holidays — Page 2

Holidays at home

December 24, 2010 By Jillian

It’s probably no surprise, but some of the most difficult times to be on the road are during holidays. Generally we weren’t alone, but except with some friends in Africa, we rarely were with other travelers long enough to develop a deep relationship. We were surrounded by great people and sharing your traditions can be fun and memorable, but it’s just not the same as being home.

I’ll never regret spending Thanksgiving in India, sharing the story and celebration with our couchsurfing hosts, nor my birthday in Colombia or the amazing couchsurfers who threw a birthday weekend for Danny in South Africa. But when we came around for the second birthday, the second anniversary away, it was a little more difficult and we felt in some ways cut off. This year, we’re home and we’re spending the holidays with some good friends we met in Africa that have just immigrated to the U.S.

This week take a second to think about the people that aren’t celebrating with their friends and family. Consider yourself lucky if you are, and if you aren’t, remember that someone else around you might be in the same boat. That act of kindness, inviting someone to a festive dinner, sharing your own holiday traditions or passing along a piece of candy can really make a difference. For our own friends in all the corners of the globe, we are thinking of you guys and hope that wherever you are, you’re having a great holiday.

A day to give thanks

November 25, 2010 By Jillian

Happy Thanksgiving to our readers in the USA, and for those of you in Canada, happy almost Thanksgiving! We have a lot to be thankful for this year. Since last Thanksgiving we’ve been to Africa, Europe and Asia. As this year winds down, we too will be returning to something that resembles a stationary life. And you know what, despite having a wonderful time traveling, I’m thankful for the opportunity to go home.

Our holiday this year will be in India. A far cry from the Thanksgiving’s of my childhood when the power went out due to snow and my dad cooked the entire meal on the charcoal grill. Nevertheless, we each have a lot to be thankful for this year and as we sit down to what will certainly be the spiciest thanksgiving in a while, here’s a short list of things I’ll be thinking about.

1)The opportunity to live our dream and be an example. Most people thought we were crazy when we set off on this adventure. As the end of our trip gets closer and closer I’m more and more thankful each day that we’ve made this journey happen, not just for ourselves, but also to serve as an example that dreams can be achieved. So many readers have emailed us questions about doing an around-the-world trip and some have even embarked on their own. It feels good not only to have followed our own dream but also to have helped inspire others to do the same.

2)The good, the bad and the ugly. There have been some awful experiences on this trip. There have been some incredible moments and some that bring me to tears. Looking back on it I’m thankful for each of these experiences. They don’t only color the trip and make it more interesting (frankly most people are interested in hearing about the bad stuff anyway!) they have also taught me a lot about what’s possible.

3) Our readers. From parents to extended family, friends to other bloggers, fellow travelers somewhere else in the world to those we meet at a hostel, we are forever indebted to our readers for keeping our spirits high, keeping this blog going and giving us support even when they don’t realize it. It’s a big world out there, but not a lonely one.

A shot-gun, biltong and pink champagne…

January 11, 2010 By Danny

We were quite lucky to even get park reservations over new years and once we arrived at the park were hoping that we’d be able to arrange for a New Years Eve night safari at our Satara camp.

The ride out to the remote picnic spot, where some champagne was waiting for us, was a quick one, but eventful nonetheless. Pulling out of camp we saw giraffe galloping, startled at the light, our first water buffalo, and a group of elephants move to protect a baby. This was interesting to us because during the day the elephants didn’t really feel the need to encircle a baby but I guess it was different at night with a bunch of lights being shined on them. We also saw bunches of spotted hyena off looking for whatever food they could find.

At the picnic spot, completely unaware of what time it was (we’d left camp at 11pm) our ranger guide joked that there were no lions around as he sat loading shells into his shotgun. Nice. We were escorted to the picnic tables where some chips and biltong sat waiting for us and a several bottles of pink-ish champagne, at least one bottle in each shade of red, and waited for the countdown to begin. One of the rangers told us a minute remained and then began talking, wishing us “Shalom” or “completeness through peace” as he translated it and several minutes later after being reminded started counting down from 10 for us to celebrate the new year. We shot off the corks, drank a touch of the pink stuff, spotted a crocodile across the river, and got back in the trucks for the remainder of the ride.

On the way back we missed spotting a rhino (the other truck saw it but it was hidden in bush when we arrived) but a bit later did get to hear the male and female rhino engage in mating calls. Our guide managed to spot a snakes, the boomslang, in a tree whose bite would kill us in a matter of hours and we continued on spotting more hyenas (whose howl was quite eerie), buck, and zebra. To round out the trip, several juvenile male lions were hanging out on the road just before we got back to camp (literally about 200m from the gate) . Just what we wanted to see before heading off to bed!

Why Rio Won

October 5, 2009 By Danny

Sorry Chicago, you guys should try for the WINTER Olympics…..leave the summer Olympics to the beaches and palm trees of Rio…one of the most stunning cities we have ever laid eyes on.

The biggest problem with Rio was that it is a City…and a city is a place where people live in order to go to work and go about their daily lives. We don’t work and our lives are far from normal…hence cities aren’t usually so enticing to us. In Panama City we saw the canal, in Bogota we hung out with Couchsurfers, and in Lima we took some time from our hectic travel schedule to get visas for Bolivia and Brazil. Here in Rio though, we found one of the most amazing cities in the world.

I think the best way to describe Rio is that it is what you would get if you bulldozed Miami and put New York City along the banks of Biscayne Bay. An eclectic mix beachgoers, business people, cross dressers and travelers, it is the first place I was able to wear shorts and not feel like someone had written the word tourist across my back. Nestled amongst beautiful bays, stunning beaches, and rainforest covered hills, Rio really is the closest thing we’ll ever have to the oxymoron of a city built in paradise.

And it was raining.

We had one day of nice weather and would have loved to hit the beach, but that day happened to be Yom Kippur so we were obliged to pass. The rest of the time we wandered downtown and through hilltop communities. We ate the street food (meat on a stick continues to be the best value) and even attempted a [free] museum in Portuguese. Really though, we spent three days wandering around.

We also managed to meet up with some local Couchsurfers who took us out for a wonderful night on the town. One didn’t get out of class until 10pm and the other had class even earlier the next morning, but that didn’t stop us from closing the place down and getting back to the hostel around 2am.

I would move here tomorrow if only they didn’t speak Portuguese. Sure, the weather right now isn’t so great…but it is spring here right now so its only fair.

New Year, New Countries

January 1, 2009 By Nicole Biller

Less than 60 days before we move out and pack up. We got the annual new years candy from my grandma today (yay!), the card says “May you have a sweet 2009 no matter where you are.” Who knows what 2009 has in store for us, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

New year= new countries= new adventures.

What does your 2009 equation look like?

Holidays at home

A day to give thanks

A shot-gun, biltong and pink champagne…

Why Rio Won

New Year, New Countries

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