HOME!!

1 year, 3 continents, 18 countries (13 new!), 50+ cities and 2 x World Cups (soccer in South Africa and cricket in India and Sri Lanka) later....

HOME!!!!!!!

A quick recap of my nonsensical journey, from beginning to end:

Chicago to London to South Africa (including Kruger Park!) to Zimbabwe/Zambia (Victoria Falls!!) to South Africa to Ghana to Serbia to Svalbard, Norway to Greenland to Iceland [Noway, Greenland, and Iceland was part of a M/S Expedition trip] to Norway (Oslo) to Serbia to Budapest, Hungary to Vienna to Austria to Serbia to London to India to Sri Lanka to Bangkok, Thailand to Indonesia (Bali, Gili Islands, Lombok) to Sri Lanka to India to United Arab Emirates (Dubai and Abu Dhabi) to Bahrain to U.A.E. to Muscat, Oman to U.A.E.to London to... HOME!!!!

To answer a frequent question, before I left the only thing I had planned was plane tickets until India (the 1st time) and a couple of organized things like volunteering in Ghana and India, and the M/S Expedition trip (Arctic Circle). Everything else was arranged on the fly... if I heard about something cool, I went there. If I liked someplace, I stayed longer... if not, I left. It is an AWESOME way to travel!

I did this my last travel blog, and found it was a good synopsis and recap of my journey... highlights and Best Of's, Most's, etc:

BEST Big Moments:

• Not only being in South Africa for the World Cup, BUT going to 5 matches! Including one of the best games, Uruguay vs. Ghana that went into overtime and penalty shoot out!

(Above: Yes, that is Lionel Messi, and yes, this is how close I was! By luck, I ended up getting 4th row seats! And Argentina won this game!)

• Going to Kruger Park and seeing the Big 5... and more! Giraffe's, wild dogs, kudu's, etc.

• Taking a helicopter ride over Victoria Falls and seeing Vic Falls!

• Seeing Northern Lights in Greenland

• Celebrating Holi festival in Hampi, India

BEST Wildlife:

• Scuba diving with ragged tooth sharks in Durban, South Africa
• Petting a white lion at a Nature Reserve near Johanessburg

• Kruger Park, South Africa!

• Literally running into wild elephants walking to go to Victoria Falls

• The Arctic Circle! Polar bears, whales (humpback, fin, minke, blue), dolphins, seals, arctic foxes and hares, musk ox, huskie dogs, and more!

(a zoomed in picture of a zoomed in camera!)

(polar bear from afar!)

• Icelandic horse in Reykjavik, Iceland

• Petting a tiger in Bangkok, Thailand

• Elephants in Sri Lanka and India

• Snorkeling with gigantic manta rays in Nusa Lembongan, Bali

• Gili Islands, Indonesia: Getting my Advanced Certificate and scuba diving with reef sharks, turtles, and more!

• Doing a boat trip... with dolphins and whales in Lovinia, Bali!!!

• Scuba diving with turtles and gigantic crabs in Muscat, Oman

BEST Sunrises/Sunsets:

• Lying in bed at a lovely small guesthouse along the Garden Route in South Africa, and seeing this amazing sunrise:

• Belgrade, Serbia

• Svalbard, Norway - 2 hour sunset and didn't get dark until after 11pm!

• Reykjavik, Iceland

• 3 years ago when I was in Sri Lanka I woke up at 2:30am to climb 5,000+ steps to get to the top of the holy Adam's Peak, Sri Lanka to supposedly see an amazing sunrise, BUT instead saw only clouds. Well, flashforward a couple of years and here I was again for another attempt. Fortunately, this time caught the sunset so the long hike was worth it!

• Gili Islands, Lombok, Indonesia

• Tangalle, Sri Lanka

BEST Activities

• In Johannesburg, South Africa I met a German film director that was filming a documentary called "Girlz Kickin' HIV" before, during, and after the World Cup in townships around Cape Town and Johannesburg. She took me along with her on a video shoot to a township called Orange County, and we stopped at a local girlz school as well as her home, and it was such a unique experience to meet the students and see firsthand how their education system functions. Her school put on a spontaneous performance for us as well as gave us very moving speeches they had performed for something else. We then went to her home, and it was obvious they rarely see white people because practically all the kids from the village followed us around and wanted us to take their pictures. Amazing experience!

• Wake boarding in Muscat, Oman... managed to get up on the 1st try and I swear, I did end up standing straight up at some point! :-)

• Cycling around Ubud, Bali and seeing the rice plantations and local villages

• Hiking in the tea plantations in Sri Lanka and interacting with the local tea pickers.

• Taking one of the world's most scenic train rides, from Oslo to Bergen, Norway

BEST Nature

• Blue Lagoon (natural hot thermal spring), geyser's, and waterfalls in Reykajavik, Iceland

• Glaciers, ice burgs, mountains, and absolute crystal clear and clean arctic waters along the East coast of Greenland

• Hill country in both Sri Lanka and India, which were most viewed from rickety train rides or by trekking.

MOST Dangerous/Life-Threatening Moments/Risks:

• Bungee jumping off a 216m bridge at Wilderness, South Africa 

• No joke, the M/S Expedition trip literally hit an iceburg! Okay, it was more like the iceburg moved and hit us and wasn't nearly life threatening, more amusing!

• The crazy buses and rickshaw's in India and Sri Lanka. Enough said!!!
• Coming within about 1cm of literally driving off a cliff in Reykjavik, Iceland.
• Going to Bahrain (Middle East) during the time of conflict and warnings to NOT go there because of ongoing protests and demonstrations.

BEST Little Moments:

• Walking into the entrance gate to the orphanage I was staying at, and having about 10 of the kids run up to me and hug me yelling "Sister Ellen!" It was sooo soooo cute!!!

• One early morning during the M/S Expedition trip we took the zodiacs out just when the sun was creeping up. The water was extraordinarily still, we were especially quiet, and all we did is coast among these gigantic amazing ice burgs and all you can hear was the crackling of the ice. It was almost surreal. 

• Riding bikes with my brother along the reika (river) in Belgrade, Serbia

• I was sitting at the back seat of the bus in India and a lady sat next to me and after a few basic questions, promptly rested her head on my shoulder and fell asleep. I looooooved it!
• Having an amazing feast on New Years Eve and celebrating the coming of 2011 with a delicious feast of food, a beautiful local family, and lovely company of a friend that I had met from my 2007 trip and new friends. Santha, the father of the family with a huge grin saying, "I am so happy... soo happy." 

• While going sightseeing in Lombok, Indonesia we came across a street wedding party that was somewhat blocking traffic. Instead of just sitting there and waiting, the goofy driver in his broken English said to join them! What was going to be just getting out to take a few pictures somehow ended up with us parading along with the wedding party and friends, laughing and singing and dancing along with them!

MOST rewarding moments: VOLUNTEERING!

• Mentoring, teaching, training and guiding Emmanual, a super smart, motivated, and honorable young man that is more or less running the Physical Therapy clinic in Ghana that I volunteered at. The patient interactions I had were also beautiful and I had to step back and re-think my intervention approaches to treat without all the tools and gadgets we have back at home. 

• Living at an orphanage in Ghana and also volunteering to help out as needed. It was truly an eye-opening experience and the kids were just ahhh-dorable!

• I never taught before coming to India, and now I have a whole new respect for teachers. Probably the hardest thing I've ever done... I volunteered at the CMC hospital from 8-4:30 and then taught theory and practicum classes from 5:00-6:30. Exhausting but was so worth it when I taught something and then they applied it in the clinic!

• Shadowing and observing physical therapy clinics in both Serbia and Norway in different settings than what I am used to. It was a great reciprocal relationship with learning on both ends!  

BEST luxury moments:

• My friend from home, Allison, met me in London and she was super awesome and treated me to not only a 1.5 hour massage at the Dorchester BUT also high tea afterwards. It was AMAZING and I soo needed it after backpacking at that point for 5 months!

• A 3-week ayurveda treatment in Varkala, India. That entailed 2-hour massages everyday, eating ayurvedic foods, and in the meantime, relaxing on the beach! Met lovely people and I felt TOTALLY rejuvenated afterwards! They even massaged me while hanging from a rope with their feet! Ha!

• In Bangkok,Thailand with my college friend Aimee, we got a Fish Massage, basically sticking our feet in this tank of "exfoliating" fish and they ate at our feet taking off the dead skin. It actually worked! My feet were amazingly soft afterwards!

• As it was relatively cheap, treated myself a few times with foot and body massages in Bali, Indonesia. It was soo good!
• Doing a 1-week yoga retreat with meditation at this lovely Ayurvedic Center in Mysore, India (IVAC)... while enjoying more ayurvedic food!

• Going to the World's Most Luxurious Hotel, the Burj Al Arab for high tea in Dubai for my birthday!

BEST Creatures in my room/bed:

• Slugs, worms, spiders (pretty big ones!), bed bugs, cockroaches, frogs, gecko's, mosquitoes, crabs, and many other unidentifiable bugs!

BEST travel reads:

• Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
• Steig Larsson series (x3) - Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, Girl who Played with Fire, Girl who Kicked a Hornet's Nest
• Little Bee: A Novel by Chris Cleave
• The Help by Kathryn Socket
• Cellolist of Sarejevo by Steven Galloway
• Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Isaac Beal
• White Tiger by Aramind Adriga
• The God of Small Things by Arumdhal Roy
• The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho 
• What is the What by Dave Eggers
• Shantaram by Gregory Davis Roberts
• Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean
• Heretics Daughter by Debra Dean

BEST meet-ups with home friends and family while traveling (THANKS to all of you!):

• My brother and my parents in Belgrade, Serbia

• Aimee (college friend) in Bangkok, Thailand

• Allison (friend from high school) in London

• Raj (Chicago friend) in Mumbai, India
• Kris Koski (college friend) in Bahrain

• Christen (friend from Chicago) in Bangkok, Thailand. Special thanks to her for totally hooking me up with a great place to stay!!! 

BEST Beaches:

• Cape Town and Durban, South Africa

• Varkala, India. Yes, beaches in India can be nice! The beaches are tucked amongst cliffs, and hence relatively quaint and quiet! It was also nice to have a little bit of local fishing life close-by.

• Bukhit Penninsula and Nusa Lemongan, Bali

• Gili Islands, Lombok

• Muscat, Oman

Couldn't Live Without:

• My netbook! GREAT purchase right before I left. Got an extra hard drive also, and used it to store all my pics AND managed to acquire a bunch of TV shows and movies from other fellow travelers. Great for those slow travel days!!!
• Ipod
• Anti-bacterial gel
• Sleeper sheet
• Fabreeze
• Comfy walking shoes
• Scissors and duct tape
• Camera
• While it was still cold (earlier in my journey), I pretty much lived in this  light-weight Patagonia (bright green!) jacket. It was awesome!!! 

BEST foods:

• Bunny chow in Durban, South Africa

• "Red-red" in Kpando, Ghana (I know it looks weird, but in Ghana they pretty much bag everything!)

• Meat, meat, and more meat in Belgrade, Serbia

• Rice hoppers, string hoppers, fresh fish, curd and honey (my fave!) and rice and curries in Sri Lanka

• India! Masala dosa's, thali's, Indian-Chinese food, yum!

• Sweets and desserts in Vienna

• Indonesian food! I loved ALL the food and especially that they do such a good job of presentation!

•  Schwarma and other good Lebanese food in Dubai, U.A.E

Final thoughts...

Wow! What a journey! This trip, unlike some others where I try to zip through as quickly as possibly and check-off things as I go, I really made an effort to spend longer in one place and that way not only got a better feel for the city, but also developed more meaningful relationships with locals and travelers alike. Having said that, I loooved that I really did this trip on the fly and unplanned. It made it that much more spontaneous and fun.... although looking back the route pretty much makes no sense.  :-) The thing I loved best about traveling is the unexpected adventures. Often I would wake up with literally NO plans and then when I got to bed, am almost amazed about how the day unfolded. Although there were definite moments when I would be lonely, I looved doing most all of this on my own. There is nothing like independent travel, and I felt because I was by myself, I was much more open to meeting people and also felt that I was more approachable (maybe they felt sorry for me? haha).  Of course not to say I don't and didn't welcome travel companions. There are countless memories and I used this blog mostly for myself to remember these moments, but am happy to share them also with all of you. Hopefully I can inspire or motivate some to DO IT! Travel is such a wonderful thing in that it gives such a great insight to yourself, life, people, culture. I feel more confident now, patient, resourceful, global, adaptable, and just happy! I definitely feel appreciative and grateful for all that I have in my life,  and THANKS to everyone that has supported me along the way!

It took a lot of effort and savings on my part to do all this, but it was worth every penny, rupee, dinar, riyal, etc. I lasted so long because I backpacked and hence stayed at hostels and guesthouses, and made efforts to take local transport, which was always an adventure.

This trip, unlike any of my other travels, I did volunteer work and this was an absolutely amazing experience. Ghana especially touched my heart because of the wonderful people I met and how incredibly appreciative they were of me being there and helping them establish a clinic as well as helping out while I stayed at an orphanage. Teaching in India was also amazing, although really hard! The students were super eager to learn and I learned from them as well. Both these experiences, and also the brief volunteering I did in Norway and Serbia, I had to be creative and think outside the box to adapt to the differences. I hope in the future to be involved in more international volunteering!

My NEXT travel stop is more or less a permanent one! I am officially relocating to Dubai, U.A.E. come the fall 2011 to start a new professional and personal life. What is most exciting about that area is not only professional opportunities, but I am pretty much in the center of the world and hope to travel more AND also I am more than willing to host any of you if you come through there!

To sign off, here is my favorite travel quote:

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -- Mark Twain

Cheers and see you out there!
Happy travels,

Ellen
p.s. To answer requests and because the blog isn't the best with formats, if you want to look at more detail into one particular country, here is how my trip is divided blog wise:

2010:
June - Leaving USA
July - South Africa and Victoria Falls
Sept - Arctic Circle and Ghana
October - Serbia, Budapest and Vienna, and Norway
November - India and London
December - India

2011:
Jan - Thailand and Sri Lanka
February - Indonesia
March - India and Sri Lanka
April - India
May - Middle East (Dubai, Bahrain, and Oman)
June - FINALE!!!