After being home and working for three months, this post is long overdue. I wrote these notes up at an airport (forget which) shortly after our trip, but they still resonate today.
Humanity is Beautiful: We met so many wonderful people all over the world and had a great time sharing experiences with many. Oktoberfest was a huge highlight for
us. And the greatest part of it was how happy and communal the people
we met were. This mass group of people enjoying life was just
beautiful.
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| These people are all my best friends |
We are very blessed to live in a stable country: We visited a
handful of countries and cities where recent history had devastated communities and rebuilding was taking place (The Czech Republic, Hungary,
Argentina, and Chile all come to mind). And most importantly, we
visited places where this had happened within OUR lifetime. For many
people, events outside of their control had
driven their destiny. While I don't think my life is completely
isolated from the political climate of the world, we've had it good to live in a country where I was able to get an education, get a
job, and establish a community without government oppression. You never really know when that will change. We're lucky.
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| Learning about challenging times in Chile (this is Salvador Allende... google it). |
People Make their own Good Life: Throughout our trip, especially on the US road trip, we saw people creating good lives for themselves in whatever geographic location they landed. Since I'm such a skier, it's hard to imagine life somewhere warm and non-mountainous but I saw people with great hobbies and habits in other parts of the country. Canoeing/kayaking in Minnesota, incredible amusement parks in Ohio, hiking and biking in the Southwest, etc. It was good to see that people (and I) could be flexible and make a good life regardless of geography.
No Tube Meat Shame: On a lighter note, we enjoyed tube meat (sausages, hot dogs, etc) in Iceland, Austria, and Germany where it's consumed with no shame. In the US tube meat is looked down upon (try and deny this!) and... it shouldn't be so! Viva la tube meat!
The Cereal Aisle is Overwhelming: Going into a grocery store after we returned to the US was overwhelming. I spent gobs of time just looking in awe and horror at our mass consumerism. No where is this more evident than cereal. In Europe and South America we found maybe 10 different cereal options max. In Africa... maybe 2? In the US... a gajillion? Do we really need this much? I guess the variety is great but when we returned, the grocery store just felt so incredibly LOUD.
Water is Key: In the developing countries we visited, it quickly became obvious that water was the priority for development. You can do a lot of great things with electricity, but it's an order of magnitude less important than running water for drinking, cleaning, and plumbing. I feel like electronics are such a huge part of our American lives that this might not be as obvious as it should be.
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| This hand washing station doesn't look like a big deal... it is. |
Animals, Animals, Animals: We saw animals living en mass in harmony in the National Parks in Africa. It was wild to see species intermingling and living in abundance. The Serengeti felt like how the American Plains probably once were with buffalo. Wildlife sightings are an exciting thing in America and seem to be a miracle in the Alps. In Africa (maybe specifically the National Parks?) wildlife sightings are part of stepping onto your porch. We are destroying habitat and ecosystems in our developed countries.
Hut Times: There is a time and a place for everything... including a time for a large building in the mountains. I'm talking about huts/refugios. Do they have a real significant environmental impact? Probably. But the enhancement we saw to people's (and our) experience in nature was significant enough that I'm an advocate and wish we had more hut opportunities in our home mountain ranges. We saw far more old (we'd call them elderly) people hiking to huts in Europe and I think it was because of the hut culture (a wine infused warm meal and not carrying a full nights worth of stuff!). I also think there is a balance in the environmental impact because you create a huge density of people in one spot (the hut) instead of letting them spread out ALL the way around a lake like we do in Washington State. We still enjoy the pure wilderness of backpacking, but miss all the hut opportunities.
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| This hut is at the right time in the right place. |
Rodelbahns are Pure Joy: This needs no explanation.
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| This is what happiness looks like. |
Cities are not Pure Joy: Shannon and I learned that we're really not city people. We had a darn good time seeing the big time sights in the cities we visited, but we really like smaller towns and mountain environments better. Rome in particular was just brutal. Once we fled to Orvieto, life was good again. Seattle has well established neighborhoods which sort of act like little cities which is why it may work for us? We'll see about the long term.
Traveling Slowly Was Great: I'll admit, I was nervous about our ENTIRE month in Vienna and three-ish weeks in Bariloche. The truth is, this was AWESOME. It was great to establish a home, really get into the culture of a place, cook local meals, and just rest after busy travel. We mostly used Vienna as a base camp for other adventures. Bariloche was a highlight and dream to live in. With a beach at our doorstep and the mountains just a bus ride away... damn I miss that. It will be really difficult for us to pull this off again. Do it when you get the chance.
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| I miss this beach and the churro lady. |
Take the Skis: At first I felt like I was copping-out when we went skiing in Mayrhofen (in October!) and Dubai. I mean, we ski at home a lot, why waste time doing this on the road? But it was a great way for me to do something I love and experience other cultures. I know the nuances of the American ski experience and skiing in those places really let me see the differences. The Austrian racing/speed culture was apparent and ridiculous luxury was the ticket in Dubai. Doing what you love is good. So... when are we going back to the Zillertal?
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| When in doubt... go skiing. |
Independence Day: Shannon and I were together everyday for almost a whole year. It was fantastic and we both miss that A LOT. But, we did get on each others nerves and every once in a while we would need a day to ourselves. We grew to call this Independence Day. At the start of our trip, we wouldn't see the need for this until AFTER a fight. By the end of our trip we knew how to anticipate these days ahead of time. I call this Progress.
Romance = Candlelight: Italy was a never ending string of romantic meals. Candles will do miracles to the vibe.
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| Hello beautiful. |
Reading is Good: I miss having lots of time to read. I tried to read topical books in many of the countries we visited and really enjoyed that. I need to work on finding more time in my day to read.
Physics is Phun: One of my favorite connections that I made on our trip was with the physics teacher, Patrick, whom I taught with in Pommern. I really enjoyed teaching physics and getting to know Patrick. I wonder about being a physics teacher in semi-retirement someday.
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| Two good physics chums. |
Global Volunteers is a Go: Shannon did a great job researching this organization and we really enjoyed our trip with them. They had a handful of principles that seemed very wise including their commitment to having equal volunteer and community involvement on any given project. This forced the community to pick projects that really mattered to them.
Global Volunteer People are good People: Everyone we met on our service trip was exemplary. Anyone willing to give up three weeks over their lives to volunteer is probably going to be a great person and many of those folks turned out to be examples for us in the future.
Italy Seems Overrated: There, I said it.
The Tourism Mob is Real: Everywhere we went, we would often get connected to some network of tours and activities through our hostel or the internet or whatever... the reality is, these guys are all working together and connected and getting kick-backs. It's veiled really well in first world countries so we don't recognize it as much... but in Zanzibar... I'm pretty sure we funded the mob for the week we were there.
Three Night Minimum: We found the minimum nights to stay in a place (other than a hut/backpacking style trip) was three. That's the amount of time it took us to not feel rushed.
Stay in Touch: We stayed close to friends a bit through... of all things... fantasy football. And it was fun and a good way to not get home sick.
Our Food is Diverse: Many of the cultures we visited are much more streamlined in their food. If you're Italian/Chilean/Tanzanian, you may eat Italian/Chilean/Tanzanian food for the majority of your meals. We're luck to be able to mix it up so much because of our diversity and missed this daily diversity on the road.
Don't Take Anything for Granted: This is my last one. And it's so true. We were so, so lucky to be able to pull this trip off. We're so lucky to be able to live in a great place. I'm so lucky that Shannon doesn't think I'm insane. We made so many good memories and I couldn't be more happy and thankful for such a great trip. Shannon has better words to share these thoughts in her recap soon to come...
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| ....Until next time!!! |
