Landon's travel column on Central America

Landon was asked by his english teacher Mme. Coogan-Penner at Beairsto to write a travel column for their class newspaper which was later published in our local paper The Vernon Morning Star:

Central America

By Landon Colvin

       When planning on traveling to Central America, be sure to add El Salvador and Costa Rica to your list.  As you make your way through the San Salvador airport, the excitement really begins.  When you’re driving through the city you just can’t wait to get to a nice Hostel and put down your heavy backpack.  You start thinking about all the amazing sites, tastes and people you will come across.  First recommendation? A great Hostle called El Roble (The Oak) in Playa (Beach) San Diego, El Salvador.  They provide excellent meals, a short walk to the awesome beach, which by the way as an amazing sun set every night, and very nice service.  In fact, your first day, they give you a complimentary drink, which you can sip on in one of the many hammocks around the cute little garden and multiple swimming pools.  Then after a lovely stay, you can go on your way to the nice little town called Salcoatitan, just North of Sonsonate, El Salvador, were you can stay at Carlos Cienfuegos’s soon to be Hostel.  He is a very nice man, and a great tour guide.  If you need a translator, I‘m sure his very polite son, Luis, will be happy to help you.  And if you’re lucky, they may even take you hiking to Laguna Verde (The Green Lagoon), which happens to be in the middle of a dormant volcano, or have you take a ride to their bakery, which has homemade Quesadilla.  You may be thinking: What is a Mexican Quesadilla doing in a bakery?  But, a Salvadorian Quesadilla is actually sweet bread eaten at any time of the day.  Very good.  But the fun doesn’t stop there! Next you can see the AMAZING waterfalls that are called Los Chorros De La Calera that has crystal clear water.  But, every country has to have an end, so you make your way back to the airport and find your self in the wonderful country of Costa Rica.

      Expensive and hot.  That’s a couple of things you can describe Costa Rica as.  Of course it is an amazing country, with awesome views, big waves, and interesting wild life.  If you like surf towns were all day they say Pura Vida (Life Is Good), then Playa Santa Teresa is the town for you.  My word of advice, buy all your food at the grocery store.  It is much cheaper.  NEVER buy drinks at a restaurant.  An example would be pop at the grocery store is 400 colones (see convert at bottom) and a pop at a restaurant it is 4000 colones!  The dirt road covers the town in dust, so be sure to bring some kind of face protection.  The waves and beaches are gorgeous and like El Salvador, there is a beautiful sun set every night.  Be sure to rent a surfboard and hit some of the massif waves, or go hangout with the locals on the soccer field.  You can hike up the big hill to Gumbo Limbo, an Italian Restaurant and Hotel where they make fresh pasta every day.  Although, it takes them a long time to serve the food to you.  And when I say long, I mean VERY long.  Especially when you are so hungry!!  I wouldn’t recommend it.  Certainly when you’re in the jungle, there is LOTS of wild life.  Everything from those teeny tiny ants, to those very loud Howler Monkeys, this place has it all.  The insects are very annoying and make sure not to leave ANY food lying around the house, or else you will be living with every ant in the world!!!  There are Scorpions, Tarantulas, and lots and lots of Geckos, Iguanas, and Parrots.

     Depending on how long you are planning on staying, it is a good idea to have some kind of mode of transportation, such as a Quad or bicycle.  Then there is the option of taking a long bus ride to Montezuma, where you can see the breath taking waterfalls.  It is a river that leads into the ocean, and along the way has small water flows.  But at the end of the river, you find a 50 ft. waterfall that makes you look way up high.  And get this, locals’ cliff jump from the top!!!  Of course there are other lower areas where you can jump into the nice warm water, but be aware, some unlucky people have lost their lives from slipping off the top and landing on some of the rocks below.  You can even go under the falls, and then gracefully dive into the water.

     Now I know its almost spring break, and you’re all excited to leave with your family to lay on the beach and get a nice tan, and when you get too hot, you go swim in the ocean. But you have to watch out for the Red Tide.  It makes the Sea look muddy, you can smell it from the road, it makes your Rash Guard reek for days, so what is it? Believe it or not, it’s the billions and billions of Plankton.  They give off a sort of algae that takes all the oxygen out of the water, killing a lot of fish, eels and clams.  Don’t go surfing when there is Red Tide!  Making a trip up to Gumbo Limbo would be a good idea, if you want to see what the ocean looks like from high up.  After watching a surf competition or two, you can rent a car and head inland to La Fortuna and see the Arenal Volcano and Lake, which last erupted in 10 years ago, but the biggest explosion was in 1968.  You can also check in to The Eco Lodge, where you can have an amazing home made meal, or take a guided tour with Ulises Alvarez around the very interesting rain forest where you can learn about plants, trees and mammals.  As family, you get a great deal, 2 rooms for the price of 1!  Then after you’ve made friends with all the animals, including the horses that you can also take a tour on, it may be time to go down the mountain to Arenal Hostel Resort were they provide a great pool,  rooms, bathroom and kitchen.  Make sure you go to the amazing Hot Spring called Los Laurales, which is $10 per person, but it is better than the Hot Springs across the street where they are $30 per person.  They are called Baldi and they are very touristy and commercialized.  They do offer canoping and slides, but the cost is way too high.  If you really want to go canoping, you can go down the road to Eco Glide where they provide an awesome ride down through the rain forest, with the ultimate view of all of La Fortuna.  And halfway through your hour-long tour, you come to The Tarzan Swing.  It may not sound too scary, until you get there...it’s a 50 ft drop that you have to jump off while being harnessed to a rope.   If you’re like me, you may even scream “Pura Vida!!!”

Central America is a wonderful continent, and I would definitely recommend it.  El Salvador is an excellent country, but I have heard that Nicaragua and Belize are very nice as well.  So if I were you I would start saving your money and make your way down to the great countries of Central America.

    

             Pura Vida!!!

Colones To American Dollars

Colones = ¢

$1 = ¢500

$2 = ¢1000

$5 = ¢10 000

$10 = ¢20 000

$100 = ¢500 000

$200 000 = ¢1 000 000

When converting from $ to ¢, you times the amount of dollars by 5.  
When converting from ¢ to $, you divide the amount of colones by 5.

i.e

¢1000 ÷ 5 = $2.00

Now try to see how much money I spent at the grocery store in Playa Santa Teresa instead of the restaurant.

Modes of Transportation

How does a person get from place to place when travelling around the world?  Here is our list:

Car

Air Plane

Shuttle Van

Bus

Pick Up Truck

Boat

Taxi
Surf Board

Quad
Rental Car
Zip Line

Mototaxi

Luxury Bus
Cycle taxi
Dune Buggy
Sand Board
The Dennis Mobile(VW Van)
Double Decker Bus(sleeper)
Train(Peru Rail)
Tour Boat
Reed Boat
Mercedes Benz (Basil)
Combie Van
Safari Jeep
Elephant
Small Plane
4 Wheeler
River Cruise Boat
Boda Boda (motorbike)
Camel
Ferry
Open air double decker tour bus
Scooter
Hitch hiking (when you run out of gas!)

ongoing....Travel tidbits!

It always amazes me, when I travel how much can change in one week.  Every sense is awakened; all the sites, smells, sounds and even tastes are so different from home.  I find it takes about one week to adjust to the newness before one can fully appreciate its goodness.

Take bugs for example, when I left Vernon it was winter in Canada, very rare to see a bug in the middle of winter.  Now two weeks in Costa Rica and I’m sure I have seen every insect God has created!  I think the most annoying though are those teeny tiny ants, so small you almost don’t see them until you get really close but then you see them everywhere.  Next, are the regular ants but at least you can see these ones and they always seem to have a purpose.  I’m most scared of the flying ants though, and why are there so many different types of one insect anyway?  The problem with bugs are, if you see a lot of them then you spend the next few hours thinking something is crawling on you or you wake in the middle of the night sure there is something sharing the bed with you.  Sand flies are super annoying since when they bite you don’t actually see them so you have no chance to slap yourself silly trying to kill them, rather you wake up with itchy little bites on your feet and legs.  But on the positive side I have yet to see a mosquito here!

The first Gecko you see on vacation is always a thrill and you run to get your camera to snap a photo of it.  By week 2, they are as common as snowflakes in a Canadian winter.  Except snowflakes don’t chirp at you from the ceiling in the middle of the night like gecko’s do!!  The iguana’s are interesting and I like that they are big so there is no missing them.  We have one living on the rock steps between our house and the restaurant (75 steps in total but who’s counting?) She’s always there and close behind is her baby iguana.  I shouldn’t make assumptions and maybe it’s a male but babies are usually with their mama aren’t they?  Now spiders are one insect I could do without unless their main source of food is those teeny tiny ants then I may become a fan, but if not they belong outside not lurking in dark closets!!  Scorpions, although very dangerous looking are actually quite easy to catch, just ask JC, as he caught one tonight in a cereal box and then picked up the box with the scorpion in it before it crawled out and threw it over the wall of our bathroom into the jungle….I should have caught that on video!!  But I think the worst insect of all is the cockroach, even the name is nasty!  I haven’t seen any big ones here, not like the ones in Australia that are on steroids and make me run and scream like a little girl.  Nope, the ones here are small, still icky but almost acceptable.  And what's with those little dust bugs?  they resemble a fuzz ball (or belly button lint) but if you look real close it has legs and moves ever so slowly.

The sounds this close to the jungle are like a symphony and of course God is conducting which is why it all sounds so amazing and in perfect harmony.  Add in the crashing ocean waves on shore, the odd bark from a dog, a rooster crow, the birds filling the air with their singing and some howler monkey’s in the distance and you’ve really got an orchestra to enjoy.

The people we’ve met have been from around the globe, Argentina, Israel, Peru, Chile, Sweden, Germany, Scotland, Turkey, lot’s of Canadians (Toronto, Nova Scotia, Vancouver, Montreal, Abbotsford) and a few Americans (Colorado, Georgia, New York, Minnesota).  When you first arrive you’re the newbie, don’t know where anything is, where to stay, where to eat and have white skin but now 2 weeks later we are the ones giving directions and suggestions to newcomers.  Even the cashiers at the Super Ronny Grocery Store are getting to know us, oh and we have a tan now.  I guess this is an obvious transition but interesting just the same.  Today is a perfect example; JC & I were walking along the dusty road from Santa Teresa to Mal Pais where we need to book a rental car for the day we leave.  Now when I say dusty I’m not talking about a little poof when someone drives by, oh no it’s more like a thick fog that turns all the palm trees on the side of the road from green to grey, and where people write messages on their vehicles in the thick coat of dust.
Anyway, on the way we met up with a couple walking towards us so we stopped to ask them how much further to Mal Pais?  We got talking, they’re from Abbotsford, and they asked us if we knew of any good places to stay since they had just arrived.  So we told them about Gumbo Limbo and tonight we had a really nice conversation with them around our pool, they’ll be staying here for the rest of the week!!  Of course they are grateful to have found such a nice spot and we’re happy to have the company!  Jen has skied at Silver Star and went to OUC in Kelowna.  Ryan’s dad was a guest speaker at our church a few months back.  “small world” is spoken a lot while travelling as everyone agrees how ironic it is to meet someone from so close to home when you are thousands of miles away.
Another example of ‘meant to be’ or chance, which in Hebrew we found out means “with God’s help or hand”, is where we decided to stop for lunch.  Walking back to Santa Teresa we decided to trek along the beach instead of the dusty road, good call.  We checked out one restaurant but something was telling us to keep going.  Next, we came across a beach side restaurant and cabina’s called Habaners.  It looked nice so we stopped.  We were right; our waitress was from Montreal and was a French immersion teacher who also worked a season up at Silver Star in the Silver Lode Hotel.   The man that owns it is from Israel and his wife was from New York, they have 2 girls ages 9 & 7 who want to meet Landon & Tianna.  His wife also wants to read Landon’s book, Spirit Wolf.  We’ve arranged to come back in a few days so the kids can play and swim in the pool together.

Eating in a foreign country is always interesting and sometimes challenging.  You want to experience authentic food (since this is one reason why we travel) so you try not to order something you could easily get back home.  Now comes the challenge….what exactly are you ordering….has it been prepared hygienically…..is it being cooked properly????  I have had food poisoning before, while travelling through Austria with my Dad and I have never forgotten the experience so I am always uneasy when it comes to ordering from places I don’t know (especially chicken).  Anyway, out of all the countries I’ve been to and the hundreds of meals eaten I am happy to report it only happened once!  So I will continue to trust so I can continue to enjoy deliciously different food.  Sometimes you are just so hungry that even though you saw numerous flies land on the food being prepared, you eat it anyway and hope for the best!  Your standards are automatically lowered when it comes to food unless you want to starve yourself.  Saying a prayer just before you consume your meal helps, I am sure of it!!!

Respecting mother nature is key to safe travel.  When you’ve heard that the sun is more intense than back home listen to the warning and take precautions!!  Although personally I’m not a huge fan of sunscreen unless I know I will be out in the sun all day like we were when we went surfing.  Sadly, Landon has had to learn this lesson the hard way as now he’s in so much pain with his sun burned lips, it hurts me to see him hurting.

This area is affected by Red Tide (Red Tide is caused by a rapid population growth of microscopic plankton. These microscopic plankton release toxins that have severe affects on marine life and humans) and some days are worse than others (more on this in another post).
And, we are in awe, witnessing the gorgeous sunset’s each and every night and will try not to take this for granted like we do, unintentionally, with so many things back home!  
Everything is different in this corner of the world, for example washing dishes in Central and South America goes like this.....wet the dishes, turn off the water, scrub the dishes with a strong soap that you dip your sponge into(it's in a dish similar to a margarine container), rinse the dishes.  We've done dishes in 3 countries now without the use of hot water.  Water is a HUGE commodity and is to be used very sparingly.  When you shower, get wet, shut off the water, wash hair, body, shave etc. without the water running, then rinse when done.  At Gumbo Limbo we had hot showers when we had water!!!  Oh and you never flush toilet paper it always goes into the basket.  Insects are all part of life here (adding cockroaches to the list) which I am trying really hard to just accept.  I'll never be scared of another spider back home again!
Another huge difference between traveling in 2012 compared to being a tourist in the early 90's is the communication with home.  Back then I would mail a few postcards and have one very expensive phone call home during a 3 month absence.  We had to use a travel agent as there was no internet to do it yourself.  Bringing reading material was heavy and bulky but there was no other choice if you wanted to read a book.  Now, with a click on the keyboard of our laptop we can have a skype call with our parents, email friends and family, kids can keep up to date with friends via Facebook, we are arranging the majority of our travel plans ourselves online, we're reading books on an E-Reader and rather than a journal I'm writing our experiences on a Blog.   These words were not even invented yet when I travelled in my 20's!!
Growing, adjusting, going with the flow, winging it, flexibility are all words I would describe someone crazy enough to do what we are doing!  If you have any control issues at all, like where you sleep, what you eat, expecting people to speak your language or  knowing where you're going and having things in your control then I would not recommend a trip such as this.  Although it's been great for our family we've all definitely had to learn to relax and let go and lean on God's strength.  He is truly taking care of every detail for us.

Two and a half months of spending 24/7 together and I’m happy to report that we still like each other. We are blessed to be seeing and experiencing new things daily and to be safe and healthy.  Even the countries we were warned about being so dangerous have proven to be the opposite and we’ve met only friendly people, never once feeling threatened.  The language can be challenging but somehow JC has the patience to keep trying even when it’s clear they have no idea what he is saying.  By the way, jokes in English are really hard to translate or explain to someone who only knows a little English.

Landon & Tianna are great travelers and are really amazing how they manage to cope with everything being so different from home.  Strange places, food (how much rice, chicken and potatoes is too much?), people, & language barriers don’t seem to bother them.  Tianna is coping especially well and is the ultimate optimist when things aren’t looking like they are going so well. During the 2nd week of this trip I told her that at each moment I ask myself, "are we safe, are we healthy, are we too hot or too cold, do we have enough food to eat, then we're doing okay and all is fine."  Now she uses this technique on me anytime she sees me 'having a moment.'  One of our goals when we were planning this trip was to stay in places long enough to truly learn about the area, the people, the culture etc. and although we have managed to do this we're finding it's harder to leave once we've made these connections.  Especially for Landon who gets very attached to people, places and animals.  Shorter stays would probably be easier on him since good-byes are very difficult for him.

Thanks to the contacts we made through our friends at Vernon Alliance Church, Couch Surfing and the Rotary Club we are below budget in accommodation costs!  However, we realize that all the money we are saving today will be spent in no time in overly priced Europe!!  I haven’t quite comprehended what it means to travel for a year but we have a year to figure it out.  I find what works best for me is, other than making immediate travel arrangements; I try to live in the moment.  I get overwhelmed if I think too far ahead.  I have to admit the biggest challenge thus far is keeping the kids on a schedule with their schoolwork.  It’s hard to do when there is so much to see and do and when we do have down time they would rather check their Facebook than hit the books.  I guess I can’t really blame them but for some reason I think it’s my responsibility to ensure their school work get’s done?!  My hat goes off to all the teachers out there, not an easy task and like I said to Landon today as he was wrestling with Tianna on the bed during their lessons, “act like you would if you were in school”, “this is how I do act”, he replied ……arrrrgggghhh I give up!!

IN TRANSIT

I don’t normally write about airports since anywhere in the world they are pretty much all the same….check in counters….luggage drop off……security…immigration….etc. etc. well the airport in Ethiopia is different.  Everyone was so friendly starting with the policeman Jeff in Uganda, check in staff for Ethiopia Airlines, and security who let us drink our wine right then and there rather than dump it out.  
Something we hadn't seen before was a designated area in the airport for the Muslims to pray.
At the Ethiopia Duty Free shop Tianna spotted a dress she had to have.  Pardon?  Tianna does not wear dresses and she has two in her pack.  We even left the store but she continued to talk about this dress she liked.  Finally I caved, “alright I said but you have to buy it with your own money.” 

When we went back for her to try it on the all female staff were so friendly and nice not only to Tianna but Landon as well.  The next thing we knew Landon was playing his guitar in the store for all these pretty Ethiopian girls in their 20’s.  They took some pictures together, they were video taping him with their phones, other people came in to see what was going on and the girls were hugging and kissing him on the cheek.  We think they thought he was Justin Bieber.  Tianna bought the dress.

Final Post

Coming home…..

Sadly and with heavy hearts we have had to end our around the world journey 4 months early.  Sometimes, we have learned, our plan is not God’s plan, this is one of those times.   Although we had a year lease on our house in place prior to leaving things happen that are not in our control and without the rental income travelling longer is not possible.

We are certainly not ready to come home and disappointed that we will not see more countries in Europe, Thailand and Mexico as was planned.  But the biggest regret of all is not celebrating the birth of Joy & Michael’s baby with them in London.  We accept God’s will as hard as it is.

Years ago when we originally planned this trip we decided seeing 12 countries in 12 months would be an achievable goal, ironically we did travel to 12 countries, only in 8 months instead of 12.

Here is a summary of what this adventure entailed:

12 countries - El Salvador, Costa Rica, Peru, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Uganda, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Turkey & Greece

9 Oceans/Seas - Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Dead Sea, Sea of Galilee, Red Sea, Sea of Maramar, Black Sea, Agean Sea, Mediterranean

4 Continents – Central & South America, Africa, Asia, Europe

22 Flights - 60 hours in airplanes

230 days - 46 different beds, 5 overnight buses & 1 overnight ferry

Accommodation - Hostels, Hotels, Home-stays with Couch Surfing, Servas, Rotary & Friends, House & Apartment rentals, and Lodges

8000+ photos and hundreds of video clips

53 degrees hottest temperature in Jordan

11,000 feet elevation in Peru

400 metres below sea level(lowest spot on earth) in Jericho

Biggest city was Cairo, Egypt at 25 million

Our family dream to…..”travel around the World in 2012 to see God’s creation, connect with family heritage, positively impact the world, experience different cultures and share the spirit of Christ with others” came true except connecting with family which I guess will have to wait for another time.

Many of our goals were achieved, we were thrilled to have met both our sponsored children Carla in El Salvador and Oziyasi in Malawi.  Spending the day with them, their families and community was so special.   Although we did not get to do WWOOFing(google it) in Brazil as was planned we loved the extra time we spent in Peru instead.  Our involvement with various missions’ projects kept us busy and was very fulfilling although there is always the feeling of wanting to do more.  The need worldwide is so incredible that we really only scratched the surface on what we as a family can accomplish with a little more effort.  Cuddling and loving orphans in 3 different countries and joining an amazing team from Vernon in Zimbabwe proved to be an intense challenge not only physically but mentally as well.  Teaching at the Kyabirwa Primary School in Uganda was incredibly rewarding as we bonded with many of the students that were so eager to learn.  We enjoyed numerous unique experiences and met some of the world’s nicest people, many of whom will be lifelong friends.   We certainly stayed in Egypt a lot longer than anticipated and are so grateful to Rod & Susan and all the families who welcomed us into their homes.

As a family we created a Top Twenty-five list of special memories (in chronological order):

1. Meeting sponsored children – El Salvador and Malawi

2. Becoming a family of 5 when Luis joined us – Costa Rica

3. Montezuma Falls – Costa Rica

4. Natural Hot Springs & ziplining – Lafortuna, Costa Rica

5. Sand boarding in Huacachina – Peru

6. Climbing Machu Picchu - Peru

7. Floating Reed Islands on Lake Titicaca – Peru

8. 2 Safari’s – South Africa, Zimbabwe

9. Led Kid’s Camps at remote villages – Zimbabwe

10. Riding Elephants - Zimbabwe

11. Teaching English, Math & PE – Uganda

12. Quading in the rain - Uganda

13. Meeting ‘third culture kids’ and developing friendships – Egypt

14. Riding a camel – Egypt

15. Seeing ancient Pyramids, Ruins, Tombs, Churches – Egypt

16. Meeting & dancing on stage with American Idol Stars in concert - Cairo Opera House, Egypt

17. Floating in the Dead Sea – Jordan

18. Swimming in Sea of Galilee – Israel

19. Eating authentic, traditional meals with local families in every country
20. Travelling with the “Aussies” Zachest Family – Turkey
21. Pamukkale calcium rich pools – Turkey
22. Pasakoy Village(Circumcision Party) – Turkey
23. Melissani and Dogarati Caves – Kefalonia Island, Greece
24. Sleeping on the beach for 3 nights – Katelios, Greece
25. Helping to excavate a turtles nest, watching Loggerhead turtles in the harbour, saving 7 hatchlings – Kefalonia Island, Greece

Each birthday celebration was unique and fun:

JC - Cape Town, South Africa (held the Rugby World Cup trophy)

Shelley - Vic Falls, Africa (saw a hippo on our front yard)

Landon – Cairo, Egypt (rode a camel)

Tianna - Kefalonia Island, Greece (saved some turtles)

The best surprise of all was the friendliness of the countries we were warned not to go to such as El Salvador, Peru, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Uganda, Egypt, Israel & Jordan.  Not only were the people fantastic but we felt completely safe the entire time we were in these countries.

I think we all changed....Landon physically since he grew 4.5 inches, 3 shoe sizes and his voice deepened....we have a renewed appreciation for where we live, our home, even our government.  We truly are blessed to be living in Canada and even the things we take for granted like hot water, drinkable water, flush toilets (a toilet seat!), a roof over our heads and a comfortable bed all take on a new meaning when you return home.  The projects I couldn't wait to do when we got back like replacing our kitchen cupboards and counter tops suddenly didn't seem all that important.  There are people to help and bigger issues to focus on which are more important than a new kitchen!

While writing the blog I would sometimes have trouble describing places and experiences.  Words just didn’t do it justice and then Landon made up some words;

FUNDEMENDOMUNDO and AMAZZZAZING  

These words summarize how we feel about our “almost a year away”.

Over and out.

JC's perspective on coming home!

After spending the morning looking at flights and ways of traveling from Athen’s to St. Martin where I was going to jump straight back into working in the health and vitality industry, I was all of a sudden succumbed by emotion of being away from my family whom I was together with the last 8 months for 24hours each day. This was different from my usual working away from home, although not without challenges.  Our family had grown in a way that I am not sure could have been accomplished in any other way.

Landon was fully into his puberty stage of life, and from my men’s group studies in the past I knew the importance of having a father and other mentors, over the next 12 months as a foundation to the success and leadership of his adult life. 

Tianna, had matured so much as well and our relationship had evolved in a way that I saw her beginning her blossom into the woman that she would become someday in the future, and was excited to not miss a moment in her journey either. Shelley of course was a pillar of strength, that although stood behind my decision would be left on her own for a few months to deal with kids, and the getting back in to life emerged now as a new person from our experiences of traveling for so long.

Returning to my family I was on the verge of tears from my thoughts and meeting Tianna on the trail down to the beach began the constant flow of tears that would follow over the next few days.  Returning to the apartment with her to see Landon and Shelley continued that flow, however we continued to press on with preparations for the day’s events.

Throughout the day I had some very deep and openhearted discussions with all three members of my family, however it wasn’t until that evening, when I returned with food for dinner that I was met with a tearful son and wife sitting on the couch. My first thought was that they had a break down, however it was quickly revealed to me that Landon did not want me to be away from our family and was immediately overcome with emotion during his explanation of it.

As a father it was a no brainer decision that I know I will never regret.  Without hesitation I immediately changed my plans and confirmed with him that I would return with the family to Vernon and begin finding a way to attract clients to my training business again.

My return flight was a milk run to say the least: from Athens to Belgrade Serbia, to Frankfurt, Vancouver and then home…each with overnight stay attached to it.

Flying to Serbia, I met Vladimir, a Greek federal economic developer, traveling to meet his Serbian wife who taught at the University in Athens and was visiting her parents in Belgrade for the weekend.  Our discussions, as were common on our journey, were deep and meaningful exploring different topics from world and our own nations current state of economies, to religion/spirituality, people, cultures and communities, ending with the importance of friends and family, whom he revealed his wife was now one month pregnant.

Vladimir continued to offer me advice for my overnight stay in Belgrade, including helping me find the correct bus to take to downtown while confirming the price and leaving me with two phone numbers to call should I require further assistance from him. After finding a hostel and relaxing to an uneventful evening I ventured out into the city to find some food for breakfast and walking the city in the daylight prior to catching the bus to return to the airport.

Arriving in Frankfurt, I immediately hopped on a train that took me down the Rine River into the lush and festive Rine Valley of small communities.  It happened to be wine season and each community had different festival events to celebrate the rewards of this years harvest.  Meeting up with my couch surfing host was a challenge as I could not get the sim card to activate in my phone and my constant requests to borrow a phone were turned down with people trying to leave the train station or who didn’t have any talk time left on their cel.  Finally I was able to meet a man from Africa, who had lived in Frankfurt for 20 years, to assist me.  He went above and beyond in his efforts to help…in true African style!!

Attending the wine festival where I enjoyed wine and beer of course with an array of local food and music amongst hundreds dressed up in traditional German attire was fun.   

The trip I believe hit every measure of our emotions at some point in time. Would I risk it all again…of course, as the few moments of true human happiness and bliss shared with my family and so many others in different parts of the world were all too brief.  The sheer focus it takes to keep the everyday tasks for life moving forward, you can’t afford for the little things to distract you.  Travelling is an obsession I guess, however those who don't would never understand why.

In today’s day and age, in our gadget techno world it is so easy to stay in the rut and confines of safety and comforts watching “Reality TV” to live out our dreams.  There are few opportunities to return to a base level, ultimately one of life and death…as it is a dangerous game to live out there, yet it wouldn’t be worth playing if it weren’t.  The intensity and flavors of our journey are not easily described; I know from already attempting to account experiences.  I anticipate that in the days and months to come I will cherish the memories of those brief moments as something very precious, something to grasp in a quiet moment, that no one can ever take away from me.  

The success of our travels was not luck, rather truly by having the hand of God with us in so many instances.  The passing resemblance of the Good Samaritan story in the Bible parable was upon us as well…maybe they are two in the same??  There lies the difference between compassion and obligation.  I found on countless occasions that people acting out of the kindness of their hearts outside of the commercial world was beyond what I have ever experienced in my life.  More than we Canadians provide, even though we are globally recognized as being nice and hospitable people as a nation, is not even close to what we experienced with those that have “nothing”.  It leaves me feeling ashamed that so many Samaritans, who showed us compassion and kindness, were under no obligation and did not enter thoughts of how to be reimbursed.  The question that I ponder then is what do they have to gain?  The fact is I think they would have been justified to just pass on by or simply be polite.  If we cannot be compassionate then what can we ever be? Somewhere we have lost sight as to what is truly important….no summit is ever greater than that of a compassionate life.

Planning and family teamwork only reduces risk, we as a family returned unscathed and for that I feel truly blessed. I hope that I can honor those who were compassionate and helped us without obligation by being forever humble, not triumphant and forgetting the lessons learned from our experiences. Our journey was a great one, not for accomplishing our goal of eight years,  not for breaking any records…but for the memories of it that will continue to grow richer each day from here forth. I think the best memories mature over time, mellowing in the mind from the details of some of the conversations, or rough times that stressed us. For eight months I enjoyed the privilege of spending quality time with my family and for that I am eternally grateful…that alone is worth a thousand successes!!