As with all of our country round-up posts, we have answered the same questions that we normally do, but this time about our entire trip. We always answer these separately so that we can’t steal each other’s answers, but it’s funny how similar our responses were this time. Enjoy!

What was your favorite site or place that you visited?
J: Machu Picchu. (Lana’s note: he didn’t give any other explanation, so it is what it is!)
L: This is really hard, so I’m going to cheat and give my top two answers snice I can’t decide between them. One is the time we spent on/in the water in Belize, snorkeling and scuba diving. Getting scuba certified is something that I’ve dreamed of doing for so long and is far and away my favorite activity that we did on our trip. The other is overlanding (with Intrepid and on our own) in southern Africa. We were a bit nervous going to Africa but quickly fell in love with the people, landscapes, and cities that we visited. We loved it so much that we tried to go back with the Peace Corps (to Namibia), but that didn’t work out.

It was magical being at Machu Picchu early in the morning, before a majority of the crowds and when it was still enveloped in fog.

What was the biggest surprise you had during this time?
J: How easy it was to navigate and make our way in countries where we didn’t know the language.
L: I think the biggest surprise was how easy it was to travel to all of the different countries and how nice people are around the world. Even though we didn’t speak the language well or at all where we traveled, we found people who were patient, kind, and helpful everywhere. People would go out of their way to help us with directions, ordering food, or just to make sure we were enjoying their country. I don’t find that kind of openness traveling around the USA and it really affirmed our belief that people are good everywhere (don’t always believe what you see in the news!).

The people that we met around the world were so friendly and helpful. We loved talking to them and getting to know a little bit about them, like Nicky, our tuk-tuk tour guide in Cambodia.

What was the lowest point for this part of the trip?
J: When we crashed our scooter in Vietnam. We were about an hour and a half away and had to make our way back when we were both shaken up, bruised, and scraped up. We had to find a body shop to take a look at a part that had been knocked off the scooter and then try to explain to our landlord what happened.
L: Another tie – it was either the times we got sick/injured or when I had little meltdowns. We both got sick more in our year of traveling than we had in the previous 10 or 15 years of living in the USA. We had insurance and were able to easily buy medicines as we traveled (even having to pantomime having diarrhea in Mexico one time!), but it’s never easy to be sick when you are away from home. Those were usually the times when we succumbed to McDonald’s or Pizza Hut. There were also a couple of times when I got very overwhelmed, hot, tired, hungry, or any combination of those and had little meltdowns. Luckily, I have a very patient husband who knows what to do when this happens and can take charge to get me out of those moods.

We consoled ourselves with Pizza Hut and Harry Potter while we were sick in Mexico City.

What was your favorite food or meal that you had?
J: The lunch we had in Mendoza, Argentina while biking from winery to winery. 5 courses and a bottle of local wine, heavy on the meat – it was delicious!
L: The asado at Pamela’s house in Argentina stands out as my favorite meal. There were close to 20 people who all helped prepare the food and make us feel like we were part of the family. Not to mention, the meal was mouth-watering!

One of our favorite meals was the asado at Pamela’s house in Argentina. Her family was so welcoming and the food was delicious!

What would you change if you were to do it again?
J: I wouldn’t have spent so much time in the US at the beginning. It was the most expensive country and we spent a lot more money (both before we left, with a month in Bay City, and on the road for 5 weeks). There were some things I would have skipped and would have made it a much shorter road trip had we known. That would have allowed us to spend money in other countries and perhaps travel longer.
L: I would have budgeted more carefully at the beginning of our trip so that we could have traveled longer. When we first left, we had more of a “vacation” mentality where we wanted to do and try everything while we were in a city. Eventually, we realized that we couldn’t afford to do everything and so we had to be more selective. It took us a while, but we became OK with the fact that we wouldn’t be able to do or see everything – we had to be happy with the things that we did see or do. Having done a long trip like this once, I think it would be easier for us to make that switch mentally if we were every to do it again.

We indulged in some Buffalo Wild Wings in the USA. In hindsight, we would have skipped some of these splurges so that we could have spent more money elsewhere.

What advice would you give someone doing a similar trip and route?
J: Research is important. Lana did all of it and it made it easy when we arrived in a new place. It prepared us for what we would be getting into, whether taking public transportation or what food to try. Pack light – there are so many things that you take that you won’t need, even though you think you will when you leave. Be aware of your surroundings and have situational awareness, but don’t seclude yourself for fear of a city or country. Go out and explore and interact with people. Live in the moment and don’t dwell on what you think you are missing back home.
L: It’s important to find a balance when going on a trip for this long. This applies in many ways. Find a balance with your budget between doing the big-ticket items and things that you have always dreamed of doing versus skipping some things that aren’t as important to you. Find a balance between planning ahead and remaining flexible, so that you can leave room for places where you want to stay longer or locations you have never heard of until you arrive in a country versus buying/booking ahead so that you can get cheaper tickets for things like flights, hotels, or tours. Find a balance between sightseeing and relaxing; you will need “down” days to do nothing more than wash clothes and watch TV and need to factor these in between sightseeing and busy days.

We had never heard of La Serena, Chile before our visit. Because we were flexible, we changed our plans from the Atacama desert to La Serena along the coast and had a great time! Finding a balance between planning ahead and leaving room for spontaneity is important!

What is the best memory that you’ll carry with you?
J: My best memory is from Paracas, Peru. It was here when I felt like we really started traveling. Even though we had been on the road for a few months already, this is when it all came together for us. There was a moment when we didn’t know where we were, where we were going, or what we were doing – but we knew that we would be fine. I felt like a stranger in a strange land – lost, but not in any danger. We were completely on our own, but we were in it together. That afternoon in Paracas gave us the confidence to be confident and really dive into each place we went, rather than just being a tourist like we had been up to that point.
L: My best memory is that I went so many places and did so many things with Jon. Cliché, but it’s true. Spending every second of every day together for over a year was the best thing about this trip and getting to share these memories is priceless. Some of my favorite moments were when I got to be with Jon watching him do something he has always wanted to do, like visiting Palenque, flying over the Nasca Lines, or eating pad thai from a street stall. Seeing his enthusiasm and excitement made it all worthwhile.

I think Jon would have eaten pad thai from the streets of Bangkok every day if I would have let him!

We couldn’t find our way from the bus station to our hostel in Paracas, so wandered around for almost an hour like this! We stopped to ask the police and people at stores and restaurants before we finally found it.

Did you miss the rest of our world round-up? Click here for Part 1!