A Year to Remember

It seems like only yesterday I was setting out all my gear on the bed in our Amman, Jordan hotel room (June 21, 2015) before departing for our year-long trip around the world. Now, over a year later, and as the trip finds us relaxing at the beach in Rhode Island, I write what I believe will be my final travel blog before setting out for our next move/adventure.

What can I say, except - wow, what a ride the past year has been. We've traveled from one interesting destination to another, met amazing and interesting people, reconnected with close friends and family while also making new acquaintance along the way, grew closer as a family and re-affirmed the strong belief that - "We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us".

Over the past year we have:

• Visited 19 countries from the foothills of the Himalayas to island atolls in the Pacific
• Traveled on 100's of buses, ferries, buses, trains, tuk-tuks, rickshaws, and foot trails traversing through jungles, urban sprawls, panoramic vistas and more
• Flown on no less than 69 flights
• Experienced amazing diving all over the world (I logged 32 dives while Maya exceeded this number by logging 14 dives in two weeks in Hawaii - thanks to our close friend Matt who owns 3 dive shops on Oahu)
• Been hosted by and/or met up with good friends and family along our route - by my count we connected and spent quality time with no less than 25 sets of family and friends.
• Ingested every kind of noodle, curry, insect, fish, and local delicacy imaginable
• Arranged 7 house swaps where we recharged our batteries and actually cooked our own food.
• Managed the trip with only one backpack each (until Mexico toward the end of the trip where we added a family suitcase to hold things we'd acquired throughout our travels).
• Sent more than 180 postcards to family and friends
• Saw the most amazing wildlife including wild tiger, orang-utan, komodo dragons, giant manta rays, sharks and octopus, platypus, kangaroos, wombats and wallaby's, whale sharks, elephants, camels, kookaburras, and much much more.
• Posted close to 160 travel blogs
• Lost one laptop computer due to a slimy taxi driver in Hanoi, left behind countless numbers of flip flops, t-shirts, toothbrushes, and other small personal items. Fortunately, we didn't lose a single piece of luggage the entire trip.
• Took literally thousands of photos
• Slept in more beds than we care to remember
• Registered beautiful memories that will last a lifetime 

For the past month, and as the year-long adventure wraps up, we've been staying with friends in Hawaii, southern California and now Rhode Island. In late May, we wrapped up a terrific few weeks with Matt and Sheila on Oahu before staying with Sandy and her gracious family (minus Peter who was in Europe) in San Diego. We then stayed with Dom and Joao who are like family to me in their San Diego home, while also visiting our good friend Kathy who lives in Cardiff and visited us previously in Todos Santos/Baja, Mexico. Fortunately, we also had time to spend an incredible few days with Jimmy and Eddy and their children on their boat for a 4 day sail to Catalina Island - beautiful. While in LA, we stayed with my close childhood friend Bob and his wife Lisette and their 3 daughters and had a chance to see Bob's brothers Chris and Dino and their parents Bob and Rose. Thanks to all of these special people for the wonderful hospitality they showed us. We also were hosted for a delicious sushi dinner in LA, compliments of Dave, who Nadia met in Geneva and had a chance to go hiking with in the Alps.

We hope we can return everyone's sincere and overwhelming hospitality by having everyone come visit us abroad in the coming year(s).

We're now staying with our good friend Nina at her beach house in Narragansett RI, where we're able to spend time with my brother Jim and other close friends from Rhode Island. I've had the chance to go fishing 'striper' fishing a couple of times with my good friend Tony and spend a #10 day on Block Island with Denise, Charlotte and Jimmy "Man of Mystery' Robbins.

So - what's next? In a few days I'll fly to Wash/DC where I'll be in training for my new job with the US State Department as their Office of Transitional Initiatives Country Representative for Burma/Myanmar. If all goes well, we expect to fly to Yangon (Myanmar's capital) by late July so the kids can start at the International School of Yangon on August 3rd. I'll be working out of the US Embassy and we hope to be living in a house not too far from school and the Embassy (traffic can be a bear in Yangon). We're also quite excited to get a new dog once we're settled (Mira can't wait).

The family is looking forward to this new adventure and I'm truly grateful that, even though it was a considerable risk for Nadia and I quit our jobs to do this trip, everything seems to be working out as we had hoped. I'd like to think we gained a bit of positive karma from the monks in places like Bhutan, Laos and India.

It's been a great ride and I wouldn't hesitate doing it again if the chance presents itself.
For now, signing out until the next big adventure.........          Cheers, Rob

Wreck diving with Maya in Hawaii

Mira with sea lions, La Jolla Cove in San Diego

Relaxing hot tub experience at Dom's house

At the Delmar Fair

At Harry Potter village, Universal Studios LA

Lucy, Mira and new friend at Universal Studios

The Marsocci/Maroni clans at Bob and Lisette's house

Cathy and Maya anchored off of Catalina Island 

Sundowners with Jimmy and Eddie on Catalina I.

Avalon

Lobster pot markers, Block Island

New Harbour, Block Island