Kelly and I totally slacked on the blog the last few months of our trip and never wrote about our time in Europe.  One of our favorite weeks in Spain was spent in San Sebastian, where we met and shared a hostel dorm room with Aussies Tessa and Phil.  After late nights of drinking, world cup watching, and sand angel making, we became friends.

Not only was I lucky enough to meet up with Tessa again while I was in Melbourne this past September, but Phil and one of his college buddies, Tom, were doing a U.S. road trip in December and decided to spend five days with Kelly and me in Austin over New Year’s.

Our Austin adventures consisted of the following:

-City Bike Tour (with Kelly as guide), Chris Robinson sighting included

-Two-Steppin’ at the Broken Spoke

-Lunch at Salt Lick

-Zilker Park Chillin’

-House Party where gumbo was consumed and Tom accidently hit on an Englishman

-80’s night at Highball

-Beers and Pool at Horseshoe Lounge, jokes courtesy of Dixie the Awesome Bartender

-Visit to Mount Bonnell

-Proper dose of Tex-Mex at Maudie’s, Sazon, and Polvo’s

-Western wear shoppin’ at Cavender’s

-Gary Clark Jr. at Antones for NYE

-Long walk home from Antone’s due to the bus not showing up and no taxis stopping to pick up our drunk asses

-Cabbage, black-eyed peas, champagne, and movie recovery New Year’s Day.  The boys even made us a delicious Aussie dessert: sticky date pudding!

-Greenbelt Hiking

-Sunset Drinks at the Oasis

-Rainey Street beverages followed by a late night game of Flip Cup

-Several hangovers

It was a fantastic time – our own mini ‘Staycation’.  I’m fully aware of Austin’s awesomeness, but thoroughly enjoyed being reminded of it by showing the city to Tom and Phil and seeing it through their eyes.  Kelly, my roomie Jill, and I pretty much laughed our asses off for 5 days straight – a kick-ass way to start the new year!

The gang at Mount Bonnell

This past week, my coworker Max left Austin to go backpack around South America for 6+ months. When he told me he was leaving to do this, I was overcome with jealousy.  Although my job gives me the opportunity to travel internationally, there’s nothing like the sense of absolute freedom and adventure that long-term travel gives you.  I’ve realized that traveling for extended periods of time will never be off the table for me…it’s not really a matter of IF as much as WHEN I’ll set out on the next journey.

Until that day comes, I’ll have to live vicariously through Max and others like him.  You can follow Max’s adventures here: http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/levity03/

Good luck buddy!  I hate, errr, I mean LOVE you.

Kelly and I met some amazing people during our travels who we still keep in touch with – Doug, Marianne, the Jeffs, Meghan, Tessa, Phil, and Luke being some of our faves and we all promised to visit each other in our respective countries.   So several months ago when Luke and I tossed around the idea of me coming to visit him in Australia, instead of thinking ‘yeah right, that’s crazy’, I thought why the hell not?!  I had received a large tax refund that I wasn’t expecting and instead of buying a computer and a new cell phone or some other ‘practical’ item, maybe I should take a kick-ass vacation.   Maybe after my break-up with M, I needed to do something a little irrational.   So I said fuck it and bought a plane ticket to Melbourne.  I’m tired of just talking about things I’d like to do and want to actually DO them.

Luke and his other 5 roommates were kind enough to let me crash with them for the duration of my stay, which gave me the opportunity to be immersed in Aussie ‘culture’.  Basically, they are all crazy (in a fun, obnoxious way).  My first couple of days in OZ I spent recovering from jet-lag.  I slept in, took a train into downtown, checked out Federation Square, the ACMI museum, walked along the river AND got to reconnect with Tessa, whom Kelly and I met in Spain.  We met in Fed Square and had a hard time recognizing one another since we had on make-up, had done our hair, and had on normal clothes…we were only used to what we looked like as grubby backpackers!   It was so great to reconnect with her.  She gave me a walking tour of downtown Melbourne, took me to the Queen Victoria market to buy souvenirs, and showed me the ‘footy’ stadium where all of the AFL (Australian Football League…much different than American football) games take place.  Victoria peeps are nuts about their teams!!

Along the river

Tessa and me!

Me in front of the footy stadium

That weekend, I went to the Park Life music festival downtown with Luke and crew.  We all dressed as cyclists, which seems somewhat ridiculous, but ended up being an awesome idea…very easy to find one another in our neon jackets.   Saw some bands, drank too much, and acted like fools…overall, a super fun day!

On Monday, Luke and I departed for Alice Springs to begin our tour of Ayres Rock (Uluru), the iconic sandstone rock formation in the middle of the Northern Territory.   I was very excited about this, since Kelly and I were only able to see the east coast when we were in OZ the previous year and I was pretty bummed I didn’t get to see Uluru.  To be honest, Alice Springs is in the middle of NOWHERE and is sort of a hole.  We strolled around town, met a 69 year old Dutch woman traveling the world by train in 80 days (so inspiring!), took a nap, ate dinner, and had an early night.   I think we were both still recovering from the debauchery of the weekend.

After a 5 hour drive the next morning, we made it to our campsite near Ayres Rock.  The plan was to hike the ‘Valley of the Winds’ trail, but due to the high heat, the trail was closed.  Instead we did a couple of short hikes around the Olgas (another group of rock formations) and headed over to Uluru for sunset.  As all of my faithful readers know, weather never seems to cooperate with my travel/site seeing plans.  It was very cloudy that evening so the dramatic color changes of the rock that I had hoped to witness didn’t happen.   Still very pretty though.

Walking through the Olgas

Luke and me in front of Uluru at sunset

The next morning was one of my favorite days of the trip.  We woke up early as hell in the morning to make it to Uluru and walk around the base of the rock during sunrise.  Luke and I were able to separate ourselves from the rest of the tour group, which was nice.  The weather was perfect, the sunrise beautiful and the rock itself was incredible.  It’s fricken massive and the colors are amazing…almost like it’s GLOWING.  Honestly, it’s mind-boggling that this giant rock is sitting in the middle of completely flat terrain for hundreds of miles.   Luke and I discussed climbing the rock, but decided against it, as it’s sacred to the Anangu, the Aboriginal people in the area.  They prefer you don’t trample all over their special mountain.  OK, fine.  The climbing trail ended up being closed due to the wind anyway, but honestly I wouldn’t have wanted to climb it either way…the ‘trail’ is basically a chain that you cling to up a steep ass mountain…it looked terrifying.  People die doing this every year…no thanks.

Sunrise

On our walk. Shadows are fun!

Uluru

That afternoon our tour group was supposed to drive another 4 hours to hike King’s Canyon the next day (supposed to be amazing).  Go figure, some arsonists had set a bunch of bush fires, which resulted in the road to the canyon being closed for the next 4 days.  We were slightly bummed, but again, you can’t get too upset about things you can’t control.  Our guide took us to watch the sunset with a view of the Olgas…Luke and I splurged and got tipsy on a bottle of wine and had no trouble keeping each other entertained for the rest of the evening.  We slept outside under thousands of stars, which were absolutely beautiful…totally worth freezing our asses off the entire night.

Waiting for sunset at the Olgas

We made our way back to Alice Springs the next day, saw some local park areas, and then met up with several people in our tour group for dinner.  Afterwards, we had many drinks at the bar next door, danced a little and basically made fun of all the crazy ass locals that were there…a lovely end to our time in the not-so-lovely town of Alice Springs.

My last full day in Melbourne was spent at Luke’s house with his roommates and friends watching the AFL Championship (basically, the Aussie version of the Super Bowl).  Luckily, the team they were pulling for won.   Lots more drinking ensued (I was able to introduce them to my favorite drinking game – FLIP CUP) and then we hit up the town for more shenanigans.   Felt pretty rough the next day, so we laid around, watched movies, and I packed up all my crap to be ready for my 3.30 a.m. taxi pick-up to take me to the airport.

It was a pretty quick trip, but I’m so happy I went.  Not only did I get to see some cool shit, but got to reconnect with old travel buddies and make more new friends.  I have to admit I was a little nervous to go and spend 10 days with someone that I had only hung out with for a couple of weeks over a year and a half ago.  I mean, what if he totally sucked in ‘real life’?  Obviously that wasn’t the case and Luke and I got along just as well as we did the day Kelly and  I met him in Turkey.  I hope we get to see each other again… I know we will, it’s just a matter of making it happen.

Marianne, Doug, Meghan, the Jeff’s…you’re next!!

Then something strange happened in September of 2009.  Kelly and I left for our round-the-world trip and a couple of months into our journey, she said to me, ‘Hey I noticed that you haven’t really been picking your lip much since we’ve been on the road’.  When I thought about it, I realized I had actually not done it AT ALL since the day we hopped on that first plane to Costa Rica.  A huge accomplishment for me, but not one I truly thought I’d maintain…we’re talking about breaking a life-long habit here.  I chalked it up to the excitement of new adventures but figured after a few more terrifying bus rides in third world countries, I’d be back to unconsciously bloodying my lip in no time.

Months went by and I never really thought about it.  As our trip came to an end, I suddenly realized that I hadn’t been biting my lip THE ENTIRE ELEVEN MONTHS we had been traveling.  Amazing!  I felt I had kicked this nasty habit for good…and without even really trying to!!  Yay me!

Unfortunately, this didn’t last.  Literally the day I set foot back in the US, I started knawing on my lip again, not even realizing I was doing it until I tasted the blood in my mouth.  As much as I tried to be conscious of what I was doing and control my actions, I’d always end up messing with my lip again.  I’ve been home a year now and I’m still picking at it, as if that fantastic year of progress never even happened.  WTF?

I had never really considered that jacking up my lip on a regular basis was a quirky way for me to deal with stress – after all, I did it during other periods of my life when I felt stress-free.  Or was I stressed and just didn’t know I was?  Is there something about the daily grind and living a socially acceptable, ‘normal’ lifestyle that makes me anxious on a level that I’m not even aware of – and this anxiety manifests itself by making me tear at my lip on a daily basis?  What was it about traveling in foreign countries for a year that seemed to cure me?

I have no fricken clue, but it’s definitely worth pondering on an uneventful Wednesday evening.

You may think that taking a year off to travel the world and leaving a huge gap in your resume would lessen your chance of getting hired by a kick-ass employer…and you would be dead wrong.   Ironically enough, my travels were the KEY to me landing my current gig – working for a company that sponsors visas for international university students.  The students come to the US to participate in cultural exchange work/internship programs and we help recruit them and find them jobs.  Sort of like what I did for my work abroad program in New Zealand over 10 years ago…damn, has it been that long?

Anyway, I LOVE this job.  Not only does it allow me to promote something I feel passionately about (cultural exchange, long term travel, etc.), but I get to travel too, both here in the states AND internationally.  I’m not making near as much money as I made as a property manager, but the trade off is that I actually like going to work every day.  At this point in my life, I’m willing to make less money to do a job that I enjoy and although I’ve had to adjust my lifestyle quite a bit, it’s soooooo worth it.

Surprisingly, after a few months at the new job, they decided to send me to Thailand for 5 days!  I basically accompanied one of our clients to an overseas job fair (hosted by one of our local partner agencies) where they interviewed and hired Thai students to come work for them.  I was super pumped to go back to Thailand, simply to eat the food.  Pad Thai, green curry, nutella pancakes, and fresh fruit shakes available at every corner?  Hell yeah!

Not surprisingly, this trip was very different from when Kelly and I were in Bangkok.  Instead of a shady guesthouse in the middle of the backpacker craziness that is Koh-San Road, I was put up in a posh hotel in a modern shopping area of the city.  Our Thai partner agencies wined and dined my client Stephanie and me in fancy restaurants and bars, although one of them did take us to Koh San for some yummy street food and drinks, just so she could see the madness of that particular part of town.  It was really weird being back there less than a year later – it was as chaotic as I remembered it.  The pad thai, green curry, nutella pancakes and fruit shakes were as delicious too.

Me, Stephanie, Pookie (one of our Thai partners...I wish my name was Pookie!) in a tuktuk on Koh San

We had a ‘cultural day’ amidst our job fairs where Stephanie and I were taken to see the Grand Palace…I had been there previously with Kelly, but it was no less impressive than when I saw it the first time.  We also did a long-boat ride on the river, which I had NOT done before, wandered around in a couple of swanky malls, did some shopping, and got a 2 hour Thai massage.  Thai massages are super intense and somewhat painful (you are pretty much getting your ass kicked by a tiny Thai woman), but you feel fantastic (albeit a little disoriented) afterwards.  Definitely get one if you have the chance.

Back at the Grand Palace

Me and 'O', who works with another Thai partner, on the boat!

On the boat ride

It was a short and exhausting trip…but I loved every minute of it.  I was also reminded that much like people, cities deserve a second chance too.  Kelly and I didn’t really care for Bangkok the first time around, but after experiencing a different side of the city and getting shown around by a few locals, I started to appreciate what Bangkok has to offer.  Oh and next time, I’m totally hitting up a ping-pong show.

Unfortunately, I don’t think I can.  Keeping a detailed travel blog turned out to be a crap ton of work, and although somewhat a result of laziness, Kelly and I really wanted to enjoy our last few months having fun on the road instead of camped out in front of my netbook all day.  And now, we’ve forgotten a lot of those little details we used to meticulously jot down in our notebooks…what hostel did we stay at?  What was that name of that awesome restaurant?  Where did we go after such-and-such city?  What did it all cost?  It’s all become kind of a blur and would be extremely difficult (and probably inaccurate) to try and recreate our stories a year later.

So instead, I’m starting fresh.  This will still be a blog about travel…turns out I scored a sweet job with international travel perks upon my return to the States and have/will continue to have plenty of travel adventures to write about.

For now, I’d like to share some of the big (and little) ways the trip has changed me and how it continues to affect my outlook on life in general…even one year later, I’m still realizing how it has altered my perception of the world and made me (what I feel to be) a better person.

So here you have it my friends…the top 5 (plus 1) life lessons I learned on our RTW journey:

1.   It’s pointless to get worked up over things that are out of your control.

Those of you that know me well know I get worked up quite often, usually over someone being late or when things don’t go according to plan.  I would waste a ridiculous amount of emotional/mental energy being pissed off and annoyed when things didn’t turn out how I envisioned them.  Although it does still bother me, I’ve learned to go with the flow a little more and remind myself that some things are out of my hands and I need to chill the fuck out.  Buses will be late, weather will suck, and tours will be cancelled.  So what?

(*Please note that this new outlook DOES NOT give my friends permission to continuously be late to/cancel our social engagements…you know who you are).

2.   Australians are EVERYWHERE

Seriously, there is no escaping them.  They will find you and drink you under the table.

3.   This one is extremely cliché, but it’s so true…don’t judge a book by its cover.

I can’t tell you how many people we met during our trip that I immediately judged based on our first conversation – whether it be because of their age (young = immature/naïve, old = dorky/weird), where they were from (canada = boring), what they wore (Ed Hardy = asshole) or what they looked like (attractive = shallow) – and ended up adoring them after spending a few days with them.  I would have missed out on a lot of great friendships if I hadn’t taken the time to get to know the person better.

4.   Life doesn’t always turn out like you thought it would

This kind of goes hand and hand with #1, but my life now is completely different from what I thought it would be after I got back.  I had always expected that upon my return to the States, I would marry my long-time boyfriend (THE ONE!), we would move out to the country, try and start some type of business together and I’d start thinking about popping out a couple of kids.  After all, I’d be 31 and it’s the ‘time’ for those sorts of things…and I really did WANT them, specifically with him.  After travelling for a year though, I had changed – a lot — and I no longer want the same things I wanted before.  So now I am single, have no immediate desire to marry and have children (or live in the country), and have found a job I absolutely love and plan to make a career of.  And I’m HAPPY.

I also thought the trip would ‘get travelling out of my system’, but really our trip had the opposite effect…it just intensified my desire to see more of the world. Long-term travel will never be off the table for me.

5.   Street food is the best food.

This is the case almost everywhere in the world.  I promise.  It’s not gross and you (probably) won’t get the shits from it. It’s fucking delicious so eat it already.

6.   Having a positive attitude changes EVERYTHING.

Again, those of you that know me well, know that I used to take pride in my cynicism…people called me pessimistic, but I considered myself a realist.  But after a year of travelling and meeting amazing people, seeing the incredible beauty the world has to offer, and truthfully – seeing the poverty and other shit conditions people live in everyday with a smile on their faces – I have no reason to be so bitter about life.  It’s a daily struggle for me, but just trying to think positively everyday has really made me a happier, healthier person.  LIFE IS GOOD…as long as you believe it is.

To reach the city itself, you enter through the ‘Siq’ – a narrow gorge that winds through towering cliffs of rust, brown, red, and rose colored sandstone cliffs.   The colors of the rock are incredible!  As you approach the end of the Siq, you catch your first glimpse of the Treasury – a intricate facade carved into sheer rockface, which I had been told is one of the greatest ‘reveals’ on the planet.  I was not disappointed; seeing the magnificent Treasury (which is actually a tomb for a Nabatean king) up close and personal was a childhood dream come true for me. 

The Treasury

The rest of the city was equally if not more impressive. Vast tombs, a theatre, churches, and a towering monastary all carved into the sides of mountains; this place is truly spectacular and I could have easily spent several days exploring all that it had to offer.   This is one of the bummers about doing an organized tour…if you like a place and want to spend more time checking it out, you’re screwed.   Overall, it was one hot, sweaty, and facinating day!

At one of the mountain viewpoints of Petra

The following morning we continued down the King’s Hwy and into the Wadi Rum desert – 720 square kilometer preserve of desert wilderness and mountains.   I was super pumped for our ‘desert jeep safari’ and spending the night in a Bedouin camp under millions of desert stars.   Of course, Kelly and I have had nothing but great luck with the weather on this trip, so the day that we were set to spend in Wadi Rum, there was a fricken SAND STORM.   We still had our jeep safari, speeding over sand dunes, dodging camels (yes, there were a ton of camels just chillin’ in the desert), and attempted to watch the sunset, but didn’t have much luck with the views (or photos for that matter) as the sand in the air created a hazy cloud across the whole area.   It was a bit of a let down, but what can you do?

Making a fire to boil tea

We didn’t see any desert stars that night either, but we did eat a delicious Bedouin meal of lamb and chicken, cooked with hot coals and buried underground.   I shared a bottle of wine with Ian from England (on the down-low…no alcohol allowed in the camps) and despite the fact that I had my own tent, slept outside next to the fire.   As a result of the strong winds, I woke up covered in black ash, which was awesome.   After packing up our things, the group hit the road again to the Red Sea resort town of Aqaba.

What you're lookin' at

On the drive

We also stopped at various old churches, ruins, and a cheesy mosaic factory.  I have to admit that after Turkey, I was ‘churched out’ and didn’t pay much attention to our guide’s history lecture.  I like getting the basics, but dates, names, and other minute details don’t really register with me.  If someone begins a sentence with ‘During the year 100 B.C…’ my eyes glaze over and I immediately start thinking of what I want to eat for lunch.

Our last stop was the Kerak Castle, located in the predominately Christian town of Kerak in the biblical kingdom of Moab.  The castle dates back to the 12^th century and is one of the best preserved Crusader castles in the region.  We spent a couple of hours wandering through the vast passageways and exploring the cavernous rooms and chambers.

Walking up to Kerak Castle

View from the top



After a long day of driving, we arrived in the town of Wadi Musa, the gateway to Petra.  The next day would be a long one in the sun and heat, so I had a couple of ridiculously expensive beers ($7 EACH!!) and called it an early night.

I promise to update soon.  Really.