I've had a lot of time to think about the imminent return back to the life I left behind It’s stirred in me mixed feelings and a kind of detached numbness, much like the first days of my travels sitting on that stray street corner outside the station of Bangkok over four months ago. Now, I have returned, a sense of excitement and accomplishment overwhelms me. To make it this far and see the fruits of my efforts in a passive soul, a grateful heart and a perspective forever altered and opened, it’s positive and rewarding in so many ways. I’m so eager to share it with the ones I love, providing they want to know and are the one to ask first. It’s been an incredible trip, from beginning to end, and I am so grateful and happy to have experienced it all and made so many incredible friends.

Thank you to all my friends that cared back home and overseas and have followed along on this journey, and thank you to this great big world that took me in these past four months when I roamed randomly, but purposefully, across this great globe. It was an experience I will never forget, and I'll always take the lessons I learned with me through this life no matter where I go. It’s not the end, it’s only the beginning of the next chapter of my life in a great unwritten volume. If this adventure has taught me anything, it’s going to be just as interesting, and I’m looking forward with open eyes and an open heart to seeing where it goes…

A sincere thanks to close friends and people who cared and who have regularly contacted and encouraged me and at times lifted me up when I was down. It stays true to my experiences traveling this great world. A kind of peaceful acceptance and graceful understanding, a serene outlook on which direction one should take in the face of uncertainty or difficulty. If I’ve learned anything on my journey, it’s this one simple thing - let go of your expectations and stop trying to force your will where it isn’t meant to be. A good friend of mine once quoted "I may not have known where I was going, but I ended up where I was meant to be..."

The summing up and sharing of my final view of the countries I visited I have decided not to do. Countries can be judged by looking at many criteria. More often by the type of people you meet; on the other hand by meeting some person from a certain country an entire nation could be judged, being it good or bad.

After visiting and travelling through perhaps a hundred countries or more during my life time I have come to the conclusion that the majority of people, and I mean 99%, are good or very good. The remaining 1 % are the bad ones and is them that make the newspapers.

At times you come across a person in the 1% range, as indeed I did, but as for me it is at that time that I remember the other 99%. Of course there are variances pertaining to a certain country. Some peoples are more outgoing and some are more reserved but with regard to the latter, if you give yourself some time you soon find a way around it.

I found the people of Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam to be extremely friendly and they are often the first to make contact. Crossing into China I found the Chinese to be reserved until someone told me that I looked like a giant in their eyes and for some rather scary. I was advised that the way to make contact was just with a simple "Ni Hao" which is the Chinese way for Hello or How are you. As soon as I applied that, my world changed and view of the Chinese people changed .

Whenever I passed through a country I asedk myself if I could stand living there for a year if I had to. Most of the time I came up with a definite Yes.

Now I am back, I struggle with the fact that I have to stay in one place. My brain is no longer bombarded and stimulated with an array of new and ever changing images and experiences. I will have to get use to that again and know that it will take some time.

Beside the many places I saw and experienced, it was the fact that I made numerous new friends of similar make up and was able to rekindle many lost friendships from the past that made this journey so pleasurable.

Finally, although time consuming and tiresome at times it was a an enjoyment to write and maintain my blog and trust you found it not only informative but also entertaining at times.

I hope to hear from you.

Cheers

Richard Wolters

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