A Year to Remember!

Jordan, June, 2015

Thailand, June 2015

Laos, July 2015

Indonesia, August 2015

Palau, September 2015

Singapore, September 2015

India, October 2015

Bhutan, October 2015

Myanmar, November 2015

Cambodia, December 2015

Vietnam, January 2016

Australia, January 2016

New Zealand, February 2016

Samoa, March 2016

Chile, March 2016

Mexico, April 2016

USA, May 2016

Lists

We have now finished our Big Trip.  What a year it has been!  And what amazing experiences we have had in so many countries.  Here is a sample:

Countries in which we have had bugs and infections:

• Thailand - ants crawling across my head while sleeping on a mat on the floor at a homestay in the hills above Chiang Mai
• Thailand - leech sucking my blood
• Thailand - Mira had a bad stomach bug
• Indonesia - I caught Mira's stomach bug
• Indonesia - lice, which everyone but Rob got them
• Indonesia - Rob had bedbugs
• Cambodia - Rob and Maya had a little stomach bug
• Palau - poisonous tree got Maya good (like poison ivy but worse)
• India - Rob had mites with super long antennas in his underarm
• India - Maya had a cold or flu
• Australia - we all had leeches sucking our blood
• California - Mira and I had bedbugs

Maya's legs after toughing beautiful Palau's ugly poisonous trees

Countries in which we ate insects:

• Thailand
• Laos
• Cambodia
• Mexico

Countries in which I saw friends (and location of where we first met that friend):

• Thailand - Billy, Kathy, and Khalid (Louisiana and UAE)
• Thailand - Dino and Helen (Rhode Island)
• Indonesia - Denise, Jay, Charlotte, and Jimmy (Rhode Island)
• Singapore - Ann, Michael, Demitri, and Thani (Rhode Island)
• India - Tony, Alicia, and Fran (Rhode Island)
• Bhutan - Nabil and Violet (Louisiana and UAE)
• Myanmar - Josh, Zoe, and Zack (Jordan)
• Myanmar - Jill and Roni (Jordan)
• Cambodia - Matt and Sheila (California)
• Vietnam - Reed and Ryder (Jordan)
• Australia - Megan (Canada)
• Australia - Dianne, Zekele, and Lindy (Zimbabwe)
• Australia - Mandy (Washington)
• Australia - Carolan, Tim, and Kirra (California)
• Australia - Lesley (UAE)
• Australia - Denise (Eritrea)
• New Zealand - Helle and Warwick (Eritrea)
• New Zealand - Liz (Eritrea)
• Samoa - Cedric and Suzy (Massachusetts and Fiji)
• Chile - Inaki and Meritxell (Eritrea and New York)
• Mexico - Kathy (California)
• Mexico - Holly (Washington)
• Mexico - Jeanne (Zimbabwe)
• Mexico - Lisa (Jordan)
• Mexico - Jane (Rhode Island)
• Mexico - Lessie (Mexico)
• Hawaii - Matt and Sheila (California and Zimbabwe)
• Hawaii - Paz (Rhode Island)
• California - Sandy, Anneke, and Marijke (Canada)
• California - Kathy (California)
• California - Edie, Jimmy, Mimi, Cici, and Tia (UAE and California)
• California - the Marsocci clan (Rhode Island)
• California - Laura (Washington)
• California - Dave (France)
• California - Dom and Joao (Rhode Island)
• Arizona - Kamal, Alia, Saif, and Azza (Egypt)

How to say hello and thank you in the 19 countries we visited (and Hawaii):

• UAE:  marhaba, shukran 
• Thai: swadi ka, kap kun ka 
• Laos: sawadi, kap chai
• Indonesian: slamat pagi tremakasi
• Philippines:  kamusta , salamat po
• Palau: alli alli, sulong 
• India: namaste, dhandivad 
• Bhutan: kuzuzangpola, karinchey
• Myanmar: maklava  , chezutamari 
• Cambodia: Suwa sudeh, awkun 
• Vietnam: Sin chao, com an
• Australia: G'dai, cheers or ta 
• New Zealand: hello, thanks or ta 
• Samoa: talofa, fa'afetai
• Santiago: hola; gracias 
• Easter Island: iorana; maururu 
• Mexico: hola; gracias 
• Hawaii: aloha, mahalo

- Nadia

Do Overs?

We are now exactly one year and six days into our one-year around-the-world trip, for which we quit our jobs, jumped off the cliff, home schooled our children, and traveled to 19 countries around the world.

We are about to fly to Rhode Island, where we typically spend our summer vacation with family and friends.  After that, we will move to Myanmar and get on with our "regular" lives of living in a foreign country doing humanitarian and development work and attending international schools.

As I reflect on our trip, and think about the big picture, and as we visit friends here in Southern California, I think about what I would do differently, if we were to start the trip over again.

I would:

1.  Go slower and visit fewer places.  Upon the advice of people who had already taken similar trips, we revised our trip itinerary several times, slowing it, and reducing the number of countries and places we planned to visit.  

I still think, however, that we planned too much and didn't allow enough down time.  

I would go at a much a slower pace.  Visit fewer countries.  See fewer sights.  I would plan more "rest stops".  I would allow time for us to just be in a city or town or village, to experience life in different places.  I would allow more time for processing all that we say and all that we did.  Time to just "be".

The Cara Mia off Catalina Island, where we spent four days with my childhood friend, Edie, on her gorgeous sailboat, lounging and catching up - a perfect "rest stop" on our Big Trip.

2.  Take school less seriously.  Except for math, we didn't need to take schooling so seriously.  As long as they were reading regularly, and writing regularly, the girls didn't need as much formal schooling as we did.  They learned so, so much from everything we did and saw.  By osmosis.  By doing.  By experiencing.  By participating in the planning.  By asking questions of our guides and our new friends and acquaintances.  By seeing and experiencing and becoming so accepting of so many diverse foods and ecosystems and people and clothes and cultures and religions and lifestyles and values.  There are so many ways to do things and the "other" is also "right".  This is what it means to be an world citizen.

3.  Take strong, well-made roller suitcases instead of backpacks.  There were very, very few instances in which we actually needed backpacks.  We always checked bags when flying (because we had toothpaste and shampoo and first aid gels, etc., etc.,  which exceeded the liquid limits found everywhere with carry-on bags).  And there were many time in which we would have had a much easier time (less sweat) had we pulled along a small suitcase with wheels.  We didn't need to "prove" we were travelers by carrying backpacks instead of suitcases.

4.  Plan side trips with part of the family, in various configurations, to separate from time to time.  Maya and I took a trip on our own at the beginning of the trip.  We left Mira with family friends at the end of our trip.  I took three different week-long trips on my own during our Big Trip.  Rob went off for a long boys' weekend for four days at one point while we were in Mexico.  These were fantastic breaks, but we should have planned time for more little side trips with two of us going in one direction while the other two went in another while we were on our Big Trip.  One year is a long time to be together 24 hours-a-day, seven days a week, for one year.

Photos of Rob and I during a rare four-hour period of being away from the kids while at the San Diego County Fair in Del Mar, California, USA

All in all, it has been an absolutely fantastic year!  We have learned a lot about ourselves, about each other, and about our relationships with each other.  But I'd do things slightly differently if I were doing it over again.  If I was making recommendations to other families wanting to take a similar trip, I'd suggest they do things a little differently than we did it.

None-the-less, I would absolutely recommend a trip like this to anyone and everyone.  Life is fragile and short.  You might not be here tomorrow.  Take a leave-of-absence.  Take a sabbatical.  Quit your jobs.  Travel with your kids for a fair length of time while they're old enough to remember the trip.  Take a risk.  Do it.  Experience new things.  Create memories.  Spend time with loved ones.  Carpe diem!

-  Nadia

Winding Down

It's hard to believe, but we are down to the last couple of weeks of our "Big Trip".

Unlike other portions of our trip, since we're in the western states of USA, we are spending our time with long-time friends and with family I haven't seen in years.  While we're still exploring new things, much of our time is spent story-telling and answering questions about our year-long, 19-country adventure.

Some of the Al-Alawi clan at the Grand Canyon:

Saif, Amira, Mira, Nadia, and Kamal (back row)

Alia and Maya (front row)

One question I've been asked a few times is "are you tired of it?"  (or varieties of that question, such as "are you ready to stop").

In all honesty, I'd have to say 'yes, I'm ready to end the trip'.

It has been a fantastic year, full of adventures and learnings and discovery of all kind, but...

We know that if all goes well, we will settle in Myanmar (aka Burma) for the next few years.  That in itself is an adventure.  Where in Yangon will we live?  In an apartment or a house?  Where will the girls go to school?  Will we finally get a new dog (to "replace" Sawa, the white German Shepherd who had been part of the family for 14 years)?  What is it like on the coast of Myanmar?  And how about the north - we only visited Yangon and central Myanmar when we were there in November.  And what about the other expats - what are they like?  I want to end the trip mostly so that I can find the answers to these questions!

I'm also ready to stay in a place with a kitchen for more than just a week or two.  I like eating fresh fruits and vegetables.  I like creating delicious meals from them.  I like being able to control what and how much I eat (especially now that we're in USA where food habits tend to be pretty different from our family food culture).  I miss being able to open a fridge and make a quick and simple snack or meal without having to go to a restaurant for it.

And (while I hate to admit it), I'm looking forward to wearing some different clothes -  I'm tired of my four or five shirts!!  I want a few more items of clothing.  I don't want to HAVE to do laundry every few days.

Nadia

Soul Food

As I've mentioned before:

Meeting up with people you know, people you've know for more than a few years, is food for the soul.

Nadia

Interlude with Contrasts

I expect cultural differences (e.g. language and religion) when I travel.  It's amazing to me, however, how different places can look, even if they have fairly similar geographies (e.g. mountainous and dry).

Typical colorful street in downtown Oaxaca, Mexico, where we've been for the past 10 days, and where I've left Rob, Maya, and Mira for six days.  Oaxaca is at 5,500 feet and is arid much of the year.

Typical monotone-colored Amman, Jordan, where I am for the next three days for a sudden and very short work trip (women's rights and peace - how could I say no?!).  Amman is at 2,500 feet and is arid much of the year.

Nadia

Common Themes

Traveling the world, seeing different cultures, common themes of humanity emerge.

Religion:
In every single country and every single culture we have seen on our Big Trip, people believe in something for spiritual enlightenment or salvation and relief from earthly suffering.  They invest significant resources for places and spaces for enlightenment and/or worship and/or the afterlife.

The inside of the 700 year old Tlacolula Church

Violence:
In every single country and every single culture we have seen on our Big Trip, people have a history of oppressing each other and/or forcing their personal views or opinions or cultures on people with different views or opinions or cultures.  In some countries and cultures, the violence was hundreds of years ago.  In other countries and cultures, it was tens of years ago.

A reproduction of a Mexico government torture room from the 1970s

Art:
In every single country and every single culture we have seen on our Big Trip, people use art as a vehicle for expressing their world views, bearing witness to history, and/or protesting oppression and violence.

1970s art highlighting institutionalized violence in Mexico

Food:
In every single country and every single culture we have seen on our Big Trip, people savor the flavors and fill their bodies with more than just calories.

Chocolates, chili, and crickets - typical and delicious ingredients for Oaxacan food

Love:
In every single country and every single culture we have seen on our Big Trip, people have hope.  They love each other.  They fill their lives with color and joy.

Our house for two weeks in colorful Oaxaca City

Nadia

Beer

"While wine holds the mystery and magic of weather and geography, beer, too, has something to offer.  Beer is instant community, a reason to congregate.  Whether it's Martin Luther in his backyard sipping home brew and philosophizing the origins of a new religion with Philipp Melanchthon or a North Side Chicago watering hole where union workers are planning a strike action around mugs of cheap German-style lager, beer has served to loosen tongues, free minds, incite revolutions and fuel a billion amorous encounters since the dawn of history."  Bruno Tannenbaum, "100 Years of Windy City Beer," Chicago Sun Times

Beer is also an excellent conduit for catching up, reminiscing, and creating new memories.

Nadia

Catching up with Kathy, the "Baja Buddy" with whom I camped a gazillion times in Baja, Mexico's deserted beaches, mountain lakes, canyons, and hot springs

Home...

Greetings from Baja, Mexico!  I feel at home - in heaven, back at one of my favorite places on earth, in the desert, on the Pacific, facing west and able to look for the green flash every sunset.

We will be in Baja for three weeks:  one week in a beautiful house on the beach of the west coast of Baja in the artsy town of Todos Santos, chilling out and having a "rest stop"; and two weeks in a villa in the city of La Paz on the bay side of Baja, where we will be kayaking and scuba diving.

I'm excited about these two stops because they're in Baja, but also because the stops are at least a week long and because they're homes, with kitchens and stereos and space for each of us to have a little space and solitude - all things we like and have been missing.

Like the homes we stayed in while in Bali and Phnom Penh, we are staying in this house (as well as one in Oaxaca City and one in Mexico City, both a little later during our two month stay in Mexico) through swaps for the little holiday flat we have in the Yucatan.  It's a great way to save money - leverage your home for one in another location.  We arranged a couple of our house swaps through friends of friends, but arranged the others through a website (www.homeexchange.com).  It's a great way to travel economically!

Nadia

Free and Equal

Despite evidence to the contrary all over the world, I strongly believe that every person is born free and equal in dignity and rights.

First part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, on the wall of the Museum of Memory and Human Rights in Santiago, Chile

In Chile, Augusto Pinochet ruled ruthlessly for almost twenty years.  Thousands of people disappeared.

Photographs of some of the many people "disappeared" during the Pinochet regime

Free speech and opposition to the regime were not allowed.  Art was used widely as a medium for expressing truth.

Traditional Chilean appliqué produced during the 1970's

The president's regime was overthrown by popular vote.  The opposition campaign, which won overwhelmingly, focused on the positive, was very upbeat, and asked people to vote "no" for an extension of the presidential term.

Photograph by Alfredo Jaar, of a billboard from the opposition campaign, asking "are you happy?"

Today, Chile is colorful and hopeful.

The girls in Valparaiso, Chile, sitting in front of a couple of the extremely common murals 

And many Chileans have learned from the past.

A typical weekend city park poster asking us not to forget about the missing Mexican university students.  

If only everyone would respect human rights and give peace a chance... the world would be a better place.  Spread the word.  Open your eyes.  Do what you can.

Nadia

Impressions of Samoa

Lush, tropical, and green
Colorful
Familiar friends
Coconuts and more coconuts
Devoted Christians
Heavy afternoon thunderstorms
Black volcanic rocks
Slow calm pace of life

Nadia