It is June 11, 2023 and we’ve landed back in Boston. Home sweet home. Here are our thoughts which are unwavering:
Q: Would you go again?
A: Tomorrow
Q: What are you most glad you did?
A: The Mass General travel protocol of vaccines and precautions; packing light.
Q: What did you miss most?
A: Our family, hands down, and that is really the only important thing in life
Q: What surprised you most?
A: That the three of us could coexist, inseparable, for 9 months with no issues
Q: Who won best traveler?
A: SAM. She absolutely was the perfect traveler.
Q: What did you not expect?
A: To find it so easy to just go place to place. 55 flights and only 1 delay. Very little ‘needed’ to be comfortable and happy. To love places like India and Vietnam so much.
Q: What made the trip easier?
A: American music is everywhere, along with Starbucks, Sephora and Zara. Strangely these sounds and stops made us feel grounded and never so far from home.
Q: How did you avoid getting sick?
A: Minus one major gut issue each (S and S from Ethiopia, K from Morocco), we stayed shockingly healthy. Zero covid, zero flu. S credits this to avoiding ice and unbottled water at all costs, and avoiding raw, unskined/wrapped vegetables and fruits. S also avoided most meats, given local practices around packaging and storing.
Q: What were your favorite places?
A: Everywhere. The only places we didnt need more time in were Peru and Ethiopia, and even these were amazing places to visit. Highlights were: Scandinavia, Patagonia, Hong Kong, Cape Town, New Zealand, Mumbai, Cambodia, Thailand, Morocco and of course we will never not jump at the chance to spend more time in Greece, London and Paris.
Q: What was most memorable?
A: Rooftop Restaurant in Singapore, Safari camps in Botswana, Torres del Pines Patagonia Chile, World Cup in Argentina, Milford Sound in New Zealand, the Great Barrier Reef, sailing in Greece, Northern India, the Moroccan desert, Bali, Angkor Wat, Hanoi, K’s speech in Ethiopia, and when we were able to spend time with family in London, Buenos Aires, Patagonia, Paris, South of France, Barcelona, Italy, Mediterranean cruise and Greece.
Q: What did you really need?
A: Two easy travel pants and a handful of tshirts, a great ‘layer’ pullover and supportive travel shoes. A wrap/blanket, sunglasses and earphones. In other words, only the basics and surprisingly little of them.
Q: What do you never need to do again?
A: Sleep on a train in India or Vietnam or anywhere else unless it’s the Orient Express.
Q: What did you learn about yourselves?
A: That K is the best travel planner of all time. That there is always something amazing S must try to capture a picture of around every corner. That SAM is an intrepid traveler who can rattle off world history and geography like an encyclopedia thanks to K’s exceptional ‘home’ schooling. That SAM has a knack for finding the best restaurants. That this trio could make the most of any place on earth and enjoyed doing so as much as we did on September 8, 2022 as we did on June 10, 2023. That we would return feeling even more grateful for the experience, and ready to go again.
