhere. When people try to remind me how dangerous it is to travel, I remind them that the only time I was ever robbed was in my own state, in my own country,and the only time I was ever physically accosted was in Canada.
In the end I did meet heaps of people, as I said I would at the opening of this blog. Our lives would interse
ct for a bus ride, a shared experience, a meal. People like Seth of Sacramento, a lawyer, who finally took his firm's offer of a six week sabbatical and who was spending two weeks in South America, two weeks in South Africa and two weeks in Israel. Or James and Jo and their two children who were spending the winter on Easter Island. Or, of Miki of Tokyo, who was in her 13th month traveling solo around the world at 20 and who spoke nothing but Japanese when she left home. Or Dan and Carla of North Carolina who, with their two children, sold everything, bought a boat, and were sailing, slowly, around the world. No sooner did we meet then we'd disperse, and in the end these people scattered to every continent on the globe
In the end I was exhausted and had reached that point in long trip where I just didn't care any more. I'd seen too much and was overstimulated. In the end it was time to go home.
In the end, no matter how far we travel, it is, cartographically, not much more than a sinuous scribble on a the map, a ribbon of road traveled. Despite what people say, it's not really a small world, especially when seen from the seat of a bus.
In the end, no matter how tired I was, I began plotting my next big get-away even before I'd gotten home. In the end, there are still four more countries to notch on the belt before I see #100. And I can tell you right now it won't be over at that point. I'm still just warming up.
In the end I was very glad to be home.
August 4, 2009
In the end I arrived home on the morning of May 5th to warm reunions and loving arms. I was very glad to be home.
In the end I traveled for 110 days, through six countries. I'd spent in excess of 200 hours on board buses that brought me over the Andes from Chile to Argentina then back over the Andes from Uruguay to Paraguay, Bolivia and Peru.
In the end I chalked up countries #92, 93, 94, 95 and 96. And, yes, I do count.
In the end I spent $2,943.22 on accommodations for an average of $26.76 night, which included a five week stay in a fully furnished one bedroom apartment in an upscale neighborhood of Buenos Aires.
In the end I spent $2,406.58 on transportation for an average of $21.88 a day. This included the return flight from Montreal to South America, my flight to Easter Island, two internal flights and too-numerous-to-count buses, trains, taxis, metros and boats.
In the end I returned home with the equivalent of a month's salary in my checkbook, which just goes to show that travel doesn't have to cost and arm and a leg.
In the end I lost 15 pounds, all of which I've put back on.
In the end, despite the dire warnings of well-meaning people (OMG. You're going THERE? They kill you THERE. Be careful, Dan. I've read stories about THERE. It's very dangerous THERE.), I never had a single negative encounter. Oh, sure, there were a few jerks, but they're everywhere. When people try to remind me how dangerous it is to travel, I remind them that the only time I was ever robbed was in my own state, in my own country,and the only time I was ever physically accosted was in Canada.
In the end I did meet heaps of people, as I said I would at the opening of this blog. Our lives would interse
ct for a bus ride, a shared experience, a meal. People like Seth of Sacramento, a lawyer, who finally took his firm's offer of a six week sabbatical and who was spending two weeks in South America, two weeks in South Africa and two weeks in Israel. Or James and Jo and their two children who were spending the winter on Easter Island. Or, of Miki of Tokyo, who was in her 13th month traveling solo around the world at 20 and who spoke nothing but Japanese when she left home. Or Dan and Carla of North Carolina who, with their two children, sold everything, bought a boat, and were sailing, slowly, around the world. No sooner did we meet then we'd disperse, and in the end these people scattered to every continent on the globeIn the end I was exhausted and had reached that point in long trip where I just didn't care any more. I'd seen too much and was overstimulated. In the end it was time to go home.
In the end, no matter how far we travel, it is, cartographically, not much more than a sinuous scribble on a the map, a ribbon of road traveled. Despite what people say, it's not really a small world, especially when seen from the seat of a bus.
In the end, no matter how tired I was, I began plotting my next big get-away even before I'd gotten home. In the end, there are still four more countries to notch on the belt before I see #100. And I can tell you right now it won't be over at that point. I'm still just warming up.
In the end I was very glad to be home.
No comments:
Post a Comment