Final Thoughts on Our World Trip- Part One

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As we’ve settled back into a routine here in LA and finally finished out the blog posts, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has been reading these posts. It really has been fun to write about the activities we’ve done, places we’ve seen, and people we’ve met throughout these last few months of our trip. Although it was frustrating at times as we’ve realized how blessed we are (for the most part) to have consistently working internet. The best internet we had was in Dubai while surprisingly some of the worst internet we experienced (aside from parts of Africa) was in Australia and New Zealand. This made it hard to upload the photos into the blog site since of course everyone wants to see the photos more so than reading about our days. So while most of the blog was written in the notepad on my phone, we had to wait until we had better internet to share the photos and blog posts with everyone. I also have Grant proofread and add any tidbits that I may have missed so that is why New Zealand has taken a little longer to post as he has gotten back into the full swing of SpaceX.

But I wanted to use this post to share our final thoughts on the countries and places we’ve traveled as a way for us to remember what we liked/didn’t like about certain places and maybe help others decide where they would like to visit! I may break this up into several posts as we’ve traveled to 15 countries this year and I don’t want to miss anything. Especially since our most asked question is what was your favorite place! And that is definitely a hard one to answer as each country we’ve visited had something we enjoyed!

South America

  • Iguazu Falls

Absolutely beautiful part of Argentina! (And probably the favorite waterfalls we saw on our trip even if the water level was down). Definitely something you should tack on to your list if you plan to visit Argentina. You can visit in just a couple of days as you take one day to spend on the Argentina side and the next to do the Brazil side. Stay in one of the resorts as there is not much food available outside the area on either side of the river.

  • Ushuaia

Lots of nature to see in this part of the country especially in Tierra del Fuego. We wish we could have seen more than what we did but the weather does play a role in how much you can do. And it’s so far south that even in their summer we were still in our winter coats. Stop by the Post Office at the End of the World and send a postcard! Though we don’t know how well they actually send as we both sent some to each of our parents and they never said anything about receiving it. Also, if you enjoy seeing penguins, it is worth it to go spend the time with them on the island. (I will always be the advocate for any of our animal activities!)

  • El Calafate

This one has mixed reviews. From some of the people we met on our trip in South America, it sounds like this little town has become a tourist trap. The prices of most meals were definitely higher than what we spent anywhere else on our trip in South America. But it was still a neat town and gave us the opportunity to walk on the Perito Moreno glacier which was impressive to see. Also gives you a realization of how much global warming is impacting these natural wonders as you listen to these guides talk about where the glacier used to be and how much it has receded. But aside from that, there’s not much to do in town and all of your activities are some distance away. Many people we talked to recommended just going to El Chalten (iconic peak from Patagonia jacket logo), which we did not get a chance to do on this trip.

  • Puerto Natales

The main starting point for hiking the W or O circuit in Patagonia. We only spent enough time to catch some sleep and a couple of meals before hiking, but they do have some great restaurant options to try. And plenty of stores to stock up supplies for your hike in Patagonia. And there are plenty of other backpackers in the area so you know you’re in the right place (especially when you’re heading to the bus station).

  • Torres del Paine National Park

If you love backpacking this is definitely a hike to do! I have a love/hate relationship with backpacking as it’s mostly Type 2 fun for me. As I stated in my Patagonia posts, Grant is much better at backpacking than I am and probably gets annoyed with my complaining during some of the hikes. But looking back on our hikes and backpacking trips, I am glad that we did it and got to enjoy some pretty incredible views. And our national parks need to step it up when it comes to resources available during thru hikes. Torres del Paine had an incredible setup between the tent sites, supplies available for rent, lodging, and amazing meals available for purchase.

Turkey

  • Istanbul

The big cities on our trip weren’t the highest on my favorite list, but they were still worth the visit. The historical sites of Istanbul were amazing to see and marvel at the fact we were standing in places that have been around for almost 1,500 years. We realized though that it is probably better to stay in a different part of Istanbul and just metro in to the historical district for all the tourist places. And we did a terrible job at actually trying more Turkish cuisine than just kebabs and baklava. Also, be aware the Call to Prayer is heard throughout the entirety of the city on loud speakers so you may be woken up before sunrise by the first call.

Africa

  • Uganda

Just note any animal excursions in Africa will be pricey. But getting to do the chimp trekking and the gorilla trekking was amazing. My favorite was the chimp trekking over the gorillas as it felt more adventurous walking in the woods trying to find them and hearing their calls from a distance whereas the gorilla family is already found by trackers prior to your group arriving. Don’t get me wrong both were extraordinary to see and be that close to a primate that could literally turn on you at any second and do quite the damage.

  • Kenya

Absolutely incredible! I have always been a huge fan of zoos but after being on safari and being within striking distance of some of these animals just puts anything you experience at a city zoo to shame. I think this is the one part of the trip Grant and I consistently say is our favorite thing we did on the trip. Again it is pricey but worth every penny as it gets you the flights to the different conservancies, lodging, very delicious food (probably the best food of our trip), and multiple game drives. And it is worth it to do private game drives so you can kind of dictate what you want to see out there! Jay and Brandi did a great job giving us two different experiences between our time in Lewa Conservancy along with Masai Mara.

  • Zimbabwe (Victoria Falls)

This made our list of places people should go visit but don’t go out of your way just to see it. You should tack it on in addition to another African country. Like Iguazu Falls, the water levels and the weather play a factor in the experience you get at the falls. And the town again has very much so become a tourist trap. All the prices are jacked up from the food to the souvenirs (and we weren’t the best at negotiating for our souvenirs…).

  • South Africa (Cape Town)

Everyone before our trip was commenting on how dangerous Cape Town would be, but to be honest we never once felt unsafe. I mean you keep your guard up like you do in any other big city but we never really encountered a situation where we felt unsafe. This was also another country we wish we had more time to explore. There were other hikes and other activities we wish could have done like Lion’s Head and Robbins Island (where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned).

  • Namibia

I will say this was probably one of the more unique countries we went to on our trip as it has a mix of everything from desert to coastal towns to safari land (though we didn’t do one on our trip). The sand dunes were really impressive to see in person especially from the sky in the hot air balloon. This isn’t high on our list of places to make a return trip to but we are interested to see how the tourism industry grows in the country over the next ten years and definitely will recommend to friends to try to see these dunes sometime in their life.

Dubai, UAE

I surprisingly enjoyed Dubai. Grant keeps telling people this is a soft introduction to the Middle East and I would say that is true. It truly is a melting pot of cultures in that city and there are cameras everywhere (basically watching your every move) so no one is apt to commit a crime. Plus the punishments for any crime are severe enough to also deter any wrongdoings. Walking around the city, even at night, felt very safe. And the city is kid friendly. There were multiple families we encountered on our few days there and seemed like there were kid friendly activities to enjoy. Like in Turkey, we did a terrible job at enjoying local cuisine since a lot of their tourist activities are centered in or near a mall.

The next post I’ll discuss our visits to Southeast Asia and Australia/New Zealand!

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