Return, Aftermath, and Thoughts

Sorry for the delay. I've been busy hitchhiking across the country and sleeping in unlocked cars. Actually, I've been busy catching up with the peeps in Jersey, and... gasp... settling back into the office. But for now, where we left off:

Nicole, Roxy, and I checked out the Coit Tower on our way out of San Fran. It's nothing more than a round, dull looking scenic tower on top of a hill just north of downtown. The old elevator was slightly cool, but the rest was a letdown, although I think the girls disagreed with me. They had windows up at the top so you couldn't even get good pictures of the skyline or the bay. But it was only $5.

We got back on the PCH and headed back south. This time it was early enough and we had nowhere to stop, so we were hopefull of getting all the scenery the whole way back to LA. We stopped a few times for pictures, gas, food, etc. It was a great drive, though not the best I've seen. I'd definitley do it again though.

We got back to LA and it was raining. The Cali weather had it out for me. We spent the next two nights checking out some of the bars around the area that they thought I'd like. My favorite was this place called the Verdugo, which specialized in Belgian Ales and some of the best American beers I've had. My kind of place!

All in all, Nicole and Roxy did well. And they were happy to hear I went back east telling everyone the saying is true: LA is good if you live there or know people who live there. I had a great time and my misperception of LA as a huge, crappy, filthy city with nothing to offer was prooven wrong.

I left from the John Wayne Airport, which is south of the city. Passing the Angels' stadium, Nicole said it was the first time she ever saw snow on the mountains in the background. I had a layover in Salt Lake City, so we flew over Vegas and I saw the snow that was covering the desert from the very abnormal snow storm they had the day before.

A few hours later, my friends picked me up in Philly. We immediately went into the city and got some cheesesteaks, knocking off one of many kinds of food that I missed from home. The weekend was filled with seeing people again for the first time. Then it was back to work.

Barely a month after returning home, I'm itching to go somewhere again. I've found that answering questions on travel forums helps a lot. It keeps the travel part of my brain occupied and I also get the satisfaction of paying society back from the endless free information it gave me before I left.

A lot of people keep asking me what my favorite place was. This is absurdly impossible to answer, but here are what I consider the highlights: cage diving with great whites, quad biking the Namib Desert, Okavango Delta, white water rafting in the hippo and croc infested Zambezi River, the Ngorogoro Crater, the Kilimanjaro summit, African sunsets, the African skies at night, the Jordanians, Old Town Damascus, Cappadocia, Turkish soccer crowds, Castle Sinaia, Thai food, motorbiking the Thai jungles, tubing and partying in Vang Vieng, Vietnamese food, Halong Bay, motorbike taxies in Saigon, diving the Similan Islands, partying in Koh Pha Ngon, the Franz Josef Glacier hike, Milford Sound, the road trip up the Pacific Coast Highway, and the seafood in San Francisco.

On the other hand, the disappointments would have to be Dune 45 (it was cloudy), Malawi, Egypt, Castle Bran, and Ukraine. I was ripped off more times than I can count, got the flu, went two days with no money at all when my cards were deactivated, had crazy dreams from malaria pills, got charged at by elephants and babboons, slept outside in absolutely frigid temperatures (frozen solid water bottles), slept in caves, got yelled at in Arabic for being an American soldier (of course I'm not), broke down in pretty much the definition of the middle of nowhere, endured border crossings up to five hours, got hit by a car, got held overnight in a Turkish police station filing a theft report, got punched in the head, got held at the side of the road for hours when my bus got busted and raided for smuggling counterfeit merchandise across three countries, got sick 1 hour before a 28 hour overnight train left, slept in strangers' houses, narrowly escaped government protests, got tired of living out of a bag, and ate and drank all kinds of crazy things. And I wouldn't change anything at all. This has undoubtedly been the best experience of my life. To all the people who told me I was irresponsible or stupid to "waste" all my money, I have absolutely no response at all, and not the slightest regret in the world.

People also keep asking me what it was like to be in certain regions. So I thought I'd summarize:

Africa
I had fairly high expectations for my two months in Africa, and they were completely blown out of the water. Africa was absolutely incredible and I had no idea I would love it as much as I did. Country to country, and game park to game park, it continues to offer enough different things to keep you fascinated. The animals, the people, the food, the nature, and the culture shock all had my head spinning when I flew out of there. I highly recommend it to adventurous travelers, and I guaruntee I WILL go back!

The Middle East
Most of the travel blogs I read prior to leaving praised the friendiness found in the Middle East. This was in high contrast the picture painted by America of nothing but terrorists and warzones all over the place. Don't listen to the ignorance, and don't listen to the stubborn US State Department. The Mid East is the most welcoming place I've ever been. Strangers invite you over for dinner and it takes seconds to hitch a ride on the side of the road. It's probably the most different way of life compared to ours at home which is what makes it alluring. But I have to admit I had enough after a month.

Southeast Asia
I could travel the same loop through SE Asia over and over and never get bored. There are A LOT of tourists, which means the local culture is a bit diluted. But I had some of the most fun I've ever had while traveling. And it's still dirt cheap. Great food, great beaches, great diving, all kinds of activities and entertainment to keep you busy. There's something for everyone here.

So what's next? The general plan is to lay low in 2009, save up my vacation days and then do something big in 2010. Still not sure what exactly, but South America is definitely a candidate. I still really want to do a Trans-Siberian Railway trip, a Spain/Portugal/Morocco trip, Scandinavia, the Balkans, western US and Canada, Australia, and since I fell in love with Africa a few months ago, maybe a Mozambique/Madagascar/eastern South Africa type thing. Only time will tell.

So I guess that's it. Thanks to everyone who followed the blog, and more importantly, I have to thank the countless amount of amazing people I met along the way that made the whole thing better than I possibly could have ever expected. Just for fun (and because I don't feel like working right now), here are some lists from everywhere in the world I've been:

Friendliest Countries:
1. Jordan
2. Syria
3. Ireland
4. Laos
5. New Zealand

Best Food:
1. Thailand
1. Vietnam (tied)
3. Hungary
4. Poland
5. Italy

Most Scenic:
1. Mt. Kilimanjaro summit, Tanzania
2. All of Switzerland
3. Milford Sound, New Zealand
4. French Riviera, France
5. Cape of Good Hope, South Africa

Most Well Traveled People:
1. English
2. Canadians
3. Germans
4. Australians
5. Dutch

Biggest Culture Shock:
1. Cambodia
2. Zimbabwe
3. Zambia

Best Looking Women
1. Moldova
2. Slovakia
3. Ireland

Favorite Cities (this one is super difficult!):
1. Krakow, Poland
2. Damascus, Syria
3. Hanoi, Vietnam
3. Istanbul, Turkey
3. Amsterdam, Netherlands
3. Paris, France (I can't possibly favor any of these these last 4 over the others)

Best Nightlife/Partying:
1. Vang Vieng, Laos (I guaruntee you will not have as much fun anywhere else in the world)
2. Koh Phan Ngon, Thailand
3. Amsterdam, Netherlands
4. Krakow, Poland
5. Bangkok, Thailand

And some random things I learned:
- Australians don't really travel that much outside of Europe
- As much as America doesn't want to hear this, Muslims are the friendliest people in the world, by far
- After traveling the third world, developed countries are comparatively boring
- Bob Marley is the most globally liked musician of all time
- Syria produces a bunch of world class jazz bands
- How incredibly more popular the English Premier League is than any other sporting league in the world
- The Turkish are the most passionate sports fans in the world

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Part of trip: Around the World 2008

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