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Two Months On…

Posted on December 10, 2007

It’s over two months since we arrived in Scotland, concluding our trip. We still haven’t written a blog post about Singapore and Malaysia, and I don’t think we will, so I’ve included the photos in this post. But here are some thoughts on our trip, with the perspective that comes with time.

Overall, it was a fantastic experience, and is growing even better as it ferments in my mind and we occasionally reminisce or meditate on a moment or a place from the journey. There were definitely points that were difficult, and especially toward the end the constant moving was pretty draining. I think both of us were overwhelmed by the sensory stimulation, and that was beginning to wear on us.

During our time traveling we met several others who were doing much longer trips than us, spanning several years and multiple continents. I wonder what kind of state of mind they get in to after a few months on the road. I think their experience of travel must be quite different than ours.

We get asked often what our favorite place on the trip was, and it’s such a difficult question to answer. Caitlin has taken to answering Luang Prabang. I usually stay silent, but if pressed I say Hanoi, with the caveat that it was a really difficult place to be with the constant fear of being mowed down by a motorcycle and the constant blasting of horns. The Vietnamese people are so full of energy, so focused on the future, it was very hard not to like them (even the ones heading straight for you on a Honda Wave.)

The conceit of the traveler is discovering the next hot spot before everyone else. Yesterday the New York times named Laos the number 1 destination for 2008. Edinburgh didn’t even get a mention in their 53 destinations, but I have a feeling it might get top billing for 2009, so get your bad selves over here and take advantage of one of our spare bedrooms before it’s swamped with tourists
So I leave you with the last two sets of photographs, from Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Our blog is about to undergo a reincarnation (all those pics of temples and monks had an effect) and return with my tales of repatriation and Caitlin’s tales of being a NorCal girl in Scotland.

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