The Final Wrap-Up

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The Cities we would most like to live:

• 1. Chicago, IL, USA (still #1)
  
• 2. Buenos Aires, Argentina
  
• 3. Prague, Czech Republic

Places we will not likely return:

• 1. Egypt (a clear frontrunner for us)
  
• 2. For Chris - China (at least Beijing);
  For Justin - Russia
  
• 3. Romania, particularly Bucharest (and don't confuse it with Budapest)

Best Food:

• Vietnam

Best Dining Experience

• Argentina

Best Beer:

• New Zealand, special mention to Montieth's

Our biggest regrets:

• 1. missing Lauren DuRocher graduate from Boston College
  
• 2. not bringing a laptop computer with us - would have made this blogging thing much easier, and wi-fi is available nearly everywhere
  
• 3. Giving our money to Bank of America because they are the worst company in the world. We are dedicating the rest of our lives to taking them down from the inside. They caused us so much trouble, and if you want hear Christine rant, just say "BofA" and it will begin. If you are thinking of traveling internationally, we suggest Citibank because they had a very clear international presence
  
• 4 not collecting characture drawings at the many cheesy tourist traps that went - that's an idea for someone else going on a trip like this
  
• 5. missing the David Hasselhoff revival in the US. When we were in Germany, he actually seemed bigger in the US

On this trip we learned that

• 4 pairs of underwear is the perfect number to travel with - 1 to wear, 1 ready to be worn, 1 drying after being washed in the sink, and 1 spare for travel days when you just can't do laundry
  
• the entire rest of the world uses the metric system, the 24-hour clock, the Celsius temperature scale, and the reversed day and month.
  
• French fries are the most universal food
  
• you can find Coke, Heineken, and Pringles everywhere
  
• there is at least one (and usually more) "Irish" pub in every city
  
• Chris really likes to eat fried dough, no matter what kind
  
• internationally, you must have a 4-digit ATM pin, no matter what your US bank allows. We really lucked out on this one
  
• Lonely Planet maps are helpful, but mistakes are common, very common actually
  
• there's no one left in England. We met half the country on holiday
  
• there are pictures of Che Guevera everywhere. Not everyone knows who is, but they love to wear t-shirts with his picture
  
• in second place, Bob Marley stuff gets around too
  
• Americans traveling the world disguised as Canadians are a myth. First, there are few Americans traveling the world outside of Europe. Second, everyone has heard of Americans doing this, but not actually met anyone. But if Chris every does meet someone who has a Canadian patch on their pack and can't tell her who won the last Stanley Cup (because as an American she has no idea), she will kick their ass. Just suck it up and represent the part of America that didn't vote for George. Not one person was outwardly unfriendly to us because we're American (unfriendly because we were tourists, yes), and the world is safer that you think, Canadian patch-wearing cowards.
  
• that said, we got really tired of having to admit that yes, "freedom fries" really did happen, even if it was a publicity stunt
  
• also, please stop telling us that only 25%!o(MISSING)f Americans have passports. This is true, but in fairness to our relatively untravelled citizens, Americans do not need a passport to travel within the U.S. or to Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean - an area comparable to the size of Europe. And Lonely Planet can try to claim that they are responsible for a recent rise in passport applications, but this is really due to the U.S. security legislation that will require passports for these destinations beginning Jan. 1, 2007
  
• Bill Clinton should really be US Secretary of State. Everyone loves him, loves him, loves him. We can't even tell you how many cab drivers would talk about how they think Bill is great or how many hole-the-wall cafes and bars have a picture of him eating a hot dog, hamburger, donut (no wonder he needed heart surgery)
  
• no matter how much US foreign policy depends on it, not everyone is yearning for freedom and democracy. Some people actually prefer strong leaders that tell them what to do.
  
• the world doesn't hate the US as much as we think, because, frankly, they just don't care that much
  
• CNN Internationa, Newsweek International, and Time International are all way better than their American versions
  
• Dirk Nowitski and Yao Ming are not very big in their home countries
  
• everyone knows Michael Jordan, and many think he is still playing
  
• don't travel the year after your least favorite baseball team won the World Series. "Oh you're from Chicago, aren't you happy about the White Sox."
  
• everyone is wearing a NY Yankees baseball cap, even people who have no idea who the Yankees are or what baseball is
  
• everyone thinks that American football players are wimps since they leave the field so often
  
• Scary Movie 4 is in every movie theater around the world
  
• drinking and having a cultural experience are not exclusive of each other
  
• there is porn just about everywhere. The US is second only to the Middle East when it comes to prudishness
  
• reality TV... big everywhere
  
• people love shopping in walking malls
  
• the monochromatic street performer has really gotten out of hand. People, painting yourself in one color for a staring contest has been done, and done, and done
  
• REI stuff falls apart. We would buy at their store again, but we would buy Columbia, North Face, etc. because the REI stuff literally unraveled, including the straps on Chris' pack and both of our quickdry underwear
  
• on this trip we had stolen: camera (Beijing), ipod charger, pocket knife, sink stopper and laundry soap (all in Nairobi. Someone tried to unzip Chris' bag in St. Petersberg, and someone tried very unsuccessfully to pickpocket Justin in Santiago
  
• on this trip we lost: camera battery (on an airplane in Australia), scarf (in a theatre in Beijing), gloves (on a park bench in Prague), coffee mug (somewhere in Jordan), shorts (in a hotel room in Prague), our car (towed away in Chicago while we were in China)
  
• on this trip we had broken: zippers on Justin's REI pants, zipper on Chris' REI pants, zipper on Justin's Columbia jacket, REI sweater unraveled, REI underwear unraveled, REI t-shirts fell apart, and Chris' REI pack started to come apart

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