I’ve flown around the world. Literally. It’s hard to believe. So far this year… 45,631 miles flown. 14 countries. 22 stops. 40 cities I stayed overnight in. 55 different beds. Longest stay in one place: 13 days in Curitiba, Brazil (besides the last month in Amsterdam). Shortest stay: too many one nighters to count.
I feel ready to be done, but I’m going to miss waking up every morning, anticipating what amazing and exotic things I’ll see that day. I won’t miss waking up and feeling that twinge of tension about the unknown, though.
What follows is an at-a-glance recap of the highlights…
Best place for a bike ride: Amsterdam
Country in which I could most see myself living indefinitely: Brazil, I loved it all
Yummy summer treat: açai
Biggest thrill: hang gliding onto Pepino Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The closest to flying like a bird I think I’ll ever get.
Shortest stop: Charlotte, NC. Breakfast with Jana and Mallory at Cracker Barrel.
Best cuppa joe: Costa Rica
Best living history lesson: Panama Canal, watching the humongous ships laden with box cars navigate the locks and moseying through the nearby museum
Most miles run in one day: 26.2, Boston Marathon. Incidentally one of the worst weather days in its history. Thank you very much.
Most annoying day for airports: Boston to Toronto via Chicago. Many hours spent in line at ticketing counters and waiting for delayed flights. But I got to see Lynette and Rusty and Jonathan in Chicago!
Most money earned in one week: $1600, PRACS, Fargo, ND, with which I made one of the best purchases ever and rediscovered the fun in photography, a 17-35mm f/2.8 lens
Most fun learning experience: Birth doula course in Seattle
Most best friends in one city: Seattle
Best fish ‘n’ chips: Tony’s Fish & Oyster Café, Granville Island, Vancouver, BC
Best concert: The Killers, Virgin Festival, Vancouver, BC with Matty
Most stress experienced: South Korea, but no offense to the country.
Flight I didn’t want to end: Seoul to Manila, first class seat on a 747, complete with personal viewing monitor and real silverware.
Darkest day: in a cave in Sagada, Philippines. The kerosene lamp went out for a few long moments.
First couchsurfing experience: Zara in Manila, great fun!
Cheapest eats: Vietnam. 40¢ for a big bowl of phỏ, or a six course meal complete with wine and coffee for under $10.
Longest bus ride: Nha Trang to Hoi An, Vietnam. Thirteen very long and hot nighttime hours.
Place to sweat the most: Southeast Asia
Best friend met on the travel trail: Elly from Sunshine Coast, Australia, met in Vietnam
Best place to get stuff tailored: Hoi An, Vietnam. Who knew, but it’s heaps of fun and so addicting! Also the cutest town in SE Asia.
Most creative handmade crafts and best place for a shopping spree: Chiang Mai, Thailand (I’m so going there to shop for my new home, once I’m settled, armed with the largest empty bag I can find! Who wants to come?!)
Most beautiful city: Stockholm- the water, old world buildings, cobblestone streets, ferry boats, and a seemingly endless twilight make for a place that photos don’t do it justice. You just gotta see it for yourself.
Most expensive country: Norway, example- nearly $4 for a half liter of Coke
Most breathtaking scenery: the fjords in Norway and the rain forest in Brazil
Longest day: Bergen, Norway. 19 July 2007, 17 hours, 56 minutes, 41 seconds. Sunset at 10:43pm. Pretty amazing, but good grief! Would the sun just set already, I’m so tired and cold but bound and determined to see the sunset!
Best night out: Wicked in London’s West End
Best place to see people’s noses in Harry Potter books: on the Underground, London
Most cheese seen in one place: historical cheese market, Alkmaar, Holland
Most television shows watched: 61 episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, viewed in Amsterdam
Coldest night on a “beach”: Antwerp, Belgium. I was with my couchsurfing hosts sipping red wine at a bar set up on a sort of fake beach on the river. Going with the beach theme, I was wearing my Havaianas flip flops, but brrrrr! I could nearly see my breath.
Best place for a wandering stroll: Ghent, Belgium and Gamla Stan, Stockholm
People I saw on the most continents: Luiz and Fleur
Most relaxed airport: Schiphol, Amsterdam
Airport to avoid at all costs: O’Hare, Chicago
Best picture window: Grand Superior Lodge, with a picturesque view of the sun rising over Lake Superior, Minnesota. So that’s why they call it a picture window.
And that is my last six months in a nutshell. I’ve conquered the world… in my own little way.
2 Comments
My favorite blog to read and live vicariously through: yours!
i can’t believe you did it, lindsay! has it really been 6 months already?? ahh… i will miss these posts! when are you coming back to good old minnesota?