Finale - Our Final Reflections

Now if there's on thing we can honestly say that we missed more than anything...

It's Pho.

We think this Vietnamese creation is photastic, and we were craving it like swollen pregnant ladies the whole time we were away.

That's one of the trippy things about travel - you can submerge yourself in as many diverse cultures as you want, but you will always end up yearning for the things that are most familiar and comforting to you. The medicinal like properties of Pho were one thing we craved, the chance to eat any cuisine we want at any time, general life routines, and of course our latex Dunlopillo pillows. And our family and friends of course! So believe us when we say we are glad to be home.

On arriving home after an extended period away, we have received lots of questions such as:
- What was the best thing you saw?
- Where was your favourite place?
- Where would you like to return to one day?
- Where would you recommend I travel to?
- What was the weirdest thing you ate?

The fact is, it was all jam packed full of moments, both good contrasted by the bad, embedded into an exciting package that we always knew wouldn't last forever. There was a beginning, and there was always going to be an end. The end in this case, marks an exciting time in our life that we return to - the next 'phase', or let's get really corny now, the 'next chapter' in the book of A&K Adventures of Life (Kate just rolled her eyes).

Seriously though, we are so grateful for the opportunity that we have had to explore different parts of the world, for Anthony to finally meet Kate's extended Scottish family, and also in deepening our relationship and understanding of one another. We've had some pretty horrible/intense moments throughout the trip however, which we think we were able to turn around...

1 - Getting stuck with a non-isle seat on qantas but made up for by the delicious food and free access to snacks throughout the flight (when I could get out of the seat...).
2 - A thick black hair inside Anthony's satay Katti role from a Bangladeshi NYC food cart. The taste and dire hunger however made him push past it!
3 - Biting into a breast of chicken and noticing the opacity and funky texture of rawness. But the good news was that Anthony was able to bung it back into the pan with the left over juices - so, disaster was averted!
4 - The size of the hotel room in London - but this did encourage us to spend as little time there as possible and the size of the bed brought us closer than ever; how romantic!
5 - Contracting food poisoning while walking the TMB - this truly was a low light of the entire trip. However, finding a luxurious chalet accomodation to recoverer in was a god send, not to mention the half hour nap of delirious dreams had by Anthony in the middle of bustling Chamonix. Plus, we missed the two days of rain - yay!
6 - Auberge du Mont Blanc and their foul addition of tomato to their rendition of cheese fondue. More like faint rouge goop, with a claggy consistency. At least we met some nice people, played many games of monopoly and were energised the next morning to leave early before the rains began. Kate was also entertained by the odd fellow thrashing out a tune on a set of bagpipes. And Anthony loved the ice cream that looked like the Swiss flag in celebration of Swiss National Day.
7 - Agreeing to have dinner in the 4 star hotels restaurant in Praiano. The meals were tiny, overpriced and gave Anthony anxiety. Kates positivity and the 4 Euro pizza marinara from the place over the road made for a good turn around. We ended up there for dinner the next night for an absolute value meal!
8 - More than 4000km later and we had circumnavigated Turkey in more mini buses (with air conditioning that often didn't conquer the 40 degree weather) than we can count on both our hands. Luckily for us, we were able to get travel sickness pills that enabled us to work on the Blog while hurtling up the highway! Plus, we saw a hell of a lot of a large country in a short amount of time.

The fact of the matter is though, that all of the above are '1st world problems' which we really can't complain about. We are so incredibly lucky here in Australia - the food, diversity, culture, and opportunity. That's not to say we can't improve further (come on Albo!). Travel helps you to remember how lucky you are, by smashing your senses to heightened awareness, coupled with a good old dose of grounding reality.

3 months, 12 flights and 10 countries later and we sit here in an Air B&B, around the corner from our old one bedroom unit in North Melbourne typing this final post. We've spent the day driving around the inner west searching for a new home, our next home, for our next chapter. While away, we've become experts at researching places together, and supporting one another in our efforts of moving forward. Back home now, not much changes. Kate still rubs Anthony's fat belly after a big meal, and Anthony continues to empathise with Kate after her smelly farts take over a room.

Remember, life is like a snow globe. Sometimes you've got to just pick it up, and give it a good ole shake!Read more