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!

Today we learned about Balinese life and cooking. When I told my father the night before I was taking a cooking class his response was, "it's about bloody time!" We laughed and acknowledged something my family and Anna already know, that my skills in the kitchen are at best quite laughable. I've focused so much of my culinary career on achieving a professional level proficiency at eating and appreciating the food (mostly eating, my stomach does the appreciating) that I've never really taken the time to actually make any real food. Cereal with raisins I guess doesn't count. We  thought this class would help us learn more about cooking and give us an insight into how people truly live in Bali. The tour can be found here: www.greenkitchenbali.com.

We spent almost an hour at the market seeing how the locals shop for their basic goods in a village called Klungkung. From there we were taken to the village of "Sideman" (pronounced Seed-eh-man. Not like your apprentice or anything or sidekick on an adventure). This is a beautiful little village located more on the west side of Bali. It's in the hills with rice fields and mountains all around. It hosts family has a traditional family compound there. We got to meet the family! The compound sits on a good amount of land. I'd say at least an acre in size. It's really cool when walking in. You walk into a courtyard area and are surrounded by a number of different buildings. Many buildings here aren't exactly fully enclosed, which makes sense due to the weather here. We learned that the family temple sits in the NE part of the compound. By comparison, the bathroom is in the SW so it's to be in the opposite. Coming from Calgary we've taken the complete opposite approach on that one. We put all our richest residences in the bathroom. The Occupy Protesters would love that little twist. The kitchen is on the North side and dwellings east and south.

From the compound we had to start working. Say what? I pay for the chance to work? What's this?! A bad internship?! It's okay. Turns out we get fed the fruits of our spoils later. Yum! We all got our rice hats and had to venture out into the fields. Walking through the rice fields was very interesting and fun. The paths are very thin and there's water everywhere, so slipping would've resulted in water, uckiness, and mosquitos planning a new field trip to your exposed body parts for a feast. Turns out we had to pick our spices and ingredients for much of what were going to eat. We picked tapioca, peanuts, magical leaves that heal bug bites, leaves that smelled like lemons, but weren't. As you can see I forgot a lot of the names. I can say I've never eaten fresh peanuts from the ground before, man were they good!  It was like  walking in a painting being in the fields. The cows are kept in little luxury dwellings where they are all grass fed. These are nice cows, easily beauty pageant material.

From the field we hiked  up to the large kitchen. It was setup on top of a hill surrounded by trees with really nice views. The family helped us prepare all the food. Tis is where we learned all the recipes for the food we made. It was vey educational! Not only did it show us how to make Balinese food, but it also showed us a lot about how they prepare and cook food. This is as living off the land as you can get. From what we were told. The coffee came from his sister, the fish came from either  neighbor or friend, they have their own chickens and cows, and the veggies and rice they grow themselves in the fields we were in. We prepared the food the old fashioned way with their home made cooking tools. The pots, bowls, and all the implements are home made from wood or coconut. The stove is a real brick and wood fired stove. The food we made was the best we've had since we arrived in Bali.

I tried to help him pick some lychee fruit from the tree. We got there and I realizes there are two obstacles.

1. The fruits don't grow on the lower part of the tree. They're high up. Either you hire a professional monkey from the monkey forest and pay him in bananas  or you do it yourself. Our guide lived and grew up on this land, so he climbed to retrieve the fruits. I wasn't looking when he passed them to me so I got a bushel on the head thrown at me from 5 meters up.
2. The other challenge was the amount of spider webs on the way up. I guess bugs love being around these fruits, so the spiders jumped all over it and have a little commune to themselves. The higher up he climbed, the bigger the spiders got.

We had G.I. Joe & Transformers as kids, they had large spiders & lizards. We decided to ask the guide "Are today's Balinese children growing up with the same knowledge of living off the land as his generation? "No" he answered. "All they want is PS3". I guess this is the sort of thing that won't be around forever. If you're interested now's the time to get into it.

Now we will be going to Singapore for 4 days. The opposite of Bali in almost every way. Back to the concrete jungle vs. the forest.

Monkeys? Massages? Roosters? Oh my! Tis is our second week of our stay here in Ubud. We have a lot more activity this week compared to last week. We've done a few more activities this week that will  are up blog more interesting. Now that we're settled into Ubud we've had a chance to sample more the local restaurants, learn more about where we're staying, and see some more of the local wild life. Lets get into it.

Relaxation with Bugs

We've been taking it pretty easy, as we planned and expected. Having activities every day gets very weary after a while and expensive. Since we like our resort a lot we decided to negotiate a better rate for a longer stay, and we got it, so here we are with all the insects, frogs, and birds I mentioned last week, as well as a few new guests we met this week. One of them is the insect that chirps every morning for us nice and loud in the trees. We thought they're some type of cricket until we did a little research, after having a chance meeting with one of them. Let me say after hearing him yell and seeing him, I preferred them in the trees instead of the restaurant. It's called a Cicada and its about the size of your thumb with a wingspan that is about as wide as a small hand. Here's a link to learn all about it.


They're generally very benign. When chirping together as a group, it's nice. When one chirps all alone, it's not too different from nails on the chalk board. It can be startling if you're not used to it. Another guest who checked in was a spider. He made his way into our room. They're not to be feared, after all, we had a gecko named Fred stay with us for a bit. He was a squatter, but took care of the small bugs so at least he earned his keep. This spider probably could've eaten Fred. It was about as big as Anna's hand. When the hotel caught him he looked like a bad kid being dragged by his ear to the principal's the way he tried to explain himself. He didn't take it well and now spidey's older brother (he never gave his name) is watching our room from cross the courtyard. He's about the size of MY hand and is staking us out. I think he's watching us waiting to make his move.

Farmer's Market

We did spend some time at the farmers market this week. We had a few items we wanted to get from here before leaving and now that we've scoped out the layout of the market went in prepared. The market is densely packed. People are always nice, even when pushing you to buy their stuff, and push they do! Everything is negotiable and watching Anna negotiate is plainly a scary experience. Rule  #1, never say a word when Anna is negotiating. It will result in as she says "raising her prices". When she looks at me during a negotiation I just stare back and start to sweat. What surprises me is it works! We ended up paying less than half the vendors asking price most of the time. 

Monkeys!!

We visited the monkey forest! It! Was! AWESOME! I now LOVE monkeys and hope to have one some day. I know I never really can, but I'd love to think its possible. These monkeys are in their natural habitat in the monkey forest and sanctuary. They're used to humans, but are unpredictable, so never let them bite you, or it's off to the hospital. Other than that, they're ADORABLE! Once inside, they're also everywhere. If you have a banana in your pocket, they will know it and never leave you alone. One lady was playing dumb when some monkeys were tailing her (get it? tailing her? never mind). When asked by staff she copped to having a banana in her pocket. They're furry, fluffy, and very family oriented. They will walk around you and let you take their photo. They have the most adorable little mustaches and definitely take care of one another. They also have a very open and undiscriminating sex drive. Basically the big male (I named him Mr. Wrinkles Butt) lifts the tail, inspects the "anus", if it passes a cursory circular finger motion, he's in. Witnesses are not an issue, and maybe they're welcome, I really don't know, but he took rejection so well he only took seconds to recover and try again.

Cultural Dance

We attended the Legong & Barong cultural dance recital. This is a form of dance and theater that dates back over 1000 years based in Hindu Culture. This is a must see and something we've never experienced before. We arrived a little early to get a nice seat. Naturally, there's little old ladies who try very hard to sell you beer and snacks. Say no all you want, she will eventually get you to say yes. The orchestral is setup with all Asian instruments that I've never seen before. This is a story from ancient Hindu mythology regarding a princess, chasing away birds, two brothers who want to invade Heaven, Nymphs, magical creatures, and of course…MONKEYS! The dancers started and their movements were very striking. They make hand movements that makes them look double jointed and very much like marionettes. It's pretty cool, but the weird factor gets upped substantially when you factor their eyes into it. They move their eyes to the music and the movements are quite mechanical looking. Anna and I'm sure many others found it kind of creepy looking. It was very cool to watch and it takes incredible skill to perform. I didn't know people could move that way. The instruments are mostly brass based and will be ringing in your head long after the performance finishes. Well worth it thought. You will not see this kind of this anywhere else. It gave us a really good look at Balinese folklore. 

Rainy Season

The rain has been heavy the past few days. When it rains, it pours. We learnt that rainy season isn't just a monicker they use. It rains like crazy around here at this time of year. The gutters and sidewalks aren't exactly low. Some of them are almost 15cm  deep and they flooded over. It looked like there were waterfalls on the sides of the roads in some places. Rainy season is taken seriously here. I will admit that in the setting of the greenery here it is quite beautiful and peaceful to watch.





Getting into the groove of Bali is proving to be relaxing and good for the soul. Next week we will be getting into it even further. We will be learning about traditional Balinese cooking and visiting a village and organic farm. Happy travels!

Ubud, the cultural capital of Bali. Tis is where all the artisans reside. The painters, the wood carvers, the metal sculptures. If you're looking to really experience the local culture and get closer to the people of Bali without totally leaving your western roots behind, than Ubud is the perfect place to be. If you're looking for arts and crafts and souvenirs for home, than this is the place to go. Prices are much cheaper than Nusa Dua and Kuta for both food and accommodations. We decided this is where we're going to spend some serious time here in Bali. It's much more relaxing with a great diversity of all kinds of people if all ages from many different countries. I don't think the singles scene here is very strong, but I haven't been paying too much attention.  

We checked in at the Beji hotel in and basically got a room that has a view of the ravine into the jungle. The hotel has 5 Infiniti pools and one is right by our door. Our view is all trees, lizards, birds, and really big bugs! Our first night here we were a little nervous when they (the bugs) threw a huge dance party right on our patio that night. Swirling around the bulb over our patio like it was a disco ball in a drunken stupor of light and heat. The big beetle who was literally 10 times their size was the bouncer of course. They even invited about half a dozen geckos as well. Naturally, army ants outnumbered all the other bugs, but are so serious all the time. Even the beetle was having fun swirling and all. The hotel is on the side of a ravine and has little villa apartments and lots of steps to get anything from anywhere. Imagine a split level home times a hundred. We're basically living along side of nature in a very unintrusive way. The whole hotel is very green and full of trees and incredible jungle life.  At night they have beautiful lamps lit up in different colours and lights on all the trees as well. It's very cool both day and night. The difference is that at night, the bugs come out a lot more to go partying. The good news is that they're very polite bugs. If you wear tropical strength bug repellant its just like putting up a  DO NOT DISTURB sign on you. Oh! And frogs. They come out at night too. They croak and sit on the side of the swimming pool by the diving board. For families there are these incredible looking villas that are small two story homes. They look like small cabins. They're in a courtyard (one of my dreams) with fountains and pools and one of them has.....suspense....,,wait for it......a mote! I've always wanted mote and was told it wasn't possible and too expensive, blah blah blah. I found one! I'm NOT taking no for an answer anymore!!

Walking around we found a bunch of little places that are both very charming serve very good food. A lot of them have full main course plates for roughly $2-$3. Fruit is definitely something you should drink here, it's fresh! Our first day we decided to get massages at the local spa. I'd say definitely get massages in Bali. One thing the balanese take very seriously is there tolerance of other faiths and beliefs, their love of nature, their art, and their massages and spas. There's a spa in EVERY BLOCK! The hotel spa was a little pricey, but at $15 for a 60 minute massage, we couldn't say no. Anna and I signed up for that right on day one! I added a spice bath and almost fell asleep in the spa. I know, worse  things could happen. I got hair cut and at the end they gave me a small neck and scalp massage, at the barber shop!

Walking around Ubud we noticed a lot of farm activity and locals hanging out around here. It's not uncommon to see chickens and roosters on the side of the road walking the side walk with you. Roosters are beautiful, but bloody aggressive! Ubud is like the Kung fu capital for fighting roosters. The roosters here all have black belts and ninja weapons for their cock fights. I just give them a wide berth. If there's ever a dispute, they'll side with the rooster. 

Ubud market is a huge and densely packed farmers market with many arts and crafts to choose from. You can get anything you can imagine. Decided to walk around and get a feel for the town before committing to any vendor or activity. I'm glad we did, there is so much to choose from. The painters here are very talented. It was also somewhere in the mid thirties for temperature that day and we walked under for about six hours and I think got heat stroke. We had red faces and head aches. Rain was a welcome site after that.  We decided that this is the place to settle and do almost nothing. We're doing just that and with style! 

We have plans to visit the monkey forest and delving into other activities, but for now, sleeeeep.

Surf's up dudes! This! Is! Kutaaaaa!!!! I've always wanted to do that. Kuta has many similarities to the movie 300. The biggest similarity is that almost all the guys here surf all the time and have six packs and tans. This week we stayed at The Stones. It's a beautiful 5 star hotel on the main strip. After I got over my inadequacy issues we decided to walk around for a bit. Kuta is the main tourist attraction here in Bali, especially for surfers. This is where the surfers come and surf. The main road in Kuta runs along the beach and is a few kilometers long. Most of the major hotels and shopping malls are all along this main strip. Naturally, it's very crowded most of the time. Good news is it has all the comforts of western living. In some cases those comforts might even be a little less expensive than at home. In many cases, it will cost more. Lucky for us, places like Dominos and Burger King (which Australians know as Hungry Jack's) were actually much cheaper than Canada. Lots of young energy here. Enough to make any 25 year old feel like hitting up a retirement home. Also seems to be a lot of money here. Some seriously high end shops here, as well as high end hotels. The Stones where we're staying has a display case for cars with a Ferrari F430 convertible, Porche Panamera,  Masarati Quattroporte, and 2 Rolls Royces! They're not for sale, just there to show off a bit.

We did some relaxing in the phenomenal pool that this place has. We couldn't help but to take full advantage of it. It's large, and cool, and with most of the rooms empty, it was ours! We tanned and swam for a few more days. We also ate the biggest breakfasts. The best breakfast buffet I've ever had. We could eat western breakfast, or even Asian breakfast, which looks like Asian lunch and dinner, but with an egg on top, sometimes. At the bar there's a noodle station, which I'm not used to for…..breakfast.

We walked the strip a little bit and found ourselves loving this one mall about 10 minutes walk from our hotel. The beach we didn't love as much as it was dirty and only surfers with six packs were using it. Literally no one was even trying to swim, just surf. As a result we did other stuff. We went to the cool mall down the street. It's very interesting how climate affects architecture. Most of the mall is open air so you can view the stars from most of it. We ended up watching a movie here in some of the comfiest seats we've seen in a movie theater. The shopping is very good and there's about 100 food places in here to get food from. Further down the strip there's the Hard Rock Hotel. We may still go back there.

We explored the more off beat streets as well. Lots of little places, tattoo shops, wooden penises for sale, tours, clothing that neither Anna or I could ever dream of fitting in, and lots of DVD's of movies that are already in the theaters. Imagine somebody coughing behind their cell phone camera in a theater for 2 hours and you can pick that DVD up if you like. There's lots of food places as well, but in Kuta it's all expensive, no matter how it looks.

We did take a couple of tours while we were here. One was to see some temples. We visited the temples of Taman Ayun, Tanah Lot, and Uluwatu. 2 of those temples were on cliffs about 100' above the ocean. Beautiful. The Tanah Lot was in the city with lots cool architecture and loads of Dragonflies. It was a very nice temple with 2 resident cats living there. Uluwatu is a popular one with some little furry residence there as well. Monkeys! I love those little guys! They are very cute and look very wise due to their little beards and moustaches. So cute! All of these temples are over 1000 years old.

We also did some snorkeling. They took us out to a spot and we snorkeled. Given there were around 10 other boats doing the same thing we never got to see much from all the sand in the water and the boats scaring them away. That day we visited the beach from Eat Pray Love, and visited a Turtle Farm. Those turtles are very cute and beautiful. They're also very large. I had a particularly nice connection with the local snake and bats! The day ended with a lovely seafood dinner on the beach on Jimbaran Bay overlooking the sunset.

Kuta is a nice place with lots of hustle and bustle. Now it's time we settle down and head to Bali's cultural capital, Ubud. See you than!