Hello,
We are coming to the end of our travels now and we are really looking forward to seeing our friends and family, seven months of travelling has been amazing but it was not always easy going , living out of a suitcase was tedious especially when the clothes never seemed to magically transform into brand new ones, or my hair constantly looked like a hobo's, and the long hours of bus and plane journeys were sometimes very frustrating but those small things were nothing compared to the most utterly magical holiday ever. We met some mad and wonderful people along the way and experienced some fascinating cultures, and crazy adventures that have made me a better person.
This trip has been so amazing and so fulfilling that I would not change it for the world, I have no regrets and feel so proud to have followed my dream, and that Darren shared it with me is even better. Its hard to remember everything we have done in the last seven months as it has been an overload of adventures but I sometimes sit and look back, I remember sitting in the hospital in Delhi feeling so sick and scared and I have never felt so alone in all my life but then visiting the boys orphanage around the corner and seeing their smiley faces look at me I knew that was exactly where I wanted to be, those boys were so happy and yet they had nothing. I remember meeting the most awesome people in Chiang Mai and having such a laugh and having made friends for life, and staring up at the huge laughing Buddha in Bangkok or chilling out in the hammocks under the tree in Pai. Walking through Anchor Wat in awe and trying not to break down when getting approached by victims of the landmines in Cambodia from a war that cannot be forgotten, that was the most spectacular and heartbreaking experience we had ever had, walking through the amazing stalls in Hoi An and being rowed down the river by the lovely Vietnamese woman, not forgetting the most beautiful corridor of mountains in Halong Bay and watching the millions of motorcyclists zoom by in Ho Chi Minh City. Standing beside the enormous Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur or watching the wild orang-utans in Borneo, meeting family in the Philippines and screaming with excitement while holding the tiny tarsier monkeys of Bohol, feeling absolutely taken aback by the amazing sunset over Uluru and riding horses in Cape Tribulation on the white sandy beaches. Standing up on my surfboard for the first time and sailing the Whitsunday's, camping on the biggest sand island in the world and drinking beers at sunrise when the birds are awaking, screaming on the adrenaline rides of surfers paradise, and sunbathing on the beautiful Byron bay beaches, singing Fijian songs and drinking cava or getting a flat tyre on our way to Suva, drinking German beer while gazing at the harbour bridge or having Christmas in the sun, seeing the New Year in with a bottle of bubbly and reminiscing with family and friends in 40 degree weather in the hunter valley. Those are only a few memories of the hundreds we have, and will always be able to look back on together and share those amazing experiences.
I still cant believe how fast these months have gone, it felt like yesterday I was sitting at Heathrow airport saying my goodbyes to my family and soon I will be saying hello again. Its going to be so nice going back to our life again and being able to have our own place and believe it or not I am looking forward to going back to work.
Thanks so much for following our adventures I had fun writing these blogs and hope you had fun reading them. We still have New Zealand and South America to travel so these wont be the last. But for now we are looking forward to having a 'break'. J
All our love
Kel and Darren
xxxxx