I thought this trip was absolutely wonderful. I am so glad that my parents planned this for us. Not many people get to explore the world the way we have and it was such a blessing.
We made so many friends from all over the world during this trip and even coincidentally crossed paths with another Bear Creek family in Munich! It was really funny and crazy that we saw them and we got to talk to them for a while.
Some highlights of the trip for me have been:
Ireland because we had an amazing location and house with a friendly neighbor with a dog and a cute town;
Croatia because we loved our place in Split, and Zagreb was very homey and decorative for Christmas;
Poland because we got to go on a Segway tour in Krakow with Ukrainian twins and learn about some Jewish history. And when Mom and William visited Auschwitz, Dad, Findlay, Keegan, and I got to go to a pinball museum. When dad went on the tour, the rest of us went to a beautiful park and our Mom introduced us to chimney cakes!
Thailand because we had so much amazing food there and made some really nice friends. We also got to swim in Krabi, go on a snorkeling tour there, and go rock climbing three times on real rocks and had amazing views! In Chiangmai, I loved the elephant sanctuary where we got to pet and feed elephants; we took a really fun cooking class; had some of our favorite food from our 16 months abroad; spent Christmas there; and enjoyed an exciting New Year’s Eve lantern festival. Thailand was awesome!
Laos because we got to ride on a slowboat for two days. We visited hill tribes along the Mekong River and I got to take pictures of the kids and their parents with my Polaroid camera and give the photos to them. We also got to have an incredible experience teaching teenage kids English in Luang Prabang.
Vietnam because our friends the Moes and Mr Cox met us there and we did so many fun activities together: a food tour; cooking class; rented bikes three days in a row to ride around Hoi An, to its neighboring island Cam Kim, and to the beach; ate banh mi (sandwiches), pho (soup), and banh xeo (Vietnamese pancakes) every day; and did an awesome motorbike tour around Hoi An.
Indonesia (Bali) because we got to surf twice, went white water rafting also twice, played at a treetop adventure park, did a canyon tour with water up to our waists, and climbed a mountain starting in the middle of the night! and our villa had its own pool!
Scotland because it was so beautiful and relaxing and we got to go to the park every single day. I loved the Waitrose too; it was so nice to get back to a normal grocery store. We got to watch a lot of movies, play lots of cards, had three birthdays, Easter, Father’s Day and Mother’s Day here, baked cookies, scones, and four birthday cakes (two lemon drizzle cakes for mom, and a chocolate cake for both Keegan and me), and we got a lot of exercise playing at the park with our soccer ball and our frisbee. We also met tons of really cute dogs there;
Portugal because we got to go surfing twice, rented bikes one day (we rode 23.25 miles!), did some breathtaking hikes, and we also got to spend the day at a water park called slide and splash!!!
…and Disneyland Paris because we got to go on 21 rides in the span of 493 minutes (including lunch and wait times for rides)!! It was probably the most rides we will ever get to do in one day! We got to do the Tower of Terror twice, Big Thunder Mountain twice, an Indiana Jones roller coaster, Hyperspace Mountain which was in the dark and had a barrel roll and a loop-de-loop, Star Tours, a Ratatouille ride where we put on 3D glasses, hopped in a cart, and then saw the rats making dinner in the kitchen and it smelled really good… but then we went into the dining room where one of the chefs saw the rat and it got really crazy and so fun! There were tons of other really fun rides and we also got cotton candy which was delicious!
Those were just some of my top favorites, but I don’t think I could choose just one.
A funny memory on the trip was when we were in Epidaurus (at an ancient amphitheater in Greece during our Peloponnesian tour) and I tried rapping in German, but a really grouchy tour guide shushed me and told me I could only clap, which was very strange.
The cruise was also incredible because we got to go on water slides, a dry slide called the Ultimate Abyss that dropped ten floors, and William and I got to share a room with my Grandma and Grandpa. The food was really good and it was really fun how we could just order a slice of pizza or ask for a cookie at a cafe anytime!
Another good memory was when Keegan and I made up a little chant after we ate at a restaurant called Banh Mi 25 in Vietnam. It goes like this: banh-mi-twen-ti-five-banh-mi-twen-ti-five OKAYYY!! banh-mi-twen-ti-five-banh-mi-twen-ti-five OKAYYY!! And then when we kept singing it, people would start to laugh on the side of the street in Ha Noi, and the next day, all of the Moes were singing it with the four of us boys.
I think one of the things I have developed on this trip is better writing. I think I am a better writer because I have written 43 blog posts and I have almost taken up three whole journals!
My favorite foods that I have had on this trip are pizza from Italy; Pad Thai, green curry, and papaya salad from Thailand; banh xeo, banh mi, and pho bo from Vietnam; and the delicious French meal from Paris that included foie gras, snails, frog legs, beef tartare, and some delicious delicious delicious desserts.
Our RV ride in Iceland was probably one of the coolest things I have ever done in my life especially because we had our friends the Barretts, the Tardifs, and Mr Cox with us.
I am really excited to get back to playing basketball with Findlay in our front yard; people speaking English (although it was pretty fun trying to communicate with people who don’t); brands of food that we haven’t had for a while; candy, like sour patch kids, skittles and nerds; piano; our house; and hopefully before too long a puppy or two! We will also try out many new recipes of food that we loved on this trip.
Although I am so so so excited to see friends, and grandparents, and teachers, I will be incredibly sad to be departing from this wonderful trip around the world.
This is a great post Tate! Wow, so many amazing experiences. You’ve seen more places than many old people–it will help you to understand the world and people from different cultures so much better!