The Post-Mortem

January 27th, 2009
June 3rd 2009

Coffee with our awesome cousin who was a big inspiration for both of us for this trip

Well, I'm sitting here on my couch in Laguna after an amazing night's sleep in my own bed and believe it or not it's been 4 and a half months since we left. Yesterday we left sunny London and landed in rainy L.A. It was great to see Mum and Dad again and as luck would have it, our cousin was in town for a business meeting so we were able to meet her and yak over coffee about our travels, her travels, our parent's travels and all the stories we could recall. Though we could have talked for days, the the three hours we did talk were so nice as they helped churn up some of the smaller already almost forgotten stories.

Though we questioned it along the way, we decided that the January to June dates that we traveled were much better than the alternative June to September. As we were leaving, the lines were growing long, the temperatures climbing higher and the hostel rates raising. The winter weather didn't stop us from seeing any of the sights and we were lucky enough to see the seasons change and the gardens and people come back to life with the sun. We met so many interesting people along our trip that were long-term travelers (one or two years) really keen on meeting new people, seeing beautiful towns, having a fun time and experiencing the foreign cultures and people. As we were leaving, the post-study abroad kids and the summer Euro-trip kids were multiplying in number each day, pouring into the hostels with their huge wheelie suitcases. Intent on getting wasted, meeting other Americans and seeing only the sights mapped out for them in Lonely Planet, we found ourselves reminiscing about the people we met along the way and the cool things we'd seen and done.

When we landed in Barcelona way back in February we checked into our first hostel and promptly met some people who had been on the road for 6 months. Wide eyed and ready for the trip of a lifetime we sat hanging on their every word; soaking up their stories, taking note of all their recommendations and do's and dont's. By the end of our trip, the tables had turned and we were the experienced travelers sharing our stories and our do's and dont's with those just starting out on their adventures. The travelers mentality is very different from the tourist mentality. Already talking about our next trip, Trev and I are both heavily infected with the travelers bug.


So, 19 countries, 35 hostels, 2 couches, 1 cave, 7 flights, 30 train rides, 7 night trains, umpteen jars of Nutella, and countless baguettes later, this trip is now a memory to look back on with a smile for the rest of our lives. Thanks everybody for following our trip and we can't wait to see you all!