In the last 8 months we have lived a life that we never thought we would, here are some facts.

To travel around the world it took us 20 plane rides (16 hours being the longest ride and 45 minutes being the shortest ride), 7 ferry/boat rides, 7 overnight/day trains, 4 long haul busses, 2 car rentals, and 2 campervans, (sorry EMU didn't mean to kill you).

We visited 4 continents, 11 countries,  and 34+ cities and slept on 48 different beds.

We had one big suitcase, small carry on, day pack and a purse for two people for 8 months.

I think it's safe to say, we adapted quickly and without hesitation.

How do you write the end to a journey that you can't summarize or explain. The only thing that lingers are the memories engrained forever.

I began thinking of a trip similar to this a while back, when I was broke and google by my side. It was only supposed to be a volunteer trip in Asia and by myself. Then I dreamt bigger and bigger and said why not? You live once? I have been saving for 5 years it was time for us to spend some money and run away from the stressful life.

That early morning on January 1st, 2013 our great friends Jason and Ashley drove us to the airport. All we had was a one way ticket to Melbourne and a hotel for 6 nights. With faint lines on what countries we wanted to visit. The rest came along on a day by day, week by week and even sometimes a month by month.

This trip changed us, in ways we weren't expecting. Our eyes opened to things we didn't know. It's impossible to say what was the favourite place, or the favourite part. The shitty days were just as important as the amazing ones. But if I were to choose a few places that I would come back to for sure it would be:

1. Chiang Mai, Thailand
2. Rothenberg, Germany
3. Prague, Czech
4. Singapore, Singapore
5. Great Ocean Road, Australia.

I could go on forever writing on this experience, but I want to keep it short and sweet, besides Ali already explained some great things.

I don't have any regrets about any places we went to. I miss it everyday and euphoria has not come off just yet, and I am hoping it will never come off. This trip gave me a travel bug the size of Russia, making me hungry for more. So stay tuned as this blog will be updated as another trip of our lifetime begins. But do give us some time, as the money needs to be replenished first.

Thank you all for reading, we enjoyed seeing our page views get higher and higher.

Anna <3

PS. Couldn't end this one without pictures!

Here is my selection of one favourite picture from every single country we visited (idea suggested by my travelling friend Elise).

12 Apostles, Great Ocean Road, Australia - January 2013 It was a windy day, and about 1000 people, but that couldn't take away the beauty of this place.

Matamata, Hobbiton, New Zealand - January 2013 It was a super warm and sunny day, we were with a group of 20 and our guide was absolutely hilarious.

Monkey Forest, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia - February 2013 It was a steamy hot day, we were surrounded by 100s of monkeys who terrified me.

Orchid Garden in the Botanical Gardens, Singapore, Singapore - February 2013 It was so hot my camera kept pausing from overheating, the mutant orchids were breathtaking.

Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - March 2013 It was a hot summer day, where the heat off the metal towers were felt, this tower made you feel tiny.

Elephant Sanctuary, Chiang Mai, Thailand - May 2013 This explains the moment when an elephant gets so happy and excited to have a bath, we bathed a few ourselves.



Café in Rothernburg o.d.t, Germany - June 2013 An awful freezing wet day but the beautiful little café was enough to get us excited.

Gothic Church, Vienna, Austria - June 2013 The way the sun streamed through the stained glass made me speechless.

Astronomy Clock, Prague, Czech - June 2013 The most unique clock I had ever seen. The detail in that is incredible.

Castle Region, Budapest, Hungary - June 2013 The horse and rider as one.

Cherhoness, Sevastopol, Ukraine - July 2013 The ruins that made me feel uber young, with the cold black sea.

All pictures were taken by me! (C) Anna B!! Don't steal, or I will use my genius skills to find you :)

Trying to summarize a trip like this is a daunting task. There were so many memories
that I can recall and so many more that I need to review all the blogs just to trigger. This
was by far the most amazing experience of my life and it wouldn't have even happened
if it wasn't for Anna, so a big shout goes out to her for that. The challenges of our trip
are recalled just as fondly to me as the joys if it. The intense heat of Malaysia and
Singapore; the overnight trains in Thailand; the crash in Wellington that claimed the life
of "Nathan The Emu" and the resulting events that it triggered. Almost every expectation
we had about the places we were visiting were completely dashed, and this isn't said
lightly as we did a lot of research before hand on each country. One question I get
asked a lot is this, "what was your favorite place you visited?". As you can imagine, this
is not a simple question to answer. There were so many wonderful moments that I can't
think of one place that really grabbed me more than the others. I can say my experience
in Ukraine was quite singular in that I was welcomed with open arms to the Anna's
clan and all the kindness and food that came with it had a huge impact on me.  Since
each place and experience that went with it was unique it’s tough for me to pick one
over the other.

What I will offer is a list of the 10 that stand out for me in no particular
order.

• Thailand
• Singapore
• Rothenburg OBT
• Vienna
• Prague
• Bali
• Great Ocean Road
• Hobbiton
• Kuala Lumpur
• Melbourne

I’d go back to any of these places in a heartbeat! The one thing I can tell you is that
in all of the places we went we experienced many different religions from western
christianity to eastern buddhism to islam. All the places in the world are changing and
developing. The impact on me was astounding to see that my outdated perceptions
were completely wrong. It was a good thing to know that even though many places have
their old traditions, they are also embracing the new world as best they can. They all
love really good action movies and going out with friends and family and great food!
Standards of living were definitely not all equal, which made me very thankful I come
from Canada and quickly became very sympathetic to those who fight very hard to
come to Canada, United States, or any country that has a higher standard of living or
a middle class. Despite adversity in all these places we found the people were always
strong in spirit and happy for what they do have. No matter how little they had they were
always generous with food and accommodations.

Best country to drive in was definitely Germany. They have the best road system I
have ever seen. No traffic hangups. Lights for everyone from cyclists to pedestrians,
and great drivers who NEVER clog the left lane! The most beautiful and challenging
was New Zealand. Australia has the Great Ocean Road, but New Zealand was pretty
everywhere. So many sheep, undulating hills, valleys, rivers, and mountains. It's really
breathtaking to see. New Zealand also has the worst drivers of all the countries we
drove in. Sorry guys. Insurance isn't compulsory and the age of full licensing is very low.
Best country of nature exploration is Australia. It has the most unique ecosystem in the
world, and so many beautiful places to explore. We find ourselves constantly stopping
at the side of the road to explore trails, observe animals, and just enjoy the natural
beauty of it all.

Best country for sitting on a patio and having a coffee would be Vienna, with Germany
as a close second. Cafes are always full of people and the streets are always lively and
fun to observe. Germany was similar, but Vienna had a certain liveliness to it that was
hard to match. The sheer amount of places to see, festivals to experience, and cultural
activities happening at any given time are mind boggling. It makes Toronto look like the
North Pole in the middle of summer! We found some of the best parts of Vienna were
free to explore and enjoy. The only downside against it was that it was one of the most
expensive places to have a coffee as well.

Best place to eat besides with Anna's family on Datcha is Chiang Mai, Thailand. Why?
It's cheap and the curries are amazing! I couldn't get enough of them. So many varieties
and all of them taste incredible. We were rarely disappointed. Now this doesn't apply in
Bangkok or the islands. Chiang Mai spoiled us considerably. Behind Thailand, I'd say
Germany. Such high quality food and not nearly as expensive as you might expect. If
you hit up a grocery store you'll save a tonne while enjoying some great food.

Best place to appreciate modern architecture was Singapore. Europe has a lot of old
architecture, which is absolutely beautiful, but Singapore is the most forward looking
place of all we've been. Modern, unique, and very ambitious in all respects. Everything
from the Marina Bay Sands hotel to the airport to the alien trees are all statements of
innovation and creativity. Easy to get lost in it all. The city is special in that it offers so
much both during the day and in the evenings. The architecture takes on a whole other
life when the sun goes down as well.

Friendliest people: This one is very difficult. It is a tie between New Zealand and Bali.
The people of Bali are very spiritual and open. They always greet you with a smile and
are have overcome great adversity without affecting their beliefs and way of life. It is not
uncommon to end up in someone's dining room for dinner. New Zealanders were also
exceedingly friendly. There were times we needed help and they bent over backwards
to help us, many times at great expense to themselves. They really go out of their way
to be friendly. They're proud and outgoing, but not arrogant.

I can say we definitely learned a lot from our travels. Having seen all the countries we
have truly impacted how we see the world today. There is much beauty in the world and
diversity that you can't imagine until you see it for yourself. We're very lucky we live in a
time and in a country where we have access to travel and accommodations around the
world for relatively little money. In the past only the wealthy travelled, but today almost
anyone can, and should. Let yourself get lost in it and you'll see, like we did, that the
world and people in it are not nearly as different as you think. In fact, those differences
are fading with each passing day. One thing I've learned, is that I have a lot to learn.

Thank you all for following our blogs over the past year. I hope this isn't the last trip of
our lifetime that we take.

Stay tuned for Anna's last words
Ali

PS. Enjoy ...FOOD!

Koh Samui! Sun! Ocean! Koh Tao!

How can you take a vacation from your current 5 months vacation? I guess there is a first for everything.

We have been craving a beach with sun and no rain for a couple months, and boy did we get what we asked for.

Welcome to Koh Samui and Koh Tao, the two islands we selected out of hundreds to visit. Each island offers white sand beaches, azure colored waters, and all kinds of activities. We found that both these islands, despite being geographically similar, couldn't be more different in personality. It's like having two siblings of the same family. One is shy and one outgoing. One polite and one quite cheeky.

Koh Samui

We arrived by plane and saw that we have really just landed on an island by their cutest airport, with a wooden hut in tow.  The very expensive taxi ride for 5 minutes, showed us how cheeky this island was. It was nothing like Chiang Mai, it was an island with attitude. With trucks that drive around the main road with huge billboards but even bigger speakers in the back blasting music and trying to get attention for Muay Thai fight to Sexy wet t-shirt contests.

As we absorbed the new atmosphere we created a routine for the island; breakfast on the beach in our cute little beach huts; sun bathe by the pool; swim in said pool; read; move to the beach; read; swim in the hottest, shallowest ocean; sun bathe on the beach; out for dinner; and REPEAT! Life was hard, as anyone can imagine.

The one huge thing we noticed was we were no longer in our amazingly cheap Chiang Mai, we were on an island in the middle of no where and everything was now expensive. Our dinner budgets skyrocketed, thank god for the tiny thai restaurants we found hidden away like the rarest gems. Which gave us a perfect spot for people watching like every other Australian shirtless guys ironically always searching for shirts.

Only activity we participated in that involved any real effort (remember, the routine) was kayaking. We took out a kayak out into the water and realized quickly kayaks don't move as fast as they do on tv. We kayaked out to the middle island which is covered completely in coral rock. I don’t know if you call it cheating, when you kayak but the water depth is never higher than your waist or sometimes a person would swim by. Still a conundrum. None the less this was a great way to end our stay in the cheeky island of Koh Samui.

Koh Tao

Arriving only on one of the few ferries to the island, we knew this was a whole different sibling of Koh Samui. Getting off the ferry to follow the sign with Anna's name on it, made us feel like royalty. Until our taxi ride was about 2 minutes, and the hotel was a 5 minute walk from the pier. Koh Tao, was something amazing, like a tiny island, with a village and everyone bent out of shape for diving. Dive shops/hotels/huts everywhere you got. Very few paved roads, mostly only small mopeds and people walking everywhere. We knew right away we were in love. The island has a small town feel and a bustling night life with restaurants all over the beach.

The island was largely uninhabited save for a few fisherman. It only became a resort around the 1980's when travellers started showing up in increasing numbers. It's still a diving mecca, but that's slowly changing as older tourists started returning with their families. Many tourists come here mostly from Europe to dive, rock climb, and snorkel. The whole island is 21 square kilometers.

We resumed our said routine up top, but added a few adventurous walks, exploration of the island and a full day trip swimming with the fishes. The snorkeling trip was an amazing decision we made, it was on a long boat, with lots of people. They wizzed us around and dropped us off for a snorkeling heaven, made us forget the awful time we had in Bali trying to achieve the same outcome. It was a full day event, and boating around the whole island was amazing, we even stopped on an even more remote island called Koh Nangyuan, apparently one of the most beautiful islands in the world. They were right, it was the tiniest and the most beautiful island.

As our time is ending, we are really sadden by this, but than we realize its Bangkok time only followed by a whole new introduction to EUROPE! Helllllllo Germany, we can't wait.

~Anna