Facts, favourites and findings

Number of days we were away:
249 days

Number of different beds we slept in:
61

Number of countries visited:
14

Kilometres traveled:

51,203 km

Number of countries we planned to visit, but didn't:
1 - Vietnam
Two days before we were due to fly to Hanoi, a massive typhoon hit the country and the majority of places we wanted to visit were flooded. We'll definitely head back that way one day though.

Modes of transport used:
Aeroplane, car, campervan, bus, taxi, train, camel-cart, tuk tuk, elephant, donkey, horse, yacht, rowboat, metro/underground, pick up truck, motorbike, speedboat, songthaew, minivan, monorail, gondola

Countries visited:

New Zealand, USA, France, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, India, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Australia

5 places we enjoyed the most:
Goreme - Turkey
Chiang Mai - Thailand
Siem Reap - Cambodia
New York - USA
South Island - New Zealand

4 places we didn't enjoy quite so much:
Luxor - Egypt
Allepo - Syria
Bikaner - India
Batu Ferringgi - Malaysia

Best places we ate at:
On the Rocks - Jodhpur, India
Tanta's - Ao Nang, Thailand
Food hall in the Paragon shopping centre - Bangkok, Thailand
Some random pizza place in East Village - New York, USA

Cheapest place we stayed:
Encore Angkor Guesthouse - Siem Reap, Cambodia
US$24 per night for the 4 of us, including a fantastic breakfast, free wifi, satellite tv, a/c, a pool and staff who adored our kids! (This place also happened to be one of the best places we stayed).

Most expensive place we stayed at:
East Village Bed and Coffee - New York, USA
US$170 per night for the 4 of us, included free use of the kitchen (including free tea/coffee), free wifi, satellite tv and it was in a pretty good location.

Cheapest beer's we bought:
US$0.50 - Siem Reap, Cambodia

Number of times we were ill:
Alain - 2
Nicola - 2
Mia - 0
Dallas - 4

Towns we spent our birthdays in:
Alain - Jaipur, India
Nicola - Anaheim, USA (I went to Disneyland for my 30th, yay...)
Mia - Phuket, Thailand
Dallas - Jerusalem, Israel

Things we discovered whilst on our trip:
That the world isn't a big bad place full of people 'out to get you'. The vast majority of people we encountered were interesting, kind, generous and extremely giving. We had so many random acts of kindness bestowed upon us, that it makes my heart flutter just thinking about them...

Like when we were in Cairo. We arrived at our hotel at round 7.30pm after a long day of travel, only to find that the hotel we had reservations at had no electricity or running water (for whatever reason). There were were, in a strange new city, it was dark, we were all exhausted, we had two huge backpacks to lug around and two small children who hadn't even had dinner yet (and we didn't know where we were going to get some food from either, as it was right in the middle of Ramadan). And now we needed to find somewhere to sleep. We turned to our trusty guidebook to find the nearest hostel and off we trotted...

Upon our arrival at the Sara Hostel, we were warmly greeted by Mohammad (the owner) and when we enquired whether he had room for us, he exclaimed "Yes, yes of course I have room for you, but first, come and have breakfast with us." He then ushered us into the dining room where at least 15 members of his family were all breaking their fast and he wanted us to join them (during Ramadan Muslims sustain from eating, drinking, smoking amongst other things, from sunrise to sunset). It was such a wonderful experience, to be able to share this meal with his family and to be some warmly welcomed, we felt honoured to be allowed to share this ancient tradition with them.

We also discovered that we in the West aren't very accepting/welcoming of children. In the Middle East, India and South East Asia, our children were constantly dotted upon by absolute strangers! Wherever we went, the children would receive alot of attention. People in markets would give them free fruit or trinkets, people on buses or at our hostels would play games with them or just sit and chat. It truly was amazing...


Mia's favourite parts of our trip:
Seeing the Statue of Liberty, patting tiger cubs in Chiang Mai, and seeing her grandparents in France and New Zealand

Dallas' favourite parts of our trip:
Going to Nana's house in NZ and going on the Buzz ride at Disneyland

Would we go again?
In a heartbeat. Without a doubt... Yes! We are actually in talks already about our next big trip. So watch this space...